'I'm a viral author but I can't quit my job'

A former teacher said she remained a long way off being able to make a living as an author despite going viral on social media and her novel becoming an online bestseller.

Vicky Ball's post on X about proudly selling two books at an event in December was viewed 25 million times and received more than 740,000 likes.

It helped propel the 48-year-old's thriller novel, Powerless, to the top of Amazon's teen and young adult fiction chart.

Mrs Ball, who lives in Colchester, said the attention had been "wonderful" but the industry remained "very difficult" for small authors to become established in.

"People do come up to me and ask if I am going to give up my job now and I'm like 'Well no, not really'," said Mrs Ball, who previously taught in Suffolk and now works at the University of Essex.

"It is still very difficult for a small author to get out there.

"Obviously, if you look at the 25 million views on the post, if everyone had bought a book then that would have been amazing.

"I've sent emails to some book shops [asking them to stock my books] but I still haven't got anywhere."

She said the attention had helped her sell "a few hundred" books, with some going to countries around the world.

Among them was an American fan who requested signed copies, said Mrs Ball.

"It's really encouraged me to keep going with the writing and I have almost finished my third book," she said.

"Going viral has helped to get me out there, so maybe it will help have an impact in the future and I can get bigger and maybe sell more books.

"Quite a few smaller authors have told me that I have inspired them to keep going, so that was really nice."

Mrs Ball said not all of the social media reaction had been positive.

"You do get the odd sort of negative comment, but I think they're probably just trolls, so I don't take that seriously," Mrs Ball said.

"There was one comment on Instagram, where someone said my book sucked but then on the positive side loads of people defended me, which was really sweet."

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