Thank you for joining us on your tour today, Vanessa.
To start off, please tell us a little about your upcoming
release, Wizard of Ends.
Wizard of Ends is a fast-paced fantasy novella series. The main character, Lashlor
Leaflin, is forced into all sorts of things he would rather have nothing to do
with, most of which he believes will kill him. Luckily for the rulers of Ends,
he is loyal to his land and will do anything to protect his king and queen.
What made you decide to
publish Books 1 and 2 in the same month?
When I came to the end of Book 1, I couldn’t wait to write Book 2.
So, instead of beginning my usual editing process, I followed my compulsion and
just carried on writing. I’ve always been impatient to publish once a book is
complete, so the thought of waiting to release Book 2 when it was already
polished was a little too much for me… hence, I decided to publish both books
during a month-long virtual book tour to celebrate the release of the series.
What are you doing to
market Wizard of Ends?
I planned a month-long virtual book tour in which I’m currently
touring via 24 blogs. Readers can find the itinerary here.
I comment on all the tour hosts’ posts and thank them for having me on their
blogs, and share all the posts via Facebook, Twitter and Google+. Before the
tour started, I posted a few sneak peeks on my blog, and announced the book
tour about three weeks before it started. I also shared snippets via Twitter
and Facebook. I wrote press releases for all the major tour highlights,
including the discounts, giveaways and release announcements, and posted them
on PRLog. Starting from the day of
publication, I will also start submitting Wizard
of Ends to a few hundred book listing websites and reviewers. This will be
ongoing until I exhaust the list of people who will review, interview, showcase
or list authors and our books. Oh, and I also contacted book bloggers and
offered them ARCs (advanced reading copies).
Tell us what it takes to
organise a virtual book tour.
An endless supply of time, energy and patience! The first thing to
consider is how long you want the tour to be. I’m so excited about Wizard of Ends that I felt it deserved a
month-long book tour, but, of course, that meant plenty of extra work! I
started by creating my invitation to bloggers, in which I listed what I would
be offering, and then started putting together a list of bloggers I thought
would be a good fit for the tour. I wrote 30 guest posts and character
interviews, etc. – before I
officially invited anyone to participate. Be sure to set aside time for
bloggers who want to interview you as part of the tour. Also before sending out
an official invitation, I created promotional images and tour banners. You have
to decide what you’re going to give away beforehand too – I chose to discount
Book 2 to 99c on the day of publication only (after which it will be $2.99),
and give away free copies of some of my other books, along with freebies from
other fantasy authors.
There’s so much to enjoy
during the Wizard of Ends tour –
where can readers find a quick link to an extract?
Which character, across
all your books, have you most enjoyed writing about, and why?
Lashlor Leaflin from Wizard of
Ends. Because he’s so calm under pressure, and in the face of taunting and
unpalatable situations. If everyone had as much self-control as Lashlor, the
world would be a much better place!
What is the biggest
challenge you face when starting a new book?
Deciding which book to write. Now that I’ve published the start of
two series, I need to focus on those two series to avoid disappointing fans. However,
besides Legends
of Origin and Wizard of Ends,
there are at least another twenty stories battling for space in my head. If
enough time passes, I’ll lose those stories. It can be frustrating.
Have you ever suffered
from writer’s block and how did you overcome it?
Not really, no. There are
times when I sit at the keyboard and stare at the screen, but that’s due to
extreme fatigue, not writer’s block.
Why do you prefer writing
fantasy over any other genre?
I don’t have to do any research for fantasy. When you’re writing a
story with real world elements, it’s important to get your facts straight, or
readers will think you’re a fool, and that means you sometimes have to do
research. When writing fantasy, you can make up your own facts. In fact, it’s
encouraged. As long as you’re consistent and your ‘invented facts’ are
believable, you’re good to go.
How long does it generally
take for you to finish writing a book?
It depends. I could write six to eight thousand words a day and
still have my evenings free – assuming, of course, I wasn’t working full time.
At that rate, a full-length novel would take about two and a half to three and
a half months. A novella like Wizard of
Ends would take about five to seven weeks. That’s to write the last word,
and then the editing and polishing begins.
You work for yourself and
your baby daughter is home all day most days. How do you cope with writing and
juggling the demands of all your other commitments?
By the skin of my teeth! Honestly, I don’t know how I do it. Some
days I feel like I’m going to lose my mind, and other days are a breeze – those
are usually the days where I’ve got enough sleep the night before! It helps
that my husband looks after our daughter during the day, but, if he needs to go
to work, then I take over and work in the hours that evening. My mom takes our
daughter for the day once a week too, which helps a lot. As far as possible, I
allocate mornings and early afternoons to work, and late afternoons to writing
or marketing my books. I fit in doing dishes, vacuuming, mopping floors, shopping,
family visits, bathing and eating whenever there’s a gap, and tend to fall
asleep on the couch most nights!
Do you have any pets?
We have a cat and three dogs – a German shepherd, a rottweiler and a
shepweiler – all of which could more accurately be described as my children.
What’s your favourite
flower?
A white lily.
Where can readers purchase
Wizard of Ends?
Wizard of Ends, Book 1 will be published at Smashwords
on 9 October – this week Thursday. I will also be making Wizard of Ends, Book 2: Dark Creature available on pre-order at
Smashwords on the same day – the official release date is 23 October, so
readers won’t have long to wait. Shortly thereafter, the books will be
available for free download (Book 1) and pre-order (Book 2) from other
retailers, including Barnes & Noble and iBooks.
About Vanessa Finaughty
Vanessa grew up in Cape Town, and still lives there with her husband
of fifteen years, her baby daughter and plenty of furry, four-legged
‘children’.
Her passion for the written word started her career as an editor and
copywriter, and she part-ran a writers’ critique group for close on seven
years. She’s been writing ever since she learnt how, has always been an avid
reader, and currently lives on coffee and cigarettes.
Her interests include reading, photography, the supernatural, life’s
mysteries and martial arts, of which she has five years’ experience.
Follow
Vanessa’s Wizard of Ends virtual book
tour for fantastic giveaways and discounts, and a plethora of interesting
topics.
Follow Vanessa’s blog
Follow Vanessa on Twitter
Follow Vanessa on Smashwords
Follow Vanessa on Barnes & Noble
Follow Vanessa’s blog
Follow Vanessa on Twitter
Follow Vanessa on Smashwords
Follow Vanessa on Barnes & Noble
Great interview(and yes, I finally took a break from running around like a headless chicken to actually start following the blog tour)!
ReplyDeleteHowever, I'm not sure I agree that you don't have to do ANY research for writing fantasy. Sure, it's a whole lot less than in any other genre, but I have certainly spent many hours trying to figure out if you can actually break a man's shoulder with a well-placed kick ;)
Hi Michelle. I'm passing on Vanessa's reply, as she's unable to post comments here for some reason. She says: Hmmm yes, now that you mention it, I've done similar research - in fact, I just remembered I had to research rabies for Wizard of Ends. My bad!
Delete