Ask the Author: Mark Phillips
Answered Questions (8)
Mark Phillips
I think it can be a winning strategy. The natural extrapolation of that strategy is making one of your books free for an extended period of time. This works especially well with the first book in a series.
I have found that making a book "perma free" for two to three months generates more reviews, more readers and more sales of your other books than giving it to twenty or so people for a review.
Perma free is basically the same strategy only expanded to a wider group of people.
Increased reviews leads to increased exposure and more sales of your other books as well as increased sales from your free book when you start charging for it again.
I'm not a technical guy and I don't understand the algorithms that people like Amazon use, but I do know there is quite a bit of evidence to support this strategy.
From my own experience, when I made my first book free, downloads skyrocketed and sales of my second book went up by a healthy margin as well.
I have found that making a book "perma free" for two to three months generates more reviews, more readers and more sales of your other books than giving it to twenty or so people for a review.
Perma free is basically the same strategy only expanded to a wider group of people.
Increased reviews leads to increased exposure and more sales of your other books as well as increased sales from your free book when you start charging for it again.
I'm not a technical guy and I don't understand the algorithms that people like Amazon use, but I do know there is quite a bit of evidence to support this strategy.
From my own experience, when I made my first book free, downloads skyrocketed and sales of my second book went up by a healthy margin as well.
Mark Phillips
I greatly admire Stephen King, John Steinbeck, Ernest Hemingway, Kurt Vonnegut and Elmore Leonard.
The main reason is because they are all great writers and I enjoy their work. All of them have/had a dedication to the craft of writing that is inspiring.
More specifically, Elmore Leonard was a master of dialogue. He knew how people actually talked and he knew how to make it interesting. There is simply no one better.
Kurt Vonnegut had one of the most bizarre and interesting writing styles I've ever read, and it totally worked for him. There is no one else who could have pulled off the kind of things he did in books and get away with it. He was a genius.
The main reason is because they are all great writers and I enjoy their work. All of them have/had a dedication to the craft of writing that is inspiring.
More specifically, Elmore Leonard was a master of dialogue. He knew how people actually talked and he knew how to make it interesting. There is simply no one better.
Kurt Vonnegut had one of the most bizarre and interesting writing styles I've ever read, and it totally worked for him. There is no one else who could have pulled off the kind of things he did in books and get away with it. He was a genius.
Mark Phillips
Keep reading and keep writing. Anything worth doing and any dream worth achieving is worth all the hard work that you need to put in.
Sometimes you will doubt yourself, sometimes you will want to give up. Don't. Keep writing and keep trying.
Sometimes you will doubt yourself, sometimes you will want to give up. Don't. Keep writing and keep trying.
Mark Phillips
Connecting with the fans and being able to do what I love for a living.
Mark Phillips
I have three books that are finished right now. One, Typewriter Blood, is a collection of short stories that is due out in August. The other two: A Way Back to Life, and Two Worlds, are literary novels that will be released in late September.
What I'm currently writing is a fantasy series that takes place in Ancient Greece. It's about the Pythagorans, who were a religious sect founded by Pythagoras--the philosopher and mathematician. I'm very excited about it.
What I'm currently writing is a fantasy series that takes place in Ancient Greece. It's about the Pythagorans, who were a religious sect founded by Pythagoras--the philosopher and mathematician. I'm very excited about it.
Mark Phillips
Most of the time it doesn't feel so much inspiration as curiosity. A "what-if" question comes into my head and I follow the thread. Or, I think about a certain type of person (with Bentley, it was a serial killer) and I wonder about their inner-life. What they think and how their point of view is different from the general public.
Mark Phillips
Re-Test, my most recent book, came out of my desire to write a book with a closed setting and limited characters. That combined with a question I asked myself. I wondered if it would ever be possible to root for the "New American Boogeyman", which is the man with a gun in a school.
I don't know if I answered those questions, but I tried my best.
I don't know if I answered those questions, but I tried my best.
Mark Phillips
I've never had it. I definitely consider myself lucky because of that. The closest I've come to writer's block is feeling like the writing I'm doing on a particular day isn't very good.
I write everyday and I believe that work ethic helps stave off writer's block.
I write everyday and I believe that work ethic helps stave off writer's block.
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