Tag: Interview Page 5 of 18

In A Few Quick Questions With..., Self-Published Authors Appreciation Week

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Dulin’s another who 1. Came my way thanks to JCM Berne and 2. Gave some specifics that really underscore what kind of commitment self-publishing takes. As I go through these Q&As one final time before publishing, my appreciation for what they do grows. Hope you find that to be the case yourselves.

Before we get into things, why don’t you give the reader a brief introduction to you and your work.
My name is James Lloyd Dulin, and my debut novel, No Heart for a Thief, came out on January 24, 2023. No Heart for a Thief is a dark, coming of age adult fantasy centered around two characters as they navigate a world of war and colonization. When the spirits place the fate of a young war orphan in Kaylo’s hands, he has to face the past he left behind and the war he abandoned to keep them both alive.

No Heart for a Thief is the first in a trilogy of books with the second, No Safe Haven to release fall 2023. This series will be great for fantasy fans who are interested in character driven plots, mentor relationships, unique magic systems, and non-European inspired settings..

You can find more about me, the first chapter of No Heart for a Thief, and signed copies on my website, https://www.jamesldulin.com/.
Books for sale: https://books2read.com/u/bxrzJD
Twitter and TikTok @jamesldulin

For editing, authors may spend money on beta readers, sensitivity readers, developmental editors, copy editors, and proofreaders. However, there are also ways to cut expenses and find people interested in helping out at no cost.

With No Heart for a Thief, I hired a couple of beta readers because it was easier to have them work on my time table, and they only charged $40 each. I also hired a sensitivity reader because I am writing about characters with identities that I do not share, which cost $400. I skipped a developmental editor because I had done so much work with a writing group, self-edits, and critique partners. Then my copy editor and proofreaders cost me $1,000 and $450 respectively.

When these prices are based on word count, it can get expensive in a genre like fantasy.

My next biggest expense was hiring my cover artist, Felix Ortiz. Felix is an expert and well-known in the self-published indie community, so his work came at a premium of $1,500. However, my brother is an expert at typography, so I was able to save money on cover design.

There are several other expenses here and there that pop up, but editing and cover art were the bulk of my pre-release costs.

To answer the question, I am working on earning my costs back and building an audience. Hopefully, I’ll make some money in the long run, but right now, more is going out than coming in as I prepare for books two and three of my trilogy.

Word-count costs like that would make me think about changing genres—or at least trying to switch to novellas 🙂

How did you get together with Felix Ortiz? Tell me about how cover design part of the process went. (it’s becoming a theme in these interviews, and it’s making me curious)
You aren’t wrong. Costs based on word count make me rethink my genre.

As for artwork, I emailed Felix through his ArtStation account with my idea for the cover, he got back to me fairly quickly. We emailed back and forth about the idea, then he went to work getting it ready for my launch timeline. Something about my original idea wasn’t working 100%. Felix was depicting it as described, but unfortunately what I asked for didn’t fit the vibe of the scene we were setting. We ended up finding our way through with a bit of trial and error, coming to a beautiful cover in my humble opinion. I credit Felix with a lot of the initial attention I received for my novel.

Self-publishing tends to have less external deadlines keeping one accountable. How do you maintain your work process or work ethic?
This is an interesting sentiment. Although, self-published authors do not have the same external pressures as traditionally published authors, there is a lot of pressure created by the culture around self-publishing.

One of the biggest strengths that self-publishing offers an author is that we can publish at a fraction of the speed of traditional publishers. As such, readers have come to expect a quicker output from the authors they follow. If an author isn’t releasing at least a book a year, they risk losing relevancy. Often, authors have to release multiple books a year to keep their momentum.

At the end of the day, no one is going to call us up demanding the new manuscript. However, if we have ambitions of growing a readership, we better produce.

Luckily, at least at this point, I really enjoy being a self-pub author and putting out my work. I’m in this to tell as many stories as I can. So, I’m glad there isn’t a machine holding back my time table.

If you were to start the process over with the experience you have now, what would you do differently?
If I had done more work to become a part of the indie fantasy community sooner, I would have had less stress struggling to figure out how to self-publish. I had a cover artist who tried to scam me and a copy editor who bailed on me, both of which set my process behind by months. However, once I connected with authors and talked to them about their connections, I was able to find a great team to help me publish my book.

The biggest lie about self-publishing is the name “self-publishing.” In order to do this right, you need a team to help you produce the book, but you also need a community to support you. There are so many things I don’t understand about publishing yet, so many techniques and marketing strategies that I haven’t thought of. If I had to do it on my own, my book would be lying in obscurity—or more obscurity.

Seriously, finding my place in the indie author community has helped me figure things out while maintaining my mental and emotional health through the process.
This second paragraph is gold—and am sure that it’ll generate a few “amen”s.

How do you decide a book is finally finished and ready? (or how do you avoid “perfection as the enemy of good”?)
I have only made this decision once so far, but I’m getting close to making it again. No Heart for a Thief was ready for me when I decided that I would be proud for people to read the book with my name on it. When I stopped needing other people to tell me it was good and I knew that it was, my book became ready to release.

There is always going to be something to improve, especially since I am always going to be improving. If I finish my tenth novel, and I have not grown as an author, I have not been an author worth reading. The story is not the only important part of a book. The craft, the way we tell the story, is just as important. If I’m not honing that, I have failed as an author.

That is a long way of saying, that I have to be comfortable knowing that I will grow beyond they first book I published. However, I have to know that when I published it, I was proud of the work I had done. If I can say that, it was the right decision.

Thanks for your time and participation! Hope you enjoyed it! And do know that there are many of us out here who appreciate and applaud what you do (and our number is growing)!

Be sure to check out No Heart for a Thief!

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The Inside Scoop—A Q&A with Andi Ewington About Self-Publishing

In A Few Quick Questions With..., Self-Published Authors Appreciation Week

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I’m very glad to be able to include Andi Ewington as part of this series–he has experience being published by others in addition to being self-published, and that perspective is important. Also, over the last couple of months I’ve found him to be a supportive, fun, and generous guy, and why wouldn’t I want to expose more people to someone like him? I think Ewington was the first to send his responses in, just based on some of my follow-up questions. I’m wondering if I shouldn’t have taken another shot at some of these after reading what others said, but that problem is with me–not with anything Ewington contributed.

Before we get into things, why don’t you give the reader a brief introduction to you and your work.
I’m Andi Ewington, Writer & Game Director. I’ve written Campaigns & Companions, The Hero Interviews, and many comics for IPs such as Just Cause, Dark Souls, Fighting Fantasy, and Vikings (TV Series). I’m usually found on Twitter as @AndiEwington, while most of my books are available from Amazon.

What are some of the biggest misconceptions you find that readers have about self-published books?
I think the biggest misconception is around the quality of any self-published work because it hasn’t been released via a traditional publishing route. I would say there’s a lower entry bar for sure (you don’t usually have an editor demanding rewrites or making company decisions on your work)—but it doesn’t mean that every self-published book isn’t up to scratch—if anything, being the gatekeeper to my work has pushed me to over-deliver on quality.

