Orna Ross is the pen name of Aine McCarthy, born in 1960. She is an Irish author, former university teacher and advocate for creativism. She is the founder of the Alliance of Independent Authors, a professional association for authors who self-publish, 'indie authors', and has been named one of the 100 most influential people in publishing by The Bookseller, the UK publishing trade magazine.
Early life Ross was born in Waterford, Ireland and was raised in Murrintown, County Wexford. She attended Murrintown National School and Loreto Convent, Wexford. She completed two degrees at University College Dublin, including a bachelor's degree in English literature and a master's degree in gender studies. She worked for some years as a lecturer in culture and creativity studies at University College Dublin, teaching a creative and imaginative practice course that forms the basis of her Go Creative! book series.
Career
Writing career Ross published her first two nonfiction books under the byline Áine McCarthy with feminist publishing house Attic Press, Dublin: Body Matters for Women (1989) and Get Up and Go - a Travel Survival Guide for Women (1992). She published her novels, A Lover's Hollow and A Dance in Time, with Penguin Books.
In 2011, she took her rights back to self-publish her own work, changing the titles to: After the Rising and Before the Fall. Since then, Ross has self-published other works under her imprint Font Publications, like her standalone novel Blue Mercy. Ross published a double special edition work titled Secret Rose as a tribute to W. B. Yeats in 2015 which compiles Yeats' The Secret Rose (1897) and Ross' Her Secret Rose (2015).
That same year, Ross contributed a volume to Outside the Box: Women Writing Women. She collaborated on the box set of novels with six other female writers. Ross' fiction is often set in her home country of Ireland and have won awards such as the CAP Carousel Award and Goethe Grand Prize (2021).
Ross has published poetry collections, including a gift series for special occasions, each collection on a different topic: motherhood, love, loss and new beginnings. Her work Allowing Now won a Gold Literary Titan Book Award.
Ross also practises and writes about the concept of 'creativism', a term she coined to explain and explore the conscious application of creative principles to everything in life.
Alliance of Independent Authors Ross believes strongly in the benefits of self-publishing for authors both established and just starting out in their careers. In 2012, she launched the Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi), a not-for-profit organization that aims to protect the rights of writers and promote self-published books.
In her capacity as the head of ALLi, she has advised the BBC on publishing costs for an independent author. In 2014, she was referred to by The Guardian as an "indie star" of the writing world, and featured on the Guardian Books Podcast. In 2020 she joined the London Book Fair Advisory Board.
Works and appearances
Fiction Lovers' Hollow, Penguin, 2005 A Dance in Time, Penguin, 2008 After the Rising, Font Publications, 2012 Before the Fall, Font Publications, 2012 Blue Mercy, Font Publications, 2013 Outside the Box: Women Writing Women, Orna Ross and Joni Rodgers, 2015
Poetry Ten Thoughts About Love, Font Publications, 2011 Ten More Thoughts About Love, Font Publications, 2013 Ten More Thoughts About Love 2, Font Publications, 2013 Poetry for Christmas: Twelve Inspirational Poems for the Holiday Season, Font Publications, 2013 Keepers: Selected Inspirational Poetry, Font Publications, 2018 First Flush: Sample Inspirational Poetry, Font Publications, 2019 Allowing Now: A Book of Mindfulness Poetry, Font Publications, 2019 Bright Star: Inspirational Poetry, Font Publications, 2019 Night Light As It Rises, Font Publications, 2022 The Light of Love, Font Publications, 2023 Circle of Life, Font Publications, 2022
Nonfiction F-R-E-E Writing Notebook: A Go! Creative Tool. Font Publications, 2013 Opening Up To Indie Authors: A Guide for Bookstores, Libraries, Reviewers, Literary Event Organisers ... and Self-Publishing Writers, Alliance for Independent Authors, 2013 (with Dan Holloway and Debbie Young) Choosing A Self Publishing Service 2014: The Alliance of Independent Authors Guide. Alliance for Independent Authors, 2014 (with Mick Rooney and GiacomoGiammatteo) A Compendium For Creativists: How To Apply Creative Principles to Life: An Anthology, Font Publications, 2015 Creative Self-Publishing (3rd Edition), 2023 SelfPub3: Author Business Campaign, 2023 Go Creative! Planning Workbook for Authors & Poets, 2023 Go Creative! Monthly Mapping for Authors & Poets, 2023 Go Creative! Quarterly Review & Forecast for Authors & Poets, 2023 How Authors Sell Publishing Rights (2nd Edition), 2024
Podcast appearances Guardian Books Podcast (9 May 2014): Indie stars Hugh Howey, Orna Ross and Catherine Quinn explore how self-publishing is changing the literary landscape (Podcast) T E Shepherd (2014): (Orna Ross talks about self-publishing on BBC R4 PM. BBC Radio 4 (Podcast) Creative Penn by Joanna Penn (2014): Creating Money, Creating Meaning. Getting Into Financial Flow With Orna Ross
References
External links Official Web Page of Orna Ross Orna Ross Substack Orna Ross Linkedin