Michele Scott – Rejection From Major Publisher Created Ebook Success
Michele Scott is a successful writer who wears many different faces. Her Nikki Sands mysteries are set on vineyards. She writes these under her own name while she writes thriller novels under the name A K Alexander. After many years of trying to succeed as an author, she is now well on the road to writing success.
Her books “Mommy, May I?” and “Daddy’s Home” have both been on the Kindle bestseller list. In this interview she spoke about her writing and how past rejection from a publisher led to her current success as an ebook writer.
Darrell - After writing your first book which you described on your site as "pretty darn bad", it took you twelve years to become a published author. What were you doing during that twelve year period?
Michele - I was writing books (7 total and as many or more partials), raising a family, and working my day job for our family business where we manufacture sports medicine products for horses.
Darrell - Can you describe a typical day of writing?
Michele - Because I still work in the family business, my writing schedule works around the day job somewhat. I write for a couple hours in the morning, work, drive kids to school or sports, ride my horse in the late afternoon, and then write for a couple more hours at night. I try and get 4 hours in a day with my writing. I write quickly, so a typical day yields me 10-15 pages.
Darrell - How did you come up with the idea of basing a mystery series around wine?
Michele - I was doing some side work for a wine distributor to supplement my income a bit. I was up in the wine country on a trip and I just kept thinking about how fun it would be to write something set in Napa Valley that had mystery tied to it. I could see a grown up kind of Nancy Drew on the vineyard. I wrote it and it worked very well. There are now 6 books in that series.
Darrell - What made you branch out into writing thriller books?
Michele - I actually started with thrillers. However, the thriller market is a tough one to tap. E-publishing has changed that for me. My book "Mommy, May I?" spent some time making the rounds with the editorial staff at Harpers a few years ago with them suggesting a man's name for the author.
Eventually they made a pass on the book, but in the long run that has been a good thing for me. That book has been in the top 10 in Paid Kindle sales for a month in The U.K. as well as my other thriller "Daddy's Home."
The interesting thing about that book is that when I received it back from Harpers with the letter saying that they had decided to pass on it, I was pretty upset because I had been submitting books for years and had received a lot of rejections. My middle kid who was 9 at the time saw that I was upset about it and he said to me, "Don't you know, Mom, that God wouldn't have made you a writer if He didn't think you couldn't do it." He was right. I enjoy writing the thrillers and will continue doing so under the A.K. Alexander pen name. I am actually working on one right now set in the wine country, and the next thriller out will be available in August. The title of that book is "Covert Reich."
Darrell - What do you think is the best type of marketing a writer can do to promote themselves?
Michele - I have done a lot of things--contests, social media, I blog, have a website, newsletter, book trailers, contests, free chapters, radio shows, e-mails to reviewers, virtual blog tours, conferences, etc. I make a point of trying to at least do one thing a day that gets the word out that there are books available. Word of mouth is the key still, and as writers we are fortunate to live in the Internet age where word of mouth can happen ten-fold.
Darrell - How do you see the future for writers and publishers now that ebooks have arrived on the scene?
Michele - It is a great time to be a writer. Print won't ever die so publishers will still be in business, and I think they will continue to support and back their big guns. However, as a mid-list author I am very happy to see this day. I am earning a living doing what I love. Readers are reading my books and enjoying them. No longer does the mid-list author have to be a part of the big corporate wheel of supporting the bestsellers and the publisher. We can now compete on an even level with them. I think as with anything, the cream will rise to the top. Anyone can put out a book now, but selling those books is another thing. I also think there is a little magic involved. Publishers will stay in business but writers will have an upperhand and be able to control and manage their business the way they see fit.
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