Debut Author Matt McMann

KidLit ALERT!

Interview with traditionally published 

Monsterious Series Debut Author

Matt McMann

Hello Fellow Bookish Friends,

Please welcome Matt McMann to the Teazurs Blog. We met on Instagram, and I reached out for an interview after checking out his books and his website. He's a spooky guy. I hope you and your kids will get to know him and read his Monsterious Books! 

Hello Matt, 

From accomplished musician to middle-grade author - you’re living a great creative life. What has being creative done for your being/soul? How has being creative helped you emotionally?

    On some level, we all hunger to be heard and to connect with others. Creativity, be it through performing music or writing, is one of the ways I satisfy that hunger. It allows me to express my thoughts and feelings in a form that hopefully appeals to some people enough that they listen, which then creates a bond between us that is good for my soul. Also, the sheer act of creative expression is extremely satisfying emotionally.

You loved spooky mystery adventure books as a kid….why? What draws you to the spooky side of things? Do you like being scared?

I’ve loved all things spooky for as long as I can remember.

    Maybe it’s because I was a shy, timid, scared kid, and so many things in life felt out of my control. In spooky stories, I got to experience those feelings in a safe way and see the characters overcome their frightening situations. It helped me develop a positive association with those emotions and gain the belief that I could overcome my real-life trials.  

You and your wife are authors, and she is a New York Times bestselling author. Are you competitive with one another? How do you work together? What should you never ask the other to do?

    I’m the luckiest debut author in the world because I have my wife, Lisa McMann as my writing coach. She has blazed a trail for me to follow through the incredibly challenging world of traditional publishing and has taught me so much. I’ll always be grateful to her for that.
    We’re both competitive people, but when it comes to being an author, there is zero contest at this point. She has published 29 books, many of them New York Times bestsellers, and has entire shelves at bookstores dedicated to her work. As I’m writing this, I’m over five months away from my first books even coming out. 

Any competition between us would be like 

a kitten taking on a T-Rex!

    Even though she’s far down the road in her writing career and I’m just starting out, we’ve always worked together. I’ve been her first reader and given her edit notes since her very first book, and I still edit her first drafts before she turns them in to her editor. She does the same for my books, though with her experience, I get the better end of that deal! We also help each other brainstorm new books and titles and how to solve plot problems, especially during our morning walks in our neighborhood.
    The one thing we never ask the other to do is actually write each other’s books. We give advice, feedback, and ideas, but it’s always up to each of us to do the actual writing of our own work.



Your whole family is a creative hub - how did you instill creativity in your children? Were you hands-on or hands-off in getting them into the arts?

    Our kids found their own way into the arts. We always tried to support any artistic interest they had and provide whatever supplies, classes, and performing opportunities they needed, but the impetus came from them. 
 

   That said, they grew up with me as a musician and watched their mom develop a highly successful writing career from hard work, talent, and sheer will. Our daughter often credits the example my wife set for giving her the belief that she could make it as an actor.
    I think one of the biggest things that helped both of our kids develop careers in the arts was our unwavering belief that acting and illustration were viable career paths as long as they were willing to put in the work.

What got you writing in middle school? Why did you write?

    It was a creative writing assignment in English class. My teacher passed out a piece of paper with a picture of a decrepit old mansion on it along with story prompt questions like, “What is this house? Who lives there? What happens inside?” That led me to write my first spooky story, which I have posted on my website (MattMcMann) in all its twelve-year-old writer glory.
    I went on to win the grade-wide writing contest in both 7^th and 8^th grades. The key moment for me was when Mr. Douglas, my 7th-grade English teacher, read the first chapter of my winning story aloud to the class. He said, “If the writing had continued at this level for the rest of the story, I’d have suggested it be published.” 

His encouragement was the catalyst 

for me believing I could be an author. 

