Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I am a writer of 8 books based in Hong Kong, I write on serious global and social issues, and use all the proceeds from my books to help run my charity ISSLCARE!
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
It is called THE ATONEMENT, it is a simple story about the celebration of women and I got inspired to write it from my own humble childhood back in village in Nepal.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
No, I am a very simple, disciplined and organized guy, I do things in the right way, and I mostly write at the afternoon at my office after finishing off all the other trivial things like tending emails, updating social media sites, promoting books and so on. I don’t work on weekend!
What authors, or books have influenced you?
I mostly read books from Nobel laureates, serious stuffs, and I think the best book I ever read was the one from Marques, ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF SOLITUDE. But I always write on my own way, instinct and by heart. I have my own style of writing and don’t follow others.
What are you working on now?
I am planning to write 5 books all at once in 2016, I spent the whole 2015 on promoting books so I didn’t write anything, so, I will have to write more in 2016.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I have used many, such as BookGorilla, BookButterfly, Bookbub, Ereaders, Goodreads, Amazon paid service, and so on. I also use social media sites such as FB, twitter, Linkedin, Google+, instagram and so on.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Don’t leave your daytime job yet…! On the serious notes, writing is one thing but promotion is totally another world, and without promotion, you are going nowhere at all. And it is all about exposure, if you don’t have it, no matter how good is our work, it won’t get any readers and your efforts will be all wasted. Therefore, as a modern writer, you must also know about promoting books, if not, hire someone. Yet, at the end, your works still must be decent, properly edited and must find its right readers.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
I did everything by my own, I had no experiences of the market, no friends to help on the media, and I had to learn everything by my own. It was really hard at the beginning, I persevere and I think I am doing pretty good. Lucky for me, I had the marketing experience from my previous job, I am a fast learner and I have enough time, money and passion to make it work.
What are you reading now?
I don’t have much time to read, but I am still reading some books from my fellow authors, and the one I am reading now is called Black Tom: Terror on the Hudson by Ron Semple.
What’s next for you as a writer?
As I only write for charity, I will keep writing for my charity and my charity still has a long way to go, therefore, before I can fulfill that, I have to carry on writing and I am planning to write at least 2 books each year hereon.
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?
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF SOLITUDE, THE SATANIC VERSES, LES MISERABLE AND OLD MEN DON’T CRY
Author Websites and Profiles
TIM GURUNG Website
TIM GURUNG Amazon Profile
TIM GURUNG’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account
Pinterest Account