Author-2-Author with Bestselling Author Jeremy Robinson

P.O.D. (Print on demand) has revolutionized the publishing industry and opened doors for the striving authors of the world. Jeremy Robinson can attest to this.

Since first starting his literary career as a writer/illustrator for comic books, most notably for his comic Ralph, Jeremy has moved from writing screen plays, producing short films, and writing nonfiction, to currently writing fiction novels.

In 2005 Jeremy published his first novel, The Didymus Contingency, which became a Barnes&Nobles bestseller in short order. He then went on to publish his second novel, Raising the Past in 2006, and then his third in 2007 with Antarktos Rising. Recently, Jeremy has signed a three book deal with Thomas Dunne, an imprint of St. Martin´s Press, for his soon to publish three book series following a team of covert Delta Force members called the Chess Team.

C. L. Vaughn: Jeremy, I´d like to first thank you for the opportunity to conduct this interview with you. As a self published author myself, I can honestly say that it is an honor to speak with someone who has worked his way from self publishing to earning a traditional publishing contract.

I recently found your first novel, The Didymus Contingency, on Lulu.com and can´t wait to read it. I´ve noticed that it has done extremely well as a self published book. What were some of the things you did to help promote your novel?

Jeremy Robinson: I´ve tried just about everything I came across that was online and free, so it´s hard to peg exactly what worked best, but there are two things I think had the most impact. There are several programs on Amazon that authors can use to promote there books, things like Tags and So You´d Like To...Guides. At the time, creating Listmania lists did the trick, but Amazon has cracked down on authors putting their own book in Listmania lists, so it doesn´t work so well now. Other than that, there was a massive influx of word-of-mouth that spread quickly. The book has been selling steadily for the last two years now without me marketing it at all. So, word-of-mouth did the job and still is.

C. L. Vaughn: I read that with The Didymus Contingency you signed two foreign translation deals, in Romania and Bulgaria. How did that come about and what has the experience with foreign markets been like? How does it compare to the American markets?

Jeremy Robinson: The foreign deals have come about the same way all my other deals have. The publishers are contacting me. Word has reached them and they´re seeking me out. My agent (who also found and contacted me) handles the actual deal, but word has spread to the publishers without my, or my agent´s help. Romania and Bulgaria are small markets so the deals there, while nice, aren´t as large as domestic deals. I´ve recently landed deals in the Czech Republic, Thailand and Spain, with Spain being the most lucrative. That said, I know some foreign deals can outdo domestic deals, but I haven´t got one of those yet.

C. L. Vaughn: In an interview you conducted with P.O.D.Lings you said, "While non-fiction is good for the money aspect, it´s not nearly as satisfying for me personally," Has the nonfiction work you´ve published generated a larger cash flow than your fiction, and if so why do you think this is?

Jeremy Robinson: Non-fiction is traditionally easier to sell than fiction and if I had stuck with it, after the release of The Screenplay Workbook in 2003, I have no doubt I would have made more money along the way. But making tons of money has never been my goal. Telling stories is what I want to do. So I spent a few more years being a starving artist and now the hard work is paying off.

C. L. Vaughn: I´ve found that inspiration for a story can hit me anywhere anytime. I´ve had ideas pop into my head from things I hear on the radio to seeing a plump beaver walking down Main St, which was the basis of my children´s picture book manuscript ´No Place Like home´. What was the inspiration behind your novels?

Jeremy Robinson: I read a lot of science and nature magazines and many of my ideas are generated from the stories I read. I also pull a lot of concepts from the pages of the Bible, which for mainstream thrillers is an untapped resource that´s becoming less taboo. There are some amazing stories, places...and creatures in the Bible is you take it at face value. It´s all excellent fodder for fiction. This was what led to the stories told in The Didymus Contingency and Antarktos Rising.

C. L. Vaughn: I´ve seen that some authors can pump out a novel a month (mostly in the Romance genre) and others will toil for years before saying their finished. From start to finish, what is the average length of time it takes for you to complete a novel manuscript? What are your writing practices?