Which NFL stadium did you play at? What team is your favorite? (I’m a Steelers fan, FYI)

    I just did a one-time group gig at the stadium where the Arizona Cardinals play. I’m honestly not a big football fan, but I do remember enjoying watching the Steelers as a kid when Terry Bradshaw, Lynn Swan, and Franco Harris played. Yes, I just seriously dated myself!



Where do your story ideas come from? Do they flash in your head like dreams, or do you sit and come up with ideas?

    My story ideas usually come from an observation. Of my three currently unpublished books, the first was inspired by a loose floor tile—what might be under there? My second was inspired by seeing an unusual fence—what might be behind it? My third was inspired by a very vivid dream.
    The Monsterious series, my spooky middle-grade monster mystery debut, was inspired by a misspoken word. My wife Lisa was reading an article to me and mistakenly said “monsterious” instead of “mysterious.” I said, “That sounds like a middle-grade book.” She replied, “No, it’s a whole series, and you should write it.” So I did!
    The catalyst for the first book in the Monsterious series, Escape from Grimstone Manor, was an online photo of a gargoyle statue that promoted a ride at an amusement park. That inspired the story of three friends who get trapped overnight in a haunted house amusement park ride and discover the monsters are real.
    The idea for book two in the series, The Snatcher of Raven Hollow, came from a baby stroller abandoned by the road that my wife and I saw years ago. At the time, she said, “What if there was a baby in there?” When I was putting together ideas for Monsterious books, I used that abandoned stroller as the starting point for a story about two friends who learn that a monster is behind the baby kidnappings in their small town—but no one believes them.

Why should kids read your books? What do you hope they feel while reading?

I want kids who read my books to enjoy spooky thrills, laugh, fall more in love with reading, and learn that they are strong enough to overcome the monsters in their own lives. I hope these stories ignite their imagination and inspire them to express their creativity. 

Do you have an agent? If so, how did you get that agent? Any advice for writers querying?

    I had a very unusual and fortunate path to getting my agent. I’d known him for years as he was my wife’s long-time agent. While I was working on my first novel, we had plans to meet him for dinner. My wife Lisa said I should prepare a pitch for my book, so I’d be ready when he asked what I was up to. I worked on it for days to get it smooth and tight, completely memorized. Over dinner, I had the chance to give him the pitch, and he was interested enough to agree to look at the manuscript.
    After his first read, he said there was potential but that it needed a lot of work. He gave me great notes and said if I was willing to do significant edits, he was willing to read it again. I really worked hard to do everything he suggested, and after his second read, he signed me!
    Obviously, my path to an agent isn’t one most aspiring authors can replicate, but they can learn from my wife. She got her agent by really learning the craft of how to write a query letter, researching reputable agents who were looking for her type of book, and scrupulously following the submission rules for each. Websites like agentquery are a great place to start. For kids and YA writers, the Society for Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) has fantastic resources and information on finding an agent and the whole publishing journey.

 What about monsters gets you excited to write novels about them?

    I’ve been fascinated with monsters for as long as I can remember. I checked out every book from my elementary school library on Bigfoot, Yeti, the Loch Ness Monster, werewolves, vampires, you name it. The spooky mystery of creatures unknown to science roaming the dark places of the world captivated my imagination then, and it still does today.
    When I set out to pursue my dream of being an author, I decided to write the kinds of books that I’ve always loved—spooky monster adventures. I want to give kids the same kind of thrill that I had all those years ago and help them fall in love with reading because a kid who reads is far more likely to succeed academically and become a more well-rounded, knowledgeable, and mature adult. 

If you could be any Monster - even one you create right now - what monster would you be and why?

    

    The werewolf has always been a favorite of mine. There’s something compelling about the idea of being able to live as a human, but for one night a month, run free as a powerful wild beast. Except for all the killing, of course! I would rather skip that part.

What was your biggest fear as a kid, and how did you conquer it?

