Building Reader Relationships and Book Signings: Author Interview with Mark H. McCraw

What made you decide to start writing picture books? 
I have always had a passion to start writing children’s books since I was a teacher’s aide from 2005-2011. We would have authors come to visit our school and  I would ask them questions. Authors fascinated me with their craft. Around 2011, I became certified as an Elementary School Teacher. It wasn’t until 2020 that I decided to write books based upon experiences of my children, grandchildren, military, and my teacher experiences.

How long did it take for you to complete your first book? 

It took me ten months working with Archway Publishing to go through the processes of writing, re-writing, editing, illustrations, formatting, publishing , and marketing process.

How did you go about finding an illustrator? 

I found one on Tik Tok named Allison Vandenbosch (Artful Allie on Tik Tok), various illustrators on www.fiverr.com, and my daughter who illustrated a book for me.

What was the hardest part of putting together your books? 

I think the hardest part of putting my books together was the process of rewriting the book to be perfect for other people to want to read the book. I am sort of a perfectionist, so I want everything to be right.

Did you personally design the full book, or did you have assistance? 

On the first book, I worked with my publisher on editing, formatting, design, illustrations, publishing, and marketing. I went through many different revisions to make sure the book looked like I wanted it to. With my second publishing company, I also did the same process. For books I published on my own, I typically have assistance with editing, formatting, cover design, Illustrations, publishing, and marketing assistance to make sure the files look right for publishing.

How did you find those people to help you?

Mostly, I use www.fiverr.com to hire vendors to assist me with several processes and projects. I do hire other illustrators directly, not on this website by commission.

What’s the best encouragement you’ve had from readers? 

I think the best encouragement from my followers is that they like what I am doing as an author who is trying to make a difference in the lives of children. They say to me that “I am proud of you”.

Marketing is the biggest key to getting sales. What is the best marketing source you've used that has produced more sales rather than just clicks? 

I think building relationships helps especially in setting successful book signing events at local independent bookstores, local festivals, and other events in the community where you can get direct sales from the books that a customer buys from you. The key is to have good promotional materials so that the coordinator of that event can promote you at the event like a bio, picture, and other snazzy looking but professional book promotion ads.

What do you know now about publishing you wished you had known sooner? 

I wish I had some kind of webinars or training session to understand the different types of publishing, formatting, and marketing tools. If I had researched a list of some useful websites to help me learn the art of being an author before I began writing, it would have been useful for me. I just never thought I would get past book # 1. I received this later on as I learned more about the craft , had a mentor to guide me along the way, learned from other authors I met through a month long Virtual Author Festival, and authors I met at my book signings with other authors there.

What is the best writing advice you’ve received or could give? 

I believe that you need to “write from your heart” and be “passionate about your writing so that you can make a difference in the lives of children.” If you enjoy what you are doing as a children’s book author, you are more willing to put over 100 % into your craft.

Are there any other points about writing you would like to add? 

In my opinion, you must always have another person look at your work because sometimes you can have blinders on after you have looked and touched your work so many times.

Can you give me some details on your most recent release? 

I just released a book called “The Problem Is…” Here is the summary of the book:

Molly, a six-year-old kindergarten student, is not happy about her problems. Some of her problems are very unique to her age. She says some precious statements that will make you laugh. Join her on her quest to find solutions to her problems. Here is a link to that book. (https://a.co/d/aaSL21p ).

If you'd like to learn more about Mark's books, here are some options...

Website: www.markhmccraw.com. This only shows Archway Publishing's one book

Amazon author page: This shows all his other books: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Mark-H.-Mccraw/author/B09TZ3X33G

His books can also be purchased online through Walmart, Barnes & Noble, and Booksamillion.

And here's a bonus for my readers...Mark will be giving away an  e-book of  Babbling Betty to one reader of this blog post. Just leave a comment saying you'd like to win with your name and we'll chose a winner from those who commented from now till next Monday night. So what are you waiting for,  post a comment now!

