This Indie Author Ignored the Gatekeepers (and Won)

Author Brian Niemeier admits he didn’t hit it out of the park with his first novel.

Call it a bunt single, at best.

He might have given up at that point, but the stories in his imagination wouldn’t budge. Now, he has a gaggle of tales to his credit, and his latest novel builds on his literary empire (literally).

Think:

• The “Combat Frame XSeed” series
• “Strange Matter”
• “The Hymn of the Pearl”

And, now, “The Specter of Empire” 

Imagine warlords battling to subdue a continent … an emperor seduced by world conquest … a primal evil that lusts for total power. And that’s just the beginning.. 

As an independent creator, he often leans on crowdfunding campaigns to reach the finish line. He’s doing just that for his latest novel, and for anyone frustrated by the limited options in today’s market, it’s the perfect way to lend a hand AND make a difference.

Niemeier, Executive Editor at Kairos Publications, opened up to HiT about his latest project, why he dove head first into science fiction storytelling and how he resists the urge to wag his finger at readers.

The Specter of Empire is live!
Get early bird perks, limited rewards, and exclusive items at the link in the replies pic.twitter.com/n78TrmKWCX

— Brian Niemeier (@BrianNiemeier) November 6, 2025

HiT: Please share your origin story in the grand superhero tradition … how did you first start writing and, later, decide to devote so much time to the profession?

Niemeier: I started out like a lot of kids in the pre-digital era: nose buried in paperbacks, trying to figure out how these authors conjured whole worlds from sheer imagination. I didn’t grow up thinking I’d be a writer, but sometime in college I realized the urge to tell stories wasn’t going away.

My first forays into storytelling actually came through the tabletop roleplaying game hobby. But I started typing away on a novel in my scarce free time and eventually finished it.

Like all first novels, it was awful! But I persevered because the stories refused to stay cooped up in my head. Only after I got cancelled from my first real job out of school for holding the same opinions our grandparents took for granted did I devote my full attention to writing. And I discovered that people were actually willing to buy what I wrote. Once readers started asking for more, the choice to go full-tilt into my calling became pretty straightforward. If God gives you a talent and people want the fruit of it, you’d best use it.

HiT: You work consistently with genre stories … science fiction in particular … what drew you to this style of storytelling and what classic books have influenced you in this space?

Niemeier: Science fiction grabbed me early because it asks the biggest questions while still delivering spectacle. I was raised on a steady diet of Tolkien, Herbert, Wolfe, and the old science-fantasy pulp masters like Howard and Lovecraft.

Those guys weren’t afraid to mix mysticism with mad science, or theology with starships. That fusion has always felt like home to me. You can explore deep themes without letting the story collapse into a sermon. Genre fiction isn’t an escape from what matters. I see it as a stage where we can explore truth from a higher vantage point.

HiT: Share a sneak peek at The Spectre of Empire … do readers need to know any of your previous work, or can they jump right into this tale?

Niemeier: The Specter of Empire follows Zebrin, a young priest with a divine mandate and far more responsibility than he’s ready for. He sets out to rescue a friend’s enslaved mother and stumbles into a fiendish plot to unravel an empire. It’s high-stakes dark fantasy with more than a dash of sword and sorcery.

New readers can start here; Specter of Empire is a complete story. But reading books 1 and 2, The Burned Book and Lord of Fate, will help you see and appreciate the whole tapestry. That’s why we’ve made it easy to collect the whole series through the crowdfunding campaign.

HiT: Will readers find conservative themes in the saga?

Niemeier: Not in the bumper-sticker sense. I’m not interested in fiction that wags its finger at the reader. But I do write from a worldview that takes objective morality, transcendent order, and the dignity of the human person seriously. Those assumptions naturally run against the grain of the current cultural establishment, so some readers label them conservative. I think of them as simply true.

You’re all too familiar with the bigotry conservatives face in the literary world … can you briefly share how it manifests itself and how you’ve worked around it over the years?

At the legacy level, it’s straightforward: Major publishers blacklist writers who don’t toe the approved ideological line. And reviewers at the big outlets will happily tank a book or ignore it altogether if the author’s politics are “incorrect.”

The workaround is simple, though not necessarily easy. Don’t play the rigged game. Independent publishing, direct-to-reader relationships, and platforms like BackerKit make it possible to reach an audience without asking permission from people who don’t want you there in the first place. If you’re not invited to the party, don’t crash it. Throw your own.

HiT: Share why you’ve gone the crowdfunding route for Spectre of Empire — and why it’s a vital way for creatives to avoid the usual gatekeepers…

Niemeier: Crowdfunding lets readers and creators work together directly. There’s no middleman siphoning off revenue or telling you what you’re allowed to write. It also gives backers a stake in the final product.

They not only help the book exist, but have the chance to influence its final form. That collaborative energy produces better, more ambitious projects than anything a risk-averse corporate publisher would greenlight. Plus it’s sustainable and scalable. I can fund special editions, interior art, and expanded projects because readers choose to support them up front.

HiT: You previously wrote, Don’t Give Money to People Who Hate You — has that problem gotten worse in recent years? Better? How do conservatives address the matter?

Niemeier: It’s gotten more blatant. Corporations have dropped the mask. They tell you outright what they think of you, and then they expect you to keep paying them. But the good news is that more people are refusing to comply.

The solution isn’t complicated: Build alternatives, support creators who respect you and withhold patronage from institutions that despise you.

Every dollar is a vote.

HiT: What’s up next? Any thoughts on bringing your stories to a different medium? YouTube? The small screen? Other?

Niemeier: Next up is the 10th anniversary special edition of my Dragon Award-winning novel Souldancer, which will get an even more lavish deluxe treatment than its predecessor Nethereal did this year. After that, more Arkwright Cycle. It’s a big world, and I’m not done exploring it.

As for other media, we’ve already made inroads into ttrpgs and audio with some of my other works. I’ve appeared on YouTube a lot recently, particularly author David V. Stewart’s and Black Lodge Games’ channels. But adapting the novels into a video format would require a team with the right vision. If someone wants to build with me, I’m always glad to talk.