Monday, March 11, 2013

10 Big Questions With Jen Naumann







1. What does a day in the life of such a prolific author look like?

Ha, I wouldn't know as I have never met one. If you were asking about my life, I would say it's pretty boring. I have a little writing nook in the corner of our master bedroom where I spend a few hours every morning blogging and connecting on social networks. It's really difficult to put a stop to time on the Internet because I end up finding so many interesting things and meeting so many interesting people. I try to write from around 11 until my kids get off the bus at 3:30, but sometimes my writer's block has other ideas. I treat writing like a full time job and don't mess around, other than getting up every few hours to do something active so I don't become a giant sloth.

2. You write about the paranormal, so you seem to be comfortable with that topic. Does your writing ever keep you up at night?

I never really had a problem with this until my fourth book, 'Cheating Death'. I was seeing shadows moving in the dark and had just an eerie feeling sneak up on me in the middle of the night. Normally it's my dreams in general that keep me up at night!

3. Where do you find inspiration for your stories?

For the most part, my crazy dreams. I have this theory that my mind is so creative it never shuts down and it feels the need to entertain me in my sleep. I seriously will dream up an entire "movie" in a night. And everyone thinks I'm weird because I remember almost all of them. But all it takes is one scene to create an entire story. My book Shymers was created by a friend simply asking if I thought it would be nice to know how many days we had to live.

4. What did it feel like when you received your first review on Amazon? Do you feel differently now with each review?

I was honestly blown away by the fact that someone actually liked a story I created. It was so surreal. But in reality I've gotten both good and bad reviews, so I try not to read them. I sometimes will cheat and read the higher stared reviews, then my eyes are drawn to the one and two stars and it becomes an emotional mess. You'd be surprised how much a bad review can completely bring a writer down and make them want to quit.

5. Why have you chosen to be an independent writer?

For me, it's all about control. And money. I don't do well with other people telling me what to do (with the exception of my editors). This is part of the reason why I made a horrible secretary. I am in total and complete control from the way the story is told to the cover and book trailer. And why should I pay others to do the things that I can do myself? The only service I hire out for is editing. Without professional editing, self-published books do not become successful.

6. You not only write but you design beautiful covers and provide formatting services for other authors. Can you tell us about those services?

Thank you! Designing covers is my second favorite thing to do (after writing of course). I take semi-professional pictures on a freelance-type basis and took the images for three of my four covers so far. While most of the covers I've designed for others was using a stock image chosen by the author, I also can take specific pictures (if not too complicated). As for the other services, I have helped authors prepare their novels for selling on Amazon and Smashwords. I'm pretty good with the computer and understand how confusing some of the requirements for those websites can be.

7. What has been your most effective marketing tool for your books?

I would say entering the giveaways on Goodreads. Each time I've had over 1,500 people sign up to win my books. And I encourage anyone who purchases one of my books to post a review on there because, let's face it, the reviews really speak for themselves.

8. Any advice for new writers?

Make sure you can finish a book! I know this sounds obvious, but it can get complicated. Ever since elementary school I knew I wanted to be an author and I wrote many books in high school, but as an adult I couldn't seem to finish an entire novel. I realized I was self-editing to the point that I was forever going back and making changes because I never thought it was "perfect". I finally participated in NaNoWriMo one year and finished my first book in decades. The first draft was total crap, but with each edit it improved and the plot grew stronger. Also, you have to write nearly every day to improve your craft!

9. Can you tell us about your new book Cheating Death?

I'm excited about this one as it has a little bit of a scary feel to it, which is something I'm really into (I adore Stephen King and horror movies). In the prologue, Lysandra (the main character) explains a near drowning incident in a Northern Minnesota lake with her grandmother. This actually happened to me when I was little, but it was my mother's lap I was sitting on and fortunately she didn't drown like the grandmother in the story does. But Lysandra grows up seeing things that "aren't really there" and develops this crippling fear of water. The story starts on her last day of high school and leads into a big party that just happens to be lakeside. After the big party, her life spirals out of control and she ends up "cheating death" a second time.

10. What goals do you have for your writing career?

I know that I have a lot of growing to do as an author and would like to eventually see my writing develop into best-seller material. I could easily continue to write books for the next fifty years if people will keep buying them. It's my dream to have book signings all over the world and have a movie made from one of my stories. As an author and a major cinephile, I can't imagine anything more rewarding than seeing something you created being played out on the big screen.


Learn more about Jen Naumann and all of her exciting books by clicking on the links below.






No comments:

Post a Comment