Meet Jack Croxall – author of the wonderfully inventive “Tethers” (review a bit later!) and all round nice guy. This week I’ve asked all my lovely Indie Authors who are taking part the same questions…Here is what Jack had to say about publishing and other stuff…..
Have you always wanted to be a writer?
As soon as I read His Dark materials by Philip Pullman, (I think I was about fifteen) I wanted to be a writer. To create worlds like that and inspire vivid emotions in people is something I want to devote my life to trying to achieve. I’ve actually written a whole article on this very subject before!
How difficult is it to get your books out there?
It’s funny, as a first time author, I thought that, once Tethers was available on Amazon it was out there. How wrong I was! In reality, once your book is published, that’s when the real work begins. You have to get people reading your stuff any way you can, and that means free copies, giveaways, review copies etc, but also, you need to showcase your writing on other platforms. I write a lot of freelance articles and I also run a bookish blog (www.jackcroxall.co.uk). Whilst I love doing it regardless, I do hope that if people enjoy my writing, they might just look into my books as well.
How important are book bloggers and reviewers when it comes to attracting readers?
The online bookish community has been by far and away my most valuable marketing asset. After I released Tethers I found lots of lovely book bloggers who were willing to write honest reviews in exchange for a free copy, and hence spotlight my book to their extended network. On top of that, friends of online friends were also able to help me to achieve coverage for my novel that I wouldn’t have believed possible: features in local magazines, newspapers, BBC Radio appearances and even a review on the huge and most excellent website, MuggleNet. In short, any promotional success I have is really their success!
ALSO: give me a short “me” paragraph telling me about you – perhaps hobbies or interests outside of writing.
Gosh, I’m so used to writing about Karl and Esther that a ‘Me’ paragraph has caught me a bit off guard! Let’s see, well, I live in rural Nottinghamshire with my chocolate Labrador Archie. I like doing outdoorsy things, and obviously reading as well. I suppose my main hobby is playing the guitar, though – I play my six string without fail every day. I’ve been tinkering since I was about fourteen, and even went through a Rock phase in my late teens where I played a few gigs in a local band. Needless to say, we never took off!
Review
So, my latest foray into the world of YA fiction, brought me here, to the Victorian setting of “Tethers”, an absolute gem of a tale, not only to read for yourself but as a story to read to others. In it we meet Karl and Esther, two friends who find themselves on a grand adventure having discovered a notebook with strange notations and a mysterious gemstone. Chased by those with nefarious purposes they embark on a journey to find a missing girl, and to discover the true nature of the gem..with some help from a glorious cast of supporting characters. This journey forms the basis for the book. I loved it I have to say – I may have been saying that in a lot of my reviews lately but it just goes to show that I’m picking the right books from the myriad of choice I have open to me. What I loved: Karl and Esther are terrific. Esther is a girl after my own heart with her flashes of temper and great insight. Karl, a little calmer, more likely to look before he leaps, is the perfect counterpart and they compliment each other beautifully. The story itself is well imagined, paced just right and has a real sense of place and time. I can’t actually find fault with it..if you want a negative – here’s one. It was over too quickly! Hoping the second in the series is not far away. I look forward to meeting Karl and Esther again.
If you fancy giving Tethers a go – and you should – clicky click here http://www.amazon.co.uk/Tethers-Jack-Croxall/dp/1484959833/ref=tmm_pap_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1374565490&sr=1-1
Available as paperback or Kindle download – so all readers should be happy. Thanks Jack!
Tomorrow Simon Jenner will be with us – author of the Ethan Justice novels and another terrific person to know. Happy Reading Folks!
It’s amazing how all first time Amazon publishers think that all they have to do is publish the book – I was the same, I think we all are! I thought that people would just come across it. It was only after the first rush of all my mates buying it and it sinking to 60,000 in the chart that I realised that 59,999 books had been bought that day that weren’t mine…. never mind all the ones that were lower down in the rankings! It’s even worse now – these days, a ranking of 60K means you probably sold a book yesterday, whereas then it meant you hadn’t sold one for a week – yes, the market has flooded that much! Nice article, Jack and Liz xx