Forever Richard
Sue Dent
ISBN: 9781934284032
TWCP, January 2009
$12.95
Sue Dent
ISBN: 9781934284032
TWCP, January 2009
$12.95
January 5 Release of Forever Richard, sequel
to Sue Dent's Never Ceese.
A Vampire . . .
A Werewolf . . .
Again.
Autographed copies available at TWCP
www.foreverrichard.com
to Sue Dent's Never Ceese.
A Vampire . . .
A Werewolf . . .
Again.
Autographed copies available at TWCP
www.foreverrichard.com
Jeremy Robinson Interviews part II |
| IN THIS ISSUE CATHOLIC WRITERS ONLINE CONFERENCE KARINA FABIAN reviews: marcher lord press POLL OUTSPOKEN Jeremy Robinson Interviews INDUSTRY NEWS Leaps of Faith new online UNDERGROUND ANTHOLOGY UPDATE creative calisthenics twitter A Frank Word or Two Like Write on Rice |
Jeremy: I have read the questions but I haven't written any answers so this will be
as close to my initial reaction as possible. No gimmicks, no tricks, it's all truth!
Frank: What life experiences prepared you to accomplish what you have, and
what were your key influences?
I think the last 10 years of struggling to be a successful writer has prepared me
TO be a successful writer. Most writers don't know when the start out that it's
going to take a long time. The average time for a writer to become successful is
10 years. So that struggle really gives me perspective and makes me humble in the
face of success now. If I had become an instant success - like I thought I would,
like every writer thinks they will when they write their first novel - then maybe I
would have a big head or something, but I definitely don't. I always need to
improve. I talked about this in my last video blog - Improving is something writers
always need to do.
as close to my initial reaction as possible. No gimmicks, no tricks, it's all truth!
Frank: What life experiences prepared you to accomplish what you have, and
what were your key influences?
I think the last 10 years of struggling to be a successful writer has prepared me
TO be a successful writer. Most writers don't know when the start out that it's
going to take a long time. The average time for a writer to become successful is
10 years. So that struggle really gives me perspective and makes me humble in the
face of success now. If I had become an instant success - like I thought I would,
like every writer thinks they will when they write their first novel - then maybe I
would have a big head or something, but I definitely don't. I always need to
improve. I talked about this in my last video blog - Improving is something writers
always need to do.
There's a new small independent press that's addressing market niches neglected by the traditional Christian publishing
houses. In fact, Jeremy Robinson has forged his novelist and editor experience into the promising new imprint Variance
Publishing, competing against imprints like Tor.
At www.variancepublishing.com you can see one man's passion blossom into a hopeful future.
No use me prattling-on, so enjoy Jeremy’s vid-interview, or the transcript following, courtesy of Grace Bridges.
houses. In fact, Jeremy Robinson has forged his novelist and editor experience into the promising new imprint Variance
Publishing, competing against imprints like Tor.
At www.variancepublishing.com you can see one man's passion blossom into a hopeful future.
No use me prattling-on, so enjoy Jeremy’s vid-interview, or the transcript following, courtesy of Grace Bridges.
Frank: Any novelist's first job is to entertain.
Jeremy: I agree.
Frank: Apart from writing entertaining fiction, what are the purposes and themes in your own fiction - what drives you?
Jeremy: So the question really is whether there's anything beyond entertaining people that drives me. Sometimes. I really want
my fiction to NOT have an ulterior motive. There is nothing about my books that will be preaching anything at anyone.
Generally there isn't anything. I really just want to entertain. I write about things that I love and subjects that I love. There isn't
any other purpose than to entertain people for me.
Frank: Computer technology and business trends have shaken the publishing industry like a doomsday asteroid. What led to the
Breakneck Books merger and the creation of Variance Publishing?
Jeremy: I did Breakneck Books for two years. The books were doing very well and getting the attention of big publishers.
