Ask the Author: Sipho Moloi
Answered Questions (27)
Sipho Moloi
I don't mind as long as there's no plagiarism or copyright infringement involved, as it is expected with human authors. I'm curious how AI authors would write books from scratch. As an author, I don't feel intimidated by AI authors. I don't rely on tropes or prompts for my writing and I don't write to market, so I can't imagine an AI being able to replicate me. Also, as a self-published author, I can't get replaced or laid-off by AI.
Sipho Moloi
Armored Piercing would make sense as a video game adaptation, considering it was inspired by video games. However, I'm wary of allowing those books to be adapted because I don't think anyone could properly capture the magic of the books and I worry about "changes" diminishing the series.
I wouldn't mind adaptations for any of my standalone books like The Invasion of Planet Earth and Nibowin: The Island of Death. I would be less sensitive about changes in regards to those books.
I wouldn't mind adaptations for any of my standalone books like The Invasion of Planet Earth and Nibowin: The Island of Death. I would be less sensitive about changes in regards to those books.
Sipho Moloi
I wrote a zombie apocalypse book, though I never finished it properly. I rushed the ending so I could work on another book, but I scrapped it later on. I had another book that was inspired by the Infamous games but I never went beyond the prologue. There's also another military book that I intended to make a series, but I never finished it. I finished a sci-fi alien invasion book before working on AP3 and I have plans for it to be a long running series, but I haven't got around to a sequel due to my current focus on the AP series.
The zombie apocalypse book and sci-fi alien invasion book are the most likely ones I plan to revisit after AP is done. Those two are very different from AP, which I think would be exciting for potential readers of mine.
The zombie apocalypse book and sci-fi alien invasion book are the most likely ones I plan to revisit after AP is done. Those two are very different from AP, which I think would be exciting for potential readers of mine.
Sipho Moloi
There won't be an AP6 but I have thought about a sister series with side characters. However, there are other series I want to get back to after finishing the AP series, so it likely won't happen.
Sipho Moloi
I've thought about doing YouTube, but I'm not sure about it. I hear the conversion rate of getting viewers to buy your book, or any type of product or service, is not that high. I remember seeing a post on Reddit where an author said she had 100,000+ subscribers but not many actually read her books. If you also factor in that most people who follow you will rarely go back to your channel/profile, it doesn't seem to make the effort worthwhile.
I'm generally shy to be on camera. I suppose I could just do an audio channel. But I'm not sure what to talk about. Since I'm an unknown author, I doubt many would care about what I have to say about writing. I rarely generate any viewings for my book updates on Goodreads, Mastodon, and my Wix site. The only other topic I could go into is video games, but how many video gamers would want to buy my books?
As for going onto other people's channels, I'm also shy about that. It's hard for me to speak without stuttering or awkward pauses. I'm more comfortable with written communication than oral. If I had a friend and they wanted me on their channel, it would be less daunting for me.
I'm generally shy to be on camera. I suppose I could just do an audio channel. But I'm not sure what to talk about. Since I'm an unknown author, I doubt many would care about what I have to say about writing. I rarely generate any viewings for my book updates on Goodreads, Mastodon, and my Wix site. The only other topic I could go into is video games, but how many video gamers would want to buy my books?
As for going onto other people's channels, I'm also shy about that. It's hard for me to speak without stuttering or awkward pauses. I'm more comfortable with written communication than oral. If I had a friend and they wanted me on their channel, it would be less daunting for me.
Sipho Moloi
I hope not. My life was not at the best during the 8 year journey with AP4. I can't say things have improved much this year, but the progress I made with AP4 recently definitely boosted my self-esteem and mental wellbeing.
I also plan to have an outline before diving into AP5. Hopefully, that will help keep me on track while writing. One challenging aspect with AP4 was that I kept forgetting what I wrote before, which led to many plot inconsistencies. I really want to avoid that with AP5.
