I have been writing for as long as I can remember—OK, so maybe not that long, but I did start writing at a young age. I did write a lot of stuff before—diaries, poetry, song lyrics—but twelve or thirteen is when the first novel started. I knew it was what I was born to do, whether I would be good at it, or not. I didn’t care; I just knew I needed to write.
Do you believe that many novelists choose to self‐publish out of frustration with trying to publish traditionally?
Do you believe that many novelists choose to self‐publish out of frustration with trying to publish traditionally?
When self‐publishing
on Amazon first became a thing, I do think most of those going it on their own
were doing it out of frustration. I was one of them! Even though I self‐published my first book a short time after it was becoming the thing
to do, I totally did it because I tried for almost three years to land an
agent, but to no avail. But now, I think more and more authors are doing it
because they feel it’s the better route for them, and are bypassing the query‐reject method altogether. Personally, I like
both!
How important is it to understand the basics of publishing before delving
into self‐publishing?
Writers need to understand that self‐publishing is not easy. Sure, you can write a book and upload it and
start selling, but there is so much more to it than that. If a writer chooses
to self‐publish
they must commit to some hardcore self‐promoting and spending a lot of their own money (professional editing, giveaways,
review copies, cover art, advertisements, etc.). Bypassing all of this stuff
can leave your book buried beneath the avalanche of millions of other books
competing for the same exposure.
Can you provide a few self‐publishing best practices you believe brought you literary success?
Some of what I’ve already mentioned are good practices, but also, I’d like
to point out two things that I believe contributed to my success: kindness and
professionalism. I’ve read a lot of horror stories from book reviewers who were
verbally attacked by authors because they turned away a review request or gave
a bad review, and similar stories about authors and agents. Know in advance
that no matter how hard you worked to write your book that it’s not the
next bestseller (until it is), that it isn’t better than J.K. Rowling or
Stephen King and that you have absolutely no right to make these statements out
loud to anyone. Period. And lastly, no matter how much it hurts your feelings
or angers you, never reply to a bad review. Ever. Not even if something the
reviewer said was 100% wrong. Just don’t do it.
Over the course of about twenty-five years (holy cow, I didn’t realize it had taken that long!), I wrote 7 or 8 completed novels, (some that I’ve still never published), countless incomplete novels, and tons of fantasy world-building. It wasn’t until 2012 when I was working a full-time job that paid me more than I’d ever been paid hourly, that I made the risky decision to quit my job and write full-time. It wasn’t that I didn’t care that I had three young children to raise on my own and that I needed that job—it was only that I knew in my heart that I had to do it. I knew that if I continued to work more than 40 hours per week that I was always going to be too tired to do what I love—writing. And I believed in myself. It was key. It helped me make the decision; to break my fear of the decision and just do it.
Well, I did it. And a few weeks later, after publishing THE EDGE OF NEVER, my life changed in ways I never imagined.
I hit bestseller’s list (New York Times, USA Today, Wall Street Journal, Amazon); I watched my sales in my Amazon dashboard skyrocket, and I couldn’t believe in only one day I made over $7,000! A welfare mom who lived in government housing, and was on food stamps all her life, seeing a sales total for $7,000 in a single day—I honestly didn’t believe it. I used to look forward to amounts like that at tax time when I filed EIC (I’m sure some of you know what I mean here!). And when those sales figures climbed higher every day, I really had to keep recounting the figures because I just knew I must’ve been counting it wrong.
I had accomplished my dream. God gave me the money I needed to finally buy my own home after struggling to pay rent all my life; He helped me pay for kids college and dental work, and pretty much all of the important things I wanted for my children.
But my dream is ongoing, and I’m still writing, and I hope to write until I shut my eyes and can thank Him personally.
The moral of my story is: Go after your dreams; don’t let fear stop you from doing what you want to do most in your life; never give up on yourself.
Over the course of about twenty-five years (holy cow, I didn’t realize it had taken that long!), I wrote 7 or 8 completed novels, (some that I’ve still never published), countless incomplete novels, and tons of fantasy world-building. It wasn’t until 2012 when I was working a full-time job that paid me more than I’d ever been paid hourly, that I made the risky decision to quit my job and write full-time. It wasn’t that I didn’t care that I had three young children to raise on my own and that I needed that job—it was only that I knew in my heart that I had to do it. I knew that if I continued to work more than 40 hours per week that I was always going to be too tired to do what I love—writing. And I believed in myself. It was key. It helped me make the decision; to break my fear of the decision and just do it.
Well, I did it. And a few weeks later, after publishing THE EDGE OF NEVER, my life changed in ways I never imagined.
I hit bestseller’s list (New York Times, USA Today, Wall Street Journal, Amazon); I watched my sales in my Amazon dashboard skyrocket, and I couldn’t believe in only one day I made over $7,000! A welfare mom who lived in government housing, and was on food stamps all her life, seeing a sales total for $7,000 in a single day—I honestly didn’t believe it. I used to look forward to amounts like that at tax time when I filed EIC (I’m sure some of you know what I mean here!). And when those sales figures climbed higher every day, I really had to keep recounting the figures because I just knew I must’ve been counting it wrong.
