Welcome Author Jim Lindsey

Today I am pleased to interview author Jim Lindsey.

‘A Flaw in the Fabric, Book 1 of A Travellers Guide for Lost Souls’

Historical fantasy, romance, time travel, a monk, a demon and ghosts (lost souls.)

1. You first came out with an ebook, and now a traditional publisher will publish your works in print? Which publisher is it & what works of yours will they publish?

Arcadia House Press of Halifax, Nova Scotia will be publishing my novel The Flaw in the Fabric (Book 1 of A Travellers Guide for Lost Souls), and Rowga (The Yoga of Rowing), a book of advice for meditators who don’t want to sit in stuffy little incense-filled rooms but would rather venture out on the ocean, which is like the great expanse of mind.

2. When will your books in print be available?

Later this year. The publisher has not set a firm date yet.

3. Tell us all how this came about? I know our readers would like to hear your success so that they can be encouraged about publishing their ebooks.

I’ll take that question, Sharon (Leigh Anne speaking.) When Jim finished his manuscript in January, he asked if I could help him find a literary agent since I’d been going to writers’ events where I was meeting agents and learning about establishing a writers’ platform. First, I pitched an agent that is interested in my futuristic thriller. She took a look at the first 10 pages, but she turned his work down. After attending the San Francisco Writers Conference in February, where I was able to meet dozens of agents, I was very discouraged that it was the same old same old: line up line cattle to pitch an agent who then swats you down like a pesky pest. It made us both discouraged that this old-school method of publishing might be the only route for us, particularly when ebooks were making great strides. Despite our concerns about jumping off into the abyss, we decided it was best to publish Lost Souls as an ebook.

Within the first month of publishing his ebook, a traditional publisher picked his book up to bring out in print later this year! ( Arcadia House Publishing of Halifax http://bit.ly/ma2qpo.)

4. Where would you recommend authors to submit their ebooks? (such as Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing? Smashwords? Google? Barnes and Noble? Apple’s ebookstore)

I recommend going the Smashwords and Kindle route first. Both Amazon and Smashwords have excellent author support. Amazon is the biggest currently as a seller of ebooks and Smashwords is the up and coming new heavyweight.

5. What’s your advice or tips you can share to aspiring writers to help them finish their work & get published?

Have confidence and get feedback. Don’t bet the bank on your book just because you would like to be an author, but because there are indications you have what it takes. Get your friends to review, enter competitions, do readings. If you really are good, it will become evident. Don’t depend totally on what you hear, but don’t bull your way ahead either if you haven’t really got what it takes. As to how to finish, you’ve got to love your book, and you’ve got to trust the process. I never worried while beginning my Lost Souls series whether I would have anything to say in the morning. I just woke up, picked up my notebook or my laptop, and waited for my characters to get something going. And they never let me down.

6. What made you go the ebook route?

It’s a whole new era of publishing, ebooks and indie epublishing (as opposed to self-publishing where you absorb the costs to bring the book out in print.) Smashwords, Kindle, Nook, Sony, Google and others now rule the publishing industry. It’s the ability to read books on virtually any platform that removes the blockade to reading for millions worldwide. It’s a tsunami, a ‘sea storm’ this world of epublishing, crashing down on the heads of traditional publishing. The people, not some arbitrary agent or person within a publishing house, decide what they want to read. That’s why I chose that name for my business, SeaStorm Press.

7. A Travellers Guide came out in March and now you have another ebook just released this month called ‘Snapshots from the In Between, a Companion Volume of verse to A Travellers Guide for Lost Souls.’ Tell us more about that book, what your pricing is and where people can buy it.

The fictional series looks into what it is like to be stuck between lives. Snapshots are poems about the same thing. Little cameos, sometimes by actual characters from Lost Souls, sometimes not, but always with that haunting quality of no longer being either here or there. Perhaps you have experienced this yourself, even though you are alive at this point and seemingly know exactly where you are.

$1.99 to 2.99 seems to be a good price range for a new author like Jim who has been published in other categories, like non-fiction and poetry. He’s won awards. He’s worked at a few newspapers. This is not his first stab at being published. Some well-known authors price their books at $5.99 & $9.99. We didn’t want to start out that high as Jim is relatively unknown, nor did we want to have it as low as $1.99, or 99 cents - or even free as some suggest a first ebook be. Mark Coker (founder of Smashwords) suggested at a recent meeting of the Redwood Writers (the largest branch of the California Writers Club) trying different levels of pricing, offering coupons and giveaways if the ebook isn’t selling well. That’s what we’re starting to do now, offer coupons that Smashwords helps you generate. I’m now looking into special programs that Amazon offers.

Available this month is the companion volume of verse, Snapshots of the In-Between which we will bring out at 99 cents or free to help generate more interest in Lost Souls.

8. Tell us more about your blog “Rowga – The Yoga of Rowing.”

Sitting meditation came into being at a time in the world when people were mostly always physically busy. To actually sit down and do nothing but be with one’s mind made a contrast that brought realization. These days we are mostly always sitting already, involved in endless thinking and getting no exercise at all. The body is the temple that bears the crystal ball of the mind. If we let it fall apart, the ball falls into the dust. We have to take care of our bodies. Rowing on the ocean gives us meditation, exercise and (yes, I’m not afraid to say it) fun at the same time, and is affordable because rowing vessels are inexpensive, and good for the earth because no engines or exhaust fumes are involved. The blogs, which will become the book, lay out the actual method for accomplishing this.

