Interview with Successful Fantasy Author, J Michael Radcliffe

I’m always looking for new indie authors to interview, folks who are doing well for themselves (and can share some tips with us!), so if you chat with me on Twitter, I’ll probably check on your books to see how well you’re selling (that’s not stalker-ish, is it?).

J. Michael Radcliffe is a fellow fantasy author, and I noticed that his novel is doing well — quite well considering it’s his only novel (with fantasy, you often pick up traction as you release more books in a series) and it’s not a 99-center. He has a couple of short stories out, too, but I’ll let him tell you more about them below.

An interview with J. Michael Radcliffe:

What led you down the road to self-publishing and what’s your experience been like so far?

First I would like to thank you for featuring me on your blog, Lindsay – I really appreciate it.  One of the things I love most about writing is getting the opportunity to meet and interact with other authors such as yourself.

I finally decided to publish my novel, ‘The Guardian’s Apprentice’ when I began reading about the Kindle process through Amazon.  I had sent my work off to several agents and publishers, most of whom never bothered to even send me a rejection notice.  I believed that (a) my work didn’t fit their business model (b) wasn’t a hot genre at the moment or (c) maybe my writing was so atrocious no one would touch it.  So I decided to publish through Amazon and see what happened – and I have been overwhelmed at the response!

My experience so far has been very positive.  I have met so many wonderful new friends and fellow writers who provide help to each other and help cross-promote each others’ works.  The publishing process itself was incredibly easy, though I must admit I still find cover design to be the most daunting task.

It looks like you’re selling a couple hundred copies a month (more?) of your flagship novel, The Guardian’s Apprentice. It’s not a 99-center either, so that’s putting some extra change in your pocket! What have you done to promote it?

I am very, very pleased – if not downright shocked – at my level of sales.  On average, I’m selling about 20 a day – not a bestseller, but I’m ecstatic nonetheless!  I have a facebook page for my various works and try to be active on twitter.  I’ve also put a lot of information online at my website: http://www.theguardiansapprentice.com and my blog: http://michaelradcliffe.wordpress.com.  I tweet under the name @Alderdrache, which means ‘elder dragon’ and is one of the characters from my novel.

I’ve found one of the best forms of promotion was becoming active with a writer’s group at BestsellerBound.com.  Late last year Joel Kirkpatrick, one of their members, put together a three volume anthology with excerpts from the books of some 60+ authors including me.  Earlier this year I contributed my short story ‘Tears for Hesh’ to an anthology of short stories from ten authors in the same group.  The free anthology hit the #1 free download on Amazon and has resulted in a lot of exposure, in my opinion.

That is one thing I would recommend to all writers, is to join a writing group for advice, feedback, etc.  BestsellerBound is a great one, as is Critters.org.  On critters.org there is a critiquing system where you can get your work critiqued by fellow authors, which is really very helpful.

You also have short (some very short!) stories up for 99 cents that appear to be from the same world. How do those sell for you? Do folks seem to mind paying 99 cents for stories that are much shorter than your novel?

The short stories sell fairly well, though not at the level of TGA.  I’ve noticed however that those who purchase the shorts seem to go on and purchase TGA and vice-versa, so I think the shorts are a nice inexpensive way for someone to become familiar with my work.  I think people are more willing to spend a $1 on an unfamiliar author than $3 – and if they like what they read they go on to spend the $3.

Short stories are also a wonderful way to expand on secondary characters or introduce readers to new characters who may play a role in future works.  For example in ‘Forsaken’ I tell the story of Nisha Black, one of the supporting characters from TGA.  In the novel I didn’t have time or space to explain to readers why she was forced to spend all but one hour per day as her animal form as penance for a past crime.  It’s also great fun to try and develop a character and story but stay within a tight word constraint such as 3,000 or 5,000 words.

It looks like your second best seller is a short story collection that includes “descriptions and histories of the creatures, characters, places and items from the novel.” What made you decide to add those tidbits? (It sounds like a neat idea.)

I read an excellent blog piece written by Joe Konrath about different ways to package and market your work, which is what gave me the idea for the Anthology.  After I had written my third short story, I decided to put all three shorts in an anthology along with the prologue to the sequel to TGA (“Bloodstone – The Guardian’s Curse”) as well as all the extra stuff.  “Beyond the Veil – the world of The Guardian’s Apprentice” ended up being home to all of the creatures, places and things from TGA as well as the three shorts.

All of the characters, creatures, etc. are either in TGA or will be in Bloodstone.  I’ve kept a separate Word file with notes and ideas as I wrote the novel – I guess you could say my overactive imagination didn’t know where to stop.

Do you have any book promotion tips for new authors?

Three things I would recommend:

1. Join a writing group such as BestsellerBound or Critters – you’ll meet great new friends and learn a lot!  If you get the opportunity to contribute to an anthology, do so (as long as you retain your rights) to increase your exposure.
2. Utilize twitter, facebook, blogs, etc. to interact with other authors.  I’ve noticed traffic to my website referred from other writer’s blogs on which I’ve left comments.
3. Be patient – it takes time to reach out to people, especially if you are a new indie.

Lastly, would you like to tell us what you’re working on next? 

I’m currently working on the sequel to TGA, which is titled “Bloodstone –  The Guardian’s Curse”.  This novel picks up where TGA left off and delves a little deeper into the history of the magical Orders.  Keegan will also face a terrible choice to save someone he loves, even though they may not wish him to make so great a sacrifice.

Sounds fun! Thanks for joining us today, Michael!