Set your Goals and Do What You Love Author Interview with Ann T Bugg

Just in case you were wondering, The name for this author is a pen name and I love how that name came about. According to her bio, she had been known as June-Bug for a good part of her life. When the first of her friends had a baby, the mother handed her and said, “Here’s your Auntie Bug.” Every kid from that point on who entered her life called  her Auntie Bug - an easy name to spell as Ann T Bugg! Now read on to learn of her writing journey for her eight MG novels.

What inspired you to write your first MG novel? And why the MG genre? 
The inspiration for the story is exactly how book one begins. We lived on a small hobby farm with an old barn. When we found the old mirror, the story just spilled. The main characters are based on my daughter and her best friend. I don’t even change their names. LOL Every smarty-pants little “ditty” they have ever done has made its way into the books. They couldn’t be any more night and day and made writing the characters fun. Valerie was in third grade when I started it, so I used her age as my audience.

Did you start with the idea of doing a series? Or did that come later?
When I started, I had no idea I would bring book one to an end, let alone know that those girls would lead me all the way to eight. I would write a chapter, my daughter would read it, then she said, “Hurry up and write another!” That was the best encouragement I had. Once I said, “It has to wait. I have to feed the horses,” she said, “I’ll do it! You write!” She had NEVER volunteered to do that before.

Some series keep their lead characters constantly at the same age. What made you decide to let your characters grow up?
The stories follow true to life, so I guess I didn’t have much of a choice. They’d get together each summer and go on these adventures, so they had to get older. As much as we try to keep them young, our wee ones have to grow up. I was afraid I was writing myself out of my audience but learned that much older kids and even ladies my mother’s age were enjoying the fun, clean read. I love fairy tales re-told. I was thrilled when Once Upon a Time came out. I swore by the last season they were reading my books! LOL Who else could mash up Captain Nemo and Hades??

Your current books are indie-published. What do you do and what do you hire out? 
When I had three books written and a little hidden page about them on my women’s fiction website, a publisher actually approached me. They were small and there were several red flags, but my daughter was too excited – I couldn’t say no. It ended up not working out at all and we parted ways. Once I got my rights back, I had to keep going. No publisher will look at your books once they have been published. I had too many stories to tell to just let them end.

My daughter is my cover artist – hence the added excitement of who I went with. With many publishers, you have no say whatsoever about your covers. They were excited for her work and extremely happy to have her do them. She was just nine when she did book number one. I got book eight out of her before she went to college. She now makes a living doing 3D avatars for Virtual Reality so I don’t know if I can get her to do another. There’s quite a waiting list for her work and apparently, Mom has no pull. ;)

Initially I did pay a gal to format, but once again was let down, so I ended up learning it all myself. I’m much happier with my final product and have even done some for writer friends. I love adding special details.

This year I did have a friend update the font on my covers and I’ve had a fresh set of eyes on some minor tweaks, so I’m thrilled to be re-releasing them with updates. I’m excited for the first time in a long time about this series again.

What is the hardest part of writing for you? 
In all honesty, WRITING is the easy part for me. My characters always run the show. I’ve never had writer’s block and I think that’s why. I don’t plot things out and have to worry how to get there – it just happens.  It’s everything after THE END that is the tough part. Some people who have known me for years don't know I write. I’m my own worst marketer.

What’s the best encouragement you’ve had in your writing?
E-mails from fans are what keeps me going. Just when you think you’re ready to throw in the towel, someone tells you “Thanks for the cry!” or “This is my new favorite book!” or something like that. I don’t take praise well for anything, but it’s nice to hear now and then that your work is reaching (or touching) someone.

What do you know now about writing you wished you had known sooner?
I wish I had the patience to shrug off the rejections and wait for that agent. I had one calling after I had already signed with a small press, and I always wonder where I’d be.

What is the best writing advice you’ve received or could give?
You definitely need a writing related support system. The best thing to ever happen to me was finding Absolute Write. They are a wonderful community with answers to everything. It saved me from almost signing with a terrible vanity press. Do your background work on anyone asking for your work. You NEVER pay to get published. 

