About Hank Quense:
Hank Quense writes satirical fantasy and sci-fi and has written a number of novels and short stories. He has self-published his books for over ten years. During that time, he has published and marketing more than 20 books. He also lectures on fiction writing, self-publishing and book marketing. His lectures have been given in schools, libraries and on webinars.
What inspires you to write?
With fiction, I’m inspired to entertain, to tell a story that gets readers to drop out of reality for a short time.
With nonfiction, I want to show writers how get stuff done, be it fiction writing, publishing or marketing. Along the way, I hope to shield them from scam artists
What authors do you read when you aren’t writing?
Bernard Cornwell, Christopher Moore, Tom Holt
Tell us about your writing process.
I love mind-maps. I have a half-dozen software programs and I’ll make a new mind-map for almost every problem I come across. I also mind-map my novels before I start to write the first draft. I create three mind-maps: one for the characters and one for the plots. The third can be described as a graphical synopsis. I’ve learned that if I can make the third mind-map, I understand the story well enough to write it.
I mind-map non-fiction books also, starting with the table of contents complete with sub-headings. I manipulate these items to ensure the contents present a compelling and understandable presentation. Why? Because it’s a lot easier to move idea bubbles around than it is to manipulate the written sections and sub-sections.
I also use a mind-map to track research websites
For Fiction Writers: Do you listen (or talk to) to your characters?
Before I write a scene, I’ll often listen to the dialog between the characters. I’ll start a few conversations between them to sense what their moods are and what conflict areas exist.
What advice would you give other writers?
For fiction writers, my advice is to know the ending before starting to write the first draft. My reasoning is this: everything in the story must move the reader closer to the climax. Therefore, you can’t move the reader toward the climax if you don’t know where or what the climax is.
How did you decide how to publish your books?
My first two books were published by a small indie company. That experienced was so distasteful, I decided to self-publish my books and I started my own imprint, Strange Worlds Publishing. MY rationale was I could do a better job of producing a quality book and since I had to do ALL of the marketing, I might as well keep all of the sales revenue.
New authors have to make their own decision about how to publish their books.
What do you think about the future of book publishing?
That’s a hard question to answer. So I’ll punt and say I believe it will continue the way it’s going now. More self-publishing and more evolving from traditional publishers
What genres do you write?: sci-fi, fantasy, non-fiction
What formats are your books in?: Both eBook and Print
Website(s)
Hank Quense Home Page Link
Link To Hank Quense Page On Amazon
Your Social Media Links
Goodreads
Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
YouTube
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.
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