Interview with Angela Muse

Can you give us a brief overview of your latest book?  

The Nut Family: An Acorny Adventure features Chess Nutt and his sister Praline who are always pretending to have crazy adventures.  What happens when these two acorn siblings have an unexpected real life adventure of their own?  Things get a little bit nutty of course

Did you try the traditional route to publishing, i.e. querying agents/publishers?

No, I wanted to stay independent.

What are some of your favorite children’s books?

Two of my favorites are Where the Wild Things Are and The Giving Tree.  They are both beautifully told and I never tire of reading them to my own children.

What factors influenced your decision to self-publish to Amazon? 

I wanted to have as much control over my writing and the illustrations as possible.  I needed to have that creative freedom to create the work the way I envisioned it.

Did you hire an editor to review your manuscript before publishing?

I have some professional educators who review my writing and tell me when I’m using incorrect grammar, punctuation, etc.  They give me plenty of guidance.

What have you learned during your self-publishing journey? 

I’ve learned that getting the book created is only half the battle.  After the book is finished you have to get plenty of exposure and promotion for your book or no one will know it is out there in Amazon’s sea of books.  You have to not only wear a writer hat, but also a marketing hat.  You also have to be ready to face some rejection.

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

Yes, you can buy them through links at my own website www.4eyesbooks.com.

What kinds of marketing [twitter, facebook, blog, forums] are you involved with for promoting your book(s)? 

Besides my website, I am active on Goodreads, Facebook, the kindleboards as well as some other indie author groups on Facebook.

Do you find it difficult to juggle your time between marketing your current book and writing your next book? 

A little bit.  I had four children’s book already written so I am putting each one in the illustration phase one at a time.  I am just supervising the illustration work and promoting now, but once all of them are finished then I will work on writing my next book. 

What advice would you give a new author just entering into the self-publishing arena? 

Get as much feedback from other indie authors as you can.  Don’t be afraid to ask questions and make friends with some bloggers who can review or feature your work.  You’ll be amazed at the results you can achieve with a few well chosen blogs.

What’s next for you? 

I’ll be attending my first local author expo in Marietta, GA on March 3^rd so that is exciting.  My next book underway is titled The Pig Princess.  This story is about a pig princess who is distraught about which dress to wear to the ball.  We are in the beginning stages of bringing this story to life so stay tuned.