I would like to welcome Charles E. Yallowitz, author of the Legends of Windemere fantasy series and other works such as The Hopeteller. Charles’ latest book, The Compass Key, has recently been published on Amazon Kindle.

Thank you to Sue Vincent for giving me an opportunity to be a guest on her blog. My name is Charles E Yallowitz and I am the Indie Author behind the fantasy adventure series Legends of Windemere. Sue sent me the following questions that cover a wide range of aspects of being an Indie Author. After all, those of us who go outside of the traditional route are author, editor, publisher, promoter, and whatever other role that needs to be filled at a moment’s notice.

Where do you get your inspiration for your characters?

My characters come from various sources, but the heroes in Legends of Windemere stem from a Dungeons & Dragons game. All of them have challenged a lot since that time since things that work in one medium don’t really work in the other. For example, rolling dice is how action success/failure is determined in a game while an author chooses the best option for a book’s story. There’s also less of a focus on subplots in a game, which is where a lot of character depth and development come from in a book.

Outside of Legends of Windemere, I’ve taken inspiration from dreams, video games, movies, and books. I leave myself open to whatever catches my imagination’s attention. This used to be basing all my main characters off friends, but I ran into a problem when I ran out of people in the real world. Having two heroes based on the same person led to them coming out very similar, so I limited that practice to minor, one-time supporting characters.

How much do they write the book for you?

My characters tend to be rather pushy, which many people think is strange since they’re fictional beings. The thing is that I plan out events and have a general idea of where I want things to go in a story. My planning stage rarely factors in character personalities, so I might get to a scene and realize I put the wrong hero in there. Other times it’s that an event doesn’t happen the way it should, but it’s still right according to the established character.

This has a lot to do with the mentality of a plotter author. When you’re doing an outline or jotting down simple notes for the day, you’re using your own mentality. Then you get into actually writing the scene and it goes entirely differently. These are things I wouldn’t notice when in my own mindset instead of the character’s persona. For example, there are times where I want a fight to be drawn out and epic. I sit down to write the scene and realize that the main character is either too strong or not in the mood to do anything other than a quick finish. I wouldn’t say that the resulting scene is bad because it works for the character and the tone of the book.

What can writers do to help increase sales?

I would love to stand here and declare a perfect answer to this question. The truth is that I don’t hold the magic key to decent sales. I get them by doing a lot of marketing and utilizing social media on a daily basis. Yet I know authors who do very little promotion for their book and they leave me in the dust. So anything I say is opinion from personal experience and may not work for everyone.

I do think interviews, guest blogs, and social media are important even if you do only one or two posts/statuses/tweets a week. The rise of the Indie Author through Amazon, Smashwords, and other sites has made a thick sea of books for readers to get through. I’m not talking about traditionally published books here, but a mountain of Indie Authors awaits any reader who wants to search for an unknown gem. You really have to do something to bring even a smidgen of attention to your book. This can be as simple as having an amazing cover or as complicated as a 2-3 month marketing plan. The key is to make yourself stand out a bit. The method is up to you, but I always suggest experimenting until you find a system that is comfortable. After all, you won’t give off an air of confidence if you’re uncomfortable doing something and that positive aura can draw readers in.

How important are reviews to authors?

Many Indie Authors call them the lifeblood of their career because a review means you’ve gained some recognition. Though we really mean positive reviews when we talk about them this way. Nobody likes getting a negative critique, especially on a public forum where many potential readers go by the overall star rating. Still, you might be able to get something out of those 1 and 2 stars. Even the ones that are nothing more than the phrase ‘this book is book’.

Positive reviews are where we draw confidence and some promo quotes, so it’s easy to see what use they are to the author. Negative reviews aren’t as easy to pull a silver lining out of because potential readers can be turned off by them. Yet, you can deal with them better if you look at them as tests. An author who publically rails against a negative review can be labeled as immature and this turns potential readers away. Find a friend to rant to in private and gather your support to help you through it. If the entire review is a personal attack on you then report it to the site, but try to avoid a flame war, which can draw your time away from your writing and runs the risk of you ruining your reputation.

What makes you write?

Well, I move my fingers along the keyboard and the words show up on the screen. A little slower if I’m using a pen and paper, but it’s the same thing.

Seriously, I enjoy telling stories and making people happy with my stories. I’ve always had a strong imagination and using it to entertain others is what keeps me going. I guess part of me does want to leave a legacy of tales behind along with a deep world for others to play in after I’m gone like Middle Earth and Narnia. Still the main thing is to make a reader relax and get drawn into the adventure. Besides, I don’t want to know what the characters in my head would do if I don’t let them come out and play.

Charles writes daily on his blog: Legends of Windemere: http://legendsofwindemere.com/
Twitter- https://twitter.com/cyallowitz
Facebook- https://www.facebook.com/CharlesYallowitz
Amazon Author Page- http://www.amazon.com/Charles-E-Yallowitz/e/B00AX1MSQA/

Check out the latest volume of Legends of Windemere:

THE COMPASS KEY!

Swords will clash and spells will fly in the newest adventure of young warrior Luke Callindor, Nyx the magic-flinging caster, and their friends.

With Sari captured by their enemies, the champions of Windemere are determined to get her back and destroy the Lich’s castle. Little do they realize, their battles in the Caster Swamp are only the beginning of this adventure. Trinity and her Chaos Elves have invaded the city of Gaia in search of a relic called the Compass Key. Rumored to be the key to rescuing Sari from a magical island, our heroes are in a race to find the mysterious artifact.

Which side will claim the Compass Key? And, what will our heroes do when they’re faced with an enemy whose evil power overshadows anything they have ever faced?

AVAILABLE ON AMAZON KINDLE!

Cover art by Jason Pedersen