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.
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