Something tells me that this is going to be the misconception that everyone mentions here, and I’m all for having a bunch of people react to it.
Exactly!

What kind of costs are associated with self-publishing a book? Do you hire one or more editors, or one editor for a couple of passes? Cover artist? Anyone to help with layout, design, etc.? Beta readers? Or do you take it all on yourself? Are you actually making any money at this, or are you still focused on breaking-even while building an audience?
This is a real ‘how long is a piece of string question’. In short, you have to ask yourself, as a self-published writer, ‘What can I do myself versus what do I need to pay for—and if I can’t pay for it, how can I thank those that do help?’ So, for The Hero interviews, even though I have over 30 years of graphic design experience, I wanted to pay for an illustrated cover drawn in a particular style—that came with a sizeable financial outlay. For editing, I pulled a favour from a close friend in exchange for a credit on the cover. Several volunteers offered to beta read for me—all were credited and thanked in the acknowledgements. I designed the cover, set the interior pages, created the ebook file, submitted it through Kindle Direct Printing, typeset the interior pages for paperback, and submitted it all over again. Beyond the illustrative cover—the biggest expense is time. As for making money, it’s almost impossible with just one book (unless you’re fortunate) to make enough to sustain a lifestyle beyond living in cardboard boxes. I’m lucky to have a good enough job that allows me the luxury to write without any financial expectations. That said, I’ve probably just about made a small profit after covering the costs of my initial outlay.
A profit is a profit! Congrats! [having read all the Q&As now, want to underline that–any kind of profit is fantastic]

Are you using any kind of crowd-funding to help with that? What have those experiences been like?
I’ve never used crowd-funding; I have a bit of a conflict of interest that I don’t want to go too much into—but it’s an avenue that isn’t viable for me. I’ve seen plenty who have both succeeded and failed. Getting the postage right seems to be the biggest pitfall; if you are over budget for it—you may end up paying out far more than you initially planned.
Sure postage. The one thing I’d really never think of if I were setting something like this up. You think the big stuff to worry about would be cover design, editing–just writing the things–while keeping your day job. But it all comes down to spending the right kind of time at stamps.com or whereever.

Do you do your own cover design, or have you found people to help with that? It seems almost as difficult as writing the novel itself–talk about the process a bit.
I have an unfair advantage with 30 years of design experience. I can design my own cover and get it print ready to the correct dimensions with relative ease (coincidentally, I will do exactly that for my following (12) books to save on costs). For ‘The Hero Interviews’, I was more than happy to employ the services of a professional illustrator (Conor Nolan—who did a fantastic job!).

Are there tools, mentors, websites you’ve found to help you through this process? Or did you stumble through blindly on your own?
Self-publishing embraces the ‘learn on the job’ mantra—that said, Reedsy.com is a fantastic place to start if you’re looking to get an ebook file produced. The rest of the time, I was bumbling along, trying my best not to make any mistakes (spoiler alert, if it’s your first-time self-publishing, you will make mistakes—don’t worry too much about it).

How do you juggle marketing/PR/etc. with writing new work? (along with day jobs, family, hobbies, etc., etc.)
Self-publishing is always a constant juggle. Carving out the same time each day is a great way to complete your novel (which is the hardest part of the journey). With self-publishing, as most of the work falls upon your shoulders, you’ll have to spend more time with your head buried in your computer, scouring community forums trying to figure out why your footnote pop-ups aren’t displaying correctly on your ebook than not. As obvious as it sounds, try to focus on doing just one thing and do it well rather than spreading yourself too thin and delivering something that’s under par.

How do you promote your book–what things have worked best for you? What kind of lessons have you learned for things not to do (at least for you)? Do you do any in-person marketing, or are you all on-line (I assume predominately online)
Primarily, for self-publishing, online will be your go-to. Social platforms like Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter will give you a better chance of expanding your reach. Of course, all this depends greatly on your followers count—so maximizing engagement opportunities is key. Understanding how a market reacts is also essential. As a self-published author, it’s tempting to shout about anything new immediately—but you’ll have a better chance of making a sale if you shorten the distance between engagement and when a book is available. I’ve been guilty of wasting a golden opportunity simply by announcing something before the book is ready to be purchased. You’ll only have a small window of opportunity with most of your audience; learning how to leverage this for maximum impact is invaluable.

What’s the breakdown of your audience—do you have a strong local base, or are your readers from other parts of the world?
Your largest potential audience will always be around the genre you’ve chosen to write in—after that, it probably be based on your location. I know I’m strong in my home country (UK), but I’ve also a sizeable following elsewhere across the globe—especially in America. As my work draws inspiration from British TV comedy—I tend to attract fans with a similar sense of humour.

You’ve been around the block enough to at least have an educated guess here–do you think this is how it’s going to be for self-published authors going forward? People finding you more based on their tastes than localities? It’s just as easy for me to grab a UK author as much as a US one anymore (largely). It seems to me that self-published authors would have to have a strong local base to keep them going, but now it’s more of a taste/social-media base? Does that sound about right? Or would you describe it differently?
The world is much smaller these days—I don’t think it matters where your audience is based. Sure, cultural tastes change from region to region, but if you’ve pitched your tent in a particular field (say Fantasy/Comedy 🙂 ), then I think you’re going to find fans naturally gravitate towards your work regardless of where they are. Social media has made it easier for a Self-Publisher to reach other territories in a single post—I know from my own sales I have a large following in the US, almost rivaling the one I have in the UK. You’ve got to put in the groundwork and engage with those communities you think will pick up your book; if you don’t—it will be much harder to be noticed in a crowded market.

What made you decide that self-publishing was the direction you wanted to go? How often do you question that choice? How do you get through the self-doubt?
There’s a belief that you’re somehow less of an author if you self-publish—but I’ve never thought that. Sure, I always liked the kudos of being picked up by a large publisher. However, after my initial experiences with self-publishing, I don’t think I’ll ever go back to jumping through hoops to bag a traditional publishing contract again. As for self-doubt—I have to remind myself that I’m no worse off than I would be if I had been traditionally published—plus, I much prefer not having to answer to an editor who wants to cut your book in half to save costs and get your overall page count down.
That’s a great way to deal with self-doubt.

Have you thought about trying to get a deal with major (or indie) publishers for upcoming works, or are you planning on sticking with self-publishing?
I chose self-publishing because I had exhausted all other traditional options. I had been rejected repeatedly and decided enough was enough, and I would go it alone.

Odds are, you’re doing this from love/passion, not to pay the bills. What keeps you going? I’m assuming there are more “who”s than “what”s, actually–who is it?
My kids—I want them to follow their dreams. Writing is my dream—and I hope it gives them the courage to follow their dreams too.

Self-publishing tends to have less external deadlines keeping one accountable. How do you maintain your work process or work ethic?
Time schedules and dedication. You must have discipline—sometimes saying ‘no’ to distractions and getting on with your book. It’s a long, hard road—but the feeling of publishing something from start to finish without needing an external publisher is hugely satisfying.

