Never Too Old For Y.A. & N.A. Books discussion
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David Estes
Author Interview of the Month
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MAY Interview with David Estes
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DO stay positive and keep trying and keep writing no matter how many rejections you get. You make your own luck.
DO join a writing club and a beta reading group. By receiving constructive criticism and giving feedback to others, your writing will improve drastically in a short amount of time.
DON’T take rejections personally. No one’s out to get you or shatter your dreams. It’s just a highly competitive industry, one in which hard work is absolutely necessary.
DON’T over-query. By this I mean that you are better off sending 5 highly-tailored query letters to 5 agents you would LOVE to work with, rather than sending 3o untailored letters to the masses. When you get a rejection, select another agent you’d LOVE to work with and tailor a letter to them. Keep going until you get a hit. And if you don’t, try another avenue, like going direct to a publish that accepts queries.
18. What are you working on now?
I’m writing the second book in my YA dystopian series, while trying to publish the first book, along with my other 5 unpublished books. I’m hoping the rest of this year will be a big one for me as I transition into life as a full time writer.
I really look forward to connecting with my readers this year and would love to receive comments, questions and feedback from you all via one of my favorite social networking avenues listed below. Thanks for your time and happy reading!
My blog/website: http://davidestesbooks.blogspot.com
My Facebook page/s: http://www.facebook.com/pages/David-E...
My Goodreads author page: http://www.goodreads.com/davidestesbooks
Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/davidestesbooks
David Estes
Author of the Evolution Trilogy
http://davidestesbooks.blogspot.com
http://www.facebook.com/pages/David-E...
https://twitter.com/#!/davidestesbooks
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Aww thanks so much Sylvia and Brooke!! My heart feels so full. This group has been so good to me and I have met so many amazing friends here!! I hope you all enjoy my answers to the questions and I look forward to continuing to enjoy this awesome group with such awesome moderators :)
Awesome interview! Full of energy and loads of information! Thank you and I wish you the best!
Thanks Marni, you are another example of an awesome friend in this group!!
Great interview! I love to get to know a little about the person behind the books, you know? Some great nuggets of wisdom and advice in your words. Hope every one of your dreams come true!
*warm and fuzzy inside* Thank you Julie, it's been so nice meeting you this year!
What a great interview! Your attitude is very inspirational. Being in the working/writing trenches too, I can relate to SO much of it. Nine books - You're a machine!!! I'll be looking for you on best-seller lists everywhere!
Aww thank you so very much! I love what I do and that's what it's all about :)
sorry David, there was one question that I wanted to ask you, if its too personal i will undestand. Was it realy expensive to selfpublish?
Hi Eva, of course, I love to answer any questions, ask away!! Self publishing is actually free if you do it as an ebook through Smashwords, Kindle, or most of the other mainstream ebook distributors/retailers. It just takes a bit of time to get the formatting right, but each provider gives you guidance on how to do that. Or you can hire an ebook formatter pretty cheaply if you prefer (less than $50). The only expenses I have are for my copyeditor, cover artist, and book jacket designer (for print books), but these costs can range widely from really cheap (less than $50 per book) to really expensive (more than $1,000 per book). Mine cost be somewhere in between, but price doesn't necessarily dictate quality, it's more about finding a team of people who you work well with and want to help you realize your goals. You can also try to utilize friends to help with editing/proofreading or even cover design if you know good graphic designers! Hope this helps :)
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btw can i buy your books from smashwords or is it just on amazon???
Aww, you're so welcome Adriana! Yes, my books can be purchased as ebooks pretty much anywhere ebooks are sold, including Smashwords :)I will be publishing quite a few other YA books this year, as well as a Children's series, I can't wait!!!
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That was an awesome interview, thanks David. So much fun! How much fun also to write childrens books. Im a big fan of them.
