Six Questions with J.A. Redmerski

The author of best-selling novel The Edge of Never, J.A. Redmerski is my guest for Six Questions this week!

Welcome to Six Questions, J.A!





1. Which authors have influenced your writing the most?

The two authors who have influenced my writing throughout my life would definitely be Anne Rice and Neil Gaiman. I love just about everything they write.

2. What is your editing process and have you hired a professional editor?

Like a lot of Indie authors, I couldn't afford to hire an editor when I first started publishing. I edited everything myself and then two friends of mine help edit it further, but that's about it. I know there are still several editing mistakes in my books, but we tried really hard! :-)

3. Did you start out querying agents before you first self-published?

I queried until I couldn't anymore. The Mayfair Moon and Dirty Eden were rejected by hundreds of agents, but my books really did need a lot of work so I think they were right to reject them at that stage. As far as The Edge of Never, I stopped querying agents long before I began writing it, so it never went through that query/rejection process.

4. What are the major things you've done to build buzz for your books?

Honestly, I quit my job to make writing and promoting my full-time job. Contacting bookbloggers/reviewers and signing up for book tours and being a member of Goodreads are all mandatory in my opinion.

5. What would you do differently if you could start all over again?

I wouldn't do anything differently. Everything that I did wrong, or that didn't produce the results I wanted were learning experiences and if it wasn't for those I wouldn't have gotten even a fraction as far as I have now.

6. How did you find the right readers for your books?

I read the book bloggers sites thoroughly and by that I mean their submission and contact pages and checking out what other sorts of books they generally read and review. Oh and of course, Goodreads.

                   

What would YOU do differently if you could start over?