AUTHOR INTERVIEW: ERIC FOGLE

Author, Eric Fogle, is with us today allowing us some insight into his world and his new fantasy novel, FORGE OF THE GODS: The Last Knight, from POD publisher, Breakneck Books.

READ OUR REVIEW OF "F.O.G."

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1.) Mr. Fogle, what inspired this unique story?

I was inspired by a combination of things. First and foremost, though, was a discussion I had with my mother-in-law…one that spanned much of the theology and philosophy used in my story. My other inspirations are my wife, Raymond Feist, RA Salvatore, and the desire to write a fantasy centering on ‘religion’.

2.) Have you attempted to submit the book to large trade publishers or Agents? If so, what kind of responses did you receive?

I am sure you have heard all the horror stories of the publishing industry….so I will keep this short. *chuckle*
At one point, I had an agent for Forge of the Gods: The Last Knight—one who sold me on the ‘quality’ of my work. Needless to say, I ended up being taken for seven months of my time and over $600. (To all the aspiring writers who may be reading this: Never pay a dime to be published!) This, of course, leads me to finding a publisher. After I decided to never use an agent again, I started the submission process to all the big boys: TOR, Baen, DAW, etc. During that time, I was rejected because my story didn’t fit into a target audience, it was good but not saleable, it dealt with too much religion, it wasn’t ‘truly’ Christian themed, and, of course, I didn’t have an agent. And, here I said I was going to keep this short. *smile* To answer your question more succinctly, yes I did query larger publishers…all ending with that the story was good, but not right for them.

3.) Do you have plans for sequels and how much is already written?
Though I cannot give too much away, the next book in the series is titled, The First Paladin. As expected, this book will immediately drop readers back into several burgeoning conflicts. The first, and most important of these, is that after more then twenty years of searching for the mysterious ‘source’, the four godly champions have possibly found it in the mortal knight...Areck of Brenly.

4.) How many copies of the book have you sold so far and what kind of response have you received from fans...any favorite fan story?

Though I do not have an exact number, I believe Forge of the Gods: The Last Knight has sold over 200 copies. And, the response thus far has been great! I even had a fan write and call my story brilliant. ME! Brilliant!! Now, if I can only get my wife to believe such things! *chuckles*

5.) Mr. Fogle what forms of marketing have you and your publisher been utilizing for Forge of the Gods and what kinds of responses have you gotten from each?

During these first few months, the publisher has really pushed free internet marketing…while I have been concentrating on demographic specific marketing (web advertising, etc). Saying that, it is hard to say what has worked best. In my opinion, the most effective form of marketing has been finding fantasy reviewers willing to give in depth reviews…and really banking on word of mouth sales. To date, the book has had four reviews posted on several websites…all of which have been very positive. Saying that, fans should expect to see new reviews coming from P.O.D.lings, Realms of Fantasy, Fantasy Book Spot, and several others within the next six weeks or so.

6.) Would you consider yourself to be a disciplined writer or more of a spontaneous, when I feel the mood kind of writer?
*sigh* I wish I could say I was a disciplined writer. Alas, that just isn’t truthful. I believe other writers refer to my archetype as a zone writer. That is, I won’t pick up my pen (sit down at my computer) to write for months at a time. Then, out of the blue, I will sit down and start crunching out words until I am done. In the case of Forge of the Gods, my zone lasted for six months straight.

7.) I've noticed your novel and others at your publisher all have book trailers...do you see this as beneficial and have you received any response from it?
I think Breakneck Books did a wonderful job with the video trailer…for all of its books. And, I imagine if anyone actually saw it, the trailer would give them a reason to look further.

8.) If you don't mind, can you give us a sneak peek at what lies in store for the rest of the series?
I would be happy to share some samples of The First Paladin. However, and this is my standard warning, I do not edit until I am done. Thus, my grammar would be poor and the story is still being finished. You can always read at risk to your eyes though. *chuckles*

9.) What is your "day job?"