If you were to start the process over with the experience you have now, what would you do differently?
Write a shorter book. 195,000 words is the equivalent of ‘The Fellowship of the Rings’. Next time, I will write something that doesn’t take me 6 weeks to proof!

What is your favorite and least favorite thing about being self published?
Having to shout from the rooftops about your book—I don’t enjoy feeling like a hawker trying to sell their wares. It’s a necessary evil—if you don’t shout about your book, someone else will shout about theirs instead.

What was your process for learning how to take care of all the facets that go into self-publishing? (editing, book cover and design, ISBN, finding places to sell/distribute, etc.)?
As mentioned, there’s a lot of learning as you go along. Fortunately, Amazon’s Kindle Direct Printing handles many design, ISBN, and distribution questions. That doesn’t mean they’ll have the answers to everything—but it’s a good start.

This is the second time you’ve mentioned Amazon’s KDP. Are they essential for the contemporary self-published author, or were they just the option you picked and/or the most expedient?
The latter for me; I wanted a quick solution to market. I didn’t want the hassle of having lots of spinning plates to manage—KDP offered a large potential customer base and a way to monitor and maintain sales.

How do you decide a book is finally finished and ready? (or how do you avoid “perfection as the enemy of good”?)
I don’t think a book is ever really ready—you have to decide what mistakes you’re happy for a reader to find. Self-publish has one huge advantage, however—at any point I spot an error after being published (on Amazon) either digitally or physically, I can amend the mistake and submit it again to KDP and have the new version up online within 72 hours—now that’s something traditional publishers are less inclined to do for you at the drop of a hat!

Thanks for your time and participation! Hope you enjoyed it! And do know that there are many of us out here who appreciate and applaud what you do (and our number is growing)!

Be sure to check out The Hero Interviews and the rest of his work so he doesn’t have to be the only one shouting about his books!

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The Inside Scoop—A Q&A with Michael Michel About Self-Publishing

In A Few Quick Questions With..., Self-Published Authors Appreciation Week

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Michael Michel is another author that came to my attention (and this series) thanks to JCM Berne. I really enjoyed his answers here and our interactions around this. Much like every grimdark author I’ve heard interviewed, you wouldn’t think someone this fun could produce something so…well grim and dark. Hope you enjoy this half as much as I did.

Before we get into things, why don’t you give the reader a brief introduction to you and your work.
I’m the debut author of “The Price of Power,” a grimdark epic fantasy book about loss, redemption, grief, and the danger of beliefs. It’s like Game of Thrones meets X-men, or First Law meets a plot. At least, those are the two series my reviewers liken it to most often. I often find myself flattered by what folks say about it.

Social and Links
FREE NOVELLA: https://dl.bookfunnel.com/f1vi1k6lx9
The Price of Power: https://www.amazon.com/Price-Power-Book-1/dp/B0BTKZPNF9/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8
Twitter Handle: @Michael__Michel (that’s two underscores in the middle)
Instagram: @michaelmichelauthor

What kind of costs are associated with self-publishing a book? Do you hire one or more editors, or one editor for a couple of passes? Cover artist? Anyone to help with layout, design, etc.? Beta readers? Or do you take it all on yourself? Are you actually making any money at this, or are you still focused on breaking-even while building an audience?
More costs than you might think. At least, more than I was aware of. The more common ones are book cover ($500+ for a good one) and editor (varies by need but upwards of a $1,000 for a big book). I hired a proofreader only, but that’s not recommended for everyone. The editors I reached out to said it was pretty polished, so you have to work really hard if you want to save on editing. Beta readers assisted with all the same duties a developmental editor would have, so that was an easy skip for me. I formatted it myself, too, but found it to be more fun than expected. Atticus is great and you only buy it once—same with Scrivener which I needed for a novel/series as expansive and convoluted as mine. Those are all the expenses one might expect. The hidden costs are things like ISBNs, BookFunnel, websites and newsletter builders, and a ton more software-type crap like that. If you want to market well, you’ve got to be setup to do so. And giveaways…I’ve given out a lot of ARC copies ($25 a pop if physical) and there are those, more successful than I, who gave out way more.

I’m making money, sure. Getting better all the time and my Kickstarter was a success. Am I making a net profit though? If I am, it’s negligible. This year is all about setting up for the long haul. I’d say that’s the rule more than the exception. New authors be prepared to invest if you’re serious.

What made you decide that self-publishing was the direction you wanted to go? How often do you question that choice? How do you get through the self-doubt?
I actually wanted to go traditional. I thought indie was less credible, and let’s be honest, in comparison to traditional, it still is a lot of the time but not to the level it used to be. Great authors are now coming out of the indie scene at an ever-increasing rate. When I made the choice, I’d just started reaching out to agents. Maybe fifteen of them. Got a partial request pretty quickly but it fizzled just as fast. I didn’t see the point in continuing. My energy dragged while doing it, and the outlook of ever seeing my novel published seemed so far away. I have a driven mentality and a decent self-marketing skill set, but even this didn’t fully convince me.

My friend, Jerry Oltion, has that honor. If you don’t know him, he’s a Nebula winner, multi-time Hugo nominee, writer of Star Trek books, and is the most published author in Analog Magazine’s history (with like 100 short stories). Suffice it to say, I needed someone with credibility to kill my dreams of credibility. He said, “I think the New York dinosaur has just about breathed its last.” It was a long email, full of convincing reasons to go indie—all from a trad author, no less. It was just the push I needed, and I couldn’t have been more excited to make the leap afterward. I felt free.

I’ve probably already made as much as the average trad author makes on a book. And I’ve retained total control. With more books lined up, I feel like it’s a good position to be in.

I absolutely question my decision sometimes. On days when I make less than a dollar. On days when I get less than a five-star review. On days when I’m sucked up in social media all day when I would rather be writing. Self-doubt sticks to the sedentary, so I just make sure to keep plowing forward.

Have you thought about trying to get a deal with major (or indie) publishers for upcoming works, or are you planning on sticking with self-publishing?
Here’s the thing. Once you go indie, you’re kind of locked in unless you become very successful. Publishers want to know what your indie sales have been, and if they aren’t amazing, they see that as a sign it’s probably not going to work with them either. Conversely, if you do really well as an indie author, then there’s less point in going traditional because you’re likely making more and retaining all the control.

That said, if a big trad publisher came along with a hefty advance, I’d probably take it even if it meant less money long-term. The exposure, the validation, and the chance to rub elbows with other trad authors under the same organizational umbrella is too great an opportunity to pass up. It’s not all about the money for me anyway. It’s about producing the best product I can and entertaining the hell out of people. Honestly, having access to the best-of-the-best editors is very alluring. I often wonder how good my book could be if it had a premier expert combing over it six times. Better, I expect. Much better.

Self-publishing tends to have less external deadlines keeping one accountable. How do you maintain your work process or work ethic?
Let me lead with the caveat that everyone is different. Carrot or stick, you do what you have to in order to create art. Drink raw eggs, sleep upside down, sacrifice a bull, or sip a coffee: it doesn’t matter. Just get it done. I take this approach to a degree as well. Although, readers telling you nice things and saying they want more is always a major motivator.

