Maria Savva's Blog - Posts Tagged "h-u-b"

I am thrilled to be introducing you to author Benjamin Jones today. I met Ben on Twitter quite a while ago when I ran a competition giving away hardback copies of my first novel Coincidences. He was one of the winners.

I recently read his latest novel Head Above Water, a romance with a twist of the paranormal. This fantasy tale is a fun and enthralling read, with a very unexpected ending. Ben has generously offered to give away some e-books to my blog readers, so to be in with a chance of winning a copy please either 'like' this blog post, or leave a comment for Ben below.

After reading his highly original new book, I wanted to find out more about this talented indie author. Here are the interview questions I sent him along with his replies:

1. Is there a particular author, or book, that inspired you to start writing?


Before I wanted to be a writer I wanted to be in the film business (specifically as a screenwriter and director) and I was HEAVILY influenced by Spike Lee so he was the one that really inspired me to write as I wanted to be just like him when I grew up.




When did you first discover your love of writing

I discovered my love of writing probably in middle school. Growing up in that particular time (before the internet and the emergence of cell phones to the masses like they are today), we didn't have a home phone so, in order to keep up with my school friends during the summer months I had to write letters as that was the only way that I could communicate with them (at least those that didn't live within walking distance to me). That was really when I got hit by the writing bug.


Do you have an tips for someone who is considering self-publishing their own book?

Be prepared to do EVERYTHING. The job doesn't stop when you finish the book - that's the easy part. The hard part is getting the word out and promotion and all of that good stuff. Another good thing is to find some peers on Twitter, Facebook, etc... that are self publishing and learn from them (both their successes and failures).

Your first published books were in the H.U.B. series Humanity's Ultimate Battle (H.U.B.) Volume 1 and 2 Collection, and Volume 3. I haven’t read those yet. I understand from your website that these books are about Vampires but ‘not the Twilight kind’. Can you tell us a bit more about the series and what inspired it.



The H.U.B. series is set in a world where vampires and humans co-exist in a very fragile "truce"; vampires are the minority and most of them simply want to live amongst the humans peacefully. There are certain people/groups on both sides that aren't happy living with each other and are willing to do anything, even provoke a war, to re-insert their dominance.

The series was inspired by what I perceived to be the watering down of vampires. The vampires you see in movies and television shows today are about romance and partying and all that good stuff but I wanted to take it back to the essence and show vampires as I always knew and loved them to be - bloodthirsty animals that only wanted blood. Once the idea was born it really took off and I had the first three volumes written within 18 months.



I read in the bio on your website that you describe yourself as and ‘independent’ author ‘for the time being’, and you go on to say that you don’t have an agent ‘at the moment’. Does that mean you’re actively seeking a publisher or agent? Tell us more about your aspirations for your future writing career. What’s your ultimate goal?

I think it's most everyone's dream as an aspiring author to be represented by an agent and to be in a big publishing house but, at the same time, the odds for that are very slim. Plus, you have to look at the economics of it all; you sign with a big publishing house and you'll sell more books (hopefully) but you're gonna get less and you'll have less control over the whole process. Being an independent author, I like being able to control when and how I want to release my books and doing things how I want to do them. I may sell less books but I get more of the profit and it's, at least for me, a greater sense of satisfaction in knowing that I wrote these books on my own and people are reading and enjoying them; it's a great feeling.

As for my ultimate goal - it's to continue to get better at my craft and build my fanbase one book/person at a time in the hopes that, one day, I can quit my corporate job and be able to live off of nothing but writing.

I’ve seen that you have taken part in a few blog talk radio interviews. Do you find that those types of interviews help with promoting your work? Have you found new readers through that medium, as far as you know?

Yes, I've done a few blog talk radio interviews and I think it does help promote your work as you never know who's listening to it. As far as I know I think those interviews have translated into a few new readers, which is great, but, at the same, I'm also hoping to inspire someone to work on their dream of being a writer by them listening to me and my story and them knowing that I'm just like them.

