About Kendall Bailey:
I was born and raised in Vermont. I now live in Minnesota with my wife and son.
I am an author/publisher/entrepreneur/all-around-ass-kicker. I am the CEO of Kendall Bailey Media, a company making so much money that I have to hold a full-time job. What can I say, we have a child and a mortgage! I also founded Venture Prose, a program aimed at helping authors think like entrepreneurs.
What inspires you to write?
I get an idea in my head that just won’t quit. It doesn’t nag at or haunt me, the way some writers describe it. For me, a good story idea sticks around and finds ways to pop up all over the place. When half of what I see and hear reminds me of a story idea I am working on, I know I have to see it through.
Tell us about your writing process.
I have never written an outline that I’ve followed. I’ve tried it, but it’s just not for me. I write a story on the fly. I usually know how I want it to begin and the direction it should go in, but the path the story takes from there is largely a mystery to me when I start. Often times, it doesn’t end the way I first imagined.
Then comes revisions! My first draft tends to be very sloppy and lacks description. My second draft is a little cleaner and I over-describe many things. The third draft is where I do most of my cutting and the story starts to look like the final draft. It may take one or two more revisions from there, always with input from outside sources.
For Fiction Writers: Do you listen (or talk to) to your characters?
I’m not sure if a writer can listen to their characters without talking to them. Sure, I may not ask the questions out loud, but I am asking them to see how the character reacts. So, I guess I do both.
What advice would you give other writers?
For beginners, Take… Your… Time! I rushed my first novel through the publishing process and regretted it from the time the first paperback arrived and I saw a font so small I could barely read it. Go slow, learn the process, and ask for help. There’s no shame in being a beginner. We’ve all been there. If another writer gives you crap about it, there’s something wrong with THEM, not you.
For non-beginners, give Kendall Bailey Media a look. It’s a different style publishing model that could prove beneficial to some writers who suffer in areas of self-publishing (ie. cover design, layout, formatting, editing, etc.). Our website is listed below.
How did you decide how to publish your books?
I chose to self-publish in order to avoid the waiting required with traditional querying of agents and publishers. Plus, it was my first novel and I wasn’t confident my complete lack of a platform and experience would be a turn-on for many agents or publishers.
Now that I’ve been through the process of self-publishing, I would recommend it to all new authors. It is a great way to learn the publishing process. All of the things a traditional publisher will do for you, you have to do yourself. It is tougher, but most worthwhile experience is a challenge.
What do you think about the future of book publishing?
Indie, indie, indie! It is so simple to publish your own work, and you keep so much more of the profit from the book, I am a little surprised the bigger-name authors don’t do it. All popular authors have a platform built up over years of writing best sellers. If they dropped the traditional publisher and kept their agent just for foreign sales, they’d sell just as many books but pull in a lot more money.
Also, brick and mortar book stores are on their way out. I can see big box stores becoming the future of non-electronic book sales.
What do you use?: Professional Editor, Professional Cover Designer, Beta Readers
What genres do you write?: Three! I write Crime, Horror, and non-fiction
What formats are your books in?: Both eBook and Print
Website(s)
Kendall Bailey Home Page Link
Link to Author Page on other site
Your Social Media Links
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.