I also plan to have an outline before diving into AP5. Hopefully, that will help keep me on track while writing. One challenging aspect with AP4 was that I kept forgetting what I wrote before, which led to many plot inconsistencies. I really want to avoid that with AP5.
Sipho Moloi
I'm open to it, but I would need to be familiar with the person in real life. I don't have any author friends unfortunately.
Sipho Moloi
I already have. Right now, I'm working on an outline for the second draft of Armored Piercing 3. The outline is close to 40 pages, which is the longest outline I've ever done. I don't usually do outlines and most of them are about a page long. Though, I did write some outlines during my writing journey on Armored Piercing 4, but these were more for keeping track of the storylines. An outline for AP3 is very important because I have to recontextualize the book so it fits with the story so far with AP1 and AP2.
To be honest, it has been very tough working on this outline. The original draft has a lot of inconsistencies, which makes it hard to try to fix things. Armored Piercing 3 will be the hardest book I've worked on so far, and story-wise it's not as complicated as Armored Piercing 4. The work may be tough, but I think it will be worth it when it all comes together.
To be honest, it has been very tough working on this outline. The original draft has a lot of inconsistencies, which makes it hard to try to fix things. Armored Piercing 3 will be the hardest book I've worked on so far, and story-wise it's not as complicated as Armored Piercing 4. The work may be tough, but I think it will be worth it when it all comes together.
Sipho Moloi
I suppose I could try it, but it would likely be two novellas. It would be impossible for me to publish AP3 and AP4 in the same year, or any type of book that's 100+ pages to write. Though, given how I wrote 300+ pages in a few months to wrap up AP4, I suppose I could get multiple books out if I really tried. Maybe I should try it as an experiment.
Sipho Moloi
I saw a police SWAT body cam video on YouTube and an idea popped into my head to do a SWAT team style raid. At first, I wanted to do a simple story of police raiding bad guys. The sci-fi stuff came later, which I'm glad to have included because it added a unique dynamic.
The Raid was a great break from writing AP4 and it was quick to write.
The Raid was a great break from writing AP4 and it was quick to write.
Sipho Moloi
To be honest, I lost interest in doing them. The spin offs would likely be prequels, and I'm not that big of a fan of prequels. Plus, given that I recently finished my first draft of AP4, I'm going to be resuming work on AP3 again and hopefully have that out in 2026.
The main reason I wanted to do spin offs was to have more content for fans during the long wait for AP3. I probably won't be doing them, which is understandably disappointing for those who were looking forward to them. However, I have been posting regular updates on my Wix site on AP4 and AP3 updates will start soon.
The main reason I wanted to do spin offs was to have more content for fans during the long wait for AP3. I probably won't be doing them, which is understandably disappointing for those who were looking forward to them. However, I have been posting regular updates on my Wix site on AP4 and AP3 updates will start soon.
Sipho Moloi
Yes I have. On August 19, 2025, I finally finished the draft after 8 years of working on it. The draft is 1465 pages, which is the longest book I've ever written. I don't know if I'll ever beat that record. For reference, my first draft of Armored Piercing 3 is just under 1200 pages. I'll likely write a blog post on my writing journey with the book, so stay tuned!
Sipho Moloi
It doesn't matter a huge amount, but it would be nice to have at least a small group of fans who routinely buy my books and engage with my social media content.
In regards to the long term, I will commit to publishing until I release all 5 books in my Armored Piercing series. If I don't see decent enough success after publishing AP5, I might give up on self publishing altogether. The main reason I went the self publishing route was because there were no traditional publishers in my city. The publishers here expect a large payout upfront in order to edit, publish, and promote an author's book, which I can't afford. If I didn't self publish, I wouldn't publish anything at all. It would be nice to have a successful indie book and then get picked up by a trad publisher, but that's not likely to happen.
