Book Publishing Secrets with Brian W. Matthews, author of 'The Conveyance'

Name: Brian W.Matthews

Book Title: The Conveyance

Genre: Horror, Science Fiction, Thriller

Publisher: JournalStone

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?

Brian: I’ve always enjoyed reading and writing. I took a creative writing class in college, did quite well, and found it fun. I dabbled with writing for years but didn’t start writing stories on a regular basis until 2010, when a friend asked me to contribute a story to a cyberpunk anthology. I enjoyed the experience so much I decided to try writing novels.

Is this your first book?

Brian: Conveyance is my third. My other two novels are Forever Man and Revelation, which are part of a series. Conveyance is a story separate from them.

With this particular book, how did you publish – traditional, small press, Indie, etc. – and why did you choose this method?

Brian: Conveyance was published through JournalStone, a press specializing in horror, science fiction, and fantasy. I’ve been under contract with them from the start, when they bought Forever Man and liked it enough to offer me a three book deal.

Can you tell us a little about your publishing journey?  The pros and cons?

Brian: My journey in publishing differed from what I’ve heard others went through. After I finished Forever Man, I knew I wanted to release it through a publisher and sent a sample out to two. JournalStone wrote back asking for the full manuscript. Soon afterward, I was offered a contract. My understanding is this doesn’t happen often (getting a publisher on your first try), so I consider myself fortunate. Had I not found a publisher, I was prepared to self-publish.

I strongly recommend you try and find a publisher for your book. You receive the benefit of professional editing. The publisher is responsible for creating the cover, perhaps with your input, perhaps not. They will also print the book or format it for e-readers. These are parts of the process a writer has to do if he or she self-publishes.

Whether you self-publish or go with a publisher, be prepared to be your own marketer. No one is going to do this for you. You have to be active on social media, be willing to do blog tours, and arrange your own book readings/signings at book stores. It’s a difficult part of the publishing process, but it’s one you have to accept if you’re going to be an author.

What lessons do you feel you learned about your particular publishing journey and about the publishing industry as a whole?

Brian: Publishing is the business of selling books, which is often counter to the business of writing books. Publishers naturally look out for themselves, and writers should do likewise. Do not be afraid to cross out parts of a contract, especially the clauses giving away film and foreign language rights. Don’t be afraid to argue for your benefit—and be prepared to walk away if you don’t get what you are reasonably asking.

Would you recommend this method of publishing to other authors?

Brian: Absolutely. Swing for the fences. Query as many publishers as you can. Do not give up. If you don’t snag a publishing contract, either self-publish it or take a critical look at your book and decide, if you couldn’t secure a publisher for it, should it even be published? The latter is a tough call, since a writer puts a good year or more into a book, and shelving it can be painful.

What’s the best advice you can give to aspiring authors?

Brian: Don’t be afraid to say no. No to a bad publishing contract. No to the people who say you can’t succeed. No to the devil on your shoulder that whispers doubts and fears in your ear each time you sit down to write. Writing is a difficult and lonely journey. Don’t let others make it worse by being negative.

Book Publishing Secrets with MD Moore, Author of 'Waiting for the Cool Kind of Crazy'

Name: MD Moore

Book Title: Waiting for the Cool Kind of Crazy

Genre: Fiction/ Family Saga

Publisher: Black Rose Writing

Purchase on Amazon

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?

MD: It’s funny, actually.  My first writing forays weren’t even in fiction and weren’t done for me.  At the time, I worked for a guy who had no writing ability whatsoever, but who was responsible for writing professional letters to the medical community.  He asked if I would look over what he wrote and it was terrible.  I gutted it, rewrote it, then gave it back to him.  He was amazed at my writing ability.  I began editing all of his correspondence.  One day, one of my co-workers saw what I was doing, was impressed, and told me I should try my hand at writing.  The idea was intriguing so I took some classes at the local community college on fiction writing, bought some books, and attended local writer’s conferences.  I entered a writing contest and was a top finalist among several hundred entries, giving me validation that I actually could write so I decided to pursue it as a career.  As far as penning this particular book, the subject actually came fairly easily.  I worked in my state’s most acute mental hospital and there were stories all around me; peoples whose lives were so effected by their mental illness that a writer working in that environment couldn’t help but want to tell their stories.  One of my main characters, Cece, is the schizophrenic mother of my protagonist and her character is loosely based on a patient whose family came to visit her nearly every weekend.  As she was the only patient I worked with who was married with children, she intrigued me.  The pain as well as the patience her family showed every week made me want to tell a story about how mental illness touched the life of my protagonist and how it manifested itself in him from his childhood to adulthood.  

