Summary: Christian A. Brown is the best-selling author of the critically acclaimed Feast of Fates (the first book in the genre bending Four Feasts until Darkness series.) It received a Kirkus Star Review in 2014. He’s appeared on AM 640, Daytime Rogers, and Get Bold Today with LeGrande Green. He actively writes a blog about his mother’s journey with cancer and gender issues in the media.<br> Originally, Christian was a personal trainer. When his mother was diagnosed with non-Hodgkins lymphoma in 2010 he became her primary caregiver. Being a long-term caregiver gave Christian an abundance of free time and nothing to do with it. So he dug out the manuscript that he’d been working on for about a decade and decided to actually finish the thing. That manuscript eventually became <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00NMFX03Y/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?ie=UTF8&btkr=1" target="_blank">Feast of Fates</a>.<br> Christian’s self-publishing journey is fascinating. In this podcast we talk about working with an editor, getting a publicist, and some of the mistakes he has made on his journey.<br> Here are some of the takeaways:<br> <br> * Create a schedule for writing and do it every day.<br> * Even if you only have a little bit of time be consistent and committed to your writing.<br> * When in doubt just sit down and do the work.<br> * Writing isn’t always creative and inspired. Sometimes you just have to force the prose out.<br> * The importance of finding an editor.<br> * As a professional writer, you need to get over your sensitivity to criticism.<br> * You only have one chance to make a good first impression.<br> * You have to believe in yourself.<br> * When you self publish you have control over every aspect of your product.<br> * It’s important to think of your novel as a product because that’s what it is.<br> * Don’t run an advertising campaign unless you have more than one book, or you have money to burn. Advertising campaigns can get expensive really fast.<br> * Build your platform. Have an email list. Choose your social media channels and attack them.<br> * Every author should have a primary editor.<br> * Another place to spend some money is to hire a visual artist.<br> * If you’re not a web designer you should hire one to build your website.<br> * It’s best to run an ad campaign when you’re book is selling well. Then your advertising will magnify its success.<br> * The Kirkus review was a wise investment.<br> * When you write a good book you’re going to get some bad reviews.<br> * When you blog aim for consistency. You never know when people discover you. Over time your blog readership will increase.<br> * Encourage other artists.<br> * Every author is fighting for visibility. Try different things and see what works.<br> * Try engaging on Facebook with images rather than just plain text.<br> * Bookbub will probably reject you at least once before you get accepted. Keep trying. They are an extremely valuable resource to expand your audience.<br> * Once you develop your brand a publicist can be valuable for getting you into media that you wouldn’t be able to get into yourself.<br> * BookBub can help you outsell massively popular traditionally published authors.<br> * Believe in yourself.<br> * There’s enough success in the world for everyone.<br> <br> Links and Resources Mentioned in the Interview<br> <a href="http://www.getboldtoday.com/" target="_blank">Get Bold Today</a> — a wellness podcast with LeGrande Green.<br> <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000FC0SIM/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?ie=UTF8&btkr=1" target="_blank">Stephen King’s On Writing</a> — a memoir with some important nuggets of writing advice from one of the most successful authors of all time.<br> <a href="http://christianadrianbrown.com/" target="_blank">Christian’s website</a> ...
