Pump Up Your Book Chats with Hugh Aaron

Hugh Aaron Hugh Aaron, a native of Worcester, Massachusetts, received a Liberal Arts degree in the Humanities at The University of Chicago. For three years as a Seabee he served in the South Pacific during WWII. He was CEO of his own plastics manufacturing business for 20 years before selling it to write full time. Several of his short stories have been published in national magazines and 18 of his essays on business management have appeared in The Wall Street Journal. He is the author of Business Not as Usual: How to Win Managing a Company through Hard and Easy Times. Currently he’s writing and producing plays.

His latest book is a short story collection, Stories From a Lifetime.

You can visit his website at www.stonespointbooks.com or his blog at www.businesswisdom.blogspot.com.

Q: Thank you for this interview, Hugh.  Can you tell us why you wrote your book, Stories From a Lifetime?

Because I enjoy writing, especially, but not only, short stories. I feel a need to share my experiences and observations.

Q: Which part of the book was the hardest to write?

Developing characters.

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

Many multiple messages about marriage, love, war, etc.

Stories From a Lifetime Q: Do you remember when the writing bug hit?

When I was in high school.

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

Yes, I have written a series of essays on business management for The Wall Street Journal.

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

Be spare, be brief, be succinct, be honest.

Q:  Would you like to tell us about your home life?  Where you live?  Family?  Pets?

My wife and I live on a salt water cove on the Maine coast where we garden and look out on a beautiful scene every day. We have granddaughters whom we love and who spend part of their summers with us.

Q:  Can you tell us a little about your childhood?

My childhood was happy despite our poverty during the Great Depression. I felt very free and motivated in everything I tried to do.

Q: Where’s your favorite place to write at home?

I have a beautiful study within our home distant from our living quarters.

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

I sail, go for walks, read.

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

Seeing that the book appeared on Amazon.com and on the book publisher’s website.

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

Yes, Facebook, Twitter and Linkedin

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

Via the web and social networking it has undergone a revolution.

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

Promotion.

Q: What is the most rewarding?

Response from readers.

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

Self publishing, and online publishing has changed the whole scene. Two of my books are on Kindle, a completely different approach from the past to selling my works.

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

Live to 100. I’m 87 now.

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

Nearer my family in the Midwest.

Q: Your book has just been awarded a Pulitzer.  Who would you thank?

I’m not sure I’d thank anyone. Most Pulitzer Prize winners are unknown within  a few years, especially after a decade. I have little confidence in our ability to determine the value of a work of art at the time it is created. Only with time can its value be established.

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

I would encourage anyone who has a yen to write, to sit down and do so regardless of how badly or how well you think your writing skill is.


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