The Author Interviews, Round 1: #5: Jeffrey Weaver
Today's writer isJeffrey Weaver, author ofA Recipe For Hope: How We Fought Cancer with Family, Friends, Faith and Food.
You are living in the world from your latest novel. Where are you? What is it like?Just to clarify my book is non fiction and is about my wife’s fight with incurable breast cancer and how we overcame it with lifestyle changes. So yes we are living in that world, every single day and we will be there for many years. In the book I write about heroes and villains in the truest sense. This is about a life and death struggle and how it feels like to have a death sentence hanging over my wife and how that alters her life but that of all of us who are invested in her battle.I wrote this in journal format as it happened (long before a book was envisioned) and it's told from my point of view, which is unique as I am also a cancer survivor turned into a caregiver. I did hundreds and hundreds of hours of research on cancer fighting foods and wrote about that, along with any other lifestyle things that would extend her life. I included and big section on foods and the science behind them as well as over 50 recipes I designed where every ingredient has to have a cancer fighting component.Who is your favourite author? Why?As far as what authors are favorites, a couple come to mind, Malcom Gladwell and Raymond Carver. I love to write non fiction pieces so that’s why Gladwell, but I also love short stories and Carver is my favorite in that genre, plus I love his writing style.Where do you get your ideas?Mostly from life, mine and others. You see I am 67 and have lead a very adventurous life so I have a lot to draw from.Why do you write?I went back to college in 2009 and had to retake my academic writing classes and met a couple professors who really encouraged me to take up writing, both in essay type work and creatively. Once I starting studying and writing creative fiction it was like I found my calling, even at my advanced age.How do you deal with bad reviews, rejection and criticism?Like I aways do, look at who’s doing the critiques first, then either ignore them or figure out a why to get better because of them. I have been rejected on much larger stages than getting rejected for what I wrote. It’s just part of the gig and I don’t try to please everyone, that is not possible and dilutes your work.What do you find difficult about writing?SPELLING. Seriously I can’t spell and it slows me down. Word programs often have no idea what I’m doing. Also resisting the urge to go to fast and resort to telling rather than showing scenes or who my characters are.What do you love the most about writing?It is kind of therapeutic because I write about relationships mostly. And because at times I find that I end up being an observer not the writer. What I mean is there are times when I’m writing something takes over and words just appear on my screen and I am above watching me write them. It’s kind of magical when that happens.Do you ever outsource (editing and cover design) your work?Yes, I hired a good editor who has a big staff that does the all that stuff. With this book I went through developmental edits to all the final edits. We had a great designer for the cover and the inside of the book as well. Having a book that looks professional done is key to succeeding as an indy author. No one has all the necessary skills to do all the different things it takes to produce a finely finished product. Writing professional quality works needs to be treated as a business, if you don’t you will never make it. This stuff is hard and there is lots of completion since the advent of ebooks and the easy of self publishing burst onto the scene.What is your opinion on the indie vs traditional publishing argument?I know that I would never get a publishing deal because I don’t have a big enough following. Now days unless a traditional publisher knows that there is a built in number of books they can sell they don’t pick up the work. They don’t have the kind of money they once had to spend on unproven authors. I have always been a entrepreneur and have built several business so I’m not afraid of the challenges that comes with making my own way. Plus I know that the book market, like many other markets, have been changed by the internet. People don’t buy that many books from books stores and even finding a book store is hard and going to get harder, so why not go where many proven authors are eventually going to end up, as a self publishing writer. One thing I have done is turn to hybrid publishing because you get a little of traditional but remain independent at the same time.Talk us through your creative process from start to finish.As I said I write about relationships and because of my age and life experience I have a lot to draw on. So when I want to write about something I work out the story line in my head and then I write an simple outline. I know where I want to go so the outline helps keep me on track but my characters always find thier own way to the finish. I try not to edit to much at first as I want to get the first draft done. But I do start each day reviewing that last part of the previous day's work and make adjustments to the story direction if need be. When the first draft is complete then I go back and read it all the way through and make notes about where and how I need to change things. After I finish that draft then I start to polish it a little. When I am satisfied I send the work to my editor for a developmental edit and do another rewrite. After that I send my work out to several beta readers. I use different types of readers, ones I know will see different things, such as plot line, technical things, stylistic things. When I get their