I understand that you are currently involved in a non-fiction Hip Hop book project with co-writer, Debbie Cunningham. Tell us what that’s about and how you got involved with this. What can Hip Hop fans expect from the book?

I got involved with the Hip-Hop book project through an interview that I had with Debbie Cunningham and her online blog/magazine entitled For The Masses. We follow each other on Twitter and we both were familiar with each other's taste in Hip-Hop music so, at the end of the interview, when she asked me if I would be interested in writing a book on Hip-Hop, I jumped on it.

As for what the book is about, it's simply two fans (Debbie and myself) profiling the Hip-Hop artists that we feel represent what Hip-Hop is to us. Hip-Hop fans can expect to get different takes on their favorite artists and also to read some interviews that we have conducted with some of the artists that we talk about in the book. It's gonna be really nice when it comes all together as you have Debbie who lives in New York and me who was born in Tennessee and currently lives in Dallas, and the different likes and dislikes that we have in regards to Hip-Hop. We tend to agree on a lot of the artists we talk about but, some, not so much. :-)

Is Hip Hop your favourite music? What bands are you listening to these days?

Hip-Hop is my favorite form of music but my interests in music are varied. My favorite artist is The Notorious B.I.G. and I love Jay-Z. Outside of Hip-Hop, I like Adele, Sade, Beyonce, Fiona Apple, Corinne Bailey Rae, etc...




I also read on your website that you’re working on a book called The Girl in the Red Balloon. What genre is that book, and can you tell us a little about it?

The Girl In The Red Balloon is, at it's heart, a romance, but there's another element to it, much like Head Above Water. As for what it's about, it's about how a note in a balloon sets off a very "interesting" relationship between two people that have never met each other before, both of which are "broken" in a sense.



I know that you’re involved in a separate project Clan of the Flying Pen, which I understand is a group of writers that have got together to release a book. Is this going to be an anthology of short stories in many genres, or is there a theme to the book? Do you have an anticipated release date?

The Clan of the Flying Pens is a group I put together with 4 other writers that I met on Twitter. Their is no theme to it, just a collection of our work (excerpts from novels, poetry, flash fiction, short stories, etc...) to give potential readers a taste for our writing and hopefully allow one (hopefully all) of us to sell some more books and get some more shine in the industry. I call it a big writing gumbo as you're getting so many different tastes of things from 5 very different writers and it's gonna be great when it's all said and done.

As for a release date, all of the work has been submitted and everything so I would anticipate a late spring/early summer release.

You have book trailers for the H.U.B. book series. What’s your opinion about the effectiveness of book trailers as a promotional tool, and have you ever been influenced to buy a book after watching the trailer?

I'm kinda torn on book trailers. They do serve their purpose of getting people to notice the book and what not but I would have to say that I've really never been influenced to buy a book after watching a trailer. I'm more influenced by the synopsis and, if that catches me, then I'm good.

Your latest book, Head Above Water is a wonderful romantic novel with a twist of the supernatural/paranormal. I really enjoyed it. Hopefully I’m not giving too much away by saying that I noticed one of the themes in the book strikes me as quite similar to the H.U.B. series in the sense of ‘we are not alone’, there are other types of ‘humans’ on the planet (of course in H.U.B. they’re Vampires). Is this something that you believe, or is your inspiration purely derived from imagination?



The similarities between H.U.B. and Head Above Water was purely coincidental and was/is inspired purely from imagination. But, do I believe that there could be "others" out there (i.e. aliens), I would be hard pressed to rule it out. The universe is a big place and who knows what could be lurking out there waiting to be discovered?

Head Above Water is a very romantic novel, I especially found Darryl, the lead male character, to be romantic. Leena and Darryl are portrayed as soulmates. Do you believe in true love?

