The Author Interviews: Daniel Bishop
Daniel Bishop was born in New Zealand, raised in England and now lives in California. He graduated with a BA in Philosophy and Creative Writing, and now teaches at a public elementary school. Raised on a healthy diet of video games, movies, books and comics, Daniel loves to create stories and learn new ways to tell them. Daniel Bishop writes fiction and his latest/ upcoming release is Nevera Tales Comic Book.Website:http://www.tigercrabstudios.com/Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/tigercrabstudios/Twitter:https://twitter.com/tigercrabstudio
What made you want to become a writer?I loved reading and writing when I was little, and I wanted so much to create my own characters and tell me own stories, to me it was a kind of magic.What are your thoughts on the indie vs traditional publishing argument?I like the control that indie publishing gives, and it allows the writer to explore more niche audiences that might be a turn-off for traditional publishers.Tell us about your latest novel.My latest comic book is a fantasy horror story told from the perspective of an imprisoned vampire and their quest for freedom over decades of patience and plotting.Please give us your top 3 marketing tips.Find your audience and give them reasons to value you.Show them why your writing is valuable by being open and transparent.Explore different ways of sharing your writing: Like doing readings, audio-books, commissioning original art based on your writing etc.Please give us your top 3 productivity tips.Share your work with others (writing groups, workshops, internet forums etc)Write and edit on separate days (sleep on it)Read your writing aloud to evaluate the tone, rhythm and consistency.Tell us about your typical writing day.Wake up early, make coffee, if I'm feeling uninspired I read some short stories. I then plot out the story beats on paper with a few sample lines of dialogue or action. After I have a beginning, middle and end set I begin typing on Microsoft word freely and messily until I have enough to begin moulding into something more refined with editing. I always edit on a different day to when I write a draft; fresh eyes on the writing after sleep is always powerful.What is your definition of success? Would you say you are a successful author?My definition of success is finding my audience and delivering to them something they enjoy and connect with. I am part way to my goal; I will be there with one or two more comic books and a lot more audience connection.Share some of your writing goals with us. Have you met any of them yet?My goal is to continue to write throughout my whole life, which is going very well.How do you deal with negative reviews and criticism?I take criticism pretty hard, but try to remind myself that I wrote to the best of my abilities at the time, and that I am always growing.Do you have a favourite author for fiction and non-fiction? Why are they your favourite and which of their books would you recommend? Why?My favourite author is Terry Pratchett, his mix of fantasy, satire, and character development has held me since I was ten years old. I would recommend his Tiffany Aching books, especially for young-adult readers.Where do you get your ideas/ how do you find inspiration?I get my ideas and inspiration often from dreams, or from philosophical topics and ethical dilemmas.Can you share any free resources or tools you have found helpful?Nope sorry.Please give us your top 3 world-building tips.I wrote three articles on world-building that have been well received-http://www.tigercrabstudios.com/2016/... you outsource your work (editing and cover design specifically)?Editing I do myself, for concept art, character art and cover art I commission freelance artists.Are you a plotter or a pantser? Please tell us why and what your pre-writing processes are.I always plot before I begin writing, I have to know where I am going and the important emotional beats of the story. My pre-writing process is putting down every thought in a messy notebook filled with arrows and doodles, then refining that into a bullet point list of scenes or events. Then I can start writing.Why do you write?I write because I love to tell stories, and writing affords me the opportunity to go back to a piece again and again until it is something I consider complete and solid.What is your mission statement?My mission statement is to tell great stories that are inclusive and diverse.What do you love the most about writing and why?What I love most about writing is that I can keep changing it until I am happy.What do you dislike about writing and why?There is nothing I dislike about writing.Do you ever visit other authors' websites and if so, what do you look for? Why?I do not visit other authors websites.In order of importance (most important first) when shopping online, what do you look at first? Cover design, formatting, reviews, description, price, publisher, author name, page count, preview, formats available.1. Formats2. Price3. Title4. Cover5. Description6. Reviews7.8.9.10.I agree that indie publishing gives the author more control.YesI agree that indie books should be difficult to identify amongst traditionally published books.I do not have an opinion on this.In order of usefulness (most useful first) when marketing your book, which techniques do you recommend from these options? Social media. Media coverage (newspaper, TV, podcasts etc). Blog tours. Perma-free/ giveaways. Writing more books.1. Maintaining a blog of advice or happenings2. Social media3. Connecting with other writers4.5.Writing is my dream.NoI agree the ideal price for an e-book on Amazon is 99c-$2.99.I do not have an opinion on this.I have suffered writer's block in the past.YesCause of writer's block:Being unable to find a conclusion to a narrative or a character motivation.How you resolved it:Reading poems, short stories, classic literature.I use (Word Processor):ScrivenerMicrosoft WordNotepadOpen OfficeOtherI tried and failed to get a publishing deal and/ or literary agent or had one in the past.NoI outsource my editing.NoI outsource my cover design.YesI outsource my formatting.YesI write to a specific word count every day.NoI set goals and frequently review them.YesI write across genres.YesCheck out this book!Title: Nevera TalesGenre: Fantasy Horror Comic BookBlurb: In the world of Nevera, imprisoned and enslaved beneath the castle of Celephais, the vampire Aston bides his time among the other undead. Neglected within the castle, Elisa also yearns for freedom, but how far is she willing to go to take control of her destiny.Formats available:PDF, Physical and audio.