Jeremy Robinson: The Didymus Contingency took me three months, partly because it was based on a previously written screenplay. Raising the Past took only a month. Again, it was based on a previously written screenplay, but I was writing from 9AM to 11PM. Towards the end I was writing 25 pages in a day. That was before I had two kids. I still write pretty quickly, but it takes me about six months to write a novel now. Two a year is exactly what I want to be producing, though, so I´m happy. As for my writing habits, I tend to spend my mornings on the business of writing (marketing, pursuing deals, replying to e-mails, etc) and write in the afternoon. I spend about four hours a day writing.

C. L. Vaughn: How did you go from being a self published author to earning a publishing contract? Were you contacted by the publisher/agent or were you actively seeking publishers/agents at the time?

Jeremy Robinson: This is a long story, but I´ll try to break it down. In 2005 I published The Didymus Contingency. Two months later, at the height of the book´s sales, my agent saw the book doing well on Amazon and contacted me. I signed with him a week later. In 2006 I published Raising the Past. In 2007 I published Antarktos Rising. All the while we were able to get several foreign deals for all three books, but not a domestic deal. Then, in 2007, an editor from St. Martins saw my books doing very well on Amazon (see a pattern?) and contacted me. We began developing a series focusing on the Chess Team: King, Queen, Rook, Knight, Bishop and their handler, Deep Blue. This past December I wrote a 70 page sample of book one and it came out so good that St. Martins signed off on the series. It took me ten years of writing and three very intense years of marketing without a budget to land the deal. It´s probably the longest, hardest thing I´ve ever accomplished. And now I have to write the books!

C. L. Vaughn: How much research goes into your novels? Do you have any tips for us on researching for a novel?

Jeremy Robinson: I do a lot of research up front on the major topics covered in the books. I scour the internet, collect articles and buy non-fiction books on the topics. I´ve also managed to find a few willing consultants in the military and genetics fields. As I write the novel and new topics pop up I typically use the internet for researching details. As for a tip, the more you research ahead of time, the more believable a story will be. Do as much advance research as possible and leave the last minute stuff to filling in details.

C. L. Vaughn: I´ve found that creating a book trailer (video promotion) was a great way to help generate awareness about my soon to be finished novel, The Baltazara Plateau. What are your thoughts on the use of book trailers to help promote books?

Jeremy Robinson: I used book trailers for Raising the Past and Antarktos Rising. Based on the number of download direct from my website, my publishers website, Amazon and Youtube I can say for certain that people are certainly watching the videos. How much they contribute to sales is anyone´s guess, but they are being watched. Personally, I love watching video trailers for novels. The trick, as with everything in publishing, is to do a professional job. An amateur video will only convince the person watching that the book is amateur too.

C. L. Vaughn: Since your publishing contract, have you been able to write fulltime or are you still working at job ´A´ and writing on the side?

Jeremy Robinson: I was actually able to be a full time writer before my St. Martins deal. My three POD books did well enough, combined, to support my family, though just barely. It was a struggle, but a small price to pay for fulfilling my dreams. That´s the key to success, I think. Be dirt poor for ten years and you´ll have the motivation and time pursue your dreams.

C. L. Vaughn: Have you ever attended a writer´s conference and if so, did you find it worthwhile? Any tips for authors who plan on attending conferences?

Jeremy Robinson: I have actually never been to a writers conference. I plan on attending some now, but I chose to avoid conferences, writers groups, message boards and the like so I could focus totally on writing. Besides, being a starving artist makes travel and conferences pretty much impossible to attend.

C. L. Vaughn: Thank you again for this opportunity, I´m truly glad that I found your work and look forward to reading your novels. I wish you the best of luck on your journey in writing. I hope you enjoyed this little interview and that we stay in touch afterwards.

Jeremy Robinson: You´re very welcome. If anyone wants to find out more about my books and other developments, please visit www.jeremyrobinsononline.com or check me out on myspace at: www.myspace.com/sciencethriller.