As a romantic at heart, I am prone to believe in true love but I often struggle with the concept of there only being "one" person out there for someone; I feel if that were the case then people would only get married once and stay married. I tend to believe that there are several individuals that someone could find "true love" because, as we grow and mature, sometimes our ideals of love can change and what used to be true isn't any longer.

I felt that the ending of Head Above Water left the possibility that there could be a sequel. Is this something you had in mind when writing the book? Or, if not, do you have plans to write a sequel?

When I initially wrote the book I had never really intended for it to be a sequel but, the more I worked on it, my ideas started to change a bit. I have a few thoughts swimming around in my head in regards to where a potential sequel could go but, right now, I'm happy with where things are in the book. Ask me again in six months, I may change that answer. LOL

I read that you have been working on Head Above Water for many years, changing bits until you were happy with it. How long in total did it take to write the book?

I would say all in all, I worked on Head Above Water off and on for a decade; putting it down, picking it back up and editing, etc..., etc... At one time I had tried to find an agent and get published the traditional way with the book and I got rejection letter after rejection letter. I kept tinkering with it until I was happy with it and that is what I released. It helped that I learned a lot by putting out the H.U.B. series and getting the little bit of success with that definitely made me feel better about putting Head Above Water out.

Who are your favourite authors and what is it about their writing that you like?

Stephen King is my all time favorite; he's the master at what he does. I grew up reading his books and watching the movies of his and was in amazement in all of the great stories he was able to tell.





I'm a big fan of a writing friend of mine named Reena Jacobs who wrote a WONDERFUL book entitled I Loved You First; I just loved everything about the book and her characters were so well written and made me care about them. By being able to network on social media I've been able to read so many good books by independent authors such as myself and they all inspire me as there are some GREAT writers out there.

Is there a book you own that you’ve read more than once?

Yes, The Eyes of the Dragon by Stephen King which is my favorite book. The story is just so different from his other works and there's just something about it that I love.

Are you reading a book at the moment?

I just finished reading 11/22/63 by, again, Stephen King which was fantastic. I do have 4 books from my writing friends that I need to read, though.

What do you think of e-books as opposed to print books?

As a reader I'm still the type of guy that prefers to have a physical book in my hand but I'm coming around to the idea of e-books. As a writer, the importance of e-books can't be stated enough. E-books allow authors like myself to reach a wider audience at less cost to us which is always a bonus.

What is your opinion of the new Amazon KDP Select option for authors? Are you planning to try it out?

I think for someone more established the Amazon KDP Select program is good but, for someone like myself who needs to get my book in as many different places as I can, it doesn't appeal to me. It doesn't help that I sell the majority of my books via the Nook anyway (for whatever reason that is) so, I'm not liking the appeal of having my book in only one place for a certain amount of time.

How important are reviews for you as a writer?

Reviews, to me, are the life blood of any book, especially from an "unknown" writer like myself. Reviews are like word of mouth and the right buzz can do wonders.

How do you go about choosing a cover for your books?

Once I finish a book I usually have an idea of which scene/idea from the book that I think will signify something special enough to be on the cover. I was fortunate enough to find a very good cover designer named Chris Leepow that is awesome at taking my ideas and turning them into a great looking cover.

Do you have any upcoming events or news you’d like to share with your readers?

On March 3rd I will be in Oklahoma City, OK promoting my H.U.B. series at the Underground Monster Carnival. Also, on March 24th I will be conducting a live radio interview that can be heard at 6 AM EST (I know it's early! LOL) with Mr. Marc Medley at http://gobrave.org . Readers can always keep up with me by visiting my Event-Calendar

Where can people buy your books?

My books can be found via the following:
Purchase links
All e-book at $0.99 each

Paperback of H.U.B. Volumes 1 & 2 are available for $10 (autographed) via the website

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Thank you, Ben!!

Remember, if you'd like the chance to win an e-book of Head Above Water, leave a comment below, or simply 'like' this post :)
Good luck! Winners will be picked on 24th February 2012.