Variance came along because I was talking to my partner Tim. We both had experience in publishing - my experience was in
production of books and covers, writing, editing, and so on, and Tim's is on the sales side. We were talking one day and realized
we could do a better job of this together. So we put together a business plan and brought it to an investor, and the first
investor who saw it signed on. That whole process from business plan to investor was maybe four months long. That was really
cool. In part I think that was because of the groundwork of Breakneck Books and the quality of books we'd produced with very
little money, and how well they were doing.
Frank: Every Christian speculative fiction fan hopes that companies like Variance and Jeff Gerke's Marcher Lord Press will
change the publishing landscape for our favorite genre. Please talk about your own success and any promising overall signs in
the genres Variance is going to publish.
Jeremy: First I'd like to say that although I am a Christian and my books sometimes have biblical themes, they are not Christian
books. I define Christian books as books that are written for Christians. They often have the biblical laws all spelled out and are
written for Christian readers. My books are not Christian, they are mainstream fiction, written for everyone to read. Christians
and non-Christians enjoy them and that's because there is nothing in them that could be construed as prosyletising. I'm not
trying to convince anyone of anything, I'm just writing about what I know and love. I don't call the genre Christian, I call it
biblical speculation. That's actually a term that James Rollins came up with when he described The Didymus Contingency. It's
stuck with me since then, because it makes a lot of sense. Because it's not Christian, not preaching, it's just biblical
speculation. And that's not even all my books. Kronos, Antarktos Rising, and The Didymus Contingency all have a little bit of
biblical speculation. Raising the Past does not have anything biblical at all, nor do the books coming out from Thomas Dunne,
starting in May with Pulse. So they're straight mainstream. What Variance is doing is basically the same thing. If the book is like a
CBA book and appeals only to Christians, then it probably won't get far with us. If it has biblical speculation in it and is
mainstream in every other way, that is something we'll consider. That's not to say there's something wrong with Christian fiction
- absolutely not. It's just not what we do, not what I do. So there ya go.
Frank: Christians who are fans of speculative fiction learned long ago not to waste their time looking on the shelves of Christian
bookstores. Any publishing company's biggest challenge is marketing. What points along your journey have been your greatest
networking and marketing victories?
Jeremy: Marketing the books online has been what really made the big difference for me. Especially since I was printing the
books using Print On Demand, which generally does not get put into bookstores. That's because they're usually not returnable
and bookstores won't take on any books that are not returnable. So for me, using and optimizing the website, using all of the
tools on Amazon, it's been an experiment in marketing online. I do a lot of stuff on YouTube, viral videos, the video blog...I did
some banner ads and a lot of other stuff online. Really it's trial and error. My opinion is that you try everything and stick with
the things that work and don't do things again if they don't work because they're a waste of time. Marketing online is big for
new authors. It's cheap, it's quick, and it works. New authors really have to be dedicated to marketing their books online. It
worked for me and I still do it. Some insight for the authors out there - I got the catalog from Thomas Dunne for Pulse. I flipped
it open, looked at my book and its marketing section. And everything in that list is things that I do. I was actually expecting
that, it's part of being a new author - the burden of marketing your book is really on you. The publisher will get it together and
put it in stores, but then you have t market your book yourself. So I will be doing for Pulse what I always do online, and it sells
books. Publishers only put a lot of money into marketing authors that have a large following already...insider information for
those authors trying to get a big publisher.
Frank: Variance Publishing has some really sharp book covers. Where do you find your cover artists?
Jeremy: Well, it's a combination. I was a graphic designer before I was a writer so I've done some of the covers, like The
President's Henchman by Joseph Flynn. My father actually took the picture of the sunset that's in there. Yay Dad! We also hire
artists like Erik Hollander who did the new Kronos cover. It's pretty cool - a giant sea monster swallowing someone. I couldn't do
that personally. But the easier covers I do in-house. You can see more of my covers at my website, www.jeremyrobinsononline.
com. You can see Erik's stuff at HollanderDesignLab.com. Another artist we hired for the cover of Sudden Threat is Larry
Rostant and his website is Rostant.com. We're very dedicated to coming up with very cool covers because it's generally a sign of
a small press if the cover is not so great, and we want to compete with the big publishers. So we put a lot of effort into having
really nice covers and interiors.
