Good Morning and Happy Monday!
Last week we talked about an amazing author, Jennifer St. Giles. She agreed to do an interview with me and share some of her experiences within the publishing industry!
Thank you so much for taking the time out to answer a few questions for me!
TMP: Now, I know that you didn’t major in writing in college, so can you talk a little bit about how you got into writing in the first place?
JSG: I love story. I devoured books every moment I could from an early age. I wrote poetry first then in my mid-twenties, I knew I had stories within me I had to write. I would start a book, get a hundred or so pages then family and life would steal away time and energy. But I didn’t give up, and one day I made it happen.
TMP: Tell me a little bit about your process? Do you set aside time every day/week/month to write? Do you have to force yourself to write or does it just flow out of you?
JSG: All of it. After finishing my first book, it took me ten years to get published with one of New York’s biggest houses.
TMP: How long was the first novel you wrote? How long was the first novel you published?
JSG: The first book I finished ended up at about 175K [words]. Way too long for traditional publishing. The book I finally sold, a gothic historical came in a 125K [words].
TMP: You used to write for a publisher, can you talk about the perks of writing under a contract with them? What about the downside?
JSG: Perks with traditional publishing ranged from getting an advance to having lots of professional people publish your book. And if you end up being one of the lucky ones they get behind then you can be hugely successful. Downside? Promises made aren’t necessarily kept. The market changes quickly and publishers must adjust their plans to stay on top of the market. You have to understand they are a business for whom you are making a product, so they then can sell that product to as many customers as they can. They buy the rights to your story for a set amount of years and have control over the story, and depending on the contract, what you write. This can limit what you write in a story. What story you write next. How often you write a book. When that book will be published. How the book will be marketed…or not marketed. I wrote for a publisher from 2003 to 2013. Two Historicals and four Paranormals to Simon and Schuster, one of which eked onto the USA Today list. Three Historicals for Penguin and Putnam. Two Military Romantic Suspense for a smaller press that is no longer in business. Out of these eleven books, none of the publishers carried through on the marketing plans they made when they purchased the books from me. Titles, covers, and often times elements of the story content were determined by the publisher .
TMP: You have done self-publishing, can you talk about the perks of self-publishing? What about the downside?
JSG: In hindsight, I would have self-published years earlier, rather than knock for nine years on New York Publishing’s door before finally making it into a major publishing house. The upside to self-publishing is you are in total control of what you write and when you publish it and how you market it. The downside is you are totally responsible for all aspects of writing, publishing, and marketing. Though you don’t get any advances, I make more money self-publishing than I did through a New York publisher. Since I work a fulltime job, I’m happier writing at my own pace rather than meeting a publisher’s deadline. Sometimes I’m disciplined and can get a book done despite exhaustion and too many distractions, but sometimes things don’t work out so well. Right now, I’ve had a rough two years and my writing has suffered greatly. I am behind on four different projects.
TMP: Think of the first time you sat down to write a book, if you could travel back in time and tell yourself one thing, what would it be and why? JSG:
Well, I always tell others to never, never, never give up on their dreams. So, I would remind myself that, but also, I would tell myself to relax and enjoy the journey of story. Not to obsess over making it. To live a little bit more balance life rather than writing every spare moment I could. I still have pictures from when my kids were little that I’ve yet to put into an album or scrapbook (something I’ve always wanted to have time to do). My kids are now 25, 29, 31…sigh.
TMP: Do you ever just want to give up on writing? What keeps you going?
JSG: Writing is my passion. I have so many stories to write that I wonder if I will ever get them all onto the page. But yes, I do get discouraged for various reasons. People will spend more on a cup of coffee than a book. A book takes months to write and lasts several hours to read. Coffee lasts fifteen minutes. People will leave a one-star review that says I haven’t read the book yet, or the book isn’t for free. We need more people with good things to say and to share in this world, and not so much negativity.
TMP: Is there any advice you wish new writers would heed?
JSG: Never give up. Always move forward, and learn as much as you can. There is only one you in the universe and you are the only one who can tell your stories.
TMP: What are you currently working on?
JSG: Currently, I am almost finished with a book that I signed on to ghost write, but it is taking much longer and is much harder than I anticipated. I am about a year overdue on it with just a few chapters left to do. I am writing Bewitching the Wolf, the fifth book in my Shadowmen Series. I am writing a romantic suspense called, Coming Out Of the Dark. I also have a script for a short film I need to write. It is due this month. It features Eva St. Claire and Adam Frasier from my Exposed Series. Eva and her sisters use their psychic abilities to fight crime.
TMP: How do you measure success with your writing? In other words, do you consider yourself successful by sales, or by completing a story that you believe in?
JSG: By completing a story that I believe in, but I can’t lie. When you dearly want to be able to write for a living and support yourself from that income sales matter. I have a motto of sorts that drives me and captures exactly what I think success means every day. Remember Every Day to Dream, Believe, Create, Inspire, Love, Heal, Succeed, and Grow and Share Wealth..One Matters.
TMP: What is your favorite thing about writing?
JSG: Creating characters who learn to love and creating stories that touch people’s hearts. Stories that sweep people away to new worlds and opens their minds to a brighter future.
You are amazing! I know you are busy, so it means a lot that you took the time out to do this!
Thank you for this
Love
jenni
If you have any other questions for Jenni, you can reach out here or hit her up on her various social media platforms; @jenifersaintgiles, her facebook, tumblr, pintrest, or her website. She loves hearing from fans. Jenni has more than 10 books in her archives and writes new material all the time.
Happy reading y'all!
Lisa :)
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