What made
you decide to write your novel about a battle of epic proportions between good
and evil?
In 2017 I
went to a class reunion at my university and connected with Don Gladden.
We had played football together and stayed in touch after that meeting. Don
called me one day and asked if I would be interested in working with him on a
book he had self-published called Jones’ Corner.
I took
over the re-writing of the book and did 6 drafts. For Don’s original characters of Jones, Abby,
Ellie, Sonta, Koal, and others, I fleshed out their characters, added battles,
locations, more characters, and events. That
is what became the book, Oblivion’s Reach.
How long
did it take you to write your first book?
My first
novel was Between the Walls of Time, which is literary fiction about a
man who starts a major third party in America, called The Front. It took me
four years to write.
What made
you choose the indie-publishing route?
We had no
agent and 38 rejections from Christian Literary Agencies. Everyone from Donald
Maass to WordWise declined to read it or offer representation. With no other
real opportunities for a book we really had begun to like, I told Don about The
Shack and how they had sold 800K copies, or more, from their garage.
We had
access to Alto Pass Publishing, an IBPA company located near us, so we went
that route. Before we finished that process, everything changed. Along came a
good friend that was a part of my support network who had a client that had
been associated with the Left Behind series. She loved the book and referred us
to KPA (Koechel Peterson) in Minneapolis.
My son
Logan and I were asked up to see them. We went. These two men are legends in
Christian publishing. They are primarily printers and interior
formatters. They have worked with Max Lucado, Dr. Billy and Ruth Graham, Rabbi
Jonathan Kahn, Tim LaHaye, Joyce Myers, and many more. They asked me if I would
consider them for representation. The world turned that day when they told me
of the projects they had done with Tyndale, Bethany House, and Kensington. Now
we are close to signing a publishing contract with a major house.
What was
the hardest part of publishing for you?
Everything
is difficult and uncertain. My other book, which has gained favor and will have
its own publisher soon enough was rejected by 236 literary agencies. It’s all
way too hard, which is why so many good books are self-published and largely
ignored. Self-published books have a much harder time getting reviewed, or not
at all. Who has the budget of a Kensington or Hachette? Not most writers.
What is
the hardest part of writing for you?
It took
me four years of concentrated effort and study to learn sentence development,
structure, sequencing, acts, and more. I learned about how to develop conflict
and tension. I enrolled in MBA 101 for writers, studied The Breakout Novel
by Donald Maass, who definitely was uninterested in my efforts, and Robert
McKee, author of Story. I spent, and still spend, extensive time on my
outlines. If you can’t outline it you can’t expect much, in my opinion.
What’s
the best encouragement you’ve had in your writing?
That would
be getting 5-star reviews from national reviewing agencies and people I did not
know. Lots of reviews. We are after 2,000 reviews on Goodreads and have sent
out over two hundred reviewing copies, given away 5 free copies and gotten 1274
shelvings, if I am interpreting the numbers correctly.
Now we
are repeating the process. People all over the country are trying to buy our
book. We have not been able to get the major churches onboard but maybe our
publisher will do that. The Christian Ministries are certainly desirable, and
my hope is some of them will hear about the book.
What do
you hope your readers will take away from reading your books?
They tell
me they love the story of a man who loses his faith, and his wife, and fights
to get it back. They tell me the angels are among us and, make no mistake,
these angels are warriors fighting a powerful enemy. The power of prayer can’t
be missed. Those are the three major themes of Oblivion’s Reach.
We have
all experienced rejection. How have you learned to write past it?
As I said
before, I had 236 and 38, respectively. I kept going and look what happened.
What has
surprised you the most in writing/publishing?
How
difficult it is to break in, all factors considered, if you do not fit a
certain profile.
What
frustrated you the most?
Getting
all those rejections. Then one day an agent told me that 130+ literary agencies
had rejected Harry Potter. Then I knew it is happening to everyone, not just
me. It is difficult to break in and easier to publish a known name. In my
opinion, you have to get a break, somewhere, like I did by getting referred.
Agents aren’t going to read your book. Every form rejection letter makes a
point of telling you they are overwhelmed. I believe that.
What do you know now about writing you wished you had known sooner?
I did not
realize how big having "a platform" was to the industry of agents. I also did
not realize that before anyone sends out a query, the book needs to be absolutely
ready -- not 90%, not 75%. Two agents went out of their way to tell me what a
beautiful story and style I had but my book wasn’t ready. I took the
message to heart and started working.
What is
the best writing advice you’ve received or could give to others?
Find
someone who has published at a major and is willing to be your mentor, to
critique your writing, and listen to what they have to say. No matter how hard
it is, find someone, unless of course, you have exactly the correct demographics
then maybe my experience will be irrelevant.
Are there
any other points about writing you would like to add?
Work
every day. Treat it like a business for the day will come when you will have to
do exactly that.
When is
the next book coming out?
Our
publisher will decide that. In the next two years more than likely
Can you
give me a short synopsis of that book?
Oblivion’s
Storm expands the conflict between Heaven and Hell.
There is no going back, God has been quite specific about that.
That's all for today's interview. If you would like to learn more about Michael's writing and buy his books, here are some links to get you started.
Website: https://www.johnmichaelstafford.com/
Goodreads:
Amazon:
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