Frank: Publishing new authors is difficult because there's no name recognition, and writers often think that publishers will
market for them. Which of the Variance titles have sold the best?
Jeremy: Antarktos Rising came out in October and Sudden Threat in November. Kronos and President's Henchman have yet to
come out. Antarktos is selling well, it always did, even when it was a print-on-demand book. Sudden Threat sold 1000 copies in
its first week which is really good. Those two are pretty much neck and neck in sales right now, both doing well. Historically
for Breakneck Books, my three books have sold the best - Antarktos Rising, Raising the Past and The Didymus Contingency,
followed closely by the Chronicles of Soone by James Somers and Violent Sands by Sean Young. Recently the book that has
been selling well from Breakneck is Red Moon by David Michaels and Daniel Brenton. It's a great book and I suggest you pick it
up - it has a cool cover!
Frank: Please share with us some of Variance's choice reviews and awards.
Jeremy: No awards yet - the books are just coming out. As far as reviews go...on the cover of Kronos: "Moby Dick meets James
Bond thriller with an amazing twist," that was from Steve Alten who was a huge inspiration for me to write a book like this, a
deep-sea thriller, with his MEG series. The President's Henchman - I can't quote it, it got a really great review from Foreword
magazine - I wish I'd memorized it. Sudden Threat by A.J. Tata - the blurb is from Brad Thor who is a #1 bestseller with The Last
Patriot, and he said: "One of my favorite authors, A.J. Tata is the new Tom Clancy. Only someone who has actually operated in
the deadly netherworld of international military intrigue could could write a book this gripping. Sudden Threat is electrifying."
Now A.J. Tata is a brigadier-general in the army right now, on active duty, so that is true. Of the blurbs for Antarktos Rising,
there are two that I really like. The first one is from James Rollins: "A new, dark continent of terror. Trespass at your own risk."
That's just part of his blurb, the rest you can see on our website at variancepublishing.com. And I got another one from Steve
Berry: "Jeremy Robinson is an original and exciting voice." So really big authors are endorsing our books, which is very cool, and
we hope to outsell them someday. Thanks guys!
Frank: Do you have any upcoming goals or news you'd like to share? Which sequels are buzz?
Jeremy: We have MEG - Hell's Aquarium, coming out in May. That's going to be our blockbuster book. It'll be huge, it should
open a lot of doors for our company. Pulse is my first hardcover that also comes out in May so me and Steve are going to be
fighting it out. But you can buy both books, because they're both good. And they're different. After Pulse - in July I believe -
we have Silver coming out. Silver is the first hardcover release from Steven Savile who is a UK #1 bestseller and an international
bestseller, and he's a very cool guy (hello Steve) - following that we have Wired Kingdom which is a really cool thriller, and the
Chronicles of Anaedor, which will be our first wide release of a young adult book. It's out already as a trade paperback, we'll be
re-releasing it as a hardcover. It's along the lines of Twilight or Harry Potter, very cool, written by my ex-neighbor Kristina
Schram who we call Schrumsen. You'll see her name in Kronos, I was reading it today and noticed that I used the name
Schrumsen in there.
Well, that's all the questions, I hope this wasn't too long. Hello to the Lost Genre Guild and I hope you enjoy the books. Thanks
for asking the questions!
Frank: Aaaand a big thank you back to Jeremy Robinson for taking the time to answer. There’s even more hope that by working
together, our favorite genre is finally growing.
Jeremy: I agree.
Frank: Apart from writing entertaining fiction, what are the purposes and themes in your own fiction - what drives you?
Jeremy: So the question really is whether there's anything beyond entertaining people that drives me. Sometimes. I really want
my fiction to NOT have an ulterior motive. There is nothing about my books that will be preaching anything at anyone.
Generally there isn't anything. I really just want to entertain. I write about things that I love and subjects that I love. There isn't
any other purpose than to entertain people for me.
