About Jonathan Cragle:
I was born the youngest of five sons to smart, humble and hard-working parents. I was raised in the state of Iowa and grew up with three brother’s as great role-models and it’s where he learned a strong work ethic and was encouraged to explore and try new things. My inquisitive nature and lifetime of learning mentality was flamed into fire and forged in the cold winters and hot summers! 🙂
I’ve traveled around the world, holding a variety of jobs, including a great career in Information Technology. I’ve enjoyed the fun of Oktoberfest in Munich and Fat Tuesday in New Orleans. I’ve had the pleasure of hiking throughout the Pacific Northwest and the volksmarching throughout Germany, and have dined on lamb gyros in the Middle East and deep dish pizza in New York City.
When I’m not writing, I enjoy competing at CrossFit, reading, listen to music, watching sports, drinking great coffee, spending time with friends, and following my families events & successes.
I’m the proud father of five, Samuel, Caleb, Joel, Micah and Tirzah Joy. They are the good in his life and the hope of a great, future generation.
When asked my greatest hope, I would reply, “As you read my writings, I hope that my books and words will inspire your change, growth and a better life for you and your family”.
I live and write surrounded by the beautiful lush greenery of the Pacific Northwest near Bellingham, Washington.
What inspires you to write?
I’ve been writing for magazines for about 18 years, but always felt like I had a book or 100 inside of me. I met my favorite author, Jon Land last Fall, and in the midst of our conversation my wish to write a book came up. He asked me “what’s stopping you?”. My answer was two-fold, fear of being judged and the need for a perfect book. His answer to me back was, “you’re judged anyway, so why not get it out there? and second “there is no such thing as a perfect book, just books that are written and those that aren’t written”.
It was that conversation that inspired me to finally sit down and write my book, publish it and share with the world my thoughts, lessons learned, inspiring stories, fears, failures, successes and more!
Tell us about your writing process.
I keep a running list of topics to write about and I add to it regularly from conversations with others, things I read, etc.
1. I go through the list and think about what topic interests me and pick one
2. I mind-map
3. I transfer this to an outline
4. Depending on the book I might write the chapters consecutively OR a trick I’ve found is to put the rough titles on slips of paper and draw one from a hat at a time. I write that section and so on.
5. Once I have the chapters written, regardless of the method in #4 I then print it out and then look to see if I should rearrange the order
6. Once I have the order I go back and write intro’s and recaps for each chapter
7. Once the rough draft is done I let it sit for 24 hours and go do something fun.
8. I then do a “out loud read through” of the entire book without a pen
9. I do a second read through out loud and mark where corrections, changes, etc should go
10. I send it off to my editor
11. I decide on changes suggestions made by my editor
12. I get the book formatted for Kindle/Creatspace
13. Then I check it for format errors on a variety of devices
14. Upload to Amazon KDP
What advice would you give other writers?
Don’t stress or worry about perfection. “Done is truly better than perfect, since you can correct a done manuscript, but can’t with a “perfect” unfinished manuscript”
Just write without editing to start. Editing as you go slows down the process and is wearisome
How did you decide how to publish your books?
I wanted control over the book, better royalties and the ability to manage the entire process.
Think about whether you want lower royalties, and less control versus “getting your book out there in stores”
What do you think about the future of book publishing?
I think we are just scratching the surface of ebooks. I expect this world to explode even more and soon the traditional brick and mortar bookstores will be a thing of the past.
What do you use?: Professional Editor
What genres do you write?: non fiction, self help
What formats are your books in?: eBook
Website(s)
Jonathan Cragle Home Page Link
Link To Jonathan Cragle Page On Amazon
Your Social Media Links
Goodreads
Facebook
Twitter
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.
