Interview with Glenn Bullion

Briefly describe your journey in writing your first book.

I’ve been writing for myself since I was a child.  I never had any plans to let anyone read anything I wrote outside of family.  To be honest, up until recently, I didn’t like my own stuff.  It was only after I finished Demonspawn, which was also my first book written in first person, that after proofreading, really felt that others might like it too.  After plenty of revisions and proofreading, I decided to send it off to different agents, and got no response.  I’ve seen how popular eReaders are becoming, so I decided to try my hand at publishing myself.

Did you query agents or traditional publishers before publishing on Amazon?

Yes I did, and got no response back.  I’m hearing more and more about some of the trouble that traditional publishers are in, because of eReading.  I definitely think it’s the future.

What factors influenced your decision to self-publish?

Besides my lack of response, learning more about the Kindle, and eReaders in general, helped cement the decision for me. It seemed that as long as I just wrote a good book, and let people know it existed, I could possibly be successful (of course, I’ve learned there’s much more to it than that since then).

Will you try to garner a traditional publishing contract for any future books?

I don’t believe so.  I’m guessing my manuscript for Demonspawn (my first novel) is still floating in a few “to be read” piles on agents’ desks somewhere.  But for any future works, I don’t believe I’ll even try that route.

Did you design your cover art?  If not, would you care to share your graphic designer’s information?

I did not design my own cover art.  I was browsing through canstockphoto.com when the illustration just jumped out at me as being a nice cover.  It was done by the user “dundanim”.

How did you feel when you got your first sale?  Are you pleased with sales so far?

I felt great when I got my first sale.  I’ll be honest, I’m not pleased with my own sales (I imagine everyone feels they can do better).  It seems to me a key factor to sales is getting reviews.  Of course, it’s hard to get those Amazon reviews without getting sales.  It’s a fun cycle.

What kinds of social media [twitter, facebook, webpage, blog, writing forums] are you involved with trying to garner attention for your book(s)?

Even though I’m a technology nerd, social media is still a new thing for me.  I have my own website I’m trying to constantly add content to, and I try to keep up with Twitter as best I can.  I’m also active on the Kindleboards website.

Besides Amazon, are there any other sites where your books are for sale?

I also participate on Smashwords, a great site for sales.  I like the fact that on Smashwords, you can at least get an idea of who’s sampling you as well.

What’s next for you?

I have two things I’m working on now, and also ideas always coming from my wife.  Right now I’m about 2/3 done on a zombie novel that takes place in the future, after the undead have destroyed everything.  After that, I’m toying with the idea of a paranormal mystery type story, about a man who can see far away places in real time.  Hopefully both novels will be out in 2011.