Frank: Computer technology and business trends have shaken the publishing industry like a doomsday asteroid. What led to the
Breakneck Books merger and the creation of Variance Publishing?
Jeremy: I did Breakneck Books for two years. The books were doing very well and getting the attention of big publishers.
Variance came along because I was talking to my partner Tim. We both had experience in publishing - my experience was in
production of books and covers, writing, editing, and so on, and Tim's is on the sales side. We were talking one day and realized
we could do a better job of this together. So we put together a business plan and brought it to an investor, and the first
investor who saw it signed on. That whole process from business plan to investor was maybe four months long. That was really
cool. In part I think that was because of the groundwork of Breakneck Books and the quality of books we'd produced with very
little money, and how well they were doing.
Frank: Every Christian speculative fiction fan hopes that companies like Variance and Jeff Gerke's Marcher Lord Press will
change the publishing landscape for our favorite genre. Please talk about your own success and any promising overall signs in
the genres Variance is going to publish.
Jeremy: First I'd like to say that although I am a Christian and my books sometimes have biblical themes, they are not Christian
books. I define Christian books as books that are written for Christians. They often have the biblical laws all spelled out and are
written for Christian readers. My books are not Christian, they are mainstream fiction, written for everyone to read. Christians
and non-Christians enjoy them and that's because there is nothing in them that could be construed as prosyletising. I'm not
trying to convince anyone of anything, I'm just writing about what I know and love. I don't call the genre Christian, I call it
biblical speculation. That's actually a term that James Rollins came up with when he described The Didymus Contingency. It's
stuck with me since then, because it makes a lot of sense. Because it's not Christian, not preaching, it's just biblical
speculation. And that's not even all my books. Kronos, Antarktos Rising, and The Didymus Contingency all have a little bit of
biblical speculation. Raising the Past does not have anything biblical at all, nor do the books coming out from Thomas Dunne,
starting in May with Pulse. So they're straight mainstream. What Variance is doing is basically the same thing. If the book is like a
CBA book and appeals only to Christians, then it probably won't get far with us. If it has biblical speculation in it and is
mainstream in every other way, that is something we'll consider. That's not to say there's something wrong with Christian fiction
- absolutely not. It's just not what we do, not what I do. So there ya go.
Frank: Christians who are fans of speculative fiction learned long ago not to waste their time looking on the shelves of Christian
bookstores. Any publishing company's biggest challenge is marketing. What points along your journey have been your greatest
networking and marketing victories?
Jeremy: Marketing the books online has been what really made the big difference for me. Especially since I was printing the
books using Print On Demand, which generally does not get put into bookstores. That's because they're usually not returnable
and bookstores won't take on any books that are not returnable. So for me, using and optimizing the website, using all of the
tools on Amazon, it's been an experiment in marketing online. I do a lot of stuff on YouTube, viral videos, the video blog...I did
some banner ads and a lot of other stuff online. Really it's trial and error. My opinion is that you try everything and stick with
the things that work and don't do things again if they don't work because they're a waste of time. Marketing online is big for
new authors. It's cheap, it's quick, and it works. New authors really have to be dedicated to marketing their books online. It
worked for me and I still do it. Some insight for the authors out there - I got the catalog from Thomas Dunne for Pulse. I flipped
it open, looked at my book and its marketing section. And everything in that list is things that I do. I was actually expecting
that, it's part of being a new author - the burden of marketing your book is really on you. The publisher will get it together and
put it in stores, but then you have t market your book yourself. So I will be doing for Pulse what I always do online, and it sells
books. Publishers only put a lot of money into marketing authors that have a large following already...insider information for
those authors trying to get a big publisher.
Frank: Variance Publishing has some really sharp book covers. Where do you find your cover artists?