I had accomplished my dream. God gave me the money I needed to finally buy my own home after struggling to pay rent all my life; He helped me pay for kids college and dental work, and pretty much all of the important things I wanted for my children.
But my dream is ongoing, and I’m still writing, and I hope to write until I shut my eyes and can thank Him personally.
The moral of my story is: Go after your dreams; don’t let fear stop you from doing what you want to do most in your life; never give up on yourself.
Everything Under the Sun
Jessica Redmerski
Genre: Dystopian YA/NA Crossover
Jessica Redmerski
Genre: Dystopian YA/NA Crossover
Date of Publication: August 28, 2017
ISBN: 1546413081
ASIN: B074W372G6
Number of pages: 657
Word Count: 203K
Cover Image by Perrywinkle Photography
Cover Design by Okay Creations
Tagline: Can love survive in such dark times, or is it fated to die with them?
Book Description:
Thais Fenwick was eleven-years-old when civilization fell, devastated by a virus that killed off the majority of the world’s population. For seven years, Thais and her family lived in a community of survivors deep in the heart of the Appalachian Mountains. But when her town is attacked by raiders, she and her blind sister are taken away to the East-Central Territory where she is destined to live the cruel and unjust kind of life her late mother warned her about.
Atticus Hunt is a troubled soldier in Lexington City who has spent the past seven years trying to conform to the vicious nature of men in a post-apocalyptic society. He knows that in order to survive, he must abandon his morals and his conscience and become like those he is surrounded by. But when he meets Thais, morals and conscience win out over conformity, and he risks his rank and his life to help her. They escape the city and set out together on a long and perilous journey to find safety in Shreveport, Louisiana.
Struggling to survive in a world without electricity, food, shelter, and clean water, Atticus and Thais shed their fear of growing too close, and they fall hopelessly in love. But can love survive in such dark times, or is it fated to die with them?
Excerpt 1
“One
more night,” I said, not looking at her. “Give me one more night and I’ll get
you out of this city.” All I could see in front of me was the scenario: I’d
wait until very late, after most of the city was sleeping, and then I’d dress
her in my military clothes, make her pin up her hair underneath a cap, strap a
rifle to her shoulder, a backpack full of goods on her back, and set her atop
the mare waiting at the stables.
“But
there’s nothing for me anymore,” Thais said, wiping away the lingering tears on
her cheeks. “There’s nowhere for me to go, and no one waiting for me there if
by some miracle I make it alive. My mother and father are dead. My sister”—she
looked up at me, and although I didn’t meet her gaze, I could feel her eyes on
me—“my whole family is dead, and this world is dead and my soul is dead and
everything that was once good and beautiful and right, is dead.”
I looked
at her then, her words stirring me.
“That’s
not true,” I said, and got up from the chair and crouched in front of her. “You
may be the only good thing left in this world, and I’ll be goddamned if I let
your light fade.”
Tears
tumbled down Thais’ cheeks.
I took
the gun that had fallen from her hand, tucked it into the back of my pants.
“Promise
me you won’t try anything,” I said as I went toward the door. “Promise me on
your sister’s soul, that you’ll stay in this room and wait for me.”
“Where
are you going?”
“To get
your supplies.” I placed my hand on the doorknob. “Don’t open this door for
anyone.” I opened it to blackness; the candles that had been lit in the hallway
had burned down.
“Wait,”
Thais called out, and I stopped.
She
stood up on wobbly legs.
“You
said to get my supplies—are you
sending me away alone?”
I
thought on it for a moment. I’d never had any intention of going with her. I
couldn’t. Not if I was going to keep others from following her.
“No,” I
finally said. “You’re not going alone. I’ll go with you, at least until I can
get you somewhere safe.”
“Is
there anywhere safe, Atticus?” Her
voice was soft, hopeless, and hearing her say my name like that did something
to my heart. “Do you know where you’re taking me?”
I
sighed. And I looked at the wall.
“Yes,” I
lied, and then stepped out into the hallway.
Just
before I closed the door I added, “Promise me.”
Thais
nodded.
“I
promise,” she said. “I’ll wait for you.”
About the Author:
Jessica Redmerski is a New York Times, USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestselling author, international bestseller, and award winner, who juggles several different genres. She began self-publishing in 2012, and later with the success of THE EDGE OF NEVER, signed on with Grand Central Publishing/Forever Romance. Her works have been translated into more than twenty languages.
Jessica is a hybrid author who, in addition to working with a traditional publisher, also continues to self-publish. Her popular crime and suspense series, In the Company of Killers, has been optioned for television in the United States by actor and model William Levy, and a film exclusive to the Dominican Republic.
She also writes as J.A. Redmerski.
Web Site: http://jessicaredmerski.com/
3 comments:
Thanks for participating in my tour! :-)
Jessica is one of my favorite authors and I love each and every book she has written!
Post a Comment