Is this your first book?

MD: Yes.  It is the first book I completed though there were a lot of misfires now crammed in drawers.

With this particular book, how did you publish – traditional, small press, Indie, etc. – and why did you choose this method?

MD:  My book was published by a small press, Black Rose Writing.  I went with them because I felt they would be able to nurture my career along better as a first time author than a large, traditional publisher would be able to do with a debut novelist.  I’m not saying that I wouldn’t be willing to work with a large publisher for my next novel when expectations and understanding of the publishing business are better understood, but for my first novel, this was a great way to go and Black Rose has been great to work with. 

Can you tell us a little about your publishing journey?  The pros and cons?

MD:  This has been every bit as difficult as you hear it will be.  You keep hoping that you are going to be the one who is going to find the best New York agent – hell, I half expected that someone would hear through the grapevine and come calling to get a first peek.  In reality, I had to practically beg my family to take a look (an exaggeration, but

not by much).  At first, I did the agent search – nothing.  Then I edited my book again thinking it might not be as ready as I thought it was.  This actually turned out to be a good idea as the book wasn’t as polished as it needed to be.  In all, I wrote and rewrote this book no fewer than five times over nine years.  I then sent it out again to agents and, hanging in the slush pile with no writing credits to my name or great platform, again I heard crickets.  I finally decided that a small press was going to be my best option so searched through them and found Black Rose who ended up being a great fit.

What lessons do you feel you learned about your particular publishing journey and about the publishing industry as a whole?

MD: There are two lessons I learned well.  First, an author, especially a first time novelist, has to get their manuscript as close to perfect as possible.  This means learning your craft through classes, self-teaching through books, peer review and critique groups to name a few methods.  Then you must write and rewrite and rewrite then rewrite again, then cut out half of what you’ve written and rewrite again.  It’s grueling, but it takes what it takes. I’ve judged writing contests several times and am always amazed at some of the entries where it is clear that the entrant didn’t bother with so much as a spell checker before submission.  This is an extremely competitive business and a first time author has to understand what they are up against to get any one to take notice of their work.  If you don’t work to get your writing in the best condition possible, you’d be better off spending your time on another endeavor because you won’t likely be rewarded in this one. 

The second lesson is perseverance.  If you do work to be the best writer that you can be then you must take that next step and get it out there for others to judge - be it a critic, an agent, an editor, a publisher – someone who can help you take your book to the next level, either personally or professionally.  You won’t likely reach your goal in the first week after completion.  It took me nearly a year of dedicated searching to find the right publisher for my novel, but ultimately it was worth it to finally hold my novel in my hands with a real cover on it, not just a three-ring binder.

Would you recommend this method of publishing to other authors?

MD: It’s hard to recommend a certain way of publishing to aspiring authors.  This way worked well for me, but for someone else a large, traditional publisher might work great.  A lot of people self-publish successfully.  The small publisher worked well for me and I would recommend it strongly as a generalization, but would have to know the author and what they are trying to publish to offer more personalized advise on how they should publish.

What’s the best advice you can give to aspiring authors?

MD: The first piece of advice I would give would be to really soul search to be sure that this is what you want to do.  This is a hard business to break into so make sure that you are in this for the long haul.  This leads to my second piece of advise and that is, if you do have what it takes and you have a story in you that you have to get out, by God, stick with it and get your story told.  Fight to make it the absolute best it can be then work your tail off to get it to that next level.  You work so hard to write the book, finish the journey and let the world read it, however that has to happen.  The last piece of advice is to listen to people who have done this before, especially successfully.  They have so much to teach and most people who I’ve met in this industry are truly the nicest people and they want to help you.  They generally have really good advice, even if it’s not necessarily the advice you want to hear.   Two quotes from Winston Churchill seem to sum up my advice:  “Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak; courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen” and  “Never, never, never, never give up.”