feedback I do another rewrite if need or make some changes. When I am finished my wife reads it and I trust her because she is a veracious reader. Then is back to the editor for a final polishing or two or three.What advice would you give to aspiring writers?Do your homework on your ideas. Be prepared before you start to write, know your characters inside and out. And most importantly understand that writing a book is really really hard and is akin to running a marathon. It takes time and lots of hard work. You must comment yourself to the effort or you are just waisting your time, effort and money. Set small achievable goals like committing to 500 words a day rather than 2000. You can always write more but its discouraging when you don’t meet your goals and writing is discouraging enough without the writer making it harder.Give us your top three book marketing/ promotion tips.Word of mouth, build an email list shooting for 1000 people, and then turn those people into your fans. Hire a reputable firm to help if you can afford it. This part is harder than writing the book and requires more work.Would you agree a good book must withstand more than one read?YesWhat do you look for when shopping on Amazon for a Kindle book? Are any of them more important to you than others?I always know what I’m look for so I don’t go shop. But one thing I know for sure is that today people aren’t going to read a sample first. We have reached a point where our attention spams are short, so if you want your book to sell make sure your cover is awesome. People shop with their eyes first. So if the cover isn’t good the reader will never buy your book. This is one place you must spend money and hire a professional designer.Do you have a favourite genre?Not really I like to read different things. I write in a couple different genres, adult fiction, non fiction and I have just started writing a young adult series and I am have a ball with it.What would it take for you to leave a book review?Read a really good book. I don’t think I would do a negative review for someone unless it was bad fiction or really wrong factually.After downloading book one of a series for free or discounted on Amazon, do you ever go back and pay more for book two? If not, why?I don’t read ebooks. I would and do read multiple works by an author if I like their style.Do you ever visit an author's website? If so, what do you look at?Not very oftenIf an author offered you a free book, would you sign up to their mailing list?Maybe. But not likely.Do you ever enter giveaways and/ or order signed copies?NeverAre you more likely to buy a book if there are various formats available?NoWhat are the biggest giveaways that a book is self-published?Bad covers. No ISBN and the design of the front, back and interior of the book.Many thanks to the author for this interview and if you would like to show your support please consider purchasing a copy of the book as below:
You are living in the world from your latest novel. Where are you? What is it like?Just to clarify my book is non fiction and is about my wife’s fight with incurable breast cancer and how we overcame it with lifestyle changes. So yes we are living in that world, every single day and we will be there for many years. In the book I write about heroes and villains in the truest sense. This is about a life and death struggle and how it feels like to have a death sentence hanging over my wife and how that alters her life but that of all of us who are invested in her battle.I wrote this in journal format as it happened (long before a book was envisioned) and it's told from my point of view, which is unique as I am also a cancer survivor turned into a caregiver. I did hundreds and hundreds of hours of research on cancer fighting foods and wrote about that, along with any other lifestyle things that would extend her life. I included and big section on foods and the science behind them as well as over 50 recipes I designed where every ingredient has to have a cancer fighting component.Who is your favourite author? Why?As far as what authors are favorites, a couple come to mind, Malcom Gladwell and Raymond Carver. I love to write non fiction pieces so that’s why Gladwell, but I also love short stories and Carver is my favorite in that genre, plus I love his writing style.Where do you get your ideas?Mostly from life, mine and others. You see I am 67 and have lead a very adventurous life so I have a lot to draw from.Why do you write?I went back to college in 2009 and had to retake my academic writing classes and met a couple professors who really encouraged me to take up writing, both in essay type work and creatively. Once I starting studying and writing creative fiction it was like I found my calling, even at my advanced age.How do you deal with bad reviews, rejection and criticism?Like I aways do, look at who’s doing the critiques first, then either ignore them or figure out a why to get better because of them. I have been rejected on much larger stages than getting rejected for what I wrote. It’s just part of the gig and I don’t try to please everyone, that is not possible and dilutes your work.What do you find difficult about writing?SPELLING. Seriously I can’t spell and it slows me down. Word programs often have no idea what I’m doing. Also resisting the urge to go to fast and resort to telling rather than showing scenes or who my characters are.What do you love the most about writing?It is kind of therapeutic because I write about relationships mostly. And because at times I find that I end up being an observer not the writer. What I mean is there are times when I’m writing something takes over and words just appear on my screen and I am above watching me write them. It’s kind of magical when