I consistently set 1-2 months goals. Once I have that signpost, I get pretty excited and the energy starts to flow. Fortunately, writing is one of the things I love doing most. A note on goal setting though: don’t set a goal that isn’t achievable. Whatever you think you can accomplish, stretch it a bit or reduce your aspiration. Better to guarantee success than miss your ambitions by a mile. Good for the brain (specifically, the nucleus acumbens).

How do you decide a book is finally finished and ready? (or how do you avoid “perfection as the enemy of good”?)
It’s usually accompanied by the sound of your soul shrieking and a little part of you dying. Haha. Kidding…kinda. Letting your ego die in order to publish is the both the suffering and freedom we authors live by.

Perfectionism itself is a double-edged sword. I like to think of rockets launching into space. Giant fuel cells known as “stages” are jettisoned as the rocket climbs through the atmosphere. Once their fuel is used up, they’re dead weight.

Perfectionism is the same; it pushed me to make, “The Price of Power” as good as it could be, but at some point, I needed to let it go in order to coast smoothly to my next endeavor. Even now, I still read sections of my book sometimes and find a dozen things per page I might change. Well, as authors, we’ve got to understand a valuable principle:

We’re always growing, and honing our craft.

The more we write, the better we get. By the end of draft 5, you’ve got ideas about how draft 6 could be better. Every work you write makes you better at writing. If you understand this, you’re better able to let go and move on knowing the next will demonstrate your current skill more clearly The work grows with us. This what kills Patrick Rothfuss, I think. He can’t help himself but to rewrite more.

I’ve found that people don’t care as much about the nitty gritty as I do, anyway. Look no further than Brando Sando as an example. The man’s not the greatest writer, but damn can he produce a bunch of novels and keep readers’ imaginations well-fed. Readers want authors that satisfy their needs, not the authors’ own ego.

In conclusion, perfectionism is a good tool, but a bad way of life.
That’s a good line. I should try to adopt that.

Thanks for your time and participation! Hope you enjoyed it! And do know that there are many of us out here who appreciate and applaud what you do (and our number is growing)!

Be sure to check out Michel’s novel—looks like a great grim time!

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The Inside Scoop—A Q&A with H.C. Newell About Self-Publishing

In A Few Quick Questions With..., Self-Published Authors Appreciation Week

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I was aware of H.C. Newell only because I’d skim something on Twitter and have to stop—”I never said anything like that…oh, Newell. Never mind.” I’m very glad that JCM Berne got us together—if only so the two of us could clear up our name confusion. But more than that, I enjoyed these answers and advice. I took something away from it, hope you do, too.

Before we get into things, why don't you give the reader a brief introduction to you and your work.
Heyooo my name is H.C. Newell (Not to be confused with the illustrious H.C. Newton who is running this shindig) I’ve been writing my entire life and published my first book, Curse of the Fallen, in 2021. I’m sure you’ve heard of it, but if not, here is a quick little blurb and even a link to chapter one that you can read for free 😀

Nerana is a sorceress born in a world where magic is forbidden. Outcast, exiled, and hunted since birth, she seeks to free herself of a curse that ties her to the Order of Saro who relentlessly hunt her down.

Her hope now lies in a legend from the time of the elves that speaks of the Trials of Blood, a test that promises salvation. Darkness gathers, and the hunters close in on their prey, but with little left to lose Nerana embarks on her perilous journey and soon learns that the path to redemption may prove more fatal than the Order itself.

But for Nerana, this is more than a quest for survival… it’s a promise of revenge.

You digging it? Grimdark Magazine called it “a grimdark twist on classic Tolkienesque fantasy”

My Linktree has all my links, including a PDF of chapter one for you to download and read 😀

How do you promote your book–what things have worked best for you? What kind of lessons have you learned for things not to do (at least for you)? Do you do any in-person marketing, or are you all on-line (I assume predominately online)
Networking has worked the best for me. I love people and interacting and just integrating myself into the community. (I’ve never used paid ads and never will.) The book speaks for itself, so I just share my blurb and cover and let readers decide if they want to give it a shot. Everyone has their style, and I know my book isn’t for everybody, so all I can do is show it to you and let you decide if it’s a good fit. 😀

Supporting other authors, making connections, and genuinely caring about their success can make a huge difference. Don’t just be in this for yourself – we’re all in this together. That’s my philosophy, anyway. Everyone is trying to succeed, and some may view others as competition, but there are billions of people in the world and millions of books to read – there is no need to try to put yourself above someone else. Be kind, be caring, and enjoy the journey.

My advice for newer authors, or those struggling to see sales: make yourself known. No one will see your book if you don’t show it to us. Be part of the community, work together with others and find friendship in fellow authors or readers. I promise we’re a good bunch.

Sound advice! A rising tide does seem to lift all boats. Indie and self-published authors seem to be great at lifting each other up—and yeah, it does make me more inclined to check someone out when I see them interacting with others. I don’t know if it’s possible (this feels like one of those job interview questions I hate), but can you give a specific example?
Uh… haha it’s hard to really be more specific here. Just being involved in the community and caring about other’s successes as much as your own is a good start. My philosophy is that we’re all in this together. This isn’t a competition, it’s a journey.

Join the discords, join twitter, integrate yourself within the community, make friends, and also be sure that your cover and blurb are attracting readers. Reach out to bloggers for review copies, send out arc copies, join sale events. The list goes on 🙂

Another big thing I forgot to mention: don’t ever ever compare yourself to others. It’s something we all struggle with, and it can really make or break your spirit. There is a big luck (and monetary) factor that comes with success, and just because someone else is having more success than you right now don’t mean you won’t or don’t deserve to be recognized. Just focus on yourself, what you’ve achieved, and keep moving forward. Don’t give up or lose yourself to the ‘why’s’

ToriTalks has an amazing video that I think is very motiving for authors who are struggling with things like this. Dear Writer Video

Self-publishing tends to have less external deadlines keeping one accountable. How do you maintain your work process or work ethic?
I never ever ever rush or force anything. I’d rather wait two years for an amazing book/movie/game to release than to have it now for the sake of deadlines and it be subpar. So, I don’t really have a schedule. I can’t. My brain doesn’t work that way. Creativity ebbs and flows, so I roll with the punches. Some days I can write entire chapters, other days I can’t write a single word. I have a deadline in mind that I strive to meet, but I never set an actual date until my book is in my editor’s hands and I know it’ll be completed in time.

If you were to start the process over with the experience you have now, what would you do differently?
I would research more, not hire an editor for things like developmental editing and used beta’s instead. I would’ve had more beta readers and I would’ve read more books so I could’ve understood what readers enjoy. I’d have also joined twitter from the start, instead of being so afraid of it and waiting 2 years!