Jody wrote: "That was an awesome interview, thanks David. So much fun! How much fun also to write childrens books. Im a big fan of them."Hehe thanks Jody, I love Middle Grade and Children's too!! And of course, HP is awesome and I love Percy Jackson too. I don't think I'll ever outgrow it. I'm hoping to publish my Children's series in a couple months if I can get all the editing and cover art done ;)
You are so so welcome Valerie :) You can do it, just take it one word at a time and you will get there! I really admire that you are doing all of that while being a parent too! I know how challenging it is even without kids. All the best and I'd love to hear about your progress :) What genre are you writing?
Ooh cool, I can't wait to publish my YA dystopian, I love that genre so much :) so glad you have a supporting husband, my wife is the same :)
Hi Valerie, I'm also writing my first novel. I've writen already 30k and I can't seem to stop! I usually write when the kids are asleep and it's my little secret so my hubby doesn't know about it, at least until it's finished. I do have a question for you guys; How did you decided on writing for YA instead of adults?
Oh my gosh, amazing Eva!! And crazy it's a secret from your husband lol. I like writing for YA because it's just an exciting place to be, with so much energy and enthusiasm around it from all ages, races and genders, that's the cool thing. It's like you're writing for everyone!! Plus I like reading YA the best and I think you should write that you like to read. All the best in finishing your book and keep us posted :)
David wrote: "Oh my gosh, amazing Eva!! And crazy it's a secret from your husband lol. God, that sounded worst hearing it from someone else. I'm keeping it a secret from everybody appart from GR friends. It's because I'm enjoying it so much I don't want anything to ruin it, I think if I told I would stop writing...probably not. I don't know...I've never written anything before and I'm that kind of person that permantly tries to find what I want to do when I grow up (I'm 29, better find out soon!)
I'm enjoying it so far!
Hehe, no that's ok, keep it a secret until you're ready!! I'm 31 and it took me until a year and a half ago to figure out I wanted to be a YA fiction writer so that's ok too :)
But then if the characters are in their early 20's would it still be considered young adult? I thought YA was for an audience between 12 to 18, and us with the peter pan syndrome :)
LOL your story cracked me up Valerie!! My first three published YA books are 18 year olds as freshmen in college. I was kind of thinking the same thing as you that most are high school kids so I wanted to go a little bit older, but I don't think you can go much older and still have it be young adult.
Really? Well you learn something every day. Makes me fee better because I have a couple of YA stories in the backburnner. I'm loving writing! It was so boring before when I didn't have the characters rioting in my mind.
Yeah, I dunno, I'm just going off what I've heard, but I'm no expert! And I'm not sure it really matters these days considering everyone seems to read YA anyway! LOL I know what you mean, my characters have taken over my mind!
I think the 18-24 year old market is now being termed 'New Adult'Some nice tips for aspiring writers there, David :)
Anya wrote: "I think the 18-24 year old market is now being termed 'New Adult'Some nice tips for aspiring writers there, David :)"
@Anya, oh wow, I hadn't heard that, pretty cool!
@Valerie, thanks for the link, very interesting, I hadn't heard about this new age grouping :)
1. When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer?
In the back of my mind, I always had this crazy notion that someday I would write books for a living, but I always found some excuse not to write. I moved to Sydney two and a half years ago for work and met my wife, who helped convince me to start writing in late 2010. Now she can’t get me to stop!
So I’m pretty much obsessed with writing now and want nothing more than to become a full time writer. I published my first three books in October 2011 as a trilogy (The Evolution Trilogy: Angel Evolution, Demon Evolution, and Archangel Evolution). I've also written four children's books in a series which I plan to publish in the near future. Recently I wrote a YA suspense, comedy, paranormal (throw in whichever other genres you'd like) book that I haven't decided what to do with yet. And I just finished my 9th book a couple of weeks ago, a YA dystopian novel that I’m really excited about. It’s received really good feedback from my beta readers and is now being reviewed by my copyeditor. So that's 9 books in about 18 months--yeah, I think obsessed is the right word!