that happens.Do you ever outsource (editing and cover design) your work?Yes, I hired a good editor who has a big staff that does the all that stuff. With this book I went through developmental edits to all the final edits. We had a great designer for the cover and the inside of the book as well. Having a book that looks professional done is key to succeeding as an indy author. No one has all the necessary skills to do all the different things it takes to produce a finely finished product. Writing professional quality works needs to be treated as a business, if you don’t you will never make it. This stuff is hard and there is lots of completion since the advent of ebooks and the easy of self publishing burst onto the scene.What is your opinion on the indie vs traditional publishing argument?I know that I would never get a publishing deal because I don’t have a big enough following. Now days unless a traditional publisher knows that there is a built in number of books they can sell they don’t pick up the work. They don’t have the kind of money they once had to spend on unproven authors. I have always been a entrepreneur and have built several business so I’m not afraid of the challenges that comes with making my own way. Plus I know that the book market, like many other markets, have been changed by the internet. People don’t buy that many books from books stores and even finding a book store is hard and going to get harder, so why not go where many proven authors are eventually going to end up, as a self publishing writer. One thing I have done is turn to hybrid publishing because you get a little of traditional but remain independent at the same time.Talk us through your creative process from start to finish.As I said I write about relationships and because of my age and life experience I have a lot to draw on. So when I want to write about something I work out the story line in my head and then I write an simple outline. I know where I want to go so the outline helps keep me on track but my characters always find thier own way to the finish. I try not to edit to much at first as I want to get the first draft done. But I do start each day reviewing that last part of the previous day's work and make adjustments to the story direction if need be. When the first draft is complete then I go back and read it all the way through and make notes about where and how I need to change things. After I finish that draft then I start to polish it a little. When I am satisfied I send the work to my editor for a developmental edit and do another rewrite. After that I send my work out to several beta readers. I use different types of readers, ones I know will see different things, such as plot line, technical things, stylistic things. When I get their feedback I do another rewrite if need or make some changes. When I am finished my wife reads it and I trust her because she is a veracious reader. Then is back to the editor for a final polishing or two or three.What advice would you give to aspiring writers?Do your homework on your ideas. Be prepared before you start to write, know your characters inside and out. And most importantly understand that writing a book is really really hard and is akin to running a marathon. It takes time and lots of hard work. You must comment yourself to the effort or you are just waisting your time, effort and money. Set small achievable goals like committing to 500 words a day rather than 2000. You can always write more but its discouraging when you don’t meet your goals and writing is discouraging enough without the writer making it harder.Give us your top three book marketing/ promotion tips.Word of mouth, build an email list shooting for 1000 people, and then turn those people into your fans. Hire a reputable firm to help if you can afford it. This part is harder than writing the book and requires more work.Would you agree a good book must withstand more than one read?YesWhat do you look for when shopping on Amazon for a Kindle book? Are any of them more important to you than others?I always know what I’m look for so I don’t go shop. But one thing I know for sure is that today people aren’t going to read a sample first. We have reached a point where our attention spams are short, so if you want your book to sell make sure your cover is awesome. People shop with their eyes first. So if the cover isn’t good the reader will never buy your book. This is one place you must spend money and hire a professional designer.Do you have a favourite genre?Not really I like to read different things. I write in a couple different genres, adult fiction, non fiction and I have just started writing a young adult series and I am have a ball with it.What would it take for you to leave a book review?Read a really good book. I don’t think I would do a negative review for someone unless it was bad fiction or really wrong factually.After downloading book one of a series for free or discounted on Amazon, do you ever go back and pay more for book two? If not, why?I don’t read ebooks. I would and do read multiple works by an author if I like their style.Do you ever visit an author's website? If so, what do you look at?Not very oftenIf an author offered you a free book, would you sign up to their mailing list?Maybe. But not likely.Do you ever enter giveaways and/ or order signed copies?NeverAre you more likely to buy a book if there are various formats available?NoWhat are the biggest giveaways that a book is self-published?Bad covers. No ISBN and the design of the front, back and interior of the book.Many thanks to the author for this interview and if you would like to show your support please consider purchasing a copy of the book as below:
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