Although I haven’t been there for years, I am friends with about 100 authors on Facebook and have met several in person. Writers are weird. We need to stick with our own kind.  Of course your best friend or mom will gush over your book, but you need someone with some experience to tell you what you need to fix. Your 1^st draft is never what you are going to send to an agent. (or 10th!)

Are there any other points about writing you would like to add?
I think the main thing is to just write. There is no one correct way to get through the process. I’m a “pantser,” plotters don’t get that. Neither one of us is right nor wrong. You have to do what works for you. I write start to end, then fill in the blanks. Some re-read every paragraph until it’s perfect. I’d lose momentum (and my mind) if I did that. 

Don’t let someone tell you “You can’t start it without a title.” Um….that comes last almost always for me. ‘You’re not a writer if….” No. I had joined RWA because I was told “You’re not a real romance writer if you’re not in RWA.” Then it was “You’re not really in RWA until you go to a convention…” Just no. You set your goals and do what you love. 

If you want to be published, do your homework. Do the best you can, polish it up, get lots of feedback, pay a good editor. I actually have lots of writing/editing tips on my women’s fiction site. See the * below. I’ll include that at the end. By all means, read up on what you can and absorb tips but don’t let someone tell you that you’re doing it wrong. Just write if that’s what's making you happy.

What is the next book coming out? 
Currently, I don’t have another book in this series being released soon. There is a prequel that has been unfinished for years and notes on one where I take them to Maui (my home). I had planned that before Moana and now…I don’t know. There were not many similarities (like I wrote my #2 before Tangled came out) but my women’s fiction has been demanding my time lately. And with it being iffy about my daughter doing a cover, I won’t do it without her. So, we’ll see.

Quick fun fact, the Samantha from the series is actually on my latest release in my women’s fiction – Love You More. It’s been so fun to watch them grow up.

Through the Mirror and Into Snow is FREE right now at all e-book retailers.

That's all for today's interview.  I encourage you to get her first book in the series as a freebie. I've read it and it was a fun read and I love her characterizations of classic fairy tale heroines. If you'd like to learn more about the other books in the series or her women's fiction, here are the links to get you started.

MG books website: https://www.beforehappilyeverafter.com/
Women’s fiction website: https://www.junekramin.com/
(*Writing/Editing tips page is a separate tab there)
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AnnTBugg
Newsletter sign up: https://www.beforehappilyeverafter.com/News

Writing Books to Intrigue Your Own Kids and Others: Author Interview with David Horn

What inspired you to write Eudora Space Kid?
Eudora Space Kid started as stories I told my two daughters at the time. They were right in the chapter book age and I had already read them bazillions of those books – some of them over and over and over... One night at dinner, and I’ll never know why, they asked me to tell them a story (I had never done that before). So I obliged and decided to combine my love of science fiction and their chapter book genre into my unexpected improv story. And, thus, Eudora was born.

The Great Engine Room Takeover was the very first story I told them that night at dinner. My wife was the one who said I should try writing the story as a book, as we were always looking for good chapter books for our kids. The second book in the series, The Lobster Tale, also started as a dinner time improv story.

When did you actually start writing your book?
From first putting pen to paper, it took me around two months to write the first draft. And it was pretty terrible! But I had a great collaborative editor who really liked the “bones” of the story and taught me how to write a chapter book for real (sentence, paragraph and chapter structure).

If my editor didn’t see something in it, Eudora may have ended right then and there. But from there, it took maybe a year between that first collaborative edit to get to the final manuscript (but some of that delay was due to COVID).

Are you active with any children’s writers’ groups?
I wasn’t active in any writers’ groups at all, so I had no help other than the great editors I found. Looking back, I really should have been in a children’s writers group. Only now after my second book do I realize, hey that would have really helped, so I’m looking now to do that. At least I have something to offer a group now? And in another sense, maybe I benefitted somewhat from not being in a group - if I knew how hard it was, I may not have done it! Ha!