Without sounding to cliché, I am the Vice President of Sales for an engineered soil company (baseball / softball dirt). I also get to push native grass seed, ecologically friendly stream bank restoration systems, and encapsulated soil systems. *smiles*
* For those that do not understand my odd sense of humor (cough, my wife) I was joking by calling my job cliché. *chuckle*

10.) Do you have any other writing projects revolving around different storylines you intend to bring to novel form in the future?
Yes. I have several concepts already being worked on…mostly SciFi and Fantasy. However, my goal is to someday write a comedy and a thriller with lots of action.

AUTHOR INTERVIEW: DARRYL SLOAN

This week we have an interview with one of our new favorite authors, Darryl Sloan. We've just reviewed his HOT new book CHION *Read Review* and now we've been given the opportunity to pick his brain a bit on your behalf as fans and fellow authors. On to the interview...

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1.) Mr. Sloan, what in the world inspired such a unique story like CHION?

It started off with the desire to write something about strange, sinister weather. I've always liked John Carpenter's movie "The Fog"and Stephen King's novella "The Mist." I wanted to create something that would evoke a similar suffocating atmosphere, but I was determined to be original. And so, I asked myself some weather-related "what if" questions and came up with the concept of adhesive snow. I'm pleased that no one has done anything like this before, because it's very hard to be original these days.

2.) Have you attempted to submit the book to large trade publishers or Agents? If so, what kind of responses did you receive?

Four to five years ago, after I wrote my first novel, "Ulterior," I did just that. I found out that not only is it hard to get published, but it's hard to even get the attention of an agent. The response I most hated was "Sorry, but we've got a full client list." After a few attempts at landing an agent, I weighed up what I thought were the pros and cons of going the traditional route versus self-publishing. The decision came down to me being unwilling to strive for years for a miniscule chance of publication. Kudos to anyone who lands a traditional publishing contract; it's still the Holy Grail, which I hope to obtain one day. Rightly or wrongly, I was more focused on the short-term goal of getting books into reader's hands. I have no regrets, because I sold over 1,000 copies of "Ulterior" - the entireprint-run. And so, I had no hesitation in jumping into self-publishing once more with "Chion."

3.) How much of the work to the cover, interior and so forth did you do yourself and what parts, if any did you have done by professionals?

I did everything, except for the cover illustration. I would have done the illustration, too, if not for a surprise submission by a friend, which turned out to be better than my effort. In self-publishing, you can save money by taking everything on yourself. Unfortunately, that often means some aspects of your paperback will be sub-standard. You've heard the proverb "Jack of all trades, master of none." It's just fortunate that I've got a background in art and desktop publishing. The bottom line is, every aspect of your final product must be totally indistinguishable from the professional books lining the bookshelves, or you just won't sell books.

4.) How many copies of the book have you sold so far and what kind of response have you received from fans...any favorite fan story?

About 130 sales since the books release in mid-January (three months ago). The book sells steadily on eBay and via my website. And there are still a few avenues I have yet to tap into, such as libraries and the press. For the most part, I've had glowing feedback from fans and reviewers. It's a great feeling, not because I'm looking for some kind of fame, but because it validates the work that I spent hundreds and hundreds of hours bringing to life. Not to mention, it really helps my confidence as a writer. I'm glad I released "Chion" in winter, because some fans commented on how odd they felt walking in the snow after reading it. One fan felt that the idea behind "Chion" held more potential than I tapped into, and he has expressed the desire to write his own fiction around the premise. I'm looking forward to that.

5.) Mr. Sloan, you are one of the few self published authors I know of who is utilizing the medium of podcasting as a form of marketing for their print book. What sort of response have you seen by using this as a form of marketing?

It's difficult to gauge, because when someone buys a book from me online, they rarely mention what factors went into their decision. My guess is that featuring an excerpt from a novel is the best tool an author has at his disposal. It's the online equivalent of what we do in bookstores when an attractive cover catches our eye and we open the book up for a peek inside. A standard text-based excerpt is helpful, but I like to go one step further and allow the potential reader to relax and listen to my voice for half an hour. The popularity of MP3 players these days means that audio excerpts are something that shouldn't be ignored. I know some authors these days are choosing to podcast entire novels. To me, that's a mistake. The only people who will come back later to buy the same novel are the hardcore fans and the book collectors. I personally have no interest in owning a book after I've read it, unless it became one of my absolute favorites. However, no one can argue with the current success of podcast author Scott Sigler, who recently reached #7 on Amazon. All of Scott's energies for the past few years seem to have been directed exclusively at creating a massive fanbase by giving everything away free. It's good to see he's finally translating that into money. My marketing stategy is different: I do everything I can to offer a low retail price, in order to get the attention of the bargain hunters. So, I make money while building a fanbase. For that reason, I doubt I'll be podcasting whole novels. Kudos to Mr. Sigler, though. It's whatever you can make work foryourself.

