Pump Up Your Book Chats with Michael Scott Miller

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Michael Scott Miller works with numbers by day in the business world and with words by night. He began writing shortly after graduating from the University of Pennsylvania and has had his work published in the Welcomat (now Philadelphia Weekly) and wrote music reviews for the Wharton Journal while his wife was getting her degree there.

Miller’s debut novel, Ladies and Gentlemen…The Redeemers, has been downloaded more than ten thousand times and has received tremendously positive reader feedback, earning 4-star to 5-star ratings at Amazon, barnesandnoble.com, Smashwords, and Kobo. The complete set of reader reviews and comments can be accessed at http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/40309/ .

Miller grew up in Cherry Hill, New Jersey and now lives in Lafayette Hill, Pennsylvania with his wife and three children.

You can visit Michael Scott Miller’s website at www.ladiesandgentlementheredeemers.com or connect with him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/MichaelScMiller or Facebook at www.facebook.com/home.php#!/profile.php?id=1206880325.

Q: Thanks for this interview, Michael. I’m always curious as to how people decide on what to write. Can you tell us why you wrote your book?

The main reason I wrote the book was to give something back. I get so much enjoyment and entertainment from reading books that I wanted to see if, in some small way, I could create something that others would enjoy reading. There was also an element of challenge. I enjoy the writing process and the storytelling and wanted to see if I could actually write a novel.

Q: Does your book have an underlying message that readers should know about?

Definitely. The message is the same message that I live by — if you put your energy into what you are doing, you can accomplish what you want to.

Q: Besides books, what else do you write? Do you write for publications?

Not anymore. I used to write music reviews for the Wharton Journal while my wife was getting her degree there. That was a lot of fun.

Q: Do you have a writing tip you’d like to share?

I find that if I’m stalled at a spot in the story, it’s better to write something as a bridge to keep the story moving and then come back to it. It’s easier for me to go back and edit my work than to write it in the first place, so just getting something down on paper (well, e-paper) allows me to maintain momentum.

Q: What do you do to get away from it all?

I love to travel with my family. In the last few years we’ve gone to Spain, Niagara Falls/Toronto, Greece, and we’re heading to the Southwest U.S. this summer. Closer to home, one of my favorite activities is a family bike ride, stopping for breakfast or lunch at the halfway point. And this will probably sound corny, but reading is a great escape for me too.

Q: What was the first thing you did as far as promoting your book?

To build readership, get reviews, and test market the book, I posted it free on more than twenty websites including Smashwords, B&N, and Kobo. The book got more than ten thousand downloads and a lot of great reviews. Now the trick is getting readers to shell out 99 cents.

Q: Are you familiar with the social networks and do you actively participate?

I had no idea just how important the social networks were until I published my book. There is an incredibly supportive author community online. It can be very time consuming so I have to limit myself, but I spend a fair amount of time on Kindle Boards, BestsellerBound, Nookboards, Twitter (@MichaelScMiller), and reading book blogs.

Q: How do you think book promotion has changed over the years?

There is much more the author can do on his/her own now than many years ago. So much more of the promotion can be done in the virtual world, as opposed to traveling from city to city, from bookstore to bookstore. This change allows authors to reach more people while at the same time minimizing costs. Authors can request book bloggers to review their work, host interviews, or host guest posts on their blogs. Many authors have their own blogs as well. All of this makes it much easier for authors to reach out and interact with their community.

Q: What is the most frustrating part of being an author?

The most frustrating thing for me is not having enough hours in the day to write new books and to market my novel as much as I’d like to.

Q: What is the most rewarding?

Undoubtedly, the most rewarding aspect of writing is when a reader posts a review or comment about how much they enjoyed the book. It is tremendously flattering to hear that someone invested the time to read something I wrote and was entertained by it.

Q: How do you think book publishing has changed over the years?

I think it’s very clear that book publishing has started to move out of the hands of the big publishers and into the hands of the authors. With the various outlets for indie publishing, an author has the ability to publish his or her own work on the top book sites such as Amazon and bn.com. There are many authors now that earn more by publishing their own work than they would earn through a big publishing company due to the much larger royalty percentage that is available on the ebook sites. At the same time, readers get a bigger say in what they do and don’t like, without books first going through the filter of the big publishers. I don’t have anything against the big publishers, but I think that they will become the second stop for many authors, who create a following online first, and later move to print.

Q: If you had one wish, what would that be?

World peace. Or maybe a cheesesteak.

Q: If you could be anywhere in the world other than where you are right now, where would that place be?

Sitting at a table at a restaurant in a piazza in Rome with my wife, two glasses of wine, and several antipasto dishes in front of us.

Q: Thank you so much for this interview, Michael. Do you have any final words?

Thanks for hosting me! I enjoyed the visit.

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Aiken Brown, SON OF A SOLDIER

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Laura Preble, ANNA INCOGNITO

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Jennifer Chase, FLOWERS ON HER GRAVE

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Elysia Strife, A PROMISE IN ASH

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Miri Leshem-Pelly, SCRIBBLE & AUTHOR

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Shami Stovall, KNIGHTMARE ARCANIST

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Sharon House, BRIMSTONE AND WATER

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Michael Allan Scott, GREY DAZE

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Bacon Press Books

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T.M. Wallace, WINTERGARDEN

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Deborah Serani, DEPRESSION AND YOUR CHILD

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Lee Papa, TEMPLE OF ALL KNOWING

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Mary Lawlor, FIGHTER PILOT'S DAUGHTER

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Karen-Anne Stewart, ASH TO STEELE

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Lauren Carr, Best-Selling Mystery Author of Mac Faraday, and Lovers in Crime, Mysteries

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Monique Roy, ACROSS GREAT DIVIDES

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Question of the Day

How do you make sales happen for you?

A lot of hard work! I sponsor a lot of on line parties, festivals and contests. Book sales don’t magically happen, believe me. An author has to work hard to earn her readers. And then she has to work hard to keep them by giving them something they’ll enjoy reading. I try hard to make my books worth a reader’s time.

-- Sheila Roberts, Author of Winter at the Beach