About Amber Daulton:
Writing is the fruit to happiness.
Amber Daulton lives her life by that one belief even though she normally isn’t so Zen.
As a fan of contemporary, paranormal and historical romance novels alike, she can’t get enough of feisty heroines and alpha heroes. Her mind is a wonderland of adventure, laughter and awesome ways of kicking a guy when he’s down. She probably wouldn’t be too sane without her computer and notebooks. After all, what’s a girl to do when people jabber away in her head and it’s hard to shut them up? Write! Nothing else works.
What inspires you to write?
My imagination is my biggest inspiration. I sometimes have these crazy dreams and I can't stop thinking about them when I wake up. Once I write the ideas down on paper, I can finally stop obsessing about the dream. Besides my imagination, I like to write because I want to immerse myself–hopefully readers too–in a world of excitement, love, and happiness. There's so much pain and trouble in the world, so I like to escape in a fantasy from time to time. That's what books are for in my opinion. A way to ease your troubled mind.
Tell us about your writing process.
I always plot my story first. Most of the time I plot on loose-leaf notebook paper but sometimes I use my laptop if I don't have any paper around. I also use Post-It notes that I pin to the bulletin board above my desk.
When it comes to writing the story, I usually edit as I write but lately I’m trying to just write the whole book first and edit it later. In doing so, I realized it takes me longer to finish the book if I edit as I go along than if I just write it all at one time.
For Fiction Writers: Do you listen (or talk to) to your characters?
Oh, yes! I definitely talk to my characters, and it's not always a walk in the park.
I like to plot first but sometimes my H/h likes to take over and steer the story in a different direction from what I'd intended. After some collaboration and arguments with the characters, I either force them back into the outline or I flow with the new direction. More often than not, they refuse to get back in line and I have to write what they want.
Heh, it’s a give and a take relationship.
What advice would you give other writers?
Make friends with other authors and readers via social media. Don’t be shy. Start a blog even if you aren’t published and join blog tours. A tour is a great way to meet other authors and to get a free ebook as long as you write a review for it and post it on your blog. The author’s readers will then come to your blog to read the review. They’ll know YOUR name. And that’s what you want. To get your name out there.
Just keep trying. I know it sounds cliché but there’s nothing else to do. If you don’t try, you won’t succeed. Period. Keep your hopes high, take rejection letters in stride, and if a publisher or editor gives you feedback on why he/she rejected your work, listen to their feedback. They know what they’re talking about.
How did you decide how to publish your books?
From the moment I turned eighteen, I started to submit stories to the Top Five publishers in the business and, of course, I got no where with them. In this day of age, it seems you need a large network of fans, money for self-advertising, an agent, and other connections in the literary world to make it big right off the bat. For most authors just starting out, that's not possible. So it's best to look for something smaller than the top. For me, I'm published through a few good sized small-press publishers and I'm happy with them for the most part. Would I like to climb higher up the ladder? Sure, but it's best to start off small and work your way up.
What do you think about the future of book publishing?
The publishing world is in an uproar and I doubt it will smooth out anytime soon. Ebooks are in and print is dwindling out.
To be successful, you need to know your audience and market your genre to those people. A reader who loves paranormal romance probably won’t be interested in a historical novel and vise-versa. You gotta do a ton of promoting, whether you pick the free options or the ones that cost a fee. Most publishers, big or small, offer little assistance so the responsibility falls to the author. It can be a nightmare but it’s something we authors have to deal with and struggle through. After all, if the reader doesn’t know your name, he or she won’t buy your book.
What do you use?: Professional Editor, Professional Cover Designer, Beta Readers
What genres do you write?: Romance in the following sub-genres: Contemporary, Historical, Time Travel, Western, Suspense, New Adult, and Erotic
What formats are your books in?: Both eBook and Print, Audiobook
Website(s)
Amber Daulton Home Page Link
Link To Amber Daulton Page On Amazon
Link to Author Page on other site
Your Social Media Links
Goodreads
Facebook
Twitter
Pinterest
LinkedIn
All information in this post is presented “as is” supplied by the author. We don’t edit to allow you the reader to hear the author in their own voice.