    My parents hung a painting of a sad clown at the top of the stairs near my bedroom. It terrified me. How did I get over it? It may have mysteriously disappeared one day. How did that happen? Don’t ask me because I had nothing to do with it. Really.

You posted the very first spooky story you wrote as a kid on your website - and you got an A- on it!! Congratulations. Will this story ever become a part of a novel? Or a novel itself?

    Thank you, but I’m going to go with no. My middle school English teacher (hi, Mr. Douglas) must have been grading on a curve. It’s bad. But that’s okay because that’s how most of us start—you have to write poorly before you can learn to write well.

What is your favorite book out of your wife’s novels?

She’s written so many that I’m going to cheat and pick three:

Cryer’s Cross – this is the scariest of all her books which is one of the many reasons I love it!

The Unwanteds – I’m a fan of origin stories, and this is the first of 14 books in this incredible magical world she created. My love of beginnings is partly why I wrote my Monsterious series in an anthology style—all the books live in the same series, but each is a standalone spooky adventure, so they can be read in any order. Every book has the comforting familiarity of a series, yet it’s also something new.

Clarice the Brave – this is the most beautiful book she’s ever written. The voice and language are exquisite. 

Who was the writer first, you or your wife? When did you two both decide to become authors? And was that weird in any way?

    We both wanted to be writers since we were kids, but she was the first to pursue it seriously. She tried to get published right out of college but couldn’t handle the rejection at that point and quit for ten years. Then she got back into it as a hobby and started writing short stories. She won a prize in an international short story contest and used that as a springboard to write novels. The third book she wrote got her an agent, hit the New York Times bestseller list as her debut in 2008, and she just published her 29^th book!
    When I was burning out after a 26-year music career in 2017, she encouraged me to follow my childhood dream of being an author. She has always been incredibly supportive, thinking of writing as something we could share, so her choosing that attitude kept it from being weird. There have been struggles, of course, as she became my writing coach—she had the challenge of training a newbie, and I had to embrace the teacher/student dynamic in our relationship. But overall, it’s fantastic! I love that we can bounce ideas off each other, commiserate with each other, and just enjoy the wild ride of author life together.

What’s the funniest thing a reader has ever said to you? 

KID AT ONE OF LISA’S BOOKS SIGNINGS: “Will you sign this book?” (hands me my wife’s book)
ME: “Oh, I didn’t write that. Only she did.”
KID: “Please?”
ME: “Okay, sure.”

KID AFTER ONE OF LISA’S SCHOOL VISITS: “Hey, are you her husband?”
ME: “Yep.”
KID: “You’ve got a pretty cool wife, man.”
ME: “Truth.”

If I gave you a megaphone and the whole world would listen, what one sentence would you yell?

“You are deeply loved just as you are.”

What do you love most about being a children’s book author? What do you hate?

    I love the creative outlet, the ability to entertain, inspire, and connect with readers, the freedom of being my own boss, the flexibility to set my own schedule and work from anywhere, and staying in my sweatpants all day!
    I hate the waiting—traditional publishing moves painfully slow at times—and the uncertainty of success.

What was the publishing path like for you? Any shocks along the way? Anything super easy or difficult?

    I was incredibly fortunate to get signed by the first agent that I pitched. He decided to start with an exclusive submission of my first book to a single editor. She liked it and gave me notes, and asked if I’d revise. I did her revisions, and she took it to her team. I couldn’t believe it! I was going to get a book deal on my first submission!
    And then I didn’t. She ultimately passed. My agent sent my book out to a first wave of editors, then a second wave, then a third. They all passed. After a year on submission, we pulled that book and sent out my second one (author tip: always work on the next thing. Use the painful waiting time to keep writing, keep producing, and keep honing your craft).
    The second book received another long list of rejections (author tip: the book receives the rejections, not you. That’s a hard mindset to have because our writing feels so personal, but if you can find that perspective, it will help you survive the long and rocky journey to becoming a published author).
    My third book never even went out on submission. I came up with the Monsterious series idea as my agent was about to send book two out again. He felt strongly enough about it that he paused sending out book two and did an exclusive offer of book four (Monsterious), and it sold immediately in a four-book deal to Penguin Random House.

