Welcome to Up Around the Corner, Joshua. Could you
tell us a little about yourself and your writing?
Hiya!
First, let me say thank you for the chance to be featured on your site. I
sincerely appreciate it, and will be happy to return the favor soon.
As far as myself, I am an independent author from Vienna, WV (which is effectively a suburb of Parkersburg WV – and I promise, it’s okay if you’ve never heard of it). I’ve been published for almost five years now, though it’s only been in the last couple that I’ve been taking it seriously.
As far as myself, I am an independent author from Vienna, WV (which is effectively a suburb of Parkersburg WV – and I promise, it’s okay if you’ve never heard of it). I’ve been published for almost five years now, though it’s only been in the last couple that I’ve been taking it seriously.
I am the author of the dark fantasy/fantasy horror series, The Saga of the Dead Men Walking. My genre is a little hard to define, in truth. Most of the time when people think ‘dark fantasy,’ the thought goes to romantic paranormal or things of that nature. Up to this point in my series, there’s no real romance. Mostly, it’s just a tour of violence and monsters set in a Game of Thrones/The Elder Scrolls-esque fantasy world.
I
currently have four novels published in the Saga of the Dead Men Walking,
along with three novellas, and two more novels (and novellas) in the pipeline,
including the well-reviewed Snowflakes in Summer and my newest release, Insanity’s
Respite.
Can you share a
little bit with us about your most recently published work?
I
just launched (on June the 6th!) a full-length novel, Saga of the
Dead Men Walking: Insanity’s Respite, which starts a new chapter in the Saga.
The main character – an exorcist from the Order of Love – has been sent to
Medias Manor, an asylum for the battered and broken with magical aptitude. His
last adventure left him with a broken leg, a perforated arm, and a bad case of
post-traumatic-stress disorder. The problem is, while he’s at the so-called ‘Safest
Place in the Kingdom,’ a series of murders has recently come to light while a
wedding rages (yes, that’s the right word) in the background.
Now he’s in a race to figure out what’s going on while battling the demons in his mind. The question, ultimately, is if the demons in his head are real, or if the only monster in the city is the one hunting the Queen’s citizens outside of the Manor walls.
Now he’s in a race to figure out what’s going on while battling the demons in his mind. The question, ultimately, is if the demons in his head are real, or if the only monster in the city is the one hunting the Queen’s citizens outside of the Manor walls.
What inspired you
to become a writer, and what is one of the things that surprised you most in
the process?
It’s
hard to say what inspired me to become a writer. I’ve just always loved to tell
stories. For a big chunk of my teenage years, I used to play “Massively
Multiplayer Online RPGs” or MMORPG’s for short. These were computer games with
a fantasy bent to them that had you going out and slaying dragons and ghouls
and the like with sometimes dozens of other players in a virtual world.
When I hit my early twenties, my life changed a bit and I lost the time to log on and play day to day. But, I still had the characters I used to play in my head – and once I realized I could start putting them to paper, I realized what I wanted to do with my life.
When I hit my early twenties, my life changed a bit and I lost the time to log on and play day to day. But, I still had the characters I used to play in my head – and once I realized I could start putting them to paper, I realized what I wanted to do with my life.
As
far as what surprised me the most in the process? The fact that writing a book isn’t
just about writing a book. If all it took to write a book was to sit down, pull
up my keyboard, and just write, I could have a new book every couple of
months.
But as an indie author, writing your story – the thing that you are
basing your entire business around, your product, your goal, the part that your
clients consume and base their opinion off of – is only about thirty percent of
the time. If that. The rest of the time is spent marketing. It’s spent
designing covers, it’s spent formatting files, it’s spent researching advertising
on Amazon and Facebook. It’s spent composing newsletters and trying to generate
interactions on social media.
As absolutely crazy as it sounds, as an author, I miss writing. I look at the days when I can say, “Okay, I have just finished getting five ads up and running, I’ve scheduled another three or four FB posts, I’ve done a video, I’ve reached out to local support groups, I can actually write now,” as my days off. The writing is the easy part. The marketing?
That’s another story entirely.
