Do Multiple Edits Before Hiring an Editor: Author Interview with Vivian Mayfair

You've written several Christmas themed books. What draws you to writing on that theme? Could you give a short synopsis on your latest book for my readers?
I’ve always been a big fan of Hallmark Christmas movies. Every year it is one of the most exciting things I look forward to, which is to see all of the new movies they will release. They always make me laugh, provide a feeling of daylight, and are a pleasure to watch. My goal was to create a book series similar to the feel and style of a Hallmark Christmas movie for those who enjoy that style of story. I’ve always been a big fan of Debbie Macomber’s Christmas novels as well.

I just released a mini Christmas novella, Alone for the Holidays, which is the first story from My Short and Sweet Holiday Reads series about a middle-aged divorced woman who is done with both love and the holidays, and lives alone as a reclusive romance author in snowy Vermont. She gets involved with a book group online under a fake name and fake photo so that nobody will know who she really is, which all backfires when one of the members from her group shows up at her doorstep for the holidays.

The problem is that she has a fondness for this man from the book group and he thinks that she is a 6-foot tall blonde bombshell who works in a bookstore instead of the complete opposite, and now she has to pull herself out of the ruse which turns into a downhill spiral fairly quickly.

How do the sales of your Christmas books compare to your non-holiday event books?
By far, the Christmas novels sell the best, even when it isn’t around Christmas. I think everybody loves Christmas all year round if they are fans of the genre. I’m currently writing another book that I will release in the spring or summer, a Christmas novel called Dreams of Mistletoe. Perhaps for my Christmas in July!

What are some of your favorite Christmas traditions?
I would say all the majority of my favorite Christmas traditions revolve around food. Attending holiday parties, cookie exchanges, the preparation, family cooking, and family Christmas Eve dinner or Christmas morning breakfast or Christmas night dinner, and the wonderful conversations, fun, laughs, and memories that came from food bringing people together. This is one of the reasons I put in some free bonus recipes from my family in the back of my recently released Christmas novella.

Another favorite tradition is the three days of decorating beginning the day after Thanksgiving. I only have one of my kids left in the house who’s already in college and will probably move out in the next two years. That tradition could end with no more kids to assist with the decorating tradition. Some traditions have to be savored while they last.

What’s next?

I am currently on a break from writing. I just released books 1 through 3 in my Snowdrop Valley Series all at one time (One of which is a Christmas novel) along with my short Christmas novella. I had started work on a Thanksgiving novel which would be book 4 in the series, but I wasn’t able to make the deadline. I’ll save that to release next year minus the Thanksgiving theme.

I like working on multiple projects. I’m currently studying to be a holistic nutritionist practitioner and health and wellness coach and will transition some of my fiction writing into nonfiction writing to help women in my age bracket free themselves from the toxic diet culture. As much as I love my fiction, it is something that I can only do in spurts in between other tasks and projects.

What’s the best writing tip you’ve learned or been given you’d like to share?
The biggest writing tip I can give is this -- do not stop and take a break until your book is done. I’ve been writing off and on since 2011 and originally published crime drama novels. My first two books each took me three years to write because I would stop for maybe a few days then it turned into a four-month or one year break. When the momentum stops for more than a day or two, it’s harder to get back in the swing and complete the book. So, I learned with my sweet romance series to continuously write every day for a month until it’s done or write several in a row and then take the break.

Another tip is about making your character dialogue sound as realistic as possible. The best way to do that is to verbally speak your conversations through the voice of your characters into a voice recorder on your phone while you imagine the conversation happening. Then write that conversation when you’re in front of your computer while listening to it. So often dialogue doesn’t sound realistic in books and I think that’s because you have to place yourself into the head of your character and be in the conversation with the other character sort of acting it out. It has worked wonders for my dialogue.

What do you know now about writing and publishing you wish you had learned sooner?
More people buy digital e-books than print books. My first few books in 2011 - 2013 were only in print. I never put them into e-book formats and hardly sold any of them. My new series is almost 100% e-book based even though they are available in print. Also, I wish I had known sooner that you do not need to spend $2000 or more on an editor. The going rate these days for professional editing is ridiculously high and unnecessary.

There are plenty of qualified, skilled editors and proofreaders in the industry that you can find through social media, Upwork, or Fiverr, for a few hundred dollars. The truth of the matter is you need to be able to edit your own work to be successful at self-publishing.

The first several rounds of editing should be done by you, both on the screen as you read back through it and fix it, and then by printing out the entire book and line editing by hand. Don’t send it to an editor until you’ve done the steps, and if you’ve done a majority of editing yourself, it will cost you less as the editor won’t have to do as much work.

Any last words or tips?
Yes. Let go of your dreams about writing full-time and making a full-time income. Even if you can pump out books as quickly as I do, have a decent following, and get great reviews both professionally and from your readers, there are so many books out there that the competition makes it extremely difficult. Even with traditional publishers, you are expected to market yourself and sell your own books so they can earn a profit after expenses.

It’s extremely difficult, so try to keep your writing as a beloved and treasured hobby instead of turning it into a stressful full-time job that doesn’t pay the reward of the time that you are worth, no matter how much you love it. Branch out and do different things and above all else, hold onto your day job.

That’s all for today’s interview. Vivian’s current books are available on all digital platforms for any device (Kobo, Apple/iTunes, Nook, etc) and in print on Amazon. And here’s the link to her website: www.VivienMayfair.com