There are self published authors who would be happy to publish for the rest of their lives even if each book sold 0 copies. For me, it's hard to be motivated to continue publishing if I don't get a decent return on each book. Since Armored Piercing is my magnum opus, you won't have to worry about me quitting self publishing anytime soon. AP3 will likely release in 2026 at the earliest, while AP4 and AP5 are many years away. But like I said, if I don't receive decent success after AP5, I'll probably throw in the towel at that point.
In regards to the long term, I will commit to publishing until I release all 5 books in my Armored Piercing series. If I don't see decent enough success after publishing AP5, I might give up on self publishing altogether. The main reason I went the self publishing route was because there were no traditional publishers in my city. The publishers here expect a large payout upfront in order to edit, publish, and promote an author's book, which I can't afford. If I didn't self publish, I wouldn't publish anything at all. It would be nice to have a successful indie book and then get picked up by a trad publisher, but that's not likely to happen.
There are self published authors who would be happy to publish for the rest of their lives even if each book sold 0 copies. For me, it's hard to be motivated to continue publishing if I don't get a decent return on each book. Since Armored Piercing is my magnum opus, you won't have to worry about me quitting self publishing anytime soon. AP3 will likely release in 2026 at the earliest, while AP4 and AP5 are many years away. But like I said, if I don't receive decent success after AP5, I'll probably throw in the towel at that point.
Sipho Moloi
I tend to write my first drafts on paper. For example, I've mentioned that my first draft for Armored Piercing 3 is almost 1200 pages. So that means it is 1200 pages on paper, which is very thick! I needed a big binder to fit all that paper in. This is just an old habit of mine. I wrote on paper since elementary school. The main upside is that I can access my work faster and not have to wait to load the book like with word documents. However, it can put a heavy strain on my hands during long writing periods and papers age out over time. I never attempted a first draft on a computer, maybe that would be something worth trying out in the future.
Sipho Moloi
It's possible. I have thought about it. If a lot of people demand it, I'll consider working on one. Usually with my novellas, I write them as one-offs.
Sipho Moloi
I've been spending most of my time working on Armored Piercing 4, so whenever I work on another novella I have to stop working on AP4. It's also difficult for me to come up with ideas for novellas while my mind is still on Armored Piercing. I will try to have more frequent releases. Maybe I will have another book out in 2026.
Sipho Moloi
Yes. I've made an outline for one set in Somalia. I also thought about another trilogy. There was also an unfinished military story I wrote during middle school, but I don't know if I'll ever finish it.
Sipho Moloi
My Armored Piercing books take a lot of work compared to books like Nibowin: The Island of Death and The Raid of Hotel Laurier. If I only published Armored Piercing books, I wouldn't have any other books out since publishing AP2 in 2021.
My novellas are just easier to write and edit and I don't want to have no content out for years in a row. I thought about doing AP spinoffs, but I don't feel motivated to write them.
My novellas are just easier to write and edit and I don't want to have no content out for years in a row. I thought about doing AP spinoffs, but I don't feel motivated to write them.
Sipho Moloi
I wrote my first drafts for the first three Armored Piercings from 2010-2014. I wrote my second draft for AP1 around 2016-2017. I started writing my first draft for AP4 in 2017. So, even before I published my first book, The Invasion of Planet Earth, in 2018, I was already working on AP4.
I want to finish Armored Piercing 4 before I get to work on AP3.
I want to finish Armored Piercing 4 before I get to work on AP3.
Sipho Moloi
I haven't been working on Armored Piercing 3 as much as I'd like to. I'm still working on my first draft for AP4, which recently surpassed 1230 pages. I want to finish that draft before going back to work on AP3. I've been working on AP4 since 2017, which is a very long time. My first draft for AP3 took me three years and was about 1200 pages. Some unforeseen events in my personal life have made it difficult for me to write consistently like I used to 10 years ago, but lately I've been feeling a lot better with my writing. I made a lot of progress recently, so hopefully I'll be back to work on AP3 in no time.
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