As absolutely crazy as it sounds, as an author, I miss writing. I look at the days when I can say, “Okay, I have just finished getting five ads up and running, I’ve scheduled another three or four FB posts, I’ve done a video, I’ve reached out to local support groups, I can actually write now,” as my days off. The writing is the easy part. The marketing?
That’s another story entirely.
What is one of the
most challenging or difficult lessons you’ve learned as an author?
You
get told going into it that most authors don’t make above poverty-line level
incomes. There’s been numerous studies that have shown this across the board.
The difference is between knowing it
and then filing your income on your
1099-MISC form. So, take that, and you take a lesson in humility at the same
time because you are going to run into other authors who are making two,
three, or even ten thousand dollars a month – they may not be better than you
as an author (subjectively or even critically speaking), but they’ve found the
critical lines of advertising and marketing that work for them in ways to
maximize their income levels.
It’s really, really easy to get stuck in the mindset of, “Why are they doing better and I’m not?” when you need to be focusing on the mindset of, “My work speaks for itself, I just need to get more of it out there and be seen.” That’s a lot harder than it sounds and I honestly struggle with it every single day.
It’s motivation, but at the same time, it’s a hard fight in your head. Not going to lie to you either; some days, I don’t win that battle.
It’s really, really easy to get stuck in the mindset of, “Why are they doing better and I’m not?” when you need to be focusing on the mindset of, “My work speaks for itself, I just need to get more of it out there and be seen.” That’s a lot harder than it sounds and I honestly struggle with it every single day.
It’s motivation, but at the same time, it’s a hard fight in your head. Not going to lie to you either; some days, I don’t win that battle.
Name one of your
novels and list five words that best describe it.
Snowflakes
in Summer: Book 1 of the Snowflakes Trilogy. Wraiths, demon dogs, winter, and
bad decisions.
What’s one novel
that you’ve read and enjoyed, and has stayed with you? Why do you believe it
has?
When not writing,
what fun or interesting keeps you busy?
What can readers
expect from you in the future?
More.
A lot more. I don’t have plans to shift genres anytime soon, so I hope to stay
in the realm of fantasy/dark fantasy/horror. Insanity’s Respite is the
start of a new trilogy (maybe a four book series) and I am giving myself an
ambitious (probably way too ambitious) publishing schedule for the next two
books in it. About twelve years ago I wrote a mammoth, unformatted,
five-hundred-plus page novel that I never finished. That it exists is an
albatross around my neck for more than a decade. If I were to stick it in
appropriate 6x9 formatting right now, it would likely exceed more than twelve
hundred pages…
...but
I can’t get back to it until after the current series comes to a close. And I
really, really want to get to it.
You can also expect more from me on my Facebook and website. I am giving considerable thought to starting a writer’s blog/interview page of sorts (because I don’t have enough to do already – HAH!) to both give other authors and creators I know exposure and to serve as a platform to drive my own marketing plans into the future.
You can also expect more from me on my Facebook and website. I am giving considerable thought to starting a writer’s blog/interview page of sorts (because I don’t have enough to do already – HAH!) to both give other authors and creators I know exposure and to serve as a platform to drive my own marketing plans into the future.
What
are your short and long term writing goals?
You actually asked me this outside of the interview, but I wanted to fit my answer in here. Short term, it’s unlocking a positive net income with marketing. Marketing is the one thing I struggle with more than anything else in the world. Over the last few years, I’ve put in a few hundred dollars here and there with one marketing plan or another with nothing really to show for my efforts.
That said, the last two months, I’ve been taking multiple marketing classes and courses. I’m working (hard) on getting that right formula of keywords and ad copy and blurbs to start turning a profit. Right now, it won’t matter if my profit attributable to advertising is only a buck fifty; that’s a buck and a half more than I had. It’s also a sign that I can start scaling up. I earn that first five dollars? I promise, I’ll turn it around and turn it into fifty.
Long term goals, more books. “Nothing sells your last book like your next book,” - Craig Martell, author, and admin of 20BooksTo50k, an online marketing group. The more stock you have, the better your odds of being seen, the better your odds of turning potential readers into mega fans, and every book you write will theoretically earn royalties in perpetuity. I made a couple of dollars last week over two books I wrote five years ago – and while it’s not much, it’s a couple cups of tea at McDonald’s.