Jeremy: Well, it's a combination. I was a graphic designer before I was a writer so I've done some of the covers, like The
President's Henchman by Joseph Flynn. My father actually took the picture of the sunset that's in there. Yay Dad! We also hire
artists like Erik Hollander who did the new Kronos cover. It's pretty cool - a giant sea monster swallowing someone. I couldn't do
that personally. But the easier covers I do in-house. You can see more of my covers at my website, www.jeremyrobinsononline.
com. You can see Erik's stuff at HollanderDesignLab.com. Another artist we hired for the cover of Sudden Threat is Larry
Rostant and his website is Rostant.com. We're very dedicated to coming up with very cool covers because it's generally a sign of
a small press if the cover is not so great, and we want to compete with the big publishers. So we put a lot of effort into having
really nice covers and interiors.
Frank: Publishing new authors is difficult because there's no name recognition, and writers often think that publishers will
market for them. Which of the Variance titles have sold the best?
Jeremy: Antarktos Rising came out in October and Sudden Threat in November. Kronos and President's Henchman have yet to
come out. Antarktos is selling well, it always did, even when it was a print-on-demand book. Sudden Threat sold 1000 copies in
its first week which is really good. Those two are pretty much neck and neck in sales right now, both doing well. Historically
for Breakneck Books, my three books have sold the best - Antarktos Rising, Raising the Past and The Didymus Contingency,
followed closely by the Chronicles of Soone by James Somers and Violent Sands by Sean Young. Recently the book that has
been selling well from Breakneck is Red Moon by David Michaels and Daniel Brenton. It's a great book and I suggest you pick it
up - it has a cool cover!
Frank: Please share with us some of Variance's choice reviews and awards.
Jeremy: No awards yet - the books are just coming out. As far as reviews go...on the cover of Kronos: "Moby Dick meets James
Bond thriller with an amazing twist," that was from Steve Alten who was a huge inspiration for me to write a book like this, a
deep-sea thriller, with his MEG series. The President's Henchman - I can't quote it, it got a really great review from Foreword
magazine - I wish I'd memorized it. Sudden Threat by A.J. Tata - the blurb is from Brad Thor who is a #1 bestseller with The Last
Patriot, and he said: "One of my favorite authors, A.J. Tata is the new Tom Clancy. Only someone who has actually operated in
the deadly netherworld of international military intrigue could could write a book this gripping. Sudden Threat is electrifying."
Now A.J. Tata is a brigadier-general in the army right now, on active duty, so that is true. Of the blurbs for Antarktos Rising,
there are two that I really like. The first one is from James Rollins: "A new, dark continent of terror. Trespass at your own risk."
That's just part of his blurb, the rest you can see on our website at variancepublishing.com. And I got another one from Steve
Berry: "Jeremy Robinson is an original and exciting voice." So really big authors are endorsing our books, which is very cool, and
we hope to outsell them someday. Thanks guys!
Frank: Do you have any upcoming goals or news you'd like to share? Which sequels are buzz?
Jeremy: We have MEG - Hell's Aquarium, coming out in May. That's going to be our blockbuster book. It'll be huge, it should
open a lot of doors for our company. Pulse is my first hardcover that also comes out in May so me and Steve are going to be
fighting it out. But you can buy both books, because they're both good. And they're different. After Pulse - in July I believe -
we have Silver coming out. Silver is the first hardcover release from Steven Savile who is a UK #1 bestseller and an international
bestseller, and he's a very cool guy (hello Steve) - following that we have Wired Kingdom which is a really cool thriller, and the
Chronicles of Anaedor, which will be our first wide release of a young adult book. It's out already as a trade paperback, we'll be
re-releasing it as a hardcover. It's along the lines of Twilight or Harry Potter, very cool, written by my ex-neighbor Kristina
Schram who we call Schrumsen. You'll see her name in Kronos, I was reading it today and noticed that I used the name
Schrumsen in there.
Well, that's all the questions, I hope this wasn't too long. Hello to the Lost Genre Guild and I hope you enjoy the books. Thanks
for asking the questions!
Frank: Aaaand a big thank you back to Jeremy Robinson for taking the time to answer. There’s even more hope that by working
together, our favorite genre is finally growing.
| Watch the interviews on video: Frank Interviews |
 |  |  |  |
