Friday, July 19, 2013

Meet James Fox, Author of Dust Pan Girl

Dust Pan Girl by James Fox
$0.99 or FREE for Prime Members

A YOUNG GIRL IS STABBED IN THE DARK BY HER OWN FATHER. HER MOTHER RACES HER TO THE HOSPITAL ONLY TO FIND OUT SHE IS OKAY. SHE SAVED HERSELF BY CARRYING HER MOST PRIZED POSSESSION. AN OLD METAL DUSTPAN THAT SHE LOVES TO PLAY WITH IN HER COAT. THE STORY BRINGS TO THE SMALL TOWN OF HOOD RIVER OREGON A CON MAN OF UNQUESTIONABLE SKILL, WHO WILL EXPLOIT THE SITUATION FOR MONEY.








TEN QUESTION QUICKIE WITH AN INDIE

So we’re here with indie author James Fox talking about his novel DUST PAN GIRL.

Q1: What is your book about?
A: It’s about a young girl who pretends she is a superhero. One day she has to live up to her own imagination. She intervenes when her deranged father tries to get drug money from her mother. She gets stabbed and her mom takes her to the hospital. The doctors find out she is OK. She was carrying an old metal dustpan under her coat. The story quickly gets covered in the news and it attracts the attention of a con man. He exacerbates the situation for his own profit.

Q2: How did you come up with this story idea?
A: My daughter and I were cleaning up the kitchen. She was holding the dust pan while I was sweeping. She called herself DUST PAN GIRL and played with that dust pan for the rest of the day.

Q3: Can you tell us about your writing process?
A: I originally started this story in November 2011. I worked at a rough draft for four months whenever I got a chance. My wife and kids were out of town one weekend and I finished the last third of the book at once. Finishing a first draft is one of the best experiences of my life. From there I worked to revise the story and fixed plot holes. I went as far as I could with it, and then sent it to a professional editor. I got it back from him in fall 2012. 
 
Q4: Did you try to get an agent?
A: Yes I spent the next 8 months querying agents. I finally got some good feedback from some of them. What they told me was that it’s tough selling a book from someone unknown. Even if they thought it was a great story. (Which a few of them did.) 
 
Q5: What did you do next?
A: I decided to self-publish. I sent my book off to be converted into a Kindle .mobi. (Mostly as a time saver.) I then published it with Amazon.

Q6: Is it part of a series?
A: Yes it’s part of a trilogy. This first book is subtitled Book One: Puppets. It deals with manipulation. The second book will be subtitled Book Two: Statues. It is going to deal with indifference. The third book will be subtitled Book Three: The Dragon of Greed. You can probably guess the theme of that one.

Q7: How is your marketing going?
A: Some things I’ve tried and didn’t see any difference in sales. Twitter doesn’t seem to work much if at all. I have done some Facebook ads, and I saw more sales. I have another promotion with Kindle Nation Daily next month that I’m keeping my fingers crossed for. So far I’ve had over 600 downloads. So I feel like my book has some appeal.

Q8: Why do want to write books?
A: I’ve always loved writing and always wanted to write a book. I even had my 9th grade English teacher read it. I also put her in the dedication. I’m not really after money. I don’t expect to make back all the money I put into this. I just want people to read and enjoy my book.

Q9: What do want people to get out of your book?
A: More than anything I want them to enjoy themselves. I am only asking $.99 for purchasing the book, but I’m also asking for a considerable amount of time to read it. I gave this my best effort out of respect for readers.

Q10: Do you plan on staying an indie author?
A: Every author dreams of walking into a bookstore and seeing their book there. It would honestly be tough to say no to someone who gave me that opportunity. For me it doesn’t have to be a big chain, grocery store, or even an indie bookstore. I’d be happy walking into a Goodwill and seeing a beat up paperback on the shelf that I’d written.

All Right! Thanks for stopping by James. 

You can purchase DUST PAN GIRL on Amazon.

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