What writing and self-publishing a historical fiction novel taught me as a young author

I started writing The Last Stand of a Queen because I became fascinated by the story of Rani Lakshmibai and realized how emotionally powerful historical fiction can be when it focuses on the human side of history rather than just events.

One thing that surprised me while self-publishing was how much time goes into things outside of writing itself. Research, editing, formatting, covers, marketing, and even learning how readers discover books ended up teaching me almost as much as writing did.

The biggest challenge for me was balancing historical accuracy with storytelling. I didn’t want the book to feel like a textbook, but I also didn’t want to lose the emotional weight of the real history behind it.

For other indie authors here:

How do you balance authenticity and readability when writing historical or research-heavy stories?