6.) Do you see podcasting as must have for self published authors or a fad that will soon pass away?

The term "podcasting" is a bit of a misnomer, I think. At least, in my mind, it conjures up the idea of an ongoing "show." I would also suspect it can be a bit off-putting to a section of the public. Somebody sees the word "podcast" on a website and they say, "Oh, there's another of those podcast things, whatever they are." And they surf elsewhere, not realising that podcasts can be as simple as clicking the hyperlink and listening. I know the word "podcast" is slapped up all over my own website, but that's something I'm rethinking. Podcasting, in the sense of online media files, certainly is a must have for self-published authors. It's your shot at getting the attention of the casual web surfer as he passes by. Of course, it all hinges on you having a well written book with a great hook at the beginning.

7.) I've noticed your website has some video content as well...do you personally make these movies and do you have any plans for a video related to CHION for promotional purposes?

I've been a keen filmmaker for the past fifteen years, and I run Midnight Pictures with my friend Andrew Harrison. We've produced several horror and science fiction films. I considered filming a small promotional video for "Chion," but never quite got around to it. Perhaps I should, because there's several factors in my favour. I working in a school and run a filmmaking club with the pupils; "Chion" is set in a school. So, there's a perfect opportunity to act out a scene from the book. I wonder, though, whether a trailer would become more of a distraction from where you really want to lure the potential reader - to the words of the book itself.

8.) Have you produced any book trailers and what role do you feel they can play in book marketing for self published novelists or small presses?

I created a book trailer for my first novel, "Ulterior." I'm not sure it was all that useful, because when I stopped promoting the novel online, sales had a tendency to dry up, which tells me that casual web surfers who happened upon my site didn't encounter a good enough hook for them to purchase the novel. For myself, as a reader who sometimes reads self-published works, one of the first questions I ask when I'm thinking of buying a novel is"Does this guy actually know how to write?" There are no shortage of badly written books in print these days. Watching a book trailer might hook me on the story, but it won't tell me anything about the author's writing ability. An MP3 file will do both.

9.) What is your "day job?"

I work as an ICT technician in Clounagh Junior High School, the same school in which the early part of "Chion" takes place. Writers, take note of a good marketing angle: capture a local audience by writing about a local setting. Fifty percent of the people in my hometown went through that school, and I'm betting some of them will be interested in a high octane nostalgia trip.

10.) What can we expect form Darryl Sloan in the future...any new novels coming out?

Can't a guy get any rest? ;-)

Not a great author...none of us wants them to rest!

Well, the first thing that's happening(and it's happening very soon), is a reprint of my first novel"Ulterior." For the first time, I'm opting for a professionally designed cover, and I can't wait to see what IrishEyesCreations.com comes up with. After that, I've got several partially developed writing projects to choose from. I'm not sure which one I'll go for, but the strongest project in my mind at the moment is a zombie novel called "Shadow of the Dead." I can almost hear the zombie-like groans of protest. Does the world really need another zombie story? Well, noone's done it quite like this before. If you thought adhesive snow was a funky and original idea, have a little faith in me.

AUTHOR INTERVIEW: R.W. RIDLEY

Move over Stephen King, we have on the couch, the new master of horror, R. W. Ridley, the author of a wonderful new young adult horror series: THE OZ CHRONICLES. With book one, The Takers, and book two, Delon City, Mr. Ridley has transported eager readers to a transdimensional horror-scape you'll just have to experience for yourself.

Mr. Ridley agreed to sit down with us and allow us a tour of his experiences and a little of what it took to bring us this excellent story and what the future holds.

