Chris Smith – An Overnight Success – And it Only Took Twenty-seven Years
It’s every writer’s dream. You write your novel. It gets published and you become an overnight success. It almost sounds too good to be true. In fact, it is too good to be true. Writer Chris Smith had been writing for twenty-seven years by the time he wrote “Fifth Avenue”. But hard work and remaining focused on his passion finally paid off for him.
Darrell - Your novel "Fifth Avenue" became an Amazon Top 100 Best Seller in just five days. What did you do that was different to achieve such instant success?
Chris - I was as surprised as anyone when it happened, and I was especially surprised that it stayed on the Top 100 list for over three months. I wrote the best book that I could--I wrote and rewrote. I also made certain that the cover competed with anything coming out of New York. Many indie writers do their own covers--and it looks as if they did. I spent a bit of money to have mine done professionally and I think that helped.
Darrell - The cover of Fifth Avenue is simple, but striking. If there is one thing you would recommend authors consider in relation to cover art, what would it be?
Chris - You need to make sure that when it's reduced to a thumbnail image on Amazon, it's still easy to read and see. Also, at that small size, it still needs to captivate and create interest. Red is a striking color. For obvious reasons, red also goes along with the thriller genre. The font was critical--it had to look good large and small. I think we achieved that.
Darrell - You are selling your book for ninety-nine cents. What part does pricing play?
Chris - Actually, I fluctuate between .99 cents and $2.99. At .99 cents, I earn .35 cents per book. But at $2.99, I earn $2.05 per book. In other words, for every $2.99 book sold, I'd need to sell six at .99 cents to make the same amount of money. That said, at .99 cents, I rise higher on the genre lists and the book gets more attention. So, pricing plays a huge factor in a book's success. I experiment all the time with it.
Darrell - What are the main marketing tools you use to communicate with your readers e.g. advertising, Facebook?
Chris - I did very little advertising at the start because, frankly, I thought only my parents, family and friends would buy it. I did take to my Facebook and Twitter accounts and used those because they were free. But when the book took off, I purchased an ad on Goodreads and also did a giveaway there. That gave me additional exposure.
Darrell - Do you plot your stories first or just let your characters lead the way?
Chris - It all begins with an idea. For instance, in my new book, the Wall Street thriller "Running of the Bulls," which is nearly finished, I actually got the idea in Pamploma while getting ready to run with the bulls. I was surrounded by thousands of people and I thought, "Wouldn't it be cool if one of them was a Wall Street bull and that he gets assassinated while running with the bulls? Buy why? Who did it? What's their motivation?" After that initial idea, the characters definitely lead the way. And when they do, I just sit back and let them grow and take over, while occasionally shaping the story if I don't like the course it's taking.
Darrell - What would be the most important piece of advice you would give to new writers?
Chris - It's such a cliche, but it's true--perseverance. I've been writing for 27 years--14 of them professionally as a movie critic. I received my bachelor's and master's degrees in English. I took many writing courses and worked with great teachers. And I worked hard to find my voice and hone my craft, often writing deep into the night because the day job had to pay the bills. FIFTH AVENUE has sold into the six figures at this point, but look how long it took for me to get there. I'm hardly an overnight success. But I finally achieved success through hard work. Here's one thing young writers might do (as I did). Walk into a bookstore. See all of those books? People wrote them. They were focused and talented and they wrote them. They had the same frustrations while writing those books that everyone else has--but they worked through those frustrations and got their books finished and published. For years, every time I walked into a bookstore, I thought, "If they can do it, so can I. Why are they any different from me?" You need to really want it. If you do--and if you have real talent and drive--you'll get there. Even if it takes 27 years.
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