1. Briefly describe your journey in writing your first book.
Not much of a journey with this one to be honest! Anyone who reads it will see it wasn't a book I planned in the slightest. I just woke up with the idea of writing a book in one sitting and actually started it that evening. I guess the plan was just to write all about some of the more interesting anecdotes from my life that I thought would make people laugh. It's something anyone could do really...I refuse to believe anyone has lived a boring life!
2. Did you query agents or traditional publishers before publishing on Amazon?
No. Such was the odd nature of this book, I knew going to traditional publishers would be largely a waste of time. An anecdotal comedy book written by an unknown author is a risk at the best of times. I knew if this book was going to be successful it would have to come from a different perspective. Amazon self-pubbing seemed perfect for that.
3. What factors influenced your decision to self-publish?
Honestly? Because it was pretty easy to do. I'm in the middle of drafting a fictional novel and needed a change of pace for a while, so Life...With No Breaks became the side-project. Self-publishing seemed like a straightforward and easy thing to do, so I went ahead with it.
4. Will you try to garner a traditional publishing contract for any future books?
Yep. My other stuff will go via regualr publishers. Anything else written like LWNB I will still self publish though.
5. Did you design your cover art? If not, would you care to share your graphic designer’s information?
Yep, it was me...with a little help from a buddy at work who's a whizz with photoshop. As he actually works for me, I'm not encouraging work for him outside our company!
6. If you used a graphic designer, how involved were you during the creative process for your cover?
Three beers, a packet of pork scratchings and a game of darts in the local pub was all we needed to thrash out what the cover should look like :)
7. How did you feel when you got your first sale? Are you pleased with sales so far?
Very pleased indeed :) Quite a strange feeling to be honest. The idea that a complete stranger is actually reading your work! As for sales so far, last week I peaked at 497 on Amazon's sales rankings, which was fantastic. The sales are a bit erratic though...it all depends on how pro-active I'm being on the forums. I'm hoping to get sales onto an independent roll without my constantly bumping threads at some point!
8. What kinds of social media [twitter, facebook, webpage, blog, writing forums] are you involved with trying to garner attention for your book(s)?
I'm on Twitter (Spalding_Author), but I'm not currently using a blog or website. This is because I'm not the greatest of PC experts, but will probably give it a go if I feel I need more promotion for the book.
9. Besides Amazon, are there any other sites where your books are for sale?
Yep, it's also at Smashwords. This is for other e-readers and for international people (I'm in the UK, after all) Address is http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/13551
10. What’s next for you?
A bite of tea, a quick lie down and then I'm off down the pub...
...oh, did you mean as a writer? :)
I'm going to keep working on the novel and monitoring how Life...With No Breaks does.
Thanks for letting me contribute and I hope everyone who buys the book will enjoy it :)
Best wishes,
Nick
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