What made you want to become a writer?I loved reading and writing when I was little, and I wanted so much to create my own characters and tell me own stories, to me it was a kind of magic.What are your thoughts on the indie vs traditional publishing argument?I like the control that indie publishing gives, and it allows the writer to explore more niche audiences that might be a turn-off for traditional publishers.Tell us about your latest novel.My latest comic book is a fantasy horror story told from the perspective of an imprisoned vampire and their quest for freedom over decades of patience and plotting.Please give us your top 3 marketing tips.Find your audience and give them reasons to value you.Show them why your writing is valuable by being open and transparent.Explore different ways of sharing your writing: Like doing readings, audio-books, commissioning original art based on your writing etc.Please give us your top 3 productivity tips.Share your work with others (writing groups, workshops, internet forums etc)Write and edit on separate days (sleep on it)Read your writing aloud to evaluate the tone, rhythm and consistency.Tell us about your typical writing day.Wake up early, make coffee, if I'm feeling uninspired I read some short stories. I then plot out the story beats on paper with a few sample lines of dialogue or action. After I have a beginning, middle and end set I begin typing on Microsoft word freely and messily until I have enough to begin moulding into something more refined with editing. I always edit on a different day to when I write a draft; fresh eyes on the writing after sleep is always powerful.What is your definition of success? Would you say you are a successful author?My definition of success is finding my audience and delivering to them something they enjoy and connect with. I am part way to my goal; I will be there with one or two more comic books and a lot more audience connection.Share some of your writing goals with us. Have you met any of them yet?My goal is to continue to write throughout my whole life, which is going very well.How do you deal with negative reviews and criticism?I take criticism pretty hard, but try to remind myself that I wrote to the best of my abilities at the time, and that I am always growing.Do you have a favourite author for fiction and non-fiction? Why are they your favourite and which of their books would you recommend? Why?My favourite author is Terry Pratchett, his mix of fantasy, satire, and character development has held me since I was ten years old. I would recommend his Tiffany Aching books, especially for young-adult readers.Where do you get your ideas/ how do you find inspiration?I get my ideas and inspiration often from dreams, or from philosophical topics and ethical dilemmas.Can you share any free resources or tools you have found helpful?Nope sorry.Please give us your top 3 world-building tips.I wrote three articles on world-building that have been well received-http://www.tigercrabstudios.com/2016/... you outsource your work (editing and cover design specifically)?Editing I do myself, for concept art, character art and cover art I commission freelance artists.Are you a plotter or a pantser? Please tell us why and what your pre-writing processes are.I always plot before I begin writing, I have to know where I am going and the important emotional beats of the story. My pre-writing process is putting down every thought in a messy notebook filled with arrows and doodles, then refining that into a bullet point list of scenes or events. Then I can start writing.Why do you write?I write because I love to tell stories, and writing affords me the opportunity to go back to a piece again and again until it is something I consider complete and solid.What is your mission statement?My mission statement is to tell great stories that are inclusive and diverse.What do you love the most about writing and why?What I love most about writing is that I can keep changing it until I am happy.What do you dislike about writing and why?There is nothing I dislike about writing.Do you ever visit other authors' websites and if so, what do you look for? Why?I do not visit other authors websites.In order of importance (most important first) when shopping online, what do you look at first? Cover design, formatting, reviews, description, price, publisher, author name, page count, preview, formats available.1. Formats2. Price3. Title4. Cover5. Description6. Reviews7.8.9.10.I agree that indie publishing gives the author more control.YesI agree that indie books should be difficult to identify amongst traditionally published books.I do not have an opinion on this.In order of usefulness (most useful first) when marketing your book, which techniques do you recommend from these options? Social media. Media coverage (newspaper, TV, podcasts etc). Blog tours. Perma-free/ giveaways. Writing more books.1. Maintaining a blog of advice or happenings2. Social media3. Connecting with other writers4.5.Writing is my dream.NoI agree the ideal price for an e-book on Amazon is 99c-$2.99.I do not have an opinion on this.I have suffered writer's block in the past.YesCause of writer's block:Being unable to find a conclusion to a narrative or a character motivation.How you resolved it:Reading poems, short stories, classic literature.I use (Word Processor):ScrivenerMicrosoft WordNotepadOpen OfficeOtherI tried and failed to get a publishing deal and/ or literary agent or had one in the past.NoI outsource my editing.NoI outsource my cover design.YesI outsource my formatting.YesI write to a specific word count every day.NoI set goals and frequently review them.YesI write across genres.YesCheck out this book!Title: Nevera TalesGenre: Fantasy Horror Comic BookBlurb: In the world of Nevera, imprisoned and enslaved beneath the castle of Celephais, the vampire Aston bides his time among the other undead. Neglected within the castle, Elisa also yearns for freedom, but how far is she willing to go to take control of her destiny.Formats available:PDF, Physical and audio.
No comments have been added yet.