How do you revise your first draft? Are there any tools you’d advise writers to use?

    I’m still learning what works best for me in writing a first draft. I’ve written one book from a paragraph idea, another from a free-flowing two-page summary, and others from chapter-by-chapter outlines. Regardless of how I get the first draft down, one thing I’ve learned is to not be afraid of having a bad first draft. Award-winning author Malinda Lo said that if writing a book is like sculpting a statue, the first draft is making the clay. The first draft helps you see what you have to work with.
    The process I’ve used for the four Monsterious books I’ve written so far has been to start by writing a chapter-by-chapter outline. In the drafting phase, I have a target word count of either 1000 or 1500 words a day. I start a new writing session by editing what I wrote in the previous session. This gets me back in the flow of the story, and when I finish the first draft, I’ve already completed one edit pass. That doesn’t work for everybody, but it does for me.
    At that point, I go back and look at my outline and any character notes I made previously. Did I hit all the plot points? Leave any loose ends? Give each character a distinct voice? Take them through an appropriate arc based on their wants and needs? With those thoughts in mind, I start from the beginning of the manuscript, looking for anything that feels abrupt, checking the pacing, and smoothing and tightening the writing.
    When I’ve done multiple passes and gotten it as tight and clean as I can, I give it to my wife. She does her edits in Word with track changes, then we talk it through, and I take notes. After completing her edits, I let it sit for a few weeks (if I have the time) and work on something else, then come back to it for a final editing pass before turning it in to my editor at Penguin.
    In terms of writing tools, I like doing my initial drafting in the writing program Scrivener, then exporting it to Word once the structure is in place. I use thesaurus.com frequently to avoid repetition and overused words.

The covers of your debut novels are spooky! Did you have a hand in the decision process? How did you choose them? What was the process like?

    I’ve been fortunate to have a lot of input on the covers for the Monsterious series. Not every author does, especially as a debut, so I’ve been very grateful to Penguin and my editors for that. 
    The first step was brainstorming the style and direction we wanted for the covers (bold colors, monster-focused, spooky but not too scary, etc.). Then my editors and I emailed each other covers of existing books that we felt captured the vibe we were going for. I was again very fortunate that my editor, agent, and I were on the same page.
    Once we’d zeroed in on a direction and feel, my editor took that info to Penguin’s art department, and they

sourced different illustrators they thought would be a good fit. My editor came to me with sample work from two different illustrators. We picked one we all loved, Ryan Quickfall, out of the UK, and fortunately for us, he was available. The art department then came up with a fantastically spooky series treatment for the Monsterious title.
    Ryan started sketching and presenting various ideas, which we would refine with input from the art and sales departments until we settled on a final cover for each book. 

Ryan really captured the vibe of the stories, 

and I’m thrilled with his work! 

While the final decisions always rest with the publisher, overall, it was a very collaborative effort, and I couldn’t be happier with the results.

You’re on Instagram - that’s how we met - do you think social media helps authors sell books? Or is it more support between writers? What do you get out of it?

    I think social media is a great place for authors to build connections with potential readers, other authors, and gatekeepers like booksellers, teachers, and librarians. That’s how I believe it functions best—a place to make connections vs. a sales platform. Having a large number of followers on social media is great, but that doesn’t often translate to high book sales.     

    Using social media to allow other book lovers to get to know me as a person, as well as learning about my books, will hopefully lead those who are really interested to visit my website and sign up for my newsletter. Then I can communicate with them in a more targeted way and provide them with additional content I think they’ll enjoy. Those are the people who are much more likely to actually buy one of my books.