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1.) Having reviewed both The Takers and Delon City, let me say at the outset: WELL DONE! This series is addicting in a good way. I noticed that within the story you reveal that there are seven storytellers and seven races of beings associated with them. Does this mean we can expect seven books total for the OZ CHRONICLES?

Between seven and nine. I know how the series ends, but I don't know exactly how I'm going to get there. I'm not even sure if it's going to be a completely linear story. Making Oz a 40-year-old man locked up in a psychiatric hospital has opened up some possibilities to me that I didn't know existed before. That's the beauty of creating a series. You can develop the characters and story way beyond the constraints of a one-and-done novel.

2.) Assuming you've already begun the third installment for the series, do you have a title yet and are there any juicy tidbits you would share with us to whett our appetites?

The third book is called The Pure. I can tell you that we'll get a little deeper into Lou's character, and I've introduced a new character called "Scoop-face." I've gotten a lot of positive feedback on him from early readers.

3.) Your first novel, The Takers, was compared a great deal with Stephen King's "The Stand." However, I noticed this book seems even darker than the first...what influenced your direction for Delon City?

I don't really know. There are some similarities to Aliens with the shunters and solifipods, but I think it got darker because it's told from Oz' point of view, and he's older and battle-tested. My intention from the beginning was for the tone of the books to grow as Oz grows. In Book One, he was a boy who became a warrior, and in Book Two, he's a warrior fighting for a unique identity.

4.) Knowing that you work for the subsidy publisher, BOOKSURGE, recently acquired by Amazon, it seems logical for you to publish with them. However, what process if any did you go through to submit the OZ Chronicles to large trade publishers or agents and what types of response did you receive?

I made a few half-hearted attempts with Book One, but I gave up early in the process because I had been through it before. Besides, I had one agent tell me she loved the book, but she didn't think kids today could relate to having mono. It's actually one of my favorite rejections because it helped me realize that self-publishing was right for me. I've got 4 manuscripts in a drawer that have been through the submission-rejection tango. It's a process I recommend everyone go through because you learn a lot about the publishing industry by doing it. I've gotten close. I had a non-fee charging agent at one time, but I elected to not resign with her when our contract expired. I just didn't think we were on the same page. When I decided to go the POD route, I found BookSurge in my backyard, and as luck would have it, they were hiring. I got the job and took a few months to learn the business, and then I uploaded my book. It has been the best thing I've ever done as a writer. I actually earned enough money in royalties to buy my wife a nice gift for our tenth anniversary.

5.) What would you say has been your most successful marketing effort for the series?

Giving books away. It's generated a word-of-mouth campaign that I couldn't have done any other way. As you know, we PODers live and die by word-of-mouth.

6.) How would you sum up the key message you hope to deliver with this series?

I think the overall message is it's never too late to make up for past mistakes. Most of the people who are left to save the world are "bad" kids. That's not a mistake. They have to atone for the way they treated people like Stevie Dayton.

7.) Would you call yourself a disciplined writer or a spur of the moment writer?

Do I write everyday? No, not at the computer. I'm constantly turning stories over in my head. I begin the writing process when I get a solid first line. That sets the tone for the whole story. When I have that, I'm very disciplined. I'd love to write everyday, but like everyone else, I'm pulled in a lot of different directions.

8.) How much of the two books production: interior, exterior, editing and so forth did you do yourself or have done by others and have you been pleased with the results?

I did the cover for both books. I did the interior for the second just because I wanted to learn how to do it.

9.) Have you enjoyed self publishing or do you have hopes of publishing with a large trade publisher someday?

I have really enjoyed self-publishing, but I still dream of that contract with a big publishing house. I can't shake the desire. The good thing is I'm not in a hurry anymore. The way I look at it, I'm test marketing this series for a traditional publisher.

10.) Do you have any other novels in planning besides the OZ Chronicles?

Yes. A couple of those manuscripts sitting in my drawer will be rewritten soon, and I'm working on a brand new one that will be for an older audience.

AUTHOR INTERVIEW: STEPHANIE JARRETT

Here we are with our first interview on our author interview page with Mr. "Bobo" King...he's kin to Larry King somewhere in the line...no, really.

