I'm lucky (or cunning) enough to have lured yet another successful writer over to my blog for an SAT - Successful Author Talk. SAT authors have conquered the query, slain the synopsis and attained the pinnacle of published. How'd they do it? Let's ask 'em!

Today’s guest for the SAT is Garon Whited, who has written novels and various short stories and shows no signs of stopping. His first book, Nightlord: Sunset, features a human physics teacher who is turned into a vampire against his will and proceeds to go on fantastical adventures.

Are you a Planner or Pantster?

Yes!

I have a definite plan on what’s going to happen and where it’s going.  Unlike a Dad driving the kids somewhere specific on a road trip, I’ll detour on the way to Disneyland to visit roadside attractions and have no problem with stopping for ice cream.  Then I explore that narrow little lane that nobody seems to ever go down, find the dilapidated old house, meet the wizened old man who never seems to do any maintenance around the place except for the pristine fountain in the back yard, find the portal to a magical world through the water, and eventually save the kingdom from—

Hang on.  This was a different question.  Uh… I plan the story, yes, but I’ll also follow where the characters want to go on the way.

How long does it typically take you to write a novel, start to finish?

It depends on the novel. The Nightlord novels are big, heavy tomes, usually around a third of a million words or more.  Those take about a year. Dragonhunters is my shortest one, to date, and it took a couple of months.

Do you work on one project at a time, or are you a multi tasker?

I prefer to work on one project at a time.  I like to focus on the people and events in the story rather than be distracted and confused by other stories.  It does no one any good if I keep thinking Sir Edwin of Barrowdale is a knight on horseback in the high fantasy story when he’s really the elderly guy in a dressing-gown, puttering around his library.

Although, come to think of it, he might very well be hallucinating being the knight in the high fantasy story… hang on.  I need to make notes…

Did you have to overcome any fears that first time you sat down to write?

Yes. Fear of failure, fear of criticism, fear of success… and if you don’t think you can be afraid of success, you haven’t thought about it.

How many trunked books (if any) did you have before you were agented?

I’m still not agented!  I’m an indie author. I wouldn’t mind being traditionally published, but I’m not going to waste my time hunting for an agent and dealing with deadlines when I have stories to write. I did try that route, but I have enough faith in my own writing to turn it loose on the world without an agent.

I think I’m justified. I’m making a living at it.

Have you ever quit on an ms, and how did you know it was time?

No, I never have. Even if it never turns into its own story, it will still become part of another one. Maybe it means there’s a particular character in story #2 that has a LOT of unnecessary background… but is that a bad thing? 

I don’t have to put all of it into the second story. But I know the character, I know their situation, I know why they do what they do—because they were part of another story the reader will not see. Like an old castle, torn down and buried, acts as a foundation for the new castle, the old story give the new one something to build on.

Any advice to aspiring writers out there on conquering query hell?

While I did seek an agent for some time, what I learned was: They want to represent someone.  Maybe not you, but they do want to represent someone. They’re in it as a business. Rejections aren’t personal. They are judgments, yes, but the judgment is “Is this person producing stuff I feel is commercially viable?”

You can write the most beautiful story since Gilgamesh, but if they don’t think it’ll sell, they won’t represent you.

On the other hand, bear in mind there’s someone out there who will see your story for what it’s worth and work with you to put it in everyone’s library. Persistence—while you keep on writing—means you’ll eventually find each other.

How did it feel the first time you saw your book for sale?

“I did that.  Whatever else I’ve done or haven’t done, I did that.”

How much of your own marketing do you? 

I try not to do marketing. I don’t want to spend my time as a marketer; I want to spend my time as a writer! I do have a website, complete with book listings and free stories, but I don’t think I can call it a blog. I’m also on Twitter and Facebook.

When do you build your platform? After an agent? Or should you be working before?

I tend to think a platform is something you build from the first instant you decide to write. It starts with a few nails—your friends and family—and you gradually acquire lumber. (The things you write.) The more lumber you have, the more nails you get, the more platform you have, and, lo, you have a very nice deck out back. I think bringing this to the table when finding an agent is a strong positive. 

Do you think social media helps build your readership?

I do. I can’t really evaluate how much it helps; it’s not like I can go back in time and try again, this time without social media. But it does tell people I exist, and therefore tells them I write. If a thousand people see my picture and one of them decides to read a book, that’s someone I never had before—one more nail in the platform we’re all building, making it that much bigger, grander, and stronger, together.