Welcome to the mind of
E J DOBLE
The Who?
By means of introduction, my name - or my real name, I should say - is Ethan Doble. I’m a young self-published author from Somerset in the UK, where I’ve lived my whole life.
By profession, I am a secondary-school supply teacher, and had a short-lived spell at university studying History. I have worked as a waiter, an assistant chef, a lifeguard and a swimming teacher.
By interest, my hobbies include painting impressionist landscapes and animals (sometimes humans too); reading extensively in fantasy, history and politics; exploring different cultures through food; and swimming for fitness.
I am also a football fan, supporting Manchester United F.C. - a critical error in my youth, I admit - and also follow some American Football, supporting the Detroit Lions.
The When?
I started writing just before my seventh birthday, if you can believe it, about a young man called Sam and his pet velociraptor, going out on wild Indiana-Jones style adventures in search of lost artefacts. I read extensively when I was younger: a fact I give credit to my wonderful parents for, who would always readily supply me with more literature to devour whenever they could.
And it was from those humble beginnings that I went on to develop my writing over the next ten years: writing a 100-page rip-off of The Hobbit when I was ten; writing a 430-page book when I was twelve about dragon-hunters and friendship; writing a six-hundred page book when I was fifteen, about a demon lord bargaining with a disgraced soldier to open a portal to Hellos that would bring about the destruction of the known world. Each iteration brought new confidence and maturity to my writing, developing magic systems and fantastical worlds as well as interpersonal relationships and dialogue styles. I tried to get a number of the projects half-heartedly published, in the hopes of being the next Christopher Paolini, but they ultimately fell flat at the first hurdle.
And then, in 2019, after three years of not getting past ten-thousand words on any new projects, I picked up an old creative writing story from school that I had abandoned, and just decided to start writing something again.
Looking back, I couldn’t tell you what possessed me to start writing again, or why that five-page prologue was what set me off, but after a further two years of turmoil and strife hunched over a keyboard, I held in my hands a completed book for the first time in nearly six years.
And with that, The Fangs of War was born.
The Why?
In the summer of 2021 - with the book finished and edited to the best of my ability - I opted initially with traditional publishing, hoping to try my luck with the more-conventional methods. Contacting 30 different literary agents from across the Western Hemisphere, I admit that I was very surprised when I heard back from over three-quarters of them within the first four weeks, and thought this might finally be my chance to enter into the big world of being an author.
Ultimately, however, that was not destined to be: every return email I received was a (polite) rejection, citing post-COVID financial risks for publishers and how my book was not appropriate for current market trends. So, despite feeling quite dejected by the whole business, I at least understood why my book had not been taken on, and the number of agents who said “it has great promise” was enough for me to feel like there was something there to work with at least.
And then, one fateful day about a month after the last rejection came in, my partner turned to me and said a single statement that changed the course of my writing life:
“Why don’t you just do it yourself?”
Looking back on it now, I will admit that I was slightly ignorant when it came to self-publishing and the path of ‘do it yourself’. I knew next to nothing about my options, or the services on offer; I had no idea how to run things like a business (in many ways I still don’t). My understanding at the time was that there were two ways into publishing: through an agency and publishing house, or to pay a lump sum to get a small unsolicited publisher to do it for you. The nuances of what self-publishing actually was, were entirely lost on me.
So, proactively, I did some research, and came up with some results: Amazon KDP was the easiest way to publish without costing you any money; an established wholesaler would be useful for expanded distribution; you can find cover artists everywhere; and barcodes were quite easy to buy.
And, the next thing I knew, by the end of the year I had contacted a cover artist who made The Fangs of War’s notorious snake cover; I had contacted an Irish cartographer to make a beautiful map; I had bought a barcode, and established an online social media presence on multiple platforms. As for the book, it was still a bit rough-around-the-edges, and I had no idea what I was doing going forwards, but on the 11th January 2022, I hit the ‘publish your book’ button for my debut novel.
And the rest, you see, is history…
An Afterword
One day, I hope writing can be something I wake up and do every morning, and go to bed planning every night. For it to be my career, and not just a ‘big hobby’. I want my books to be my legacy, and to entertain people across the world.
But, until that dream becomes a reality, it is people like you, reading this, who keep me going and keep that dream alive. It’s people like you that means I can wake up and do what I love every day, no matter for how long. So, whether your here because you’ve been here from the very beginning, or you’re just passing through on today’s browsing journey, I want to give my wholehearted thanks to each and every one of you, for giving me a moment of your time. Every click and every scroll and every purchase means the absolute world to me, and I can’t imagine my life now without this. You’ve made the little seven-year-old me who dreamed of this day incredibly happy.
And I hope I can do you all proud.