We have author Stephanie Jarrett with us to give us her views of POD publishing and writing in general. Her first novel, "When an Angel Falls," has received a very good review here at PODLINGS and so we decided to pick Mrs. Jarrett's brain a bit for your enlightenment.

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1.) Mrs. Jarrett, you've got a very entertaining story here. Did you ever go through the submission process with agents and publishers? What led you to the decision to self publish?

Thank you. Yes, I did initially go through the ‘traditional’ route, though I only spent about six months collecting rejection letters. The list for agents and small publishers who might be interested in my story was very limited. There were many agents and small publishers who specialized in stories with religious themes, but they also targeted particular religions. This was a problem for me because my story didn't embrace the perspective of any one religion, so I was limited to querying people who included ‘spiritual’ as one of their interests. I admit that I failed to do research before committing to my story to see if there was a market for it. Actually, this wasn't even the story I had originally set out to write. I began my second attempt at writing (after a twenty-five year hiatus) with a mainstream (formula) murder/mystery. Somehow I got sidetracked. After my first couple of rejection slips, I happened across a blog called Evil Editor ( http://www.evileditor.blogspot.com/). While attracted to his wit and talent, I was intimidated by the criticism that was given to other writer’s query letters and opening chapters. Understanding that being able to accept criticism is vital in the publishing industry; I bit the bullet and submitted a sample of one of my query letters. From that experience I learned that negative criticism wasn't quite as painful as I imagined, and the constructive input far out-weighed any sting to my ego. That experience also reaffirmed what subsequent rejection letters would state. My book was not “marketable”. I was now faced with a decision that I'm sure many writers have had to deal with. Do I slide this manuscript under my bed and go on to another project, or should I self-publish? I decided to self-publish because having my manuscript in book form was the easiest way to get my story to family and friends who would, hopefully, give me what I felt I needed the most…criticism.

2.) Since you self published the novel and did the cover and editing yourself, I'm curious why you decided to publish with iUniverse when a site like lulu.com is free except for the $150 to get worldwide distribution?

Once I made the decision to self-publish, I studied the subject on the Internet. Cost was a major factor in my decision, and I had narrowed it down to iUniverse or Lulu. What may very well be laziness, I attributed to age. At age forty-eight, I don't have my whole life ahead of me. I'm actually over the hump and coasting down the slope toward the inevitable end. Technology is getting harder for me to reach out and grasp as the rate of my descent increases. After studying the Lulu website, I came to believe that this was for people who were ambitious and talented enough to truly self-publish. I didn't think I could handle this. My first clue came when I had to admit that I had absolutely no idea how to format a manuscript. iUniverse advertises itself as “supported self-publishing”. I knew I needed support. What I did like about Lulu was the price of the service (obviously). I also liked the idea of being able to select my own book price. The iUniverse book prices (and POD in general) are too expensive. I encouraged anyone who wanted to buy my book to consider paying the six dollars and downloading the e-book version. One other thing I liked about Lulu was the window that was linked to each book. It has an ‘Amazon’ look to it that is all too familiar to me since most of my books are bought from the Internet these days. The major negative point I would make about Lulu is that I do not have the option to review many of the books listed. If I can't open the book and read the first few pages on-line (no different than I would if I were standing in the bookstore), then I probably will choose not to buy the book. This is especially true if I am going to be paying more for the book than I would normally pay at a bookstore. I enjoyed my experience with iUniverse. I am especially grateful for the prompt and courteous customer support that is offered by the company. I chose a basic package ($499) because I felt, since my book was not marketable, there was no need to invest any more money into. No amount of money spent on professional editing and an attractive cover design was going to change the fact that I had written a book about a subject that was not interesting. I signed on during an iUniverse promotion that gave me a total of twenty-five free books. I figured this would give me enough to hand out to family and friends, who had promised me honest criticism so I could improve upon my next writing project. I had no illusions that I would earn back the money I spent on the book, and I really didn't expect it to be read by people I didn't know. I was wrong about that.

3.) Many people within this industry would say, "don't bother self publishing. Just shelve the manuscript and write something the New York publishers will want." How do you feel about self publishing, good or bad and would you do it again?

