Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’m one of those writers who started taking writing seriously at a young age, and by the time I graduated from high school I had two complete novels written and was working on my third. I also started experimenting with digital self-publishing earlier than most, and released my first e-book (basically an electronic chapbook of poetry) years before Amazon existed. I did not have any titles available for retail sale until 2010, however. I currently have nine books on the market but most are short works, only two are novel length. I’ve written eight complete novel drafts and have another seven in progress, some more actively than others.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest published book is a short nonfiction title, Selling Books With Bitcoin, which was mostly inspired by my own interest in Bitcoin and exploring ways to sell directly to readers. My latest novel, released in early 2015, is Extra Credit: Loyalty! which is the second book in the Dan Starney series. It was mostly inspired by readers of the first book not being happy with how that book ended!
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Does listening to an awful lot of Led Zeppelin when I write count as an unusual habit? 🙂
What authors, or books have influenced you?
I’ve picked up a lot of influences over the years, including from well-known sources like Tolkien and Heinlein but also John Morressy, Stephen R. Donaldson, and many more.
What are you working on now?
Back in the late 1980s I wrote a fantasy novel that was never published, and I am now working on polishing that for publication. I’ve grown a lot as a writer since then, so I can see a lot that needs work, but the story is still very usable. I also wrote a prequel for it this year, and I am sketching out ideas for at least one more book in the series.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Writing and releasing a new book helps, and that much doesn’t really change over time. Other than that, effectiveness in promotion seems to be a constantly changing thing, as one method wanes while a new method becomes more worthwhile. I’m always looking for new methods, especially now as my promotional efforts in 2015 have not kept pace with prior years. I have seen other authors getting good results from collaborative promotions and I am looking forward to an opportunity to try one.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Don’t jump into publishing blindly. There is a lot of information out there now, so do your research. Don’t assume that you will get sales; there is a lot of truth to the sentiment that writing a book is the easy part. Writing “THE END” in the first draft is just the end of the beginning of the overall process. Do everything you can to maximize the odds that complete strangers will stop what they’re doing, take a look at your book, and part with their time (and probably money) to read your book. You’re competing with every other way people spend their leisure time, so take that challenge seriously.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
You can’t sell a book that isn’t on the market — so sit down and write, make it the best you can (within reason), and then get it out there to the buying public.
What are you reading now?
I have a few books in progress right now, but the fiction work I’m reading now is The Landing (book 1 of the United States of Vinland series) by Colin Taber. I’m also occasionally reading a random short story in the Stories on the Go indie anthology. For nonfiction, I’m mostly focused on Everything You Wanted to Know about Indians But Were Afraid to Ask by Anton Treuer, which is pretty interesting reading.
What’s next for you as a writer?
There is a good chance I will be launching a new pen name in early 2016, writing in a genre I have not tried before other than for an as-yet-unfinished screenplay. Since it is my first foray into that genre, I’m going to start with a three-novella series. I also plan on publishing at least two fantasy novels in 2016.
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?
I’d cheat and take three boxed sets! One would be The Hobbit/The Lord of the Rings, another would be the Narnia series (arranged in the original order, not the revised order), and the final would be the Harry Potter books.
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