As an indie author, you foot all the bills for publication. What made you decide to go that route?
In all honesty, I didn’t have a choice! No agents were interested. I think the chapter book market is a hard sell. But I absolutely love chapter books. I love the simple joy and wonder in them. And I knew I wanted to publish this story for my daughters (they were so excited).

I’ll never know what traditional publishing would have been like, but one thing I really liked about self-publishing was getting to work with the artist and design everything in the exact vision I had (although the amazing Talitha Shipman brought so many funny ideas on her own). I got to have input into all the art, like design the uniforms, the ship, how the characters should look, all that stuff which I loved. It was like being the producer of a movie.

Do you do your own formatting, or did you hire someone?
The Great Engine Room Takeover was my first book. I had no idea how to go about formatting a book. Some illustrators I contacted were like “tell me how many illustrations you want and what sizes and formats” and I was like “Huh?! Don’t you know?” So I set out to find an illustrator who could do the interior design too (they’re hard to find), so they would bring their experience as to what I really needed since I had no clue. And Talitha hit a home run with it all.

After getting through my second book, The Lobster Tale, I think I know how many illustrations and what sizes I would need when I look at my manuscripts. But back then – huh?!

With chapter books your illustrations can be in black and white in the interior not full color, but you still need to get a stunning cover (and you did with Eudora). How were you able to do that? 
Thanks, I’m so glad you like the covers! My advice would be – you should judge a book by its cover and put the extra cost into that. Being a new author and The Great Engine Room Takeover being the first book in a series, I think that cover was the absolute most important and best piece of marketing I could have done.

For those who think it would be fun to write and pub a chapter book, what would you tell them about putting together a book?

In terms of priority, I think the most important thing is great, thorough professional editing, but second to that is the cover.

What surprised you the most in publishing your first book?
The thing that surprised me most is how long it takes to self-publish a book. For my type of chapter book with detailed illustrations, the illustrations alone can take six months. To be honest, I already have lots of Eudora books written, but from editing to illustrations, I’m hoping I can self-publish them all before Eudora gets too old! Ha!

How did you go about finding the right illustrator?
For young kids and an unfamiliar science fiction story, I knew I wanted a graphic novel style that had detailed illustrations that could help explain the text and unfamiliar action.

I looked at a ton of different portfolios for illustrators until I found one that fit the graphic novel style I had in my head. And because of scheduling difficulty, I had to do that all over again for The Lobster Tale. I was so happy to find Deven Hoover who had such a great comic style which was perfect for the series.

How did you go about choosing the illustrations you wanted?
For the actual illustrations in both books, I wrote out in my manuscript suggestions for different pictures I thought would be good and we worked from there using the illustrators’ experience to figure out what would be best. For both books there were a few rounds of adjustments to characters and scenes – I imagine that is one of the benefits of self-publishing. I think going back and forth made for better illustrations.

What type of promotions have you done for this book? 
As a new author, anything to let people know I exist helped. The best promotion was a book giveaway I did to help build a mailing list and generate interest where I couldn’t have otherwise. Also making my first ebook free at Amazon helped generate exposure to new readers and get some reviews.

What’s the best writing tip you’ve learned or been given that you’d like to share?
I think it helps to let something sit for a while and then go back to it later with a different mindset (that’s kind of why the different stages of editing are so important). Sometimes when I go back to something, I come up with new jokes to add!

What other works do you have in the process?
I have a whole bunch of Eudora books written that are waiting to be published. Along the way we’ll meet some new, really silly characters and get to know our current characters even more. I’m also thinking of a new series, but that’s in the initial phase only.

Any last words or tips?
I’m still learning. If you’re self-publishing, to stay true to your vision. Write what you would want to read. After readings hundreds of chapter books to my kids, I wanted to write something I would like to read to my own kids. Ultimately, you want to be happy after you hit the publish button!

That’s all for today’s interview. If you’d like to learn more about David’s books, here are some links to get you started.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09TC5WZLK

https://www.eudoraspacekid.com/

https://www.facebook.com/EudoraSpaceKid