“How’d that happen?”
“I wrote my first book after getting back from Afghanistan. It was based on my own experiences, a story about a dangerous rescue operation in a remote mountain valley deep in enemy territory. Two journalists had been kidnapped by the Taliban. The mission was to bring them back alive. So a war adventure story.”
“You submitted it to a publisher?”
“Publishers don’t take books like that. They only work through literary agents. I circulated it for over a year to various literary agents before one picked me up. She shopped it to publishers and found one interested. She also submitted it for contests, and it got some recognition as a new adventure book by a first-time author.”
“How’s it selling?”
“I’m not getting rich.”
“How many books have you written?”
“Ten full length. Twelve short stories.”
“How are they selling?”
“I’m not getting rich.”
“Enough to live on?”
“Only because I live on ten dollars a day.”
“You live on ten dollars a day?”
“My monthly provisions run in the $300 range. Divided by thirty days that’s about ten bucks a day. No rent. No mortgage. No car. No insurance. No TV, WIFI, or internet. I make mostof my clothes and buy the rest at Goodwill. Ten bucks a day is probably a low estimate, but I like to think about it that way.”
“So, you make at least $300 a month from your books.”
“I make more than that, but I’m not getting rich. I meet my expenses and save the rest. I have a small following that’s growing.”
“So, what are you doing at the internet café when you come out?”
“Sending new copy to editors. Receiving edited copy back. Deciding on pricing, marketing, ads. Reviewing the monthly newsletter and proposed covers. Updating the website. Responding to readers. Like that.”
“You advertise?”
“All online. Facebook, Amazon, Google. It’s where the action is. My literary agent oversees all that, but it’s a constant discussion.”
“How long does it take you to write a book?”
“I write an average of a thousand words a day. So 30,000 words a month. Three months to write a 90,000 word novel. My contract is for four books a year.”
“What are you working on now?”
“I’m in the second book of a young adult adventure series.”
“Young adults? Teenagers?”
“Yeah, this is my first effort at the young reader.”
“Fantasy, Sci-Fi?”
“That’s what most kids are reading, but that’s not my genre. More like Lassie. Boy and his dog. Girl and her horse.”
“What’s your current story?”
“Boy and his hunting falcon.”
