Tuesday, May 8, 2018

Book Publishing Secrets with Michael Okon


Michael Okon is an award-winning and best-selling author of multiple genres including paranormal, thriller, horror, action/adventure and self-help. He graduated from Long Island University with a degree in English, and then later received his MBA in business and finance. Coming from a family of writers, he has storytelling in his DNA. Michael has been writing from as far back as he can remember, his inspiration being his love for films and their impact on his life. From the time he saw The Goonies, he was hooked on the idea of entertaining people through unforgettable characters.

Michael is a lifelong movie buff, a music playlist aficionado, and a sucker for self-help books. He lives on the North Shore of Long Island with his wife and children.

His latest book is the YA Fiction/Monsters/Thriller Monsterland Reanimated.

WEBSITE & SOCIAL LINKS:

Website:

About the Book:

After Monsterland has imploded, the entire world is thrown into chaos. World leadership is gone, economies have collapsed, and communications are non-existent.  Wyatt must go beyond the
boundaries of his small town to reestablish contact with the outside world, and alert the government about a traitor-in-chief.

During his journey he discovers a new threat released from the bowels of the defunct theme park.

When an army of relentless mummies, a life-sucking ooze called The Glob, and a hybrid reanimated Behemoth rise from the depths of Monsterland, who will survive?

ORDER YOUR COPY:

Amazon Link:
iBooks Link:
Kobo Link:
Barnes & Nobel Link:
SmashWords Link:

Thank you for your time in answering our questions about getting published.  Let’s begin by having you explain to us why you decided to become an author and pen this book?
Author: I’ve been writing since I’m five years old. Fast forward 35 years later. I have 3 best-selling self-published self-help books, 15 self-published novels, a literary agent, an entertainment attorney, a film agent, two published books,
Is this your first book?
Author: Nope. Number 19.
With this particular book, how did you publish – traditional, small press, Indie, etc. – and why did you choose this method?
Author: I was picked up by this incredible boutique press called WordFire, ran by the incomparable Kevin J. Anderson.
Can you tell us a little about your publishing journey?  The pros and cons?
Author: My agent decided to go with a boutique publisher for my first book so I could get my feet wet. It’s been incredible working with real professionals. With self-publishing, you have to do everything yourself. With a publisher, you basically have unlimited support and they handle everything.
What lessons do you feel you learned about your particular publishing journey and about the publishing industry as a whole?
Author: The publishing process is slow. You have to trust the people and the process to come out with the best product.
Would you recommend this method of publishing to other authors?
Author: If you have an agent, definitely. Better off starting small and building to a bigger position, than starting big. I’d much rather be a big fish in a little pond, then a small fish in a big pond.
What’s the best advice you can give to aspiring authors?
Author: Be patient! Nothing happens overnight. You will not be able to buy the yacht quite yet.


Tuesday, May 1, 2018

Book Publishing Secrets with Christine Amsden, Author of FROZEN


Name: Christine Amsden
Book Title: Frozen
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Publisher: Twilight Times Books
Link to book:
Frozen (Cassie Scot Book Seven)
Print Release: July 15, 2018
Audiobook Release: TBA
Cassie Scot: ParaNormal Detective (Cassie Scot Book One)

INTERVIEW:
Thank you for your time in answering our questions about getting published. Let’s begin by having you explain to us why you decided to become an author and pen this book?
Author: I don’t think I ever decided to become an author … writing is just something I’ve always done! I’ve been writing since I was in grade school, always with a flair for the extraordinary. 
As far as this particular book goes, it happened like this: I wrote the original Cassie Scot Quartet, determined that these four books more or less told a complete story and that it was over. Well, except she had two good friends who each needed stories of their own. So in came books five and six (Madison’s Song and Kaitlin’s Tale, aka the spin-offs). But that was it. 
Except … Cassie is a bit persistent and was not done with me. She kept tapping me on the shoulder and saying, “Excuse me, but life doesn’t end when you get married. Did your life end when you got married?” 
Hard to argue with, really. 
Is this your first book?
Author: This is my … hang on, let me think … it’s going to be my 9th published book, but I’ve got another completed book waiting in limbo which I technically wrote ahead of this one. Plus another nearly complete book, which I wrote afterward. Oh, and a handful of trunked novels we’re going to pretend never happened. :) 
With this particular book, how did you publish – traditional, small press, Indie, etc. – and why did you choose this method?
Author: Small press – this was an easy choice because Twilight Times Books published the other six books in the series and had the option. I was happy to let her have this one too, although the reason I’m sitting on a couple other books is because I may branch out and try something different with my next, new series. 
Can you tell us a little about your publishing journey?  The pros and cons?
Author: I love that I went with a small press first, honestly. It is definitely something that has some pros and cons – you don’t quite have the same freedoms you have with self-publishing or the same clout you get with big press publishing. Yet for all I sometimes feel stuck in the middle, I also have an ally in publishing, someone who has become a friend over the years and who supports my journey with her whole heart. You have to be careful with small presses, but I would recommend Twilight Times Books to anyone who doesn’t want to go it alone, but who doesn’t think big publishing is a good fit either. 
What lessons do you feel you learned about your particular publishing journey and about the publishing industry as a whole?
Author: At this point, I feel that there is no one right way to publish a book. There are definitely some wrong ways, especially slapping your first-ever rough draft on Amazon without so much as proofreading it and helping give every self-published author a bad name. But complete unprofessionalism aside, we all have our own journey to make. 
Would you recommend this method of publishing to other authors?
Author: I would recommend Twilight Times Books to other authors. I caution them when it comes to small presses – do your homework! Some so-called small presses are frauds, even vanity presses. If a publisher EVER asks you for money, run away! A small press may not be able to give you an advance, but they should never ever ask you for money to publish your book. There are other pitfalls, too – talk to authors and get the facts before you submit a manuscript.
What’s the best advice you can give to aspiring authors?
Author: Remember that, first and foremost, writing is supposed to be fun.

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About the book:

Apparently, life doesn’t end when you get married.
When a couple freezes to death on a fifty degree day, Cassie is called in to investigate. The couple ran a daycare out of their home, making preschoolers the key witnesses and even the prime suspects.
Two of those preschoolers are Cassie’s youngest siblings, suggesting conditions at home are worse than she feared. As Cassie struggles to care for her family, she must face the truth about her mother’s slide into depression, which seems to be taking the entire town with it.
Then Cassie, too, is attacked by the supernatural cold. She has to think fast to survive, and her actions cause a rift between her and her husband.
No, life doesn’t end after marriage. All hell can break loose at any time.