Once I started writing, I think I knew pretty much right away that it was what I wanted to do with my life. It’s just who I am! When I’m in the throes of a writing session (I mean like living, breathing, feeling the characters, the plot, the drama), it’s the most amazing feeling in the world for me.
2. How long does it take you to write a book?
I am a lightning quick writer. I’m not sure how I do it, but when I am caught up in a writing session, my fingers just fly over the keyboard. Despite working a full time job (which I’ll be quitting soon to write full time!), it typically takes me 4 weeks to write an 80,000 word (320 page) book from start to finish. Without the full time job, it would take me about two weeks. But that doesn’t include the editing, proofreading, beta reading, more editing, formatting, cover art, querying and everything else that comes with publishing a book. That all comes later!
3. What do you think makes a great story?
Great characters are first and foremost. They have to be relatable, real, interesting. But, of course, great characters in a boring story won’t get you anywhere. So next you have to have a story that will bring out emotions in your readers (I recently wrote a blog on this subject- http://davidestesbooks.blogspot.com). Whether it be side-slapping laughter, cringing-heart-stopping suspense, adrenaline-pumping action, or tear-jerking sadness, your story and characters must grab your readers from the first page. Otherwise they’ll put the book down and pick up another one that will.
4. What is your work schedule like when you're writing?
I’m always writing so this is an easy one to answer. In short: NUTS! Because I’m currently working a full time job, I have to do what I call “author stuff” in the morning and evening, which involves responding to fans, contacting book bloggers to review my books, responding to interview questions, working with my copy editor, cover artist, cover designer, and beta readers, staying active in online book communities (like Goodreads!!), and querying my books with literary agents.
That leaves no time for writing, so I have to write on my half-hour ferry ride to work and back, plus an hour at lunch, which gives me a solid 2 hours of writing a day, in which time I can typically polish off at least 2,000 words.
I like to read too. Okay, okay, “like” is not the right word. I love (am obsessed, addicted, crave it, breathe it, love it) reading. So I have to fit that in too, usually on the weekend and just before bed, at which point I can barely keep my eyes open long enough to squeeze in a chapter.
5. How do you balance family and writing?
It’s hard but my wife, Adele, is so supportive. I don’t have kids yet, so that makes it easier. I tend to do a bit of work on my laptop while watching movies with Adele in the evening, so that allows us to spend some time together without falling behind on my author stuff. On the weekend, we try to spend most of our time together so that is awesome too. But I’m not gonna lie, it’s hard.
6. Where do you get your information or ideas for your books?
Who knows? Thin air sometimes, I think. It’s hard to pinpoint a specific source, but I’ll try to give you a few thoughts. I’ve always had trouble turning my mind off, so thinking tends to occur at random, anywhere and everywhere. That’s why my iPhone is always full of random notes and scribbles, future book ideas and characters I want to create. I have a terrible memory (I eat blueberries from time to time but it doesn’t seem to get any better :), so I have to jot down my thoughts before they disappear forever. Occasionally I will get what I think is a really good idea in the shower and then I will have to keep repeating it to myself until I am out and can write it down. I also get some pretty good (and also pretty strange) ideas when I’m dreaming. I always write these ones down as soon as I wake up because I forget my dreams even faster than everything else. Sometimes these ideas seemed a lot better when I was dreaming them than in real life! The funny thing is, I tend to think the best when I’m not trying to. I could sit there writing for two hours, making steady progress on my newest novel, and then as soon as I close the lid on my laptop, a million better, more interesting ideas pop into my head. That can be frustrating sometimes, but I generally always take the time to jot down bullets so I can come back to them during my next writing session.
7. What was one of the most surprising things you learned in creating your books?
That formatting them would be the most time consuming thing ever! You would think the writing of the books would be the difficult part. Or maybe the editing and rewriting. Nope! The most difficult and painful part was editing my book in three different formats. One for Smashwords to distribute in 9 e-book formats. One for Kindle because Amazon and Smashwords can’t seem to reach a royalty agreement. And one for print, because I’m old fashioned and love to feel a real book in my hands and thought some of my readers would too.