    I highly recommend the Book Marketing Simplified podcast. It’s fantastic and has been hugely helpful to me in understanding the role of social media and shaping my thinking about author marketing in general.

And what is the one question you would ask yourself: Why didn’t you start writing sooner?

    I’m a person who thrives in routine and finds it hard to make big changes. Switching careers in my late forties was quite a leap, and I waited longer than I should have out of fear of failure and of the unknown. 

But once I took the plunge, it was so exciting! 

    There was plenty of hard work and setbacks and slogging, but I found a renewed energy and passion that I hadn’t felt in a long time. I wish I’d done it sooner!

Wow, Matt! Thanks for sharing your path on writing spooky kidlit books! You have an amazing family with multiple talents and I'm so glad we got to know you a little bit more. Good luck with your debut! 

If you'd like to connect with Matt, please check out his links below:

Website: Matt McMann 

Instagram: Matt McMann

Twitter: Matt McMann

YouTube: Matt McMann

How to support Matt (author) & Ryan (illustrator): 

1. preorder Monsterious books 1 & 2

2. sign up for Matt's newsletter on his website and receive a free original spooky short story

If you'd like to be featured on Teazurs Blog - reach out. I love promoting bookish people.

Write~on

Angie

Diversify your Followers

cross-pollination

krôs″pŏl″ə-nā′shən, krŏs″-

noun

1. 1. The transfer of pollen from an anther of a flower of one plant to a stigma of a flower of another plant of the same species.
2. 2. Influence or inspiration between or among diverse elements.
3. 3. Same as cross-fertilization.
4. 
   
5. Cross-pollination helps our world by creating varieties in vegetation that have characteristics of both parent plants but is actually an entirely new variety or creating many more seeds than same-plant pollination.
6. 
   
7. This happens naturally in nature. Nature is a beautiful thing, isn't she? But why am I, a writer, healer, and philosopher bringing up cross-pollination?
8. 
   
   
   
   
9. Because we live in a world where we are trying desperately to be seen, heard, and noticed. Yet, we are still stuck in boxes of our own making. Boxes like who am I and where do I fit into this world are big boxes. What I'd like to talk about are the little boxes, like who we follow on Instagram. 
10. 
    
11. I've noticed, and I'm sure you have, too, that people tend to stick with the same followers as they themselves are....for example. I am a writer, a middle-grade novelist, to be more specific. Most of the accounts I follow have to do with books, writing books, reading books, and reviewing books. This is all well and good, and we do support one another as we follow each other, BUT - this type of vanilla following only allows you to learn from and reach the same people over and over again. 
12. 
    
13. I've noticed the healing pages and philosophy pages do the same thing. They follow each other and try to pitch healing packages or philosophy talks to the same audience over and over. 
14. 
    
15. It's like we're feeding on each other again and again - 
16. in a small pool overflowing with the same type of posts and offerings. 
17. 
    
18. So, how do we gain new readers if we're writers? Clients if we're healers? Students, if we're philosophers? 
19. 
    
    
20. You guessed it - Cross-pollination!
21. 
    
22. How do you do this? 
23. Well, for starters, follow different hashtags. If you're into moss, like I am, follow #mossgardens. You will start to see some beautiful gardens which will help your creativity. Oh, and guess what? Moss garden people love to read books.
24. 
    
    
    
    
25. Follow accounts that post about the other passions you have - like for me; fairy gardens, moss, lavender fields, tiny homes, old libraries, architecture, feminine rising, female empowerment, women helping women, skateboard art, AI art, and so on....the more friends you make in other boxes, the bigger your audience, and the more fun!
26. 
    
27. Also, as a writer for kids' books, I love to support other writers. But I've noticed even though we are getting more and more books published by those who were once ignored or held back, we are not doing a very good job cross-pollinating. 
28. 
    