Talk of money aside (those are more ‘business’ goals than ‘writing’ goals), my short term is a successful launch of Insanity’s Respite and to really work on my fanbase. I love it when I know that someone who has read my work before picks up one of my books and is able to escape from this chaotic world we live in for a few hours to get away from it. I love being able to provide that kind of relief. I love being able to make someone feel when they grab a copy of the Saga.
You actually asked me this outside of the interview, but I wanted to fit my answer in here. Short term, it’s unlocking a positive net income with marketing. Marketing is the one thing I struggle with more than anything else in the world. Over the last few years, I’ve put in a few hundred dollars here and there with one marketing plan or another with nothing really to show for my efforts.
That said, the last two months, I’ve been taking multiple marketing classes and courses. I’m working (hard) on getting that right formula of keywords and ad copy and blurbs to start turning a profit. Right now, it won’t matter if my profit attributable to advertising is only a buck fifty; that’s a buck and a half more than I had. It’s also a sign that I can start scaling up. I earn that first five dollars? I promise, I’ll turn it around and turn it into fifty.
Long term goals, more books. “Nothing sells your last book like your next book,” - Craig Martell, author, and admin of 20BooksTo50k, an online marketing group. The more stock you have, the better your odds of being seen, the better your odds of turning potential readers into mega fans, and every book you write will theoretically earn royalties in perpetuity. I made a couple of dollars last week over two books I wrote five years ago – and while it’s not much, it’s a couple cups of tea at McDonald’s.
Talk of money aside (those are more ‘business’ goals than ‘writing’ goals), my short term is a successful launch of Insanity’s Respite and to really work on my fanbase. I love it when I know that someone who has read my work before picks up one of my books and is able to escape from this chaotic world we live in for a few hours to get away from it. I love being able to provide that kind of relief. I love being able to make someone feel when they grab a copy of the Saga.
I
want to make more people happy.
If I can do that, the rest of it falls into place.
If I can do that, the rest of it falls into place.
As this interview
is coming to a close, is there anything else you’d like to add or share?
A
few months ago, I heard a couple of the most inspirational quotes about
writing. I like to mention it whenever I see someone hurting or frustrated, and
it applies to more than just books – it applies to creating anything. Be it a
song, be it a drawing, be it jewelry, be it cosplay, you can apply both of
these quotes. I wish I could take credit for them, but I can at least pass them
on.
“You can’t edit a blank page,” and, “The only person that can tell your story is you.”
Of course, there’s also my line – and this one I can claim:
“You are the God of your own world. Create accordingly.”
And, ultimately, whatever story you write – you are the writer. You are the creator, you are the maker, you set the rules, you set the tone, you set the conflict and the rewards. You define the sins and you expound the virtues. You’re responsible for the dirt on every page, the souls in every character, and the air that they breathe.
Writing (or creating art in general) gives you more control over anything you have ever and will ever have in your life. Take advantage of it and do whatever you want, however you want, and don’t confine yourself to normal. Consider writing to market, of course, but normal? You’re an author. You gave up normal when you picked up a pen for the first time.
Below, please list
the places readers can find out more about Joshua Akaran Smith and his works:
Want to learn more about the Saga? Ready to enter a fantasy world of blood, guts, tears, and gore where good things happen to bad people, and the good people are questionable... at best?
Want to learn more about the Saga? Ready to enter a fantasy world of blood, guts, tears, and gore where good things happen to bad people, and the good people are questionable... at best?
Use
any of the links below!
Signed
paperback copies are available, too! Just send me a PM and I'm happy to get one
in the mail for you!
ALSO!
The
Dead Men Emailing newsletter is now live! To sign up and receive information
about upcoming events, conventions, the charity work I do, characters in the
series, new releases, sales, and the occasional freebie (plus behind-the-scenes
business information), hop to the link below and drop your email today!
http://www.sagadmw.com/email
And lastly, thank you to Terry Ervin for having me today! It’s been an absolute pleasure!
~Joshua E. B. Smith
And lastly, thank you to Terry Ervin for having me today! It’s been an absolute pleasure!
~Joshua E. B. Smith
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