About Christopher D. Morgan:
Hi. I’m Chris. Father, husband, writer, IT Manager, community volunteer, traveler, moderator, educator, entrepreneur and general all round nice guy. I live in Melbourne, Australia, but am originally from the UK. I’ve lived in 4 countries across 3 continents and have traveled the world over. I started writing seriously just over a year ago and have just published my first full-length novel, Forestium.
What inspires you to write?
Despite being very poor at English in school, I’ve grown to love writing over the years and have become quite a good with the written word. It wasn’t until recently, however, that I pondered the notion of taking on a serious piece of fiction. I was wondering what else could I do to support my family. The thought struck me that I’m good at writing. Ok, how can I turn that skill into an asset? From this thought was born the idea of writing a novel.
Tell us about your writing process.
I like to outline but only really one chapter at a time. When I was writing Forestium, I have a rough idea of where it was going but I was well into the last half of the book before I really figured out how it was going to end. I’ll typically concentrate on one chapter at a time and outline it with brief one-liners. I’ll take each of those in turn and convert them into a paragraph or two. When all the one-liners are done, the chapter is complete.
For Fiction Writers: Do you listen (or talk to) to your characters?
In my head I do, yes. I can hear the characters speaking. They each have their own idiosyncrasies and mannerisms. I’m considering doing an interview with each of them for the series web-site.
What advice would you give other writers?
It’s been quite a journey and I will admit it has required quite a bit of persistence on my part. The writing process isn’t that difficult itself but everything else you have to do to support it and get it to market can be quite exhausting. Here are just some of the things that have taken lots of my time along the way:
– Contacting agents
– Contacting publishing houses
– Entering competitions
– Building a web-site
– Starting and contributing to a blog
– Arranging for artwork
– Making audio clips
– Working with an illustrator
– Contacting and engaging with BETA readers
– Arranging for editing
– Contacting bloggers and reviewers
– Author interviews
– Drumming up interest in the book
– Managing social media
– Reading LOTS about how to get a book published
– Engaging with readers (which is really a very positive thing to do – highly recommend it)
– Accepting criticism and making improvements
– Avoiding pits, falls, traps and those that would prey on your insecurities (avoiding falling for scams)
This list is probably a long way from being complete!
How did you decide how to publish your books?
I initially contacted a lot of agents and publishing houses but I probably fell for one of the most basic of errors that I think a lot of writers fall for. I sent my MS off before it was ready. Not surprisingly, I received numerous rejections. When the MS was finally ready, I had already tainted the waters. Agents don’t generally allow a second bite of the cherry. After some months of research, I figured out that I had enough skills and smarts to do all the things that agents do to promote a book. I decided to take the plunge and go it alone. I’m so glad I did, since I’m now keeping all of the royalties. By the time the distributors have taken their cut, there’s really not that much left over anyway, so an additional 10-15% for the agent and another cut for the publisher would have all but wiped clean any likelihood of me making any money on sales.
What do you think about the future of book publishing?
It’s so hard to say. Much of the advice that I found out there that’s even just a few years old is already obsolete and no longer relevant to what’s happening in the industry today. Give it a few years and what’s being published today won’t apply anymore either. It’s a constantly moving target. One thing is for certain. There will be plenty of writers that will pay way over the odds for some service or other. it really does pay to shop around, and in many instances, to do things yourself.
What do you use?: Professional Editor, Professional Cover Designer, Beta Readers
What genres do you write?: YA fantasy adventure
What formats are your books in?: Both eBook and Print
Website(s)
Christopher D. Morgan Home Page Link
Your Social Media Links
Goodreads
Facebook
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.
