Hi again and welcome to the next fascinating interview in the popular series, Secrets of Best-Selling Self-Published Authors.
This interview is with the very interesting Armand Rosamilia. Armand is
a staunch indie author who has been at the coal-face of digital
publishing for many years. Along the way he has written many great
horror books and has supported and implemented many initiatives in the
indie publishing world, especially in his favorite field of zombie
horror fiction. Anyway, make sure you
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information (there is a link with a special offer at the end of this
interview if you'd rather get straight into it). Here he is, the
talented Mr Armand Rosamilia.
Do you think that your life experience has gone some way towards
making you a successful author in your chosen genre? Where do you get your
inspiration from for your writing and for the way you brand yourself as an
author?
I think life is definitely a
great motivator for writing, and especially for my horror work. I use an old
joke that I’ve killed my ex-wives over and over in stories, and it isn’t far
from the truth. I can channel some of the negatives from my past and find
closure in horrible thoughts and people. And kill them. In a story.
You write across a number of different genres, how important do you
think diversification is for the survival and success of an indie author?
Build the Brand that is you. I am
a horror author who’s had much success writing zombie books. I also write
horror erotica, erotica, thrillers, contemporary fiction, ghostwritten a
military romance… as long as you stay true to your voice you’re just writing a
story with horror or thriller or erotica elements to it. The reader needs to
love your writing style and voice first and foremost.
If you could pinpoint one thing in particular that has grabbed
readers of your work, what would you say it is? I.e. what is it about your
books that keeps your readers coming back for more?
I’d like to think the
readers care about my characters and not just the main ones. They are invested
in what happens to these people. They cheer for the ‘good guys’ and sneer at
the ‘bad guys’ although sometimes it’s hard to tell who is really who. My
favourite compliment was from a reader who read my “Dying Days” zombie book and
said she dislikes zombie books and at a few points forgot it was a zombie book
because the characters are so interesting.
Is there a particular moment in your career as an author that
you realized that you had done something right to get where you are now? Can
you pinpoint what it was that spiked your success to date?
I believe in Karma and
helping others. I learned through trial and error simply yelling ‘buy my book,
buy my book’ might get you a few initial sales but it pisses off many, many
potential readers. I sell more books by helping other authors now, like my two
massive zombie blog tours each year, Winter of Zombie and Summer of Zombie. I
also love guest posts on my blog, I belong to several re-tweet groups and I
collect author-signed books for soldiers in remote areas called Authors
Supporting Our Troops. I am a mentor to a couple of new authors and try to
answer every question anyone asks. I also do two podcasts on Project iRadio
interviewing other authors to promote them.
You formed your own publishing company (Rymfire Books) to
independently publish your books – would you advise other authors to set-up a
publishing company to publish their own books, or do you think that the same
results can be achieved by a self-published author without forming a publishing
company?
Rymfire Books was
formed by a man who had money and thought he’d get rich in the publishing
business about 5 years ago. He put out my book and some anthologies, got bored
and handed it to me. I put out a few anthologies and some of my work but it got
to be too much work. I sold the anthologies to Charon Coin Press, who does an
excellent job with the “State of Horror” series. I concentrate on my
self-published work through it now. In today’s world no one cares if you are
self-published and don’t hide behind a pseudo-publishing name. I kept Rymfire
Books around because I like the name…
You have collaborated with many different authors, do you think
that collaboration is key to growing your audience or do you just enjoy working
with other writers on projects?
Both. I really enjoyed
working with Jay Wilburn, Brent Abell and Jack Wallen on the “Hellmouth”
trilogy. I just finished the first book in “The Shocker” trilogy with Frank
Edler. I’m also writing 3 other projects with other authors I can’t talk about
just yet. It helps grow the audience because you get your name in front of
other readers who might not know who you are, and it is a fun challenge to see
if you can work with someone else and if your ideas mesh.
You have your own radio/web show – is this part of your
promotional strategy or is it just something you enjoy doing? I.e. would you do
it if you weren’t an author and/or do you utilize it to help publicize your work
to some degree?
I used to do a local
radio show for about a year and loved it. Another author and I would talk about
writing and have authors guests on but it became too much work for me to travel
to the studio. The easiest move for me was doing a podcast, because I’d been
interviewed on a few and loved the experience. It goes back to helping others
and, in turn, helping yourself. I get to talk to other authors about their
work, who they publish with, the craft and business part of writing, and anything
else I want to learn about. I do it because I love to talk ‘shop’ as well.
You
have been writing for many years now and have remained staunchly independent
for the most part - what kind of marketing did/do you do to establish your
author brand and in your opinion (in light of your experience), what do you
think is the most successful marketing for self-published authors?
I can’t stress enough to help other authors. We are in this
together. There is no competition because readers don’t read one book a year.
They want to read all of the interesting ones. As far as marketing [goes], I
will try anything once, but don’t put too much stock in running expensive ads.
I’ve never seen a return on them. Word of mouth and having so many releases out
(150+ to date) keeps me out there. I believe in building you as a brand
naturally and just being yourself. It’s what sells more books for me than
anything else.
Are
you a trend-watcher in terms of what’s selling and what’s not? Do you write for
the market in any genre you might not necessarily enjoy reading? I.e. do you
think that successful indie authors should be prepared to write genre fiction
in order to pay the bills?
I think you need to choose your path based on what you
think is important. I write book adaptations of movies for a Hollywood company,
and it pays the bills most months. It also allows me to write what I want to
write and not worry too much about what pays the bills. I think chasing a trend
is worthless because by the time you finish your ’50 Shades of Twilight’ book,
the market has moved on to something else. And you’re stuck with a book a
reader can tell you weren’t 100% committed to writing.