9. How long have you been writing?

I published my first short story in my elementary school’s literary magazine. I believe I was in the sixth grade. That works out to something in the way of decades, or a long time.

10. What have you been writing over the years?

Almost everything. Fiction, poetry, journalism, technical writing, and now a book about a spiritual path.

11. Do you have a favorite type of writing?

Some favorite types, perhaps. I certainly prefer fiction, poetry, and rowga to journalism and technical writing.

12. What’s your writing education and experience?

I have an M. A. in Creative Writing from Boston University, was once runner-up for the United States Poetry Award, have been a reporter for three newspapers, have had four books of poetry published (counting Snapshots), as well as several short stories, and have been a fellow at the Provincetown Fine Arts Work Centre.

13. I understand you have finished your first episode (also called a podiobook), for broadcast on Smashword’s partner Podiobooks.com website. What did it take to create that?

First and foremost, a love of reading aloud and a talent for rendering character voices. Then some attention to elocution and a few years on the stage. Then a good microphone and a whole lot of hours learning how to use it and Audacity (the recording software). Then the patience to thoroughly edit the recordings and find the right music for the intro, outro and background.

14. Tell us more about Podiobooks & what they do for authors.

Smashwords’ partner Podiobooks.com offers to broadcast podiobooks, episodes, on a weekly basis. Listeners can choose to receive episodes via an RSS feed or by directly downloading episodes. As Podiobooks’ website say, “Some listeners keep the audio files on their computers, some transfer the book to CD, but most transfer the file on to their MP3 player so they can listen no matter where they are.”

Why are these free? Many authors do this to get exposure for their work, others do it in the hopes you'll buy a physical copy of their current or perhaps next work in development. There is an option for listeners to donate money to the author of your choice. Authors receive 75% of all the proceeds from the donations from listeners. The smaller portion goes to the maintenance and upkeep of Podiobooks.com.

15. Will there be other venues where you will distribute that reading and your other podcasts? Which ones?

We’re looking into Audible, iTunes and the like.

16. What can you tell us about your epublisher, SeaStorm Press?

(Leigh Anne) SeaStorm Press is a North San Francisco Bay indie epublisher and emarketer of fantasy & sci-fi ebooks. Later this year, on SeaCast Radio I’ll be interviewing speculative fiction authors about their craft.

17. Why Nova Scotia?

I wanted a place to settle down where I could afford to live by the sea, and because it was said to be a good idea by Chogyam Trungpa, a Tibetan teacher who came to America.

18. I understand you are a Buddhist. How long have you been one? And what is it you have taught/teach?

As an actual Buddhist who has taken refuge, 26 years. I teach openness, spaciousness, and relaxation. I teach that everything you need you already have.

19. What can you say to those who wish to learn how to meditate?

Try it before you buy it.

20. What’s one Buddhist teaching that you can share?

You will never change your mind simply by thinking about it. You have to actually take the time to make friends. Mind is not just thoughts. You have to go beyond concept, beyond self, and there you will discover freedom from delusion and compassion for your fellow beings.

21. There are Japanese and Tibetan Buddhists and a variety of areas of teaching within each. Which one are you involved in?

My root guru is Tibetan. However, he said we live in a time when it is better to unify than divide. He took us straight back to the teachings of the Budda, beyond sectarianism.

22. Tell us again where people can buy your books and any last comments you have. Thank you.

My publisher, SeaStorm Press, will tell you where you can buy my books. My last comment is to take the time now to know your mind. Otherwise when it comes time to die, you will be terrified.

(Leigh Anne) Please go to Amazon, Smashwords, Scribd, Barnes & Noble, Google Books and type in Jim Lindsey or Lost Souls. Soon, via Smashwords’ Premium Catalogue, it will be available from Apple’s ebookstore, Sony’s and other international resellers.

SeaStorm is publishing a Daily News digest on the writing and publishing industry. Send me an email to subscribe to this free, informative daily paper. LeighAnne@seastormpress.com. You can find Saturday’s edition here: http://bit.ly/izGm5j

Jim Lindsey is a writer, actor, sailor, photographer, blues singer, Buddhist and Texan living in Nova Scotia with family in California, Colorado, Texas, and Germany. His first book, In Lieu of Mecca, published by University of Pittsburgh Press, was runner-up for the United States Poetry Award. His second, The Difficult Days, translations of poems by Roberto Sosa of Honduras, came out with Princeton University Press. His short short story Message from the Thirteenth Floor took first place in Grain Magazine of Saskatchewan’s annual literary competition. He has an M. A. in Creative Writing from Boston University and was a fellow at the Provincetown Fine Arts Workshop on Cape Cod. While living aboard a small sailboat in San Francisco Bay, Lindsey worked as a technical writer and undertook a decade of Buddhist practice and study, at the end of which he moved to Nova Scotia in search of a better lifestyle. Now a dual citizen of the U. S. and Canada, he has lived for sixteen years in Prospect, a seaside village near Halifax.

You can listed to an audio podcast at:

http://jimTlindsey.com/audio.

Sharon – thank you for having us. We certainly appreciate the quality of your site and interviews.