Why not an editor for the developmental stage—just the kind of feedback they provided vs. your betas? How many beta readers did you use, and how many would you have? For you, what does a good beta reader bring to the table? (this is partially selfish, I’ve done it twice and haven’t been satisfied with what I produced)
I had a developmental editor, and the price (for me) wasn’t worth it. Everything they tell you can be told by a beta reader for free. This isn’t advice for someone else to follow, just what I would’ve done differently for myself. Some people prefer dev edits because the trust the opinion of a professional on those things. Book one I had 1 beta reader, book 2 I had 3. I think 3-5 is a good number that isn’t overwhelming.

For me, I don’t care to have betas correct my grammar or try to edit the novel. It’s fine when they do, but I get the most help when they can give their honest feedback on more structural things like pacing, plot progression, how captivating the scenes are, etc. Just general reactions are my favorite types of beta feedback.

How do you decide a book is finally finished and ready? (or how do you avoid “perfection as the enemy of good”?)
For me, a book is never perfect. I’ve read my book a dozen times since I published, and every single time, I find things that I want to change. It’s just a part of being an author. You are your biggest critic. Once the book is completely written (draft 1) you need to comb through it with a critical eye, find what works and what doesn’t, polish it up, and then send draft 2 to beta readers. Once you’ve read through their suggestions and made the necessary changes, then it’s time to send to the editor.

Your book is finished after it’s completely written, reread by you and then read by a handful of readers who can help you find mistakes you may have missed along the way.

I can rarely stomach re-reading a blog post of mine because I want to tweak so many things, and I devote far less time to one than a novel would take. I can’t imagine doing it to a novel. The last time that you revisited Curse of the Fallen, what kind of changes did you want to make—are we talking a word here or there, a few lines—chapters/events?
Well, the last time I actually sat down to re-edit Curse, I added 40,000 words and 4 chapters lol!!! I still find things that I want to change, such as slowing the pace, adding more filler, slowing down some of the relationship arcs, etc, but no book is perfect, and readers are always happy to point out flaws that you wish you could change. I have to learn to stop reading ANY book with a critical/editorial eye and to just enjoy the journey.:)

Thanks for your time and participation! Hope you enjoyed it! And do know that there are many of us out here who appreciate and applaud what you do (and our number is growing)!

I encourage you to go check out all of H.C. Newell‘s work!

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The Inside Scoop—A Q&A with Jonathan Fesmire About Self-Publishing

In A Few Quick Questions With..., Self-Published Authors Appreciation Week

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I’ve talked about Fesmire’s Steampunk Westerns a lot–I’ve even promoted his crowd-funding campaigns. So I was quite pleased to get him to talk about his self-publishing work, too. I hope you enjoy it.

Before we get into things, why don’t you give the reader a brief introduction to you and your work.
Sure! I’ve been writing for decades, and I’ve been a science fiction, fantasy, and horror fan all my life. I write steampunk westerns with robots and zombies, all in the same world I’ve been building for years. I call it the Creedverse, after the main character, 1870s lawman James “Bodacious” Creed.

The easiest way to find all my links is via my Linktree site at https://linktr.ee/jonathanfesmire. From there, you can visit my website, join my newsletter and get a free short story, check out my books on various sites, including Audible, visit the Creedverse site, and even check out my TikTok channel.

Are you using any kind of crowd-funding to help with that? What have those experiences been like?
Indeed I do! I’ve run crowdfunding campaigns for my trilogy, The Adventures of Bodacious Creed. It’s a fantastic way to get the word out about the new book, make some early sales, and get enough money to pay for editing and cover art, plus fulfilling the rewards.

For the first book in my series, Bodacious Creed: a Steampunk Zombie Western, I ran the Kickstarter when I had a basic outline for the novel. I knew I’d be able to write it. What this allowed me to do is give backers, depending on their backer level, input into the story. One integral character was based on the backer himself. By the time I was on the third book, Bodacious Creed and the San Francisco Syndicate, I’d written the first draft, then ran the campaign.

As I recall, you’ve used a couple of different crowd-funding sites in the past. What are the pluses/minuses for each? Any advice for someone thinking of trying this method?
I prefer Kickstarter, because Kickstarter has a larger audience than Indiegogo. With Kickstarter, if your project doesn’t raise it’s goal, it doesn’t go through. But on Indiegogo, you can have a goal, and get the funding even if the project makes less. So, here’s what I figured out with my last Kickstarter campaign, the one for my novel Bodacious Creed and the San Francisco Syndicate: Set the goal to the lowest amount that will help you.

Here’s what I mean by that. You may have a project that you need a certain amount of money to even be able to afford. Maybe you project that it will cost $2,000 just to develop a product. Then, you need to fulfil the backer orders, including shipping. Certain backer levels will cost a higher percentage of what backers pay for you to produce. For example, digital copies of books are essentially free to send out, while print copies cost more. So, if someone pledges $5.00 for a digital book, that’s $5 you can put toward costs like editing and cover art. If a person pledges $25 for a paperback (plus $5 for shipping), you may make $15 on that. That’s 100% toward development for the digital copies, and 60% from the print copy (not counting the shipping).

I recommend people check out Don Stainsberg’s The Kickstarter Handbook, which provides the info they’ll need to create a spreadsheet to figure out how low they can set their goal and still make enough to cover everything.

Anyway, what I realized when running my last Kickstarter was this. I was going to pay for editing and cover art, anyway. And that meant that any bit of money I raised from a Kickstarter would offset my costs, and I could set the goal to something low. I set it for $300. If that meant I ended up with $150 to put toward those services, that was better than nothing. What ended up happening, though, was the $300 was pledged in six hours! I added a sticker to the graphic that said, “Funded in 6 hours!” That looks really good to potential backers. And it ended up raising $1,681. I was hoping for $1,600, so that was great.

So, my advice would be to use Kickstarter, but put the goal at the lowest level that will cover your expenses. Or, if you plan to pay those, anyway, you can set it even lower.

How do you juggle marketing/PR/etc. with writing new work? (along with day jobs, family, hobbies, etc., etc.)
I’m lucky that I work from home! At my day job, I’m a content writer, so I’m basically writing for work, writing my fiction, worldbuilding, or editing a lot of the time. I’m a single dad and, of course, spend a lot of time with my son. But being able to do all my work from home really helps.

Self-publishing tends to have less external deadlines keeping one accountable. How do you maintain your work process or work ethic?
You have to get to a point where you internalize the urgency to write. Also, you need to remember that it’s a long-haul sort of profession. Writing a novel takes time. Get 500 to 1,000 words written a day, and you’re making good progress. If you can do more, great. But you need to understand it’s a process you need to take a day at a time.

“Internalize the urgency,” I like that phrase. It lines up with what some others in this series are telling me—it’s not so much a matter of work-ethic (although I’m sure it’s there, too), but about interest in the work. Did you have to cultivate that to go from “aspiring author” to “working author” or did you start with it?
’ve definitely had periods when I wasn’t writing much, and in the aughts, I focused on digital art for a while. I’m glad I got back to writing, which I feel is my true calling.

Writers are people who feel a need to write and do so to get their thoughts down. It’s how we best deal with our emotions and everything going on in our heads. So, writing is just what I do. And I write a lot every day. Most days, I write in my online journal, I work on whatever book I have in progress, and I also write for my day job as a content writer.