There are many reasons a writer chooses to self-publish. Some writers never intended to traditionally publish from the very beginning. There will always be a market for niche books, and POD technology is the perfect solution to supplying these markets, whether you start your own small publishing business, or self-publish with varying degrees of assistance from what has come to be known as POD publishers (iUniverse, Lulu, etc.). Since my book was rejected by the traditional publishing industry, the assumption would be that it is not worth publishing. In my case, that very well may be true, but I don't think this holds for all books that have been rejected by traditional publishers. I have read some very good POD published books. I suppose there is the hope by some POD authors that if they just get their book in print ‘someone’ will discover it. While it’s entirely possible, I'm not sure it is probable at this time. Assuming that there is an agent or publisher interested in what lies within the heap of POD books, weeding through them all would be a daunting task. I'd like to see POD publishers (iUniverse) add a new feature to the way they list their books. I would like to be able to access any month throughout the year and look through all the books that were published during that month. Another way to keep from having to sift through the same books to find the newer titles is to list the books under their genre, starting from the most recent release date, instead of alphabetical order. I think more people (and possibly an agent or two) might take a stronger interest in POD books if the search options were a little better organized. One of the first things I was asked to consider when I started the process of publishing through iUniverse was: “What are your publishing goals?” At the time my goal was to be able to give a copy of the book to family and friends and have it available as an e-book, should their interest exceed the number of copies I received. Upon choosing this publishing package, I was taking full responsibility for poor editing of the book, and especially for the terrible cover. Yes, I did that. I enjoyed my POD experience, and would do it again.

4.) If you self published again, would you do anything differently?

Oh yeah. Even as I was handing out my book, with instructions on the kind of feed back I wanted, I was asking people to tell someone else about the book if they liked it. I have no idea what I was thinking, and I have no excuse for my lack of foresight. When a friend of a friend told me that they had recommended my book to their neighbor, and that he had ordered it through the Internet, I was mortified. Only then did it sink in that people I didn't know would be paying (too much) money for an unprofessional product. This was not the first impression I wanted to give people about myself, or my work. I won't make that mistake again.

5.) On to the story. When an Angel Falls, has a very richly designed spiritual realm. Is there any particular reason you decided to design it apart from a strictly "biblical" framework?

The concept of angels, or Heavenly intermediaries, shows up in many different religions. I chose to incorporate different religious philosophies in the hope that it would appeal to a broader audience. I know I run the risk of offending some people, but that was never my intention. I have found that people, even if they claim the same religious denomination, have differing opinions on the purpose of their life on Earth, what happens to them after they die, and even on the nature of Heaven and Hell. My hope was that the reader would recognize enough of his own beliefs to hold his interest, while focusing on the fact that the story was centered upon a human/ spiritual condition that affects all of us, regardless of our religious beliefs. This story was an attempt to explore the emotion of shame, and the concept of forgiveness.

6.) How would you sum up the key message you hope readers will take away from the story?

Any attempt to sum up my key message would only be adding unnecessary words to what has already been succinctly stated by Alexander Pope. “To err is Human, to Forgive, Divine.” (An Essay on Criticism)

7.) As a writer, do you find yourself to be very structured and disciplined or are you a spur of the moment, when the mood hits sort of writer?

I am a very unstructured and undisciplined writer. I had to enlist the help of four people (family and a friend) to place time frames on me. They were brutal, but their methods were effective. I rarely missed the deadlines they set for me on completing a chapter.

8.) What can we expect to see from Stephanie Jarrett in the future?

I'm attempting to revisit the mainstream (formula) murder/mystery that I had originally started, but already my mind is starting to stray. If I give in to this impulse and produce another (out in left field) unmarketable book, I’ll certainly consider POD publishing again. I would like to thank PODLINGS, and Mr. "Bobo" King (yes, I know he’s a monkey) for asking me to share my POD experience. I have learned so much from this site, as well as the other blogs on POD publishing. I had no idea there was so much help out there for POD people. I have also learned about the different services that people provide for book cover design. Thanks again for helping me improve my writing and my finished product.