How
important are ‘series’ books to your success as a self-published author?
Very important. My “Dying Days” series is easily my biggest
seller, but I have many series going right now. I think a reader wants to
immerse themselves in a world or setting they enjoy and keep reading about
these characters. I know I always do.
Do
you design your own covers? How important do you think cover design is to a
potential reader and how big a part do you think it has played in your success
to date?
I learned early on I was horrible at making covers. I
mostly use Ash Arceneaux for my covers, especially my zombie stuff. She also
now does the Hollywood book covers, too. You truly judge a book by it’s cover.
so it better be great.
In
your opinion, is traditional publishing on the way out? Do you think that
traditional publishing can continue to keep up with the rise of
self-publishing?
I don’t think we’ll ever see it truly die. It will
eventually adapt but still lag behind independent publishing, in my opinion.
But who really knows? So much has changed in the last four years since I began
writing full-time. Would I work with a traditional publisher? Of course. As
long as the deal was good. I do a mix of self-pub and small-press publishing
right now. I work with as many different models as I can to get my work into as
many reader’s hands as possible.
Would
you ever consider signing all your books to a traditional publishing house or
will you always manage some of your titles yourself through self-publishing?
I enjoy self-publishing and the marketing and everything
that comes with it, like 70% royalty and doing it on my own schedule. But I
wouldn’t be opposed to having some of my titles with a major publisher in hopes
it would open up my readership for my independent work as well.
Have
you ever used free book promotions? Do you think they are a worth-while marketing
tool for self-published authors? If so/not – why?
I have done free giveaways in the past and they used to
work quite well, but I think it’s no longer a viable option long-term unless
you have a real reason and plan for it. For instance, my “Darlene Bobich:
Zombie Killer” eBook is perma-free. It’s the prequel to my “Dying Days” zombie
series, and once I put it as free I saw a huge rise in sales of the series. It
gets people in to read me and they seem to like it enough to pay 99 cents for
the first “Dying Days” book and $2.99 for 3 through 5 (I’m writing 6 and it
will be out in early 2016).
Do
you feel there’s a good sense of community within the self-publishing industry?
I do. For the most part, people are trying to help one another.
Sharing blog posts, mentioning fellow authors who would be good for my
podcasts, recommending other writer’s books and just being friendly to other
authors and fans.
What would you say is the single biggest advantage of deciding to
self-publish?
The freedom to not worry about
deadlines and contracts and when/if you’ll get royalties. Again, I’m lucky
because I have several different revenue streams so I can better balance the
sporadic royalty checks from small-presses with my monthly Amazon payments and
my movie payments.
Are
there things you feel as though you missed out on by not going down the
traditional publishing route (working alongside an editor, for example)?
I think working with a major editor once in my life is on
my bucket list. I want to see through their eyes what my work is like. I think
if I’d gone through a traditional publishing route and was accepted I’d
potentially have a ton of new and different readers, but I have enjoyed the
path I’m on and wouldn’t trade all of this fun for a big paycheck… unless we’re
talking six zeroes at the end!
You use social media a lot and interact with your readership – how
important do you think this is to becoming a success as a self-published
author?
It has made all the difference. I
am usually not a very social guy in real life. I get panic attacks in crowds.
Author Brian Keene said it best at a convention I recently attended with him:
‘I turn on the writing persona when I’m out of the house so I can interact with
others’ and I thought it was fitting. Online I can have fun, answer questions,
support others and have a great time.
Your books are published both independently and
traditionally – do you think it is a crucial way of staying afloat as an
independent author to have more than one income or publishing option? I.e. do
you think that the successful self-published author needs to be prepared to
work alongside traditional publishers in order to maximize their readership and
income?
I never want
to put all my eggs in one basket. Like I’ve said, I want to diversify my
revenue streams (it sounds impersonal but this is a business and I do pay my
bills with it) and see what other ways I can make money and get more readers. Audio-books
are beginning to pick up for me, too. If there’s a new way to market and sell
your work I want to check it out.
Are
you in regular contact with other self-published authors and how important was
any input you may have received early on in your career? Do you have a
mentor in terms of your self-publishing success – someone who may have inspired
you to ‘give it a go’?
When I first got serious about writing I asked many
questions of author Scott Nicholson, and read the entire blog of JA Konrath. I
am in contact with so many self-published authors because we help one another,
I do the book drive, the podcasts, the blog tours, the guest posts, etc. etc.
It gives me great pleasure when an author asks me questions and I’m able to help
them.
Where to from here? Are you currently represented by an agent and are you working
with any publishers on future projects?
I have an agent
interested in one of my horror novels. Nothing definite yet. I’m always working
on 5-7 projects at a time, and should have at least 4 of my short stories
released before the year ends in anthologies as well as a dozen of my self-pub
releases. Shopping 2 different book series right now to small-presses and
finishing the first books in 3 more by year’s end. I like to keep busy.
Can
you offer any advice to fellow writers if you could go back in time and “do it
all over?” What’s your top tip for other indie authors?
Read. A lot. Make time for it. Then start writing and never
stop. It doesn’t matter if it sucks. Finish stories. Keep writing.
Finally, thanks for sharing your thoughts on self-publishing. Where is
the best place for readers to find your books?
I am everywhere on social media (Facebook,
Twitter, LinkedIn, etc.) and just search my name and you’ll find me.
My blog is http://armandrosamilia.com
My podcasts are on
ProjectiRadio.com http://www.projectiradio.com/shows/arm-cast-podcast/
E-mail me at armandrosamilia@gmail.com if you
have a question or just want to chat!
Make
sure you check out Armand's wicked books and subscribe to his blog and
podcasts. See you soon for the next interview with up-and-coming indie
horror/thriller star, Jeremy Bates.