I think I had to accept that this is just what I do, and that it’s good for me. The fact that I’m not getting any younger helps, too! I’m 53, and by the time I leave this world, I want to have a lot of books out. I also hope to make enough off my books so that when I retire from my day job, I’ll be making a good living on top of my social security.

One thing that helped a lot is learning to outline my books before writing them. I have to admit, it took me a long time to learn that. I was a pantser for too long, and that meant my books came along painfully slowly. Now, rather than taking four years to write a book, it takes me a year to a year and a half. And I’m trying to streamline that even more. (A pantser is someone who writes books without a plan and figures it out as they go.) I now use a beat sheet to plan the major plot points of a novel and figure out how to get from one point to the next as I go.

Another useful way to get a lot of writing done is by using the pomodoro technique, also known as writing sprints. Set an alarm for 15 to 25 minutes, and during that time, all you do is write. When the timer goes off, you stop, and take a short break, then repeat. Do this a few times every day, and you’ll get a lot of writing done.

Thanks for your time and participation! Hope you enjoyed it! And do know that there are many of us out here who appreciate and applaud what you do (and our number is growing)!

If you like Steampunk, Westerns, Zombies–especially all three–or just books that are fun and well-told, be sure to check out all of Fesmire’s work!

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The Inside Scoop—A Q&A with Alex Robins About Self-Publishing

In A Few Quick Questions With..., Self-Published Authors Appreciation Week

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When JCM Berne’s post brought me an email from Alex Robins something gnawed at the back of my mind. It took me entirely too long to remember that I’d recently participated in a cover reveal for his book, Panacea. I was so glad to learn a bit more about his work and am eager to share it with you.

Before we get into things, why don’t you give the reader a brief introduction to you and your work.
Hi there and thank you for putting this whole thing together! I’m Alex Robins, an indie self-published author, originally from Norwich in the UK. I moved to France in 1995 at the age of thirteen, and I’ve been living here ever since! I now share my time between writing and running a tech firm close to Angers, an attractive city in the western part of the Loire Valley.

I’ve written two series. The first is called the War of the Twelve, a fast-paced, action-packed epic fantasy spanning four novels and a handful of short stories. The second is The Ruined Gods, an Ancient-Greek inspired fantasy trilogy. The first book Panacea, is out right now and entered into this year’s SPFBO contest, with the second book releasing in September and the final part sometime early next year.

Depending on your choices, your budget will vary wildly.

There is one indubitable, irrevocable fact that I’m sure no other indie author will dispute (if they do, we’ll have to settle our grievances in single combat): your book will not sell well or be well-received if it hasn’t been professionally edited and doesn’t have a professional-looking cover.

There are a few very (very!) minor exceptions but for the most part, that’s the deal-breaker.

If your book is the best thing since sliced bread but you mocked up the cover yourself in Microsoft paint, no one will ever know how good it is because no one will be drawn to the cover.

Conversely, if your book’s cover was designed by the greatest artist who ever lived but has five typos, six grammatical errors, and two repeated sentences on the first page, people will buy it … but they won’t finish it, and may even leave a bad review.

An editor will set you back several thousand dollars per book. Editors specialize in one or several different facets of revision too (from development to proofreading), so your manuscript may need more than one editor depending on what you are looking for.

You can find some great professional covers for as little as $300, but these will be using manipulated stock art so you have to be okay with the fact that your cover will not be unique (or at the very least, parts of the cover may be reused for something else).

Hiring an artist and layout designer for a truly unique cover is much more expensive, around $1500-$2000 at the very minimum.
Those are the two major areas I would personally recommend investing in. Optionally, you can also set aside funds for proof copies, an internet site, a mailing-list builder, and marketing.

I invested heavily in all of these and it took me roughly a year to break even on my debut novel, but that length of time is going down with subsequent releases.

Are there tools, mentors, websites you’ve found to help you through this process? Or did you stumble through blindly on your own?
One of the great things about self-publishing is the altruism of fellow authors. I would have never been able to publish my first book properly without their help.

Ryan Cahill started publishing more or less at the same time as me and has gone on to sell over 50,000 books. He wrote a great article on what worked for him that I still refer to occasionally: Things I Wish I Knew When I Started Self-Publishing

Kindlepreneur is a wonderful resource for anyone publishing digitally, and they host a smorgasbord of useful tools including Publisher Rocket and Atticus: https://kindlepreneur.com/

David Gaughran is a well-respected marketing guru who had a ton of good advice available for free on his site, and if you sign up for his newsletter you can get a whole lot more, including free books on publishing and marketing: https://davidgaughran.com/
There are many, many others, but this is a good start!

How do you juggle marketing/PR/etc. with writing new work? (along with day jobs, family, hobbies, etc., etc.)
It’s incredibly difficult. I don’t really get to choose when I write, as professional and family obligations come first. My more-or-less only writing time is late in the evening, once the kids are in bed and I have spent some time with my wife.

As I touched on in the previous question, I think very early on a self-pub author needs to decide whether they are writing for money, or for something else. For me, it was (and still is) all about the escapism that writing brings. Financial gain and recognition come second to that. So, I always prioritize writing first, then anything else when I have time.

Have you thought about trying to get a deal with major (or indie) publishers for upcoming works, or are you planning on sticking with self-publishing?
To be honest, when you see and hear how a lot of traditionally-published authors are being treated today it would have to be a massive check to pull me away from self-publishing.

Odds are, you’re doing this from love/passion, not to pay the bills. What keeps you going? I’m assuming there are more “who”s than “what”s, actually–who is it?
Writing is just so incredibly cathartic for me I don’t really need any external motivation. Whenever I’ve had a difficult day, I open up my laptop, dive into my latest draft, and all the worries of the world fade away

Thanks for your time and participation! Hope you enjoyed it! And do know that there are many of us out here who appreciate and applaud what you do (and our number is growing!)

Be sure to check out all of Alex Robins’ work! (if only for the covers…money well spent, there)

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The Inside Scoop—A Q&A with Matthew Hanover About Self-Publishing

In A Few Quick Questions With..., Self-Published Authors Appreciation Week

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At this point, it feels strange for me to write an introduction for Matthew Hanover, because I’ve been talking about his books–and doing Q&As with him–for years now. But I know that not everyone reading this today will have read all of that–so let me just say that he’s a great author, a nice and supportive guy, and someone you should get to know.

One way to do that is through his book Not Prepared, which releases today.

Neil Bennett, a highly sought-after wedding photographer, knows all about romance and happily ever afters—for everyone but himself. As a chronic hypochondriac pushing forty, Neil has convinced himself that marriage and children just aren’t in the cards for him.

But then fate throws Neil a curveball when his 12-year-old god-daughter Chloe shows up at his door after being abandoned by her mother. She has nowhere else to go and suddenly, Neil’s bachelor lifestyle is thrown into disarray as he grapples with endless sensitive and awkward situations that come with caring for a preteen girl in his small apartment.

