Book Goodies

Find great books, bargains and freebies!

  • Home
  • Authors: Tell Readers About Your Book
  • Advertising
    • Buy Home Page Features
    • Advertise Your Bargain Book
    • List Your Free eBook
    • Feature Your PermaFree Book
    • BookGoodies Multi-site Landing Pages And Book Buyer’s Guides
    • Author Advertising PrePay and Save!
  • Deals Newsletter
  • Featured Books
    • Buyer’s Guides
  • Book and Kindle Sleeves
  • Free Printable Bookmarks
  • Sites in the BookGoodies Network
  • Inspirational Thoughts and Affirmations
  • Free Books
  • PermaFree Books
  • Featured Free and Bargain Books
  • Bargain Books Under $3
  • Buyer’s Guides
  • Interviews With Authors
    • Podcasts with Authors
  • Authors Start Here
    • Authors: Tell Readers About Your Book
    • BookGoodies MEGA Submit Book Buyers Guide
    • Submit Your Interview
    • Feature Your Free Books
    • Feature Your Bargain Books
  • Giveaways from BookGoodies
You are here: Home / Interviews With Authors / Interview with Author – Melina Druga

Interview with Author – Melina Druga

By Book Goodies Leave a Comment


About Melina Druga:
I’m an author, freelance journalist, and history enthusiast. I have writing professionally for nearly 20 years, having begun my career at the turn-of-the-century as a newspaper reporter and copy editor, but I began writing fiction when I was a child. I blog on my website about history, the writing process, author interviews, and historical fiction book excerpts and reviews. I am particularly interested in the period 1890-1920 and how WW1 changed the lives of ordinary people.

I am the author of three nonfiction books, contributor to a fourth, with two books – one fiction and one nonfiction — launching in 2019.

My three published books are A Tale of Two Nations (available in five parts and as a complete edition), Enterprising Women: Practical Advice for First Time Entrepreneurs, and Enterprising Women: A Practical Guide to Staring Your First Business. I contributed to When Women Become Business Owners.

What inspires you to write?
I really enjoy Edith Wharton and the way she wrote about hypocrisy in the Gilded Age. The Gilded Age is one of the eras that I really love, and she lived through it and wrote about it first hand.

In addition, my motto is "educating and empowering through writing." I aim to teach while also entertaining.

Tell us about your writing process.
I complete extensive research and make copious notes. I write all rough drafts by hand. I enjoy the connection between writer and story. When I type my drafts, that's when I complete the first rewrite.

For Fiction Writers: Do you listen (or talk to) to your characters?
Not exactly, but I do strive to make characters real people in every sense of the word. My characters have both extensive biographies that covers details that don’t make it into my novels. For example, I know my characters grandparents and when those grandparents lived and died.

What advice would you give other writers?
My advice for new and aspiring authors is keep working at perfecting your craft. The more you write the better a writer you will become. Don’t bog your story down with details that don’t matter or are misplaced in the plotline. Don’t use dialogue tags other than “said.” Keep dialogue realistic. Avoid first person; it narrows your storytelling.

I see many grammatical, punctuation and style errors in indie books, so I would advise either learning these points on your own or using a professional copy editor or both.

How did you decide how to publish your books?
When I was in college, self publishing had a bad reputation. Even a decade ago, this was the case. So when I began the process of deciding how to publish, I tried going the traditional publishing route. I found this method to be very limiting because agents either weren’t open to new writers in my genre, didn’t represent my genre or required lengthy book proposals. I self published for the first time in 2013. At the time, I didn’t take it nearly as seriously as I could, but now I’m treating publishing as a business; exactly as I should be doing. I publish through my imprint Sun Up Press, and I’m learning marketing tricks and techniques.

What do you think about the future of book publishing?
I’m not sure what I think about the future. On one hand, self publishing has opened the door to so many talented authors, but on the other hand, many people publish without polishing their work or even writing multiple drafts, and the book’s quality suffers. Like any industry, it’s a mixed bag.

What do you use?: Professional Editor

What genres do you write?: nonfiction, historical fiction

What formats are your books in?: Both eBook and Print

Website(s)
Melina Druga Home Page Link
Link To Melina Druga Page On Amazon

Your Social Media Links
Goodreads
Twitter
Pinterest
LinkedIn

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.

Filed Under: Interviews With Authors Tagged With: business advice, ebooks, historical fiction, history, Melina Druga, Nonfiction - All Except Memoir, Paperback


Free and Bargain Books delivered to your email daily, subscribe now to find great new books every day.

Are you looking for ebook deals? We have them! We also have free ebooks - check them out!

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Sign up for our Featured and Bargain Books Newsletter

Fiction

  • Fiction
  • Action & Adventure
  • Drama
  • Fantasy
  • Historical
  • Horror
  • Mystery/Suspense
  • Paranormal
  • Romance
  • Romance – Erotica
  • Science Fiction
  • Women’s Fiction
  • Fiction Audio Books

Nonfiction

  • Art/Photography/Coffee Table
  • Biographies & Memoirs
  • Body/Mind/Spirit
  • Business Books
  • Cooking and Food Books
  • Crafts and Hobbies
  • Educational/How-to
  • Essays
  • Faith and Religion
  • Gardening Books
  • Health & Fitness
  • Humor
  • Inspiration and Photography Books
  • Pet and Animal Books
  • Science and Math
  • Travel
  • Nonfiction Audio Books

More Good Stuff

  • Featured Books
  • Children and Young Adult Books
  • *Reading Room
    • Interviews With Authors
    • Audio Books
      • Nonfiction Audio Books
      • Fiction Audio Books
  • Spanish
  • Giveaways from BookGoodies
  • Readers: What Podcasts Do You Listen To?
  • Readers: What Devices do You Use to Read eBooks?
  • Readers: What Do You Like on an Author’s Website?

For Authors

  • Authors: Tell Readers About Your Book
  • Author Interview – Tell Us About Yourself
  • BookGoodies MEGA Submit Book Buyers Guide
  • Advertise Your Bargain Books
  • Advertise Your Free eBook
  • Advertise Your PermaFree Book
  • Universal Link Tool for Amazon Books
  • Subscribe to Our Newsletter
  • BookGoodies News

Copyright © 2023 BookGoodies Network