Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I have twenty-three books published with another five more currently in the editing process.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
I have two series I’m currently writing in. One is my thriller series titled the Monroe Doctrine and the other is called Into the Fire. That latter one is book five of what will become an eighteen book series.
What inspired me to write the Monroe Doctrine was looking over the last ten years and seeing how China has risen to great power on the global stage. I fear they are an unstoppable juggernaut and not in a good way. In this series, we look at two key things the Chinese are doing that is going to cripple the world. The first is their one belt, one road initiative and then second is AI and machine learning.
With regards to my military SciFi series, for me, that’s just a fun book and series to write. I have no constraints on what my military equipment or starships can do unless I create them. I love exploring space, new planets, new aliens, new animals on strange planets. For me, it’s a break from my very heavy and technically written thrillers. That said, I am by far more known for my thrillers than SF.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I suppose that depends on what you define as strange. I like to play a red bull in the freezer and let it get super cold, then I put my headphones on and I rock out to extremely loud music ranging from piano and symphony music to techno or heavy metal. For me, the music is a background noise I use to drown out everything happening around me so I can immerse myself in the world I am currently creating for the book.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
Before getting into writing, I was an avid reader. I would read one to two books a week, sometimes more. What got me into writing was seeing these other indie authors on Amazon and I thought to myself I could this or I could write this better because I know some of these military topics and tactics better than the author so I decided to get into it. Authors that inspired me would be AG Riddle, Andrew Watts, Ira Tabakin, Harry Turtledove, and many others.
What are you working on now?
Right now I’m trying to wrap up book five of my SF series, then I’ll transition back to the thriller world and look to finish writing books four and five of that series before I return back to the space series again.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
For me, its AMS, Amazons internal marketing services. I run my own AMS ads and I also leverage amazons white glove service for my ads. I spent very heavy on ads, typically between $9k and $18k depending on what’s going on that month but very rarely does my ad spend go below $9k a month.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Don’t listen to any critics, bury your head in your work and just work. Realize the first three to four years of this is going to be a grind. Prepare yourself mentally to work seven days a week, at least 5 to 6 hours a day but ideally 10 hours a day until you have built a portfolio of books and can support yourself with your book income. The biggest thing you are going to have to manage is your time. You have to ask yourself how badly do you want to be an author? If you want to succeed at this business then you have to be willing to cut other things out of your life that are eating up your time like social media, Netflix, watching TV, things that suck your time up and provide no real value towards what you are trying to achieve. When you do use social media, try to keep it very focused on your work and your brand.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
The best advice I received was write more content. If you want to make this a living, then you have to write more content and write what people want to read. It can’t just be what you want to write, you should want to write what readers want to read and what you find enjoyable, in most cases they can be the same, but at the end of the day this is a business, if you don’t treat it like one you’ll be hard press to succeed in this career field.
What are you reading now?
Right now I’m finishing up the Ugly Truth, it’s a book that just came out last week about Facebook. I found it really interesting. It’s given me a good insight into Mark Zuckerberg and the struggles he has gone through as the head of Facebook. I have a lot of respect for what he’s achieved and done even if I disagree with many of his decisions about the company, I still respect and admire what he’s achieved. I’m hoping he continues to be successful and does more to help humanity both with his platform and with his money.
What’s next for you as a writer?
Right now I’ve been working with a film producer on turning one of our books into a featured film but also a tv mini-series. We’ve finished the feature film script, we’re now looking at creating the episode clips for the series. Mind you, this is on top of writing two different series at the same time while managing all the marketing for the company and growing the brand.
If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
First book, the Bible. If I’m stranded on an island I’m going to want the word of God with me to get me through it. Second, Harry Turtledoves box set If the South won. I found that an interesting what-if scenario of the civil war. Third book, AG Riddles Pandemic series. It was truly amazing how he crafted that book with so many intricate layers to the onion that was his mystery and book. I think those would suffice but I’d pick many others if I could, heck I’d hope I had my kindle with my 400+ titles on my library, of course I’d cry when the battery finally died.
Author Websites and Profiles
James Rosone Website
James Rosone Amazon Profile
James Rosone’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Author Interview Series
To discover a new author, check out our Featured Authors page. We have some of the best authors around. They are just waiting for you to discover them. If you enjoyed this writer’s interview feel free to share it using the buttons below. Sharing is caring!
If you are an author and want to be interviewed just fill out out Author Interview page. After submitting we will send it out in our newsletters and social media channels that are filled with readers looking to discover new books to read.
If you are looking for a new book to read check out our Featured Books Page.