Emma talks to us about A Year of Nothing and being in her ‘Indie Author Era’

Emma Gannon is the Sunday Times bestselling author of eight books, including ‘A Year of Nothing‘ and ‘Olive’, her debut novel, which was nominated for the Dublin Literary Award. Her second novel, ‘Table for One’, published in 2025 with HarperCollins. Emma also runs the popular Substack newsletter, ‘The Hyphen’, which has thousands of paid subscribers. She hosts creativity retreats all over the world and was a judge for the 2025 Women’s Prize for Non-Fiction.

Q: Why did you decide to re-release A Year of Nothing with Whitefox, eighteen months after it was first published with the Pound Project?

A: I always knew I wanted to have A Year of Nothing more widely available (with The Pound Project it was only on sale for 3 weeks as a limited edition, as is their publishing model). After the initial release, I realised people were searching for the book online but couldn’t find it. That’s when I met with Hannah and Julia from Whitefox for a coffee, and I knew immediately we could make some magic happen. Within those 18 months, we’d briefed a new cover, worked on the page designs and illustrations, given the book another edit, I wrote a new introduction, and just in general gearing up to re-release, I didn’t want to rush the process for the sake of it. We had the book available for pre-order around 4 months before publication.

Q: Why did you choose Whitefox as a publishing partner and how did you find the process of collaborating with us to bring the book to life?

A: I chose Whitefox because I like the transparency of the set-up, it really appealed to me. I would invest money upfront for the services of Whitefox, and I would retain all the IP, rights, ownership of my material and all subsequent payments and royalties. Ownership is a big deal for me at the moment, and something I’m passionate about when it comes to writers and artists making a living, and so I loved the Whitefox model. I’ve found the whole process extremely smooth. I loved my editor, Holly. I loved the step-by-step walkthrough of everything behind the scenes. I loved the finishing touches to my Amazon page (think it’s called A+ Content). I loved the event we did together at a member’s club to talk about new ways of publishing. I just think we’re really aligned on making the process as clear and creatively stimulating as possible.

Q: A Year of Nothing was written after you experienced a period of chronic burnout. Has it been cathartic to share your story of recovery with other people?

A: Yes, definitely. I have very little shame or embarrassment regarding my burnout—this is what writing does for me, it really enables me to heal and share. If you feel exhausted in this mad modern world, it’s not your fault. I went through something scary and hard with my burnout diagnosis, but if I can make anyone else feel even remotely seen by my experience, then that would be a lovely thing. Books have helped me through hard times, so I’d love to do the same for someone else. The message of the book is: you’re not alone, and you’re not broken.

Q. How do you continue to protect a slower, gentler pace of life?  

A: Ha! This question made me smile, because I’m off the back of a super busy week promoting the book and have had a few moments of being really flustered. But, the reality is, sometimes life is just busy. I’ve been checking in with myself during it all. Factoring in lots of breaks, relaxing my shoulders, going for walks, cooking long recipes, phoning friends, enjoying my new coffee machine and actually sitting and drinking it slowly. When the publication whirlwind has died down a bit, I’m going on a holiday and I want to do some outdoor swimming.

Q: What are the best things about being in, what you’ve described as, your ‘Indie Author Era’?

A: I love to learn and I love it when things feel new. So the whole thing has been really exciting for me. I don’t like doing the same things over and over again. I have enjoyed getting to know Amazon KDP, IngramSpark and the e-book market. I’ve enjoyed sending out parcels with my book in (my team is calling this our ‘Etsy Girl Era’.) I’ve enjoyed getting to know the publishing process really intimately and controlling all areas of the campaign. I used to work in PR and marketing way back when, so I enjoy creating splashy moments and coming up with new ways to reach people.

Q. You’ve built a direct relationship with over 80K readers on Substack, do you have any advice for fellow authors who want to grow an audience online?

A: Find something you love and geek out about it. Then you’re more likely to be consistent in your output, because you’re having a lot of fun doing it.

Q: What other creative projects do you have in the pipeline that you’re excited about this year?

A: I’m releasing a book called A Creative Compass with Penguin in the Summer. It is part of a two-book deal I signed with them in 2022. I’m excited for it to come out. It’s a book all about my own creative process, how I follow my intuition and how I stay creative. I really hope it helps people who want to live a more creative life.