Can you
give us a brief overview of your latest book? Is it part of a series?
It’s called, HOW TO BE ALMOST
FAMOUS IN TEN DAYS-Young Adult Contemporary.
17-year-old
plus-sized Cassie wants to be “seen” so when she finds a book of rules on how
to be famous in ten days she devises
a plan---with the help of her BFF---to do just that. She has hilarious and
sometimes serious, almost disastrous consequences. Cyrano de Bergerac meets Comedy
of Errors with a teen girl.
Did you
try the traditional route to publishing, i.e. querying agents/publishers?
I’m still querying. My latest book is published by a small
press, but I’ve done the Kindle/Nook publishing too. In fact one of my
self-pubbed books, FITZROY: THE BOY WHO WOULD BE KING, a YA historical fiction,
has been in the top paid 100 for children’s eBooks/Historical fiction since
December, 2012 in the UK.
Are you
currently under a traditional publishing contract for future books or do you
have manuscripts that you will self-publish?
I have a YA Dystopian that most agents have told me is a “dead”
genre for editors right now so I’ll probably put it up on Kindle at some point.
I have one agent looking at it right now and if she passes I’ll put it up. I also have a middle grade zombie book
that I’m querying and if that one doesn’t catch the eye of an agent, I’ll
consider putting it up too. I’m
not under a traditional publishing contract at the moment.
What
factors influenced your decision to self-publish your book(s)?
The first book I self-published is AINE, a YA faerie novel.
It wasn’t as long as most agents wanted a YA book to be so I stopped querying
it and self-published it. Up until FITZROY, it was my top seller. I heard about eBooks and wanted to try
it myself. I think that both eBooks and print books are good to have. I like
self-publishing but I’m also looking for a traditional publisher. At this point
in my writing career I need an agent to take me to the next level, so to speak.
I promote my books as much as I can but I feel like I’ve hit a plateau.
If you
used a graphic designer/publisher’s designer, how involved were you during the
creative process for your cover?
I’ve used a cover designer and did my own covers. For small
presses you have more input than you do in traditional publishing, or so I’ve
been told. I was able to work with the cover designer on AINE, LORE OF FEI, WAR
OF FEI and my two murder mysteries. I also chose the cover for FAMOUS but the
designer did the font.
Do you
belong to a critique group? Have they helped improve your writing?
I have an online critique group, a couple of beta readers
and two CP’s. Yes, they improve my writing. I usually want more of the big
picture, what works, what doesn’t, what’s confusing, timeline or plot holes,
that sort of thing. I encourage any writer to have someone other than your
family, an objective person to read your writing before you publish it or start
querying. Polish, revise, polish, revise…
Do you
outline your story or just go where your muse takes you?
I am a total pantser. I let the characters take me on their
journey. Sometimes I plot things out, especially in the YA faerie books and
murder mysteries but usually I don’t. I do storyboarding after the novel is
done, it’s a screenwriter’s technique that helps to visualize your scenes to
see if they’re working or not.
Did you
hire an editor to review your manuscript before publishing?
I have in the past but now I am more confident in my editing
skills, I rely on my own editing and my CP/Beta readers to help me catch
things. If you feel insecure about editing, I’d say hire a good one but they
can be expensive. Some of them will do a sample edit for you so you can see if
you like them first before committing.
Besides
Amazon, are there any other sites where your books are for sale?
Nook/Smashwords anywhere you can buy either eBooks or print
books.
What’s
next for you?
I am writing a science fiction novel based on a short story
I published in my short story collection, INTERLUDE. I love science fiction and
the first book I remember reading at a young age was a science fiction novel. I
also have a pirate YA book that is a historical fiction I hope to finish soon.
I have a novella about a girl who finds a box filled with secrets. That one is
YA too. That one will go up on
Kindle as soon as I format it. I already have the cover for it. After that?
Finish the pirate book and go from there.
I write every day, usually in the morning and that’s the
best advice I can give anyone who writes. Write every day, no matter what. Get
a CP/beta readers, revise as needed, don’t be “married” to your words and stay
positive. Writing is filled with rejection after rejection but you can’t let it
define you. If you’ve put out the best story you can and it’s been polished and
revised and still getting rejections, “trunk” it and start your next project. I
always have another project “in the wings” in case my current one isn’t going
well or it’s getting rejections. KEEP GOING and write every day. Don’t give up.
Persistence is the key factor in getting published.
BOOK TRAILER:
Buy Link on Amazon:
Buy Link on Nook:
Buy Link on Smashwords:
Buy Link on Gypsy Shadow Publishing website:
FIND KATHLEEN HERE:
Websites:
www.gaelicfairie.webs.com with blog
On Twitter: @kathleea
On Facebook: Witch Hunter http://ow.ly/cWMFB
Author Central page: amazon.com/author/kallen
Book Trailers on You Tube here: http://www.youtube.com/user/gaelicfaerie1?feature=mhee
Thanks for hosting me!
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