29. What do I mean? I mean, we are not buying those books for our kids. Teachers are, but parents aren't. In order to create a more inclusive and loving society, we, the parents, must help our kids read and learn about other people, other races, cultures, ways of living, ways of worshipping, and ways of being. The more children know, the less fear they will have when they come across something out in the world as adults that they are unfamiliar with.
30. 
    
31. What can you do?
    
32. 
    Follow writers and authors that are different than you. Support other ways of being and living on this planet. Open up to questions from others about how you live, what you eat, who you worship, and what spiritual practices you enjoy. The more we help each other understand differences are okay and fun, the less fearful the world becomes. 
33. So -- go cross-pollinate your social media accounts. Get out of your comfortable boxes. Follow someone new. Support those who are different from you. Buy books that have different lead characters. Ask questions to those you are curious about. 
35. 
    
36. Follow your passions, not just your work. 
The more diverse your followers and who you follow, the more fun and joyful your social media accounts will become. 

45. 
    
46. 
    
47. 
    
    Write~on, Angie
    
49. 
    

Eric B. Hunter | Sci-Fi & Fantasy Author

Introducing Fantasy and Sci-Fi Author,

 Eric B. Hunter 

Hello Readers, Writers, & Illustrators,

I'm happy to put Eric into the spotlight. We met on Instagram where I joined his group of fantasy and sci-fi writers. He's dark in his work and creative with his What If's? Read more to find out how he works and writes and gets published.

Eric, your website gives us your writer’s story - a tale of a writer inspired by another writer, but life happens, and you put your childhood dreams aside. Then your daughter is born, and the passion for your writing dream reemerged. 

Sounds like a kid’s book in the making...am I way off here, or is there something here that kids might resonate with like you did with the book Eragon?

Well, funnily enough, I made a children’s book for my daughter, and that was my first step back into writing.

I think this is a situation that really resonates with so many people, especially since the pandemic. Life has a way of pushing things to the back burner that aren’t a part of your immediate survival. I think a lot of authors have similar instances where an event kind of shook them out of their normal way of thinking, and it rekindled something that sparked joy for them.

What do you love about writing fantasy and science fiction?

So many things! I love that there’s no limit to what I can do within a story and the challenge of making the story as ludicrous as possible while also making it believable. 

It’s a fun juxtaposition to think of a story where magic is real and to make that magic as solid and real as possible for the reader. I think if you can make your reader feel like they could flick and swish a feather into levitating, you’ve done your work as a fantasy author.

Why is there a raven on your writer’s website? What is the significance?

There are a couple of reasons I chose a raven for my logo. When I designed it, I was writing my short story horror series called, ‘Tales from Beyond the Veil’ and listening to Christopher Lee read Edgar Allan Poe. ‘The Raven’ is such a classic, and I enjoy how Lee reads it. If you haven’t listened, it’s free on youtube.

I also designed the raven logo with my roots in mythology in mind. I’ve always been fascinated by the Huginn and Muninn story in Norse mythology. Essentially, Odin traded his eye for the ravens Huginn and Muninn, who represent Thought and Memory. They fly across Midgard and gain wisdom for Odin. I feel that’s what we’re ultimately doing as authors. 

We do our best to impart our wisdom and our stories to our readers, and we don’t even ask for an eye in exchange!

Some of your short stories have been bought by Dragon Soul Press. How do you submit? Should other writers do the same? Has it helped you with gaining readers?

Well, I came across Dragon Soul Press when they were recommended to me by a fellow indie author (shoutout to JM Williams). I looked through their submissions and found that they were looking for some horror stories. I’d just finished writing ‘Graveyard Shift,’ so I gave it a final polish and sent it in. They accepted it, and I was so excited that I wrote 4 more stories and submitted two for their anthology ‘Beautiful Darkness: Volume 1’ and they accepted those as well.

You can find a super helpful guide to submitting to Dragon Soul Press on their website here:

https://dragonsoulpress.com/shortstorycalls/

They’re an incredibly put-together publisher and have been great to work with. If you have a story that fits one of their many submission calls, or you want to tailor-make one, I highly recommend submitting.

