novels – Mindflight

Welcome to a new event on Mindflight called Friday Feature! Our first featured author is Angel Chadwick, who has a new novel out called “Weeping Well.” I was fortunate enough to be able to interview her, so without further ado, let’s get to the questions!

Hi Angel! Welcome to the Friday Feature. I was wondering, what made you want to start writing?

Hi, my name is Angel Chadwick! I’m a mom, reader, reviewer, an indie author of all genres, mainly mixed genres, plays, scripts, a bit of an inventor of business ideas to help disabled families and disabled communities. When I was thirteen, and I wrote a short story for an English assignment, got an A on it and my English teacher was so impressed with my writing ability she raved about it in class and encouraged me to continue writing. So I guess I owe it all to Mrs. Wilson, my English teacher who saw and appreciated my potential, a potential and ability I didn’t know I had. Before that the only creative things I ever did was sketch art and paper sculptures when I was ten, when I lost that skill, I thought my creativity was gone forever.

Interesting! Please name a book that shaped how you write, or influenced you, and share why.

I don’t have a particular book, since I have so many I find interest in and so many influence me, particularly classic literature, but Edgar Allan Poe is one of my favorite authors, Bret Harte, Tennessee Williams, Ralph Waldo Emerson, William Shakespeare the list goes on and on. So I guess those authors to name a few would be my influences as well as my own life experiences, thoughts, feelings and ideas about things in the world and about the world, but my works will always have literary influences from those authors of classic and English literature. I love classic literature, Shakespearean plays. The intensity, the sheer emotion in these authors’ works is what draws me in as an author, reader and fan.

What sort of books do you write?

I write all genres, particularly mixed genres. All my books have a wealth of diversity in them. I write mystery, thriller, romantic suspense, comedy, graphic novels, horror, speculative fiction, steampunk, plays, coming of age, new adult, young adult, cozy mysteries, action/adventure the list goes on and on, pretty much just about everything.

What is your latest book?

My latest novel is “Weeping Well” the first book in the four book series. I prefer write each book when doing a series as a standalone. The sequel is in the writing process, already plotted out.

What was the inspiration?

A lot of it arose from my own life experiences. I started writing it four years ago. I thought about tragedy, family, loss, pastimes so that’s how that came about.

What’s interesting/special about your book?

Lots of intricate plot twists, emotion, action and adventure, diversity and a unique concept.

Are you intending any sequels, or is it part of a series?

Yes, there are three more books coming soon in the “Weeping Well” series.

Where should people go if they want to find out more about you or your work?

Amazon, my Amazon Author Page, Goodreads Profile and blog, my Facebook Author Page, Wattpad.com.

Thank you, Angel, for joining us! I wish you the best of luck with your books and your writing career. It was a pleasure having you. Readers, if you’d like to see more about Angel Chadwick, please go here:

Amazon Author Page:

https://www.amazon.com/Mrs.-Angel-M.B.-Chadwick/e/B00O4KZI8Q/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1487722402&sr=8-1

Goodreads Author Profile and Goodreads Blog:

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/9476119.Angel_M_B_Chadwick

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/9476119.Angel_M_B_Chadwick/blog

Facebook Author Page:

https://www.facebook.com/angel.chadwick.10

Wattpad Profile Page:

https://www.wattpad.com/user/Amaboo

You can do it with all the equipment you are currently using at this very moment.

That’s right, just a computer, an internet connection, your brain, and your fingers. Let’s say you have a manuscript. It could be a novel, non fiction, book of poems, biography, cookbook, or whatever. If it’s polished and ready to see the light of day, you already have everything you need!

How can you do this without fancy software or paying publishing fees? Read on.

If you have your text ready, the first thing you will want to do is format it and make sure it includes all the bits you need. Author’s note, copyright, acknowledgements, etc etc. That’s not bad. Then you need to be able to convert it to PDF. One free software program can do all that and it’s called LibreOffice. It’s available for free, and works on Windows, Mac, and Linux. Just gGoogleit!

Many self publishing places want you to put your book in 6 by 9 inch format. That’s easy to do with Libre Office, you can set up the page size so it will automatically be in that size. And when you have your file exactly the way you want it, you can convert it to PDF through the “export to PDF” in the file menu. PDF format is good because it makes sure the book prints out exactly the way you have it set up.

But what about the cover? If you have some artistic or creative talent, you can do it in GIMP, another free program that works for Windows, Linux, or Mac. When you are done setting up the titling and everything, it will also export to PDF format.

Don’t want to draw your own cover? No problem, both of my favorite print on demand sites have a cover wizard that help you make a nice looking cover with very little work.

My favorite print on demand sites are CreateSpace and Lulu. Both support print on demand and ebook options. CreateSpace takes a bigger cut of the profits than Lulu does, but at the same time it gives you much wider distribution options. Both places will assign you an ISBN and let you keep all your own rights in case you should make it big. And neither charges anything for basic set up, they only make money if you sell a book. How much you need to charge to make a profit will depend on how many pages your book is.

My own novel, that I published last year, is 250 pages that are 6 by 9 inches in size. If I charge $14.99 for my book I make just over $5 in profit. That may not sound like much, but it’s a lot better than most authors get with traditional publishing. The Kindle edition makes me more, as I get about $4 per book if I charge $5.99. I like that anyway, because ebooks are great! If anyone would like to see my book, they can search “The Dice of Fate” in the CreateSpace or Kindle eStore.

So there you have it. I published my book and I didn’t pay a cent, and you can do it too.

Tag: novels

Featured Author – Angel Chadwick

How to publish a book without paying a cent