Thriller author Thomas S. Flowers just
released a new book called Dwelling.
The book is part of a series called The
Subdue Series, book two is titled Emerging.
Dwelling released on December 8, 2015
and Emerging will follow right after,
releasing on December 15th. He was kind enough to answer some
questions about the book and his writing process. The post below contains more
details about his latest release.
What is your
process for plotting out your novel?
A: I’ve been called “traditional.” And
maybe I am. I’ll let you be the judge. I start any story with a simple/basic
notion of what I want to write. I start first with the characters, who are
they. I don’t normally write anything down in great detail at this stage, it’s
more of a brainstorming exercise. I typically jot a few notes down, especially
if I’m doing research. Once I’ve got an idea of where or who I’m going to be
talking about, I jump in. I start writing longhand. I believe longhand helps
keep the creative flow moving without the tedious stop and edit of typing.
Unless you’re disciplined enough, which I am not, typing can be a distraction
to the stream of consciousness.
My editing process starts when I begin typing.
Not everything gets transferred. As part of the editing process, I considering
this to be my second draft. After that, I go through the story again with a
third edit. And sometimes even a forth. After this, I find it’s beneficial to
have an extra pair of eyes. I have a list of trusted “beta readers” who have
helped me in the past. From here, as my betas return my story (betas do not
proofread or edit, they simply read and jot notes for you, corrections or
thoughts on the story itself, nothing more), I take in what they thought and
see if changes need to be made.
After this, it’s off to the publisher…and comes
the hardest part. Waiting. You have to wait. You cannot sneak your story out
there. You need to be patient. And it’s bloody hard. Sitting on a story you
want to share with the world is the hardest thing, I think, for a writer to do.
But if you want a quality story and if you want it “out there” the right way,
you have to wait. After the publisher gets back with me regarding accepting a
new book, depending on your publisher, you are assigned an editor, the editor
reads and makes corrections and discusses the book and said corrections with
you. After a couple rounds of this, it’s off to the proof reader for final
corrections and to ensure proper formatting. And I’m not even mentioning the
marketing team and cover design team, etc. etc. Needless-to-say, a lot goes in
to publishing a book.
Consider my own upcoming releases, both Dwelling and
Emerging were started last year around this time. I finished my half of the
process sometime in May, I think. I shopped it around. Was eventually picked up
by Limitless Publishing. And went through their publishing process, which took
a couple months, which isn’t bad. I’ve heard some publishers take a year to get
your books out there.
What is your
greatest challenge as a writer?
A: While I am really good at developing
a schedule, sometimes I find it difficult keeping to it, keeping up with all
the things we have to do other than writing. As a small beans writer, we have
to take an active role in everything, from production to promotion and
everything in-between whilst also keeping our day-to-day job. And there is the
cross-promotion stuff we need to keep up with too and it’s horrible when we
cannot support everyone. We are a community, but in the end, we have to pick
and choose what or who we can help support.
Do you write in
one genre or multiple genres? Why?
A: I typically work in the
horror/thriller genre, but you’ll see literary fiction and historical as well,
and sometimes I’ll adapt, depending on the story, cosmic Lovecraftian horror
mixed with a dash of dark science fiction. Overall, I’d say my sum genre is
dark fiction.
What was your
path to publication like?
A: Tedious…! Hmm…let’s see. I first
started out self-publishing. I thought that’d be okay. Less costs. More profit
for the stories I was selling. Unfortunately, there are aspects in the
publishing world I am not very good at. I’m horrible at editing. I can read and
read and re-read and re-read again, but I’ll miss a bunch of mistakes. I’m not
very good with formatting. And I’m also not very good at marketing, or at least
developing the tools necessary for marketing.
After self-publishing, I decided
I needed to get with a publisher. A friend of mine had just joined up with
Booktrope. My first book was already out, but they accepted self-pub works, so
I thought, “Why not?” I submitted the book. They picked it up. But getting my
book through Booktrope’s system, which is a mix of traditional/self-hybrid, was
precarious, especially due to a lack of leadership within the imprint I was
assigned. Getting a quality book out with BT requires putting together a good
hard working team. Needless-to-say, I had some issues putting together a team
that wanted to actually put in any kind of effort. Without going into too much
detail, let’s just say I was kinda burnt out with BT.
When I finished writing
my second book, I knew I didn’t really want to go the BT route again. I would
if I had too, but I wanted to see if I go get into traditional small press
first. I began shopping my book around. No big secret there, you just have to
use the magically search engine known as Google with certain parameters. I had a huge list, emailing both agent and
publishing houses direct. I got a TON of rejections.
I had a few bites, but for
whatever reasons non-disclosed here, they just weren’t a great fit for me or my
story. As luck would have it, I stumbled upon Limitless Publishing, LLC. To be
honest, I was a little hesitant. Judging based on their website, it seemed that
they only really worked with romance, or romance thriller, or fantasy romance
thrillers. While love certainly exists in Dwelling, it’s not my subject matter.
But, I went ahead and submitted, based on the fact that they are open to almost
everything, including dark fiction/thrillers. I think it was a month later,
maybe two, when I heard back from Limitless, requesting a full manuscript for
review. A month later, I was signed up with Limitless.
They loved the book and
wanted to help get it out in the world. While still being a small beans author,
I still have to play a very active role in the promotional life of my work, but
being signed on with LP has helped ease a lot of that stress as well as the
editing/formatting aspect. I’m not gushing over LP, they are sincerely a
fabulous publishing house to work with. I’m very blessed to have stumbled upon
them.
What advice do
you have for someone who dreams of writing and having a book published?
A: Hey, I’m small beans too, but if
there was one piece of advice I could give to some up and comer it would be to
never give up. I know that sounds cheesy or like a standard line everyone says,
but it’s true. It breaks my heart when I see someone truly excited about their
story, whatever it may be, and then through the process of getting the work out
there, they become bummed out and end up giving up on the whole thing
altogether.
Publishing is a tedious business that puts a lot of strain and stress
on the author, more so if they’re going it alone. Like most things in life, or
as those spiritualist meta-thinkers say, no one is an island. We need a
community. The same could be said about writing. Even if you really like to
self-pub, that’s okay too, but you need a base. You need to make connections.
Build a circle of fellow authors and cross-promote each other. You can share
advice or just talk things though. It helps, trust me.
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