As Neil questions whether he’s ready to flip his world upside down, there’s a glimmer of hope when he meets Jenna Kaplan, a young and ambitious interior designer. She has her own quirks and idiosyncrasies that might just make them perfect for each other—and the ideal parents for Chloe. Suddenly, Neil has to face the possibility that he, too, can have his happily ever after… if he doesn’t screw things up.

Before we get into things, why don’t you give the reader a brief introduction to you and your work.
Hey there, I’m just Matthew Hanover, your average guy trying to make a living in the world of marketing. But when the day is done and the weekends arrive, I find solace in writing novels. Inspired by the talents of Nick Hornby and Jonathan Tropper, I specialize in contemporary fiction and romantic comedies. It all started with a single story that I couldn’t get out of my head, but as time went on, I realized there were more stories within me waiting to be told.

I typically can be found on Twitter @matthewhanover, Instagram @matthanoverfiction, and you can always reach out to me via my website, matthewhanover.com.

What are some of the biggest misconceptions you find that readers have about self-published books?
I think the most common misconception is that self-published books aren’t as good as traditionally published books. But, the fact is that the publishing industry is so competitive it’s hard for many authors to land an agent or get a deal. Frankly, getting a book deal is no guarantee of success and plenty of independent authors do well and make more money than their traditionally-published counterparts.

Do you do your own cover design, or have you found people to help with that? It seems almost as difficult as writing the novel itself–talk about the process a bit.
I recently hired an illustrator to redo all of my covers and do the cover for my next book. While I didn’t feel there was anything particularly wrong with my previous covers, I felt a refresh was necessary to help catch the eyes of different readers.
For what it’s worth, I didn’t find anything particularly lacking with the previous covers, but the new versions are great!

How do you juggle marketing/PR/etc. with writing new work? (along with day jobs, family, hobbies, etc., etc.)
I honestly don’t get to spend as much time marketing my books as I need to, and certain platforms are difficult for me to make a splash in.

How do you promote your book–what things have worked best for you? What kind of lessons have you learned for things not to do (at least for you)? Do you do any in-person marketing, or are you all online (I assume predominately online)
My marketing and promotion are 100% online. Though sometimes I toss a paperback in a Little Free Library.

What made you decide that self-publishing was the direction you wanted to go? How often do you question that choice? How do you get through the self-doubt?
Honestly, I never considered trying to go the traditional route. I never wanted the pressure of worrying about querying agents and publishers. I just wanted to write and get my stories out in the world.

Have you thought about trying to get a deal with major (or indie) publishers for upcoming works, or are you planning on sticking with self-publishing?
I never considered seeking representation or attempting to get a traditional book publishing contract. Over the years, I’ve seen several indie authors try and struggle with the process. Even those who managed to get a book deal are not guaranteed success by going with a publisher. Sure, there’s some cachet that goes with it, but I’m not convinced it’s worth it.

Odds are, you’re doing this from love/passion, not to pay the bills. What keeps you going? I’m assuming there are more “who”s than “what”s, actually–who is it?
Honestly, if I had just one story in me I wanted to tell, I’d have written it, published it, and been okay with just that. I just found that there were more stories I wanted to tell, and so in the end, as long there’s something I want to write, I’ll write it.

Self-publishing tends to have less external deadlines keeping one accountable. How do you maintain your work process or work ethic?
I have a tendency to trust my creative drive. If I’m not inspired to write, I won’t force it. When the inspiration and desire hits, I’ll do the work. Not having a deadline to meet allows me to create at my own pace, free of pressure. If I believe in a story enough, there’s no question that it will get out there eventually, so I don’t worry about it.

What is your favorite and least favorite thing about being self-published?
My favorite thing is having total control over the content and design direction. My least favorite thing is incurring the costs of editing, cover design, etc.

How do you decide a book is finally finished and ready? (or how do you avoid “perfection as the enemy of good”?)
For me, the real problem is getting too anxious and putting something out there before its ready. My third novel was not properly copyedited when I released it. I was too excited to get it out there and there were some typos that readers caught. I’m not making that mistake again with my next novel, which is coming out in July.

Thanks for your time and participation! Hope you enjoyed it! And do know that there are many of us out here who appreciate and applaud what you do (and our number is growing)!

I say this every time a Hanover book is released–be sure to check out all of his work!

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The Inside Scoop—A Q&A with e rathke About Self-Publishing

In A Few Quick Questions With..., Literary Locals, Self-Published Authors Appreciation Week

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e rathke is one of those authors that came my way thanks to JCM Berne–I’d never encountered them or their work before, but there’s plenty of good looking material out there to dive into.

In particular, I’d like to point you to Iron Wolf, which is released today. The description of it is:

The giantess Lady Agova leads Virgil and Vera home to Avalon. All they have to do is get through the gate. But that gate throws them into an interdimensional labyrinth full of nightmares.

Set in a desolate postapocalyptic world where science and magic blend and reality itself twists and bends, where some attempt to grow a new world while others delve through the detritus of a shattered civilization, Iron Wolf continues the monster hunting journey began in Howl.

Before we get into things, why don’t you give the reader a brief introduction to you and your work.
I write weekly essays about games and books at my substack. All my essays are free and available to anyone. I’ve begun serializing a steampunked mix of Harry Potter and Gundam over there as well. On top of that, I’m now releasing weekly short stories. Paying subscribers get the ebook versions of my novels included in their subscription and they receive those a month before publication.

Along with all that, I also publish novels. The Howling Earth is a lofi cyberpunk mashing together of Vampire Hunter D and Gene Wolfe’s Book of the New Sun, though I’ve also received a fair amount of Dark Souls comparisons as well. The first novel came out December 2022 with the second novel out this week, and a third coming in November. 2024 will have four more.

With Kyle Muntz, I cowrite The Shattered Stars series. Imagine Star Trek: The Next Generation where the crew is straight out of Firefly and you get The Shattered Stars. Though it’s an ongoing serial, each “episode” is meant to stand alone and be enjoyed even for those who just want to dip in and out of the series. The first episode came out in March, with the second out in June. The third and fourth are coming September and December, and we have the entire second season completed and ready to publish quarterly through 2024.

But, yeah, lots going on! I’m also narrating a children’s serial about a pirate named Carrot. This began as a daily bedtime story for my son, but I began recording it as well so that he can return to the story whenever he wants. Because I had the audio already done, I began a podcast to release new episodes weekly.

(I love the idea behind the podcast, will be adding it to my rotation)

Do you do your own cover design, or have you found people to help with that? It seems almost as difficult as writing the novel itself–talk about the process a bit.
Most of my covers are done by Christopher Olson. I wish he had a website because he’s a great artist. Very talented and capable of just about any style I want.

I’ve toyed with the idea of doing covers myself, since I go through a lot of them each year, but that really just isn’t my skillset. Christopher is a friend and we work well together. I usually tell him what I want for the cover and try to lead him towards a style that I’m looking for. Then he does his magic and I’m always surprised by what he shows me.