I’m not sure if it’s helped gain readers, but it got me some publishing credits which I think will help me when it comes time to find an agent or publisher for my full-length novel.

Why should writers sign up for the Fantasy & Sci-Fi Writers Alliance?

We’re basically the coolest kids in the courtyard. But other than the gargantuan amount of street cred you get for joining up, you also get to be a part of a really great community with a thriving discord chat, and lots of group activities like:

-Short Story Contest

-Monthly Book Club (enter your book to be selected and reviewed by your peers in the Alliance) 

-Online Reading Round Tables (helps hone your reading in front of others)

-Instagram Follow Trains and Twitter Writer Lifts (gain some followers)

-Support for book tours (a large community to share posts and your upcoming releases)

Do you think writers should participate in follow trains to grow their accounts?

There are few guarantees when it comes to social media. I think the more followers you have, the more likely the algorithm will take you seriously. The time you spend posting and interacting with others on Instagram has a significant impact on the relationships that you build in the writing community and the likelihood of people seeing your work. Follow for follow is a good way to get your follower count up to try and make a dent in that pesky algorithm.

Why do you write?

I write because it fills my heart with joy. 

A weird thing to say when my stories tend to be on the grim side of the spectrum! I really enjoy the process of writing. 

I love hammering out the first draft in a fit of smashed keys and typos and checking the word count at the end of it all to see how far I’ve come. I enjoy combing through and making sure things are as they should be and shifting things to deliver maximum emotion for the reader. I even enjoy sending the stories out so that people can read them, though that’s the part with the most nerves! This is something I all out enjoy, and I hope what I create entertains my readers.

Has having followers increased your readership or sales? 

I don’t have a book out yet, and the anthologies where my stories have been published are relatively new, so I will have to get back to you on that one! I do know that I have more traffic to my site when I engage and post on my social media, and I would hope (one can ONLY hope) that the more followers you have, the more likely one or two will go read what I’ve written.

What has been the most difficult part of getting published for you?

Without a question, it’s conquering self-doubt. Getting past the feeling of hopelessness that comes from a mountain of rejections is tough to do, but it’s possible. I’ve found that I’m more secure with rejections the more I’ve gotten it. Kind of like iocane powder. You just need to build up a tolerance. Once you’ve befriended the fear of failure, that’s when you’ll be able to really fly. So, sweaty palms or not, I send out my work to any place looking.

What has been the most rewarding part of publication?

I think seeing my work in a physical book has been the best thing. It’s like seeing it for the first time, and I can almost imagine that it’s someone else who wrote it. Almost. It’s been really cool.

You have Indie authors on your website in order to help promote them. I do the same on my blog, and I hope every little bit we do for each other helps. But it’s difficult to know.

I think the thought of someone caring enough to put them on their website is enough to help. We’ve all got that self-doubt monkey screaming in our ears, so any bit of support helps block that out.

I found them all through my Instagram and online communities. We chatted in the comments on each other's posts, or I messaged them directly if I liked their work. For the most part, they were happy to be included on my site, and I’ve become friends with them.

If I gave you a megaphone and the whole world would listen, what one sentence would you shout?

‘Stop hating each other and work together!’ 

Can you imagine what we could accomplish?

With so many ways to publish a book, it feels like everyone is a writer these days. How do readers find really good books when there are so many being published?

Oh boy. Good question. I suppose with the invention of the e-book, it isn’t quite so hard on the wallet to give an indie author a shot. I would say look at reviews, see what people say, and give authors a chance to knock your socks off. Also, make sure that if they DO knock your socks off, leave a good review so more people can find them.

What do you love to write about? Subjects? Emotions? Place? In other words, where does your love of writing go when you write?

I really enjoy chasing down ideas and bringing them to fruition. I read Stephen King’s ‘On Writing’, and in that book, he said that he thinks of stories as ‘What if?’ and that’s what I’ve been doing ever since. 

