Author interview with Sam Trueshan

So, I'm back! But now I'm linking up with my sister blog (link here) where I'm talking about my writing/ publishing journey, and chatting to authors about theirs. And no, I've not published yet, but soon.... 🤣

Today I'm both honoured and privileged to share my first author chat with the mega talented author Sam Trueshan. 

I first became aware of Sam through X, as his book title gripped my imagination - who would sell their own brother? It was popped onto my enormous TBR list and boy, when I read it, I wasn't disappointed. What a wild ride! If you want to read my review, you can find it on Goodreads here. But I digress! Let's talk writing with Sam. 

How did you choose the idea for your book?

I’d love to say the idea for the book came to me in a dream, or that I had been writing for years and finally decided to write a book. The truth is a little less glamorous than that. 

I have struggled with my mental health for many years, and it was suggested to me by a doctor a few years ago that I should take up painting, drawing or writing, to help with my mental health. 

The problem was that I’m definitely not an artist and painting and drawing was not my forte. That left writing, but I’m dyslexic and struggle with reading, never mind writing. But I scribbled a few lines down and then a few more. Before I knew it, I had written a book. A poorly written and a terribly spelled book, but it gave me peace as I wrote it. Thank goodness for laptops and spellcheckers! 

Dyslexic? Wow, what an achievement! I have so many questions, but let's start with, how do you outline your books - pantser or plotter? 

I have the story in my head and I just let the characters take over. I’m just the narrator, and I leave it to the characters to drive the story. 

Oh, I wish I could do it that way - it's plotting all the way for me! How about choosing whether to have single or multiple points of view?

I let each character have their POV as the story progresses. I think it’s a more interesting story with multiple POVs. But that’s just my personal opinion and preference.

I must admit, I gravitate towards writing in the third person but my debut is in the first person because it felt more personal and better for the story. And I have to say, I really enjoyed it! 

Can you tell me how you create your characters? Do you create profiles before you write and pick names, characteristics, as you go?

I let my imagination create each character and their characteristics. I name each character as I see them in my mind. 

And how about your writing style – how do you pick tenses, choose language styles, etc?

I write in past tense and include swearing in my writing, because it makes it more realistic to me. Somehow, I feel it’s more authentic, and it’s more in line with my own style and how people speak. It might not be everyone’s style but being authentic is important to me. 

And moving onto the publishing process, how did you publish and would you recommend others to do the same?

I took the decision to self publish for a few reasons, but I don’t blame anyone for going down the traditional route at all. There are pros and cons to both sides, but if I could give anyone advice it would be to do whatever you feel comfortable with. It’s your story and your choice how you want to get it out there.

Wise words! Editing seems to have been my life for months now (although it feels like years!), but what's your process? And do you have any tips for others (my ears are pricked up for this one lol!).

I tend to edit as I go. When I finished the first draft of my book, I printed out every page and read them. I found that reading and editing on a laptop screen is totally different from reading a physical page you’re holding. 

Even though I use a spellchecker on my laptop there were plenty of errors that it had missed, and reading it out loud helped with judging the pace of the story and how it sounded out loud compared to how it sounded in my head. 

If I could offer any advice about editing it would be to not be in a hurry to finish editing your story. My first draft was as rough as toast and I took more than six months and eight complete edits before I was happy with the end result. 

Professional editors may or may not improve not just your grammar, but also your story. It would be down to the individual author to decide whether they want a professional editor's eye casting over their work. There are fantastic editors out there and some who are not. But whether you use an editor or not, grammar aside, everyone who reads your story will have an opinion as to what would improve it and what wouldn’t. That includes different editors who have different opinions. 

And did you use any beta readers or send out ARCs (advance reader copy)?

 

I would consider who is going to read your story first as such, be it an ARC reader or betas. No matter who reads your story, be prepared for constructive criticism and honest feedback. Believe it or not, some readers will love your story while it might not connect with others. It’s the same with ARC and beta readers. 

I was very fortunate, as a distant relative was an ARC reader with a reputation for giving honest feedback and advice. I would recommend any debut authors allow their work to be read by an experienced ARC reader or experienced beta reader. Their feedback is invaluable, be it complementary of your work or not. And if the feedback is not complementary, don’t take it personally. Everyone has their opinion. 

Very true! I've been wrapped up in cover design these past few weeks but your cover is very eye-catching. What process did you go through?

I had a rough idea what I wanted as the cover for my book. As I’ve said, I’m not an artist and I went onto Fiverr to find a professional cover designer who was wonderful and patient. They took my ideas of the cover and turned it into reality in just over two weeks. 

If I could offer any advice for anyone who can’t design their own cover it would be work with someone who is a professional cover designer. It’s not as expensive as you think and the cover is the first thing that a reader sees when they pick up your book. A great cover will definitely help your book get at least picked up by a reader.

And how about the technical side of publishing - how much did you do yourself?

I self published on Amazon and the process was pretty painless and straightforward. I uploaded my book onto Kindle Create and followed the steps. If I can do it, then anyone can. 

I've still got that joy to go through - I can't wait! Changing tactics slightly, us newbie authors have a lot to learn to make their book publishable. What do you think are common writing mistakes we should avoid?

The most common writing mistakes I’ve seen are being in a rush to finish writing and editing a book. I tried many times to stick to hitting a certain word count each day and editing a certain amount of pages each day. Although it might work for others, it didn’t work for me, and actually set me back weeks. 

I found writing at my own pace and editing at my own pace much more enjoyable and productive. It’s your story and rushing to get it out there isn’t going to make readers pick up your book faster. A story well told and editing will always be appreciated.

That's true - very wise words! Okay, final question. Marketing. It can be a nightmare, a money pit, I've heard so many horror stories. What has worked for you?

Marketing your book can be a bit of a minefield as many book promotions promise plenty but deliver very little. Setting a budget to promote your book is one of the most important things I learned from experience. If you set a budget of a thousand bucks to promote your book and you sell a hundred copies, does that mean the promotion gave you a bang for your buck? 

I was realistic and had a very modest budget to promote my book on Amazon. The return on my budget compared to sales was about 20%. I felt that was a good return as readers bought my book and some left wonderful reviews for which I am very grateful. 

I would recommend anyone who is looking to promote their book to set a realistic budget and realistic expectations of the return on any promotion. 

Choosing who you want to promote your book should be approached with a reasonable amount of caution as there are fantastic book promoters out there, but also many who will deliver close to nothing. 

Promoting your book yourself on social media will definitely help get your book out there and into the hands of readers. It also lets readers engage with you and helps build up a great rapport with them. 

The blurb for your book is also very important, because it’s not only a condensed version of what your book is about, but also helps a reader decide if they want to read it. I wrote over a dozen different blurbs all describing my book and then went to the local library and handed them out. I asked readers to have a quick read and give me their feedback. Although it wasn’t a huge sample of readers, it gave me a good sense of what they liked and didn’t like. However you choose your blurb, it’s always a good idea to get a few people to read it and give you their opinion. 

Other ways you can promote your book is to visit your local newspaper, library, radio station, and schools. Offering to have chats about you and your book is a fantastic way to connect with readers and people who are interested in the process of writing your book. 

Remember, not everyone can write a book and it’s an incredible achievement that you have. You should be proud of yourself and I’m sure all your hard work will be so worth while. 

What a lovely positive note to end on. Thank you so much, Sam, and I hope more people buy your book, Sold by my brother (link here) as it's brilliant! You can also visits Sam's website (link here) which also has his social media links.