Interviews from the Digital Frontier - K.W. McCabe
Well, to start off the new year, I have a new interview! This time by a fresh writer on Smashwords.com, she is already branching out to expand her name as much as she can while working to get some credentials under her belt.
Keeping busy for sure, K.W. McCabe was kind enough to take a few moments out of her holiday to respond to my questions.
So here we go. Miss. McCabe, first, let's start with you. Tell us about how you came to be a writer and what your goals are at present.
I have pretty much been writing all my life. I started writing at a very young age- I still have all the journals of poetry I wrote from when I was five. The funny thing was that I never considered writing as a career. It just didn't compute when I thought of paying bills lol. I really realized that I should have gone to college for a writing degree when I was halfway through my Masters in Psychology. I was in the middle of writing In Light of Burning. But it wasn't until I read about Amanda Hocking's success at indie writing that I decided to throw myself into whole-heartedly. I finished that book in three weeks after reading her blog. I'd been writing it for ten years.
Now, I'm in the process of editing and formatting Dreams Both Real and Strange 2, it's the second part of an anthology set. My goal is to publish that and complete The Dragon's Call, which is a teen dragon romance.
Looking through your site you are self published – have you tried going the traditional publishing route and what kind of success have you had with both avenues?
I sent out In Light of Burning to agents and it was rejected- then I decided to publish most of my works independently. I'm in the process of writing a paranormal YA short story for a small press as well. It's set in the world of the Sanction Chronicles.
I compare the rise of the indie author in a similar light to the rise of independence in music and film. Indie writers have found an audience by self publishing while circumventing the big publishing houses/hoops of fire to get their work published and have been successful. What are your thoughts on the movement we've seen in the last couple years?
I think it was inevitable with the rise of ereaders. The wonderful thing about technology is that eventually it becomes accessible to everyone. With Amazon's focus on publishing and advertising independent authors- the publishing world will have to take notice. Also, the fact that publishers are so insular when it comes to publishing new authors doesn't help. A couple of my favorite indie authors are David Dalglish and Misty Provencher. They are worthy of being published. But they haven't been because traditional publishers are too close-minded.
On top of your personal site and a review site, you make your own covers and have begun offering your services to others. From what I have seen so far you've had some great results. Mind giving us some insight on how you do it (materials, programs, etc.) and why?
I use Corel Paintshop Photo Pro X3, Paint, and Corel Painter Essentials 4. I started making my own covers because it was just too expensive to purchase a cover from a traditional graphic artist. $100-$300 is too much if you're a beginning indie author. So I decided to make my own covers. When I saw that they looked decent I decided to offer my services to other indie authors. I know how tough it can be as an indie- more often than not you're coming out of pocket to edit, format, and advertise your book. Paying for covers on top of that is just another burden. So, I offer my covers for between $5-$75 depending on what's wanted.
I do book reviews for the same reason- I want to help other indie authors. I'm honest about my reviews though. If I don't feel I can give at least a three star review, I warn the author in advance and give a short summary of areas that might have needed editing.
Okay McCabe, last one. I want to know more about your Dragon's Call project. You're posting your novel chapter by chapter as you write it (at least I assume it's a novel). Can you give us more detail about this ongoing project? Why do it like this and what will you do with it when your finished?
It is a novel lol. I've been posting it in the hopes of getting some feedback. So far I've gotten a couple responses in the forms of messages through email or facebook. They've been positive! It's my first teen novel and I really wanted to see what kind of response it would get because I don't have a problem with scrapping parts of it and rewriting it if I have to. I'm not one of those authors who can't change anything once it's written down. I want to put out the best work possible and if that means learning from my readers- I'll do it!
I'm not going to publish the whole thing on my blog- mainly because it can be stolen. I was thinking of sending it to an agent- we'll see. If I don't, it's because I love getting responses directly from my readers. I'm a reader junkie lol.
Sounds great K.W.! Thank you for your time!
Get your fill of K.W. McCabe today! Check out her web addresses below for her various blogs and social media outlets! I'm looking forward to Dreams both Real and Strange 2, her upcoming anthology!
http://kwmccabe.blogspot.com/
http://cheapbookies.blogspot.com/
http://kwmdigest.blogspot.com/
https://twitter.com/#!/kw_mccabe
http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/In-Light-of-Burning/27736466229621
http://www.facebook.com/#!/kywmccabe
http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/...