8. How many books have you written? Which is your favourite?
As I mentioned earlier, I’ve written 9 books so far with a whole heap more to come once I start writing full time in June of this year, but only 3 are published so far. My favorite published book is Archangel Evolution, which is the third book in the Evolution Trilogy. Although I think I did a decent job with the first two books, Angel Evolution and Demon Evolution, it wasn’t until Archangel Evolution that I really started to grow as a writer. My characters get deeper, more interesting, and in some ways darker. You’ve got to read the whole trilogy to see their evolution (pardon the bad joke).
Of my unpublished books, my new YA dystopian one is my favorite. I love dystopian, love The Hunger Games, Divergent, Maze Runner, Legend, all of those ones, so I just had to join the party. I’m really glad I did, because I really love my new book and the characters I created. I know, I know, I’m biased, but I really do!
9. Are your characters based on anyone you know?
Nope. My wife asks me that, but honestly, I just make ‘em up as I go along. I’m sure they are influenced by people I see in real life, random strangers mostly, but I can’t pin any of them to real people I know.
10. Do you have a favourite place you love to write?
Not really, but I don’t mind writing at the pool while my wife swims laps!
11. How hard is is to get published?
The traditional way? Tough as iron. No, make that steel. No, make that steel-reinforced titanium. Yeah, it’s tough, as I’ve found out. The market is really competitive with most agents working with already established clients or ones obtained through referrals. I’m still trying though and am starting to build up a network in the community, so hopefully one day I will find the right agent for me and my books.
If you go the self-publishing route, it’s not difficult, just time consuming, at least assuming you want to do it the right way and put out a quality product, which I hope most writers strive to do.
12. What do your family and friends think about your books?
They always tell me they’re proud of me so that gives me warm fuzzies! I hope they’re not just saying that because they feel they have to. I think the biggest compliment I got was from my wife, who says she really likes my YA books. It’s a big compliment because she rarely reads fiction!
13. What do you like to do when you are not writing?
Movies, TV, sports, dancing with my wife in our living room (not like ballroom dancing, like crazy, made up dancing), reading (of course).
14. Do you have any suggestions to help aspiring writers better themselves and their craft? If so, what are they?
Yes! I recently wrote a blog about the road to publishing the Evolution Trilogy and there are three key pieces of advice of provided then that I think are extremely important:
· Write every day. Even if it’s only a couple hundred words, it keeps you in your story and makes it easier to pick it up and continue writing. Plus, you’re less likely to forget something and change the storyline or details partway through.
· If you can’t afford a copyeditor (which I couldn’t at the time), get a few eagle-eyed people to review for silly errors. Read it yourself at least five times too! No one likes a book they paid for to have a bunch of typos.
· Use independent beta readers! This is something I didn’t do for Angel Evolution and now wish I did. I asked friends and family to read and provide feedback and I made some good changes from it, but it wasn’t enough. Make friends on sites like Goodreads and ask people to read your unpublished manuscript to provide feedback, particularly around character development, the beginning, the ending, what annoyed them, etc. I wish I would have done this so I could have avoided some of the negative reviews from my readers.
15. As a child, what did you want to do when you grew up?
I think I changed my mind about a million times, but at one point I know I wanted to be a video game maker, so I guess I always had a desire to do something creative!
16. What are your favourite books and which authors inspire you?
My favorite books are Harry Potter, the Lord of the Rings, Odd Thomas, The Scorpio Races, The Hunger Games, and Divergent.
For authors that inspire me, there are so many authors that I cannot possibly list them here. But at the very top of the list are authors like Dean Koontz and J.R.R Tolkien. Tolkien was my favorite author as a child, while Koontz became a favorite of mine later in life. Each of them have an uncanny ability to weave words into a book, like threads into a tapestry. I have also been inspired recently by Suzanne Collins, Maggie Stiefvater, and Amanda Hocking, who have both seemingly come out of nowhere to gain immense popularity. They are both great storytellers, which is what I hope to be.