About Carrie Butler:
Carrie Butler is an award-winning author and the owner of Forward Authority full-service studio—not to mention an inbound-certified marketer with a penchant for superhero socks and Firefly. Time away from her desk is spent playing with her rescue pup, yelling at the TV during hockey season, and indulging in target-based recreation. Otherwise, you’re likely to find her glued to her chair, discovering new ways to share her daydreams…
The Mark of Nexus series has appeared on Amazon bestselling, top-rated, and hot new release lists in various genres. It has also been mentioned in publications like USA Today and Writing New Adult Fiction—a how-to from Writer’s Digest.
What inspires you to write?
Music, art, strangers, news, movies, books, scenery, etc. In other words, everything. 🙂
Tell us about your writing process.
I’ve turned into a plotter, thanks to Scrivener’s note card feature. Once the outline is good to go, I do the majority of my drafting in Google Docs or Writer, so I can bounce back and forth between my desktop and Chromebook. Then I move everything to MS Word before I send it out to critique partners and beta readers.
After revisions, I send the file to my editor. Then I implement her changes, give the whole thing another re-read, and start formatting. Whew!
For Fiction Writers: Do you listen (or talk to) to your characters?
I’m more of a listener—which makes sense, considering they won’t shut up. 😉
What advice would you give other writers?
1. Don’t write to trends. By the time you get your book down the publishing pipeline, the market will have moved on, and you’ll be stuck in an over-saturated niche.
2. Invest in professionals. Their work reflects on your reputation. A spammy “marketing” campaign or amateur graphics will haunt you forever. (Thanks, Internet.)
3. Don’t compare yourself to others. Seriously, don’t. It’s toxic.
How did you decide how to publish your books?
I started out by signing with a small press. NA was not yet a “thing,” at the time, so I needed to find a publisher willing to accept more of a risk. (Generally speaking, small presses are the most niche-friendly members of the traditional community.)
Six months after my debut released, I took my rights back and self-published. All of my subsequent titles have been indie, because of the control it affords me. I can find an editor I really gel with and make the final decision regarding my cover art. If I want to have a sales promotion, I can—no red tape or hoops to jump through. Not to mention the higher royalty rates.
My advice to new authors would be to determine their needs on a book-by-book basis. If you have something with commercial, mass-market appeal, then by all means, hit those query trenches. Get an agent and go for the big fish, or query small presses directly. Just make sure you take the time to really research whom you’re submitting to, i.e. new presses might seem trendy and fun, but the odds of them folding in the first few years are enormous.
Otherwise, I almost always vote indie. Aside from the control aspect, if you’re successful enough, traditional publishers will come to you with distribution deals. No hoops.
What do you think about the future of book publishing?
I’m almost afraid to answer this question. Oddly enough, every time it’s come up over the years, my prediction has come true, i.e. virtual events (like Facebook parties) gaining ground, the rise of New Adult, indie sustainability, etc. Maybe I should throw something crazy out there…
Ahem. Carrie Butler’s next release will be a seven-figure bestseller. *grins*
Okay, okay. If we’re being serious, I’d say my bet is on the resurgence of paperbacks through innovation and expansion. Have you ever seen those book-printing kiosks? So cool! I also think Amazon will have more of a brick-and-mortar presence.
What do you use?: Professional Editor, Professional Cover Designer, Beta Readers
What genres do you write?: romance, paranormal romance, urban fantasy, romantic suspense, action / adventure, disaster
What formats are your books in?: Both eBook and Print, Audiobook
Website(s)
Carrie Butler Home Page Link
Link To Carrie Butler Page On Amazon
Link to Author Page on other site
Your Social Media Links
Goodreads
Facebook
Twitter
Pinterest
LinkedIn
Instagram
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.
