Author Bio:
Wesley Thomas, comes from a very creative background.
An actor who broke into the world of writing early in 2012. He is an up and coming writer, and in just over a year has added numerous writing achievements to his belt.
In 2012 he published Ebook ‘Secrets of Eriscove Lake’ courtesy of Amazon publishing, which to date has sold impressively in the UK and US, and received fantastic customer reviews.
Following this he has worked as a freelance writer for DoingSomething, an online dating website, where he wrote articles on several date ideas.
Since then he has begun writing for www.horrornovelreviews.com and after just one review was made an official contributor. Somewhat of a horror fanatic himself, he now regularly reviews horror novels and completes articles relevant to the genre, as well as film and television, working for website owner Matt Molgaard.
Several fans of his work now await his much anticipated collection of horror stories ‘Frightful Tales’ due to be released in 2014.
He has just recently released novel ‘The Darkness Waits’ which is already creating quite a hype!
Further more, he has also wrote his first play ‘Memory’ which tells the tale of an elderly woman called Rose living with Alzheimers, and the struggles that her family have to face.
He is also a regular blogger, he posts everything from links to his novel reviews for HNR, movie reviews, mind blowing short stories and even snippets of his current books, as well as his upcoming ones.
What inspires you to write?
I like to not only write interesting, thrilling, and incredibly scary novels.
I like to secretly sneak in serious issues, that are being sub-consciously embedded into the readers’ mind while enjoying a good scare.
It is not enough to have an interesting story to tell, you have to have a reason for telling it, and a talent for expressing it.
Tell us about your writing process.
First phase is research – Online, libraries, blogs, books in the genre I plan to write, movies in that same genre, medical research, character research (what are my characters going to look like, are they nice people, mean, selfish, murderers etc) What devices will I use? Flashbacks, first person, foreshadowing, and other literary devices.
The first draft usually bursts out of me, overlooking mistakes, and errors and just wanting to get the draft done.
Editing – You read through and correct everything from grammar, flow, narrative, pace etc.
Editing 2 – A writer can only edit his or her own work to a certain extent, you need a professional editor. A proofreader/copy editor usually does the trick. However don’t just go with one because they are cheap.
Find one you actually like, and whose ability you trust. Send them a sample and see how they correct it. If you’re happy, hire them!
Then you will receive a copy from your editor with the issues highlighted, and manuscript annotated, expressing what they feel are issues with its current condition.
Adjust – You then adjust the manuscript according to your editor’s notes.
While your editor works on the manuscript you should be either designing a book cover, or hiring a designer if that is not your area of expertise. Again, pick wisely, and don’t scrimp!
All the other choices need to be made, such as promotion (do research as it always changes, new ways are being found to get your book to your target audience) decide on price, self-publish or send to publisher etc.
Also, and possibly most importantly, promote the upcoming release! BUILD A HYPE!
Blog, Facebook, Twitter, and other social networks. Use them to advertise your release date, blog some excerpts, blurb, cover maybe? And so on.
Then publish, track the progress, keep looking for new ways to increase sales through self promotion.
But be aware that you will need money to do this, there are very few sites that will promote your book for free, most want money to do this, so have a budget put aside for this.
That is my process, I hope that helps other writers.
For Fiction Writers: Do you listen (or talk to) to your characters?
I actually talk aloud when writing dialogue in my novels.
I want to see if that sounds like something a person would actually say.
In the more sinister conversations, I look at horror villains who are sick and demented, I observe how they interact and take this on board.
I use something that I learned as an actor here, every scene has an objective.
It’s true, you go away and watch a movie, series, anything, and pick at random a scene.
You will be able to identify the objectives of both characters (what they want from that scene, and how they alter their through line (ways of achieving it) in order to get what they want).
Use this rule and your speech will flow nicely.
What advice would you give other writers?
Promote, promote, promote.
I’m sorry but I cannot stress this enough.
You can have the best manuscript, cover, editor, value price, and intellect.
But none of that will do you any good if you can’t sell the book.
You need an online presence, in order to get loyal followers and readers, and that’s not easy.
You also need to checkout new and inventive ways of advertising your book (book trailers, reading events, ask other writers to write an intro to your book, enroll your book in subscription websites for avid readers, and look at other new and inventive ways now, right this second.
The digital world moves a lot faster than the physical world.
How did you decide how to publish your books?
I wanted to go it alone and see if I could achieve any level of success without going through posting, and emailing out dozens of manuscripts to publishers.
I suppose this was a pride thing mostly, seeing if I was capable to sell my books without the use of publishers with experience, contacts etc.
I wanted to know that my writing alone was enough to sell my book.
My upcoming novel, and collection of short horrors could possibly be published by an actual publisher due to a high level of interest. But I do enjoy self-publishing, so I may decide to self-publish the collection, and traditionally publish the novel.
But that is a decision that you as a writer really need to think about.
There are thousands of blogs and websites explaining the various pros and cons to each revenue of publishing.
So do your homework, then make the decision that you feel is right for you.
Get advice from other writers and friends, but ultimately that are not the one who is writing the book and wanting sales from it, so trust your gut.
What do you think about the future of book publishing?
I think that more and more people are choosing the self-publishing route these days.
However, they are only doing this as it seems like an easy way to earn extra money, a second income.
A lot publish one book, realise it’s not that easy, and find a different way to make easy cash.
When it comes to dedicated writers, I think there is an equal balance, some don’t like to promote and advertise, they just want to write the novel and hand it to a seasoned professional.
Whereas as others who heavily enjoy the social networking and are creative, adore coming up with revolutionary ways get their book’s presence (as well as themselves as authors) out there!
I think publishers will always exist, and more and more writers will self-publish if they can find a no luck method that works every time. But this requires a lot of trial and error. I do however, worry about the date of literary agents, as we need them, but writers are either going straight to the horse’s mouth (publishers) or doing it solo.
What genres do you write?
Horror, thriller, suspense, mystery, supernatural.
What formats are your books in?
eBook
Website(s)
Link To Wesley Thomas Page On Amazon
Your Social Media Links
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4397522.Wesley_Thomas
https://www.facebook.com/wesleythomaswriter
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