Thank you for visiting me on my virtual book tour stop with Erin K. Brown! Visiting Erin on the tour was an obvious choice for me, not only because she a fabulous editor, which is reason enough to stop by her Web site, but she also happens to be the co-author of The Lost Coin. When I completed the original draft I was put in touch with Erin and began working with her to create a great final story.
Erin and I have yet to meet in person because we live a few states away from each other, but our countless e-mails have caused us to become fast friends. Although we have completed The Lost Coin project, I do believe Erin and I will be friends for a very long time, and hopefully we will have the opportunity to work together again soon.
During your visit, I will answer questions that have been asked of me about The Lost Coin, what it’s like to be an author, and about the publishing process. Enjoy your time here and after your done, be sure to go back to my Web site www.abreathofinspiration.com to find out where the next stop of the virtual book tour will be so that you can learn more.
A. I regularly pray and ask God to show me what things He wants me to write. Usually an idea will hit when I’m reading Scripture or an inspirational book. I’ll read one sentence or one verse, and suddenly an entire story pops in my head, and I’ll feel an overwhelming desire to write about it. It really is a God thing.
Q. Why did you choose Manteca as the hometown for your main character?
A. I once read that authors should write about towns, settings, and environments they are familiar with, unless of course they are planning on doing extensive research on a place unfamiliar to them. When an author writes about the places they know well, it comes across more realistic to the reader. My main character makes her way from her hometown (and mine) of Manteca and ends up in my personal favorite vacation spot, Santa Clarita. Two towns I know and enjoy.
A. Many people don’t realize that there are different ways to go about publishing. The three main are Traditional, Print on Demand, and Self Publishing.
Traditional Publishing is going with a publishing house that agrees to publish your manuscript and completely covers the cost for the publishing/marketing process. A traditional publisher will usually maintain the rights to your manuscript for seven years or longer, with the author earning a small royalty from each book sold. Bigger publishing houses often place copies of your book in bookstores, but it doesn’t guarantee sales.
Print on Demand (POD) publishers will publish your book for a fee and make it available to numerous online bookstores. Authors usually maintain complete rights to their manuscript and receive a larger royalty for each book sold. A POD publisher usually offers some Marketing and Promoting for an additional fee; however, it is primarily up to the author to get the word out about his or her book. If authors are passionate about their books and willing to promote them, POD is a very nice option.
Self-publishing means an author does everything from scratch. Beginning with formatting the book, editing the manuscript, creating a cover, purchasing an ISBN number, which is needed if the book is sold in stores. In addition, the author handles the printing, promoting, and distributing the book. Every detail is on the author. Though it is a lot of extra work, the good part of self-publishing is that the author has complete creative control, full royalty benefits, and will never have to share his/her rights to the manuscript.
Q. Is your family excited about your being a published author?
A. Although my family is happy that I serve God through writing, I honestly think they are more impressed when I remember to buy cookies and goodies when I go grocery shopping. Desserts are big deal in our house.
Q. What do you hope readers will take away from The Lost Coin?
A. Naturally I hope readers will be entertained by the story and that they’ll tell their friends about it, but more than that, I really want readers to see how God works in the lives of these characters and understand that while the characters are fiction, Gods grace, mercy, forgiveness, and love are very real.
Q. Do you think there will be The Lost Coin Part two?
A. The story certainly ends with plenty of opportunities to develop a part two, but I honestly don’t know yet if that’s the next project God has in mind for me, or if there is something else brewing. One thing I know for sure, I hope to work with Erin again.