Ultimately, the book cover is your face to potential audiences, so it’s worth it to take the time and find the people who will give you what you want and how you want it. Covers can be expensive, too, which is probably the biggest barrier for some. For that reason, they’ll decide to do their own covers. Which is great! But it’s really not what I’m good at.

It’s great to have a friend like that! The graphics on my site are the same way—if they look homemade, that’s me (frequently, it’s me defacing the work of a talented cartoonist/illustrator). If they look decent, that’s the work of a friend of mine who does graphic design.
Ha, I wish I even had the talent to make bad art. It would save me a lot of time! It would also allow me to do my own illustrations for my books, which I’d love to have.

What made you decide that self-publishing was the direction you wanted to go? How often do you question that choice? How do you get through the self-doubt?
During the 2010s, I was pretty involved in small independent publishing. I worked with a handful of publishers in various ways, and I had three novels come out on independent presses.

Many have a good experience this way, but I mostly did not. I think the truth of small independent publishing is that many people just want their name in print and are less concerned with getting readers. This is especially true for the kind of publishing I was involved with, where many of the authors were MFA professors, aspiring MFA professors, MFA students, or aspiring MFA students.

The publication was more important for their CV than it was for anything else.

I don’t have an academic background. I wasn’t in an MFA or getting into one, and so I had very different goals with my own publishing. My bad experiences with these publishers—all of which no longer exist—led me to abandon publishing for about eight years.

I turned to self-publishing because of the freedom it allowed me. And so I don’t question the choice. I much prefer it to what I previously experienced through a more traditional route. To me, self-publishing is just fun. It also gives me control over my career and the flexibility to do what I want, how I want.

I publish a lot of books each year. If I were on a traditional press, they’d want me to have at most one or two books per year. In 2023, I’m publishing eight books. In 2024, I’ll be releasing 12.

There are downsides to this rapid pace, but I’m writing for fun and for those people who are ready and willing to ride along with me. When someone discovers one of my books, I want them to google me and find a dozen other books waiting for them.

As a reader, I always found that experience thrilling.

Having a backlist to dive into as a reader is always great, I agree. And more than one self-published author I’ve talked to has mentioned getting things out regularly. Eight books in a year is pretty impressive! How do you find the time for this? Sure, you multitask by podcasting your bedtime stories—but even that’s an investment of time after your son’s asleep.
Recording audio takes me quite a lot of time! I’m sure many people can do this in a fraction of the time it takes me but I would say it takes me about an hour to get ten minutes of audio. And even that audio could probably be improved tenfold by just a bit more technical know-how.(I was kidding about that, I hope that came through. I’ve listened to two episodes so far and those hours spent are evident!)

As for finding the time – I write a lot and I write relatively quickly. I’ve written a bit about my process in the past, but there is no trick to it beyond volume of hours sitting in front of your computer.

The one advantage I have over other people is that I have 20 or more novels and novellas sitting unpublished on my computer, so I could publish ten books a year for two years without even writing something new. That being said, only one novel coming out this year is taken from that store of novel(la)s. Though cowriting four per year also helps alleviate some of the load.

Also, length is an important driver. For better or worse, I’m primarily publishing novellas in the 20,000 word to 35,000 word range. I want people to be able to pick these up and read them in about the time it takes to watch a movie (sometimes a long movie). This may prove to be a mistake because people may want those big beefy novels. I have those written, too, but I guess I’m saving them.

Most countries have a thriving novella market, except the US. But I think we could have that and I think people want short books along with the big doorstoppers. With everyone else writing the huge books, I feel there’s a real space left open for people who want to pick up a book they can burn through in an evening.

Have you thought about trying to get a deal with major (or indie) publishers for upcoming works, or are you planning on sticking with self-publishing?
I do submit novels to major publishers. I’d be more than happy to get on a traditional press, though I think my goals are different than other hopeful writers.

The barrier to any writers—traditional or indie or self-published—is discoverability. You can be the best writer in the world, but if no one hears your name, they’ll probably never find your books. And so much of marketing for any book is a simple process of getting your name out there enough times for people to finally take notice.

For me, the benefit of a major press is that they make the first step easier. If I had a book come out on Tor or Harper or wherever else, thousands of people who had never heard of me would now hear or see my name for the first time.

That’s what I want. I mean, I’d be happy to have a successful book on a major publisher, but even if my book technically failed, by traditional publishing terms (fewer than 5,000 books sold), that would still be a success for me and where I’m at right now.
And so the benefit to me about major publishing is that it would broaden my potential fanbase immensely overnight.

Even so, it’s important to understand what major publishers are offering. Major publishers once gave every author a marketing budget and they’d have professionals handle this stuff. Now, they rely on individual authors to do their own marketing, line up their own book tours and interviews, and so on.

Which is the exact same thing self-published authors are already doing.

Because of this, the benefits that they offer are becoming fewer and fewer every year.

What is your favorite and least favorite thing about being self published?
My favorite thing is the flexibility and control.

My least favorite part is everything else!

I love writing. I would write all day, every day if I could. It’s what I want to do and it’s what I like doing. My ideal situation would be finishing a novel and handing it off to someone else to handle all the marketing, publicity, and so on.

Unfortunately, there’s just me. And so I’m not only the author. I’m also the business manager, the marketing department, the publicist, the accountant, the editor, and on and on.

It’s quite a lot!

In an ideal world, I wouldn’t have to do anything to get my name out there. I wouldn’t be on social media or pitching myself to podcasts or trying to track down reviewers and interviewers, and all the other thousand little things that get books into reader’s hands.

But instead I’m in this world, wearing a dozen hats and swapping between them dozens of times per week.

But that’s the game. And it is a game. Writing is fun and it’s work, but it’s the fun kind of work that makes it feel like play. The marketing is the work I’d rather not do, but it’s arguably just as important—if not more so—than the writing itself.

You’ve mentioned the word “flexibility” a few times—is that flexibility in schedule, genre, format, etc.? Or is it more than that?
All of the above, honestly. I love a lot of different kinds of books and though it goes against any career or marketing advice anyone will give you, I intend to keep writing across genres. Too, most would probably encourage me not to publish 6+ books a year because it can dilute or overwhelm your audience. Much as I’d like people to pick up a new book from me every month, the simple truth is that most people only read a handful of books each year. Expecting them to read a new book by me each month is a big ask! But there are other people out there who will be excited by this as well.

And so flexibility may be a double-edged sword for me, in that it gives me the freedom to make too many mistakes at the same time. And much of what I’m doing now may be foolish. Short books published at a rapid pace may be the exact opposite of what I should be doing, but I’ll learn. If need be, I’ll publish fewer books, but longer books.

But it’s this flexibility and this wild west nature of my publishing adventure that keeps it fun and exciting. I just hope people are willing to come along for the ride.

Thanks for your time and participation! Hope you enjoyed it! And do know that there are many of us out here who appreciate and applaud what you do (and our number is growing)!

Readers, e rathke has a good number of novellas, essays, and other things out there. Be sure to check out them out here or the other links above!

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The Inside Scoop—A Q&A with Ian Shane About Self-Publishing