Keeping busy for sure, K.W. McCabe was kind enough to take a few moments out of her holiday to respond to my questions.
So here we go. Miss. McCabe, first, let's start with you. Tell us about how you came to be a writer and what your goals are at present.
I have pretty much been writing all my life. I started writing at a very young age- I still have all the journals of poetry I wrote from when I was five. The funny thing was that I never considered writing as a career. It just didn't compute when I thought of paying bills lol. I really realized that I should have gone to college for a writing degree when I was halfway through my Masters in Psychology. I was in the middle of writing In Light of Burning. But it wasn't until I read about Amanda Hocking's success at indie writing that I decided to throw myself into whole-heartedly. I finished that book in three weeks after reading her blog. I'd been writing it for ten years.Now, I'm in the process of editing and formatting Dreams Both Real and Strange 2, it's the second part of an anthology set. My goal is to publish that and complete The Dragon's Call, which is a teen dragon romance.
Looking through your site you are self published – have you tried going the traditional publishing route and what kind of success have you had with both avenues?
I sent out In Light of Burning to agents and it was rejected- then I decided to publish most of my works independently. I'm in the process of writing a paranormal YA short story for a small press as well. It's set in the world of the Sanction Chronicles.
I compare the rise of the indie author in a similar light to the rise of independence in music and film. Indie writers have found an audience by self publishing while circumventing the big publishing houses/hoops of fire to get their work published and have been successful. What are your thoughts on the movement we've seen in the last couple years?
I think it was inevitable with the rise of ereaders. The wonderful thing about technology is that eventually it becomes accessible to everyone. With Amazon's focus on publishing and advertising independent authors- the publishing world will have to take notice. Also, the fact that publishers are so insular when it comes to publishing new authors doesn't help. A couple of my favorite indie authors are David Dalglish and Misty Provencher. They are worthy of being published. But they haven't been because traditional publishers are too close-minded.
On top of your personal site and a review site, you make your own covers and have begun offering your services to others. From what I have seen so far you've had some great results. Mind giving us some insight on how you do it (materials, programs, etc.) and why?
I use Corel Paintshop Photo Pro X3, Paint, and Corel Painter Essentials 4. I started making my own covers because it was just too expensive to purchase a cover from a traditional graphic artist. $100-$300 is too much if you're a beginning indie author. So I decided to make my own covers. When I saw that they looked decent I decided to offer my services to other indie authors. I know how tough it can be as an indie- more often than not you're coming out of pocket to edit, format, and advertise your book. Paying for covers on top of that is just another burden. So, I offer my covers for between $5-$75 depending on what's wanted.
I do book reviews for the same reason- I want to help other indie authors. I'm honest about my reviews though. If I don't feel I can give at least a three star review, I warn the author in advance and give a short summary of areas that might have needed editing.
Okay McCabe, last one. I want to know more about your Dragon's Call project. You're posting your novel chapter by chapter as you write it (at least I assume it's a novel). Can you give us more detail about this ongoing project? Why do it like this and what will you do with it when your finished?
It is a novel lol. I've been posting it in the hopes of getting some feedback. So far I've gotten a couple responses in the forms of messages through email or facebook. They've been positive! It's my first teen novel and I really wanted to see what kind of response it would get because I don't have a problem with scrapping parts of it and rewriting it if I have to. I'm not one of those authors who can't change anything once it's written down. I want to put out the best work possible and if that means learning from my readers- I'll do it!
I'm not going to publish the whole thing on my blog- mainly because it can be stolen. I was thinking of sending it to an agent- we'll see. If I don't, it's because I love getting responses directly from my readers. I'm a reader junkie lol.
Sounds great K.W.! Thank you for your time!
Get your fill of K.W. McCabe today! Check out her web addresses below for her various blogs and social media outlets! I'm looking forward to Dreams both Real and Strange 2, her upcoming anthology! http://kwmccabe.blogspot.com/
http://cheapbookies.blogspot.com/
http://kwmdigest.blogspot.com/
https://twitter.com/#!/kw_mccabe
http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/In-Light-of-Burning/27736466229621
http://www.facebook.com/#!/kywmccabe
http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/...
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