I come up with a ‘What if?’ and then I chase down the answer, hoping to find out what if a werewolf were an art thief? What if a man made an unwitting deal with a hostile Djinn? What if a boy had to chase down a dragon to save his sister? I use that question to pique my curiosity, and then I have to write it to find out!

You have writing coaches and editors on your site. Have you used a professional editor or coach? What did you like or not like about that experience?

I’ve used the lovely Anna K Moss as an editor for some of my work, and I have a testimonial on her site! She was really great to work with, and I will definitely be working with her in the future. I like going through with an editor or beta reader on my work because it gives me a fresh perspective on things. So often, we can get stuck in our own heads, so having a fresh set of eyes can mean the world of difference on a project.

Who is your biggest cheerleader?

I have quite a few really awesome people in my corner. My friend MJ La has been an absolutely huge help and supporter of my work. Anna K Moss, as I mentioned, has been incredible to work with, and we are fast friends. G.M. Chmilar has given me boosts to write and has done a metric ton of reading for me. And this isn’t polished up and ready for the world reading either, so she’s a real champion! Of course, my wife and family are also cheering me on and helping me as well, and I am really grateful for all the support they continue to give me.

What does it mean to you, the author, when readers Pre Order? 

I think any time someone is willing to be put on a list for pre-order, it inspires confidence in the launch. Hopefully, if they are eager enough to pre-order, they will also read and review the book, and more people will be willing to give you a go.

What do you know about branding for authors? Have you branded yourself? Why or why not?

I took marketing way back in 2009 when I went to college, so I know the smallest bit about how things work. I’ve tried to brand myself, and I think it’s something that takes a lot of time and effort to cultivate. It depends on what you want to accomplish with your writing. If you want to self-publish or you want to send yourself out to the world, you should have a game plan for how you want to present yourself.

As much as it sucks, being a writer is a business. It’s writing stories that no one really asked you to write and doing your best to sell them to people or agents/publishers in a flooded market. 

It sounds a bit bleak, but in essence, that’s what we need to do.
We aren’t just writers anymore, but public relations, marketers, digital designers, website builders, social media gurus, editors, and all the million other things that it takes to be successful. If you have a framework for how you present yourself to the world, it can make those things a bit easier to manage. 

If people can see a logo and know that it’s your work or your post, you create recognition, and it becomes that much easier to get your message across.

If you could be any fantasy creature, even one you make up, what creature would you be and why?

I’m kind of partial to my human form, so I think I would like to be a Tolkein elf. I would have flawless skin and live forever. Not too shabby!

Your Instagram page is full of haunting images and dark stories - what draws you to this genre?

I’m not a terribly dark person. 

I don’t wear all black and hang out in graveyards or anything. I do, however, think that the world can be unkind, and a way to deal with that realization is to stare the darkness in the face. Once you realize it’s kind of fun to be scared, regular things aren’t so scary.

Where do you hope to be in your writing career in the next 5 years? 10? More?

Hopefully, in 5 years, I’ll have a couple of books on the shelves of the local bookstores. I hope to have an agent with maybe a bidding war from executives for who will get the movie rights to my best-selling series. That’s what I hope, anyway! 

Realistically, I want to have my trilogy completed (agent and Netflix deals aside). I would like to do this full-time, and hopefully, I can do that in the next 5-10 years!

What question would you ask yourself?

Why haven’t you finished editing your novel yet? 

It’s already November, and you’re only half done. What’s up with that?

Wow, Eric! Thank you for sharing so much wonderful information about you, about writing, and about the business of it all! 

If you'd like to connect with Eric - you can find him here: 

Instagram - E.B. Hunter

Twitter - E.B. Hunter 

Facebook - E.B. Hunter

Website -  E.B. Hunter Author 

Keep promoting writers! 

Write~on, Angie