Day 160--Interview with Michael J. Tucker, Author of Aquarius Falling

Today I have the pleasure of introducing you to Michael J. Tucker, author of Aquarius Falling. Please enjoy his novel and his advice to indie authors about book marketing in our interview.

Jennifer: When did you publish your first book and what is it about?

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Mike: My first novel is “Aquarius Falling” and is a dark coming of age novel set in Ocean City, MD, in summer of 1964. The protagonist, Tom Delaney, loses his college scholarship a year before graduation. With no money or family to fall back on he goes to a beach resort hoping to find work. Within that context the story’s characters are drawn into the mores of that era: racism and the Civil Rights Movement, surfing, rock and roll, prostitution, cocaine use, and mob crime.

Jennifer: Did you invest in your book for editing or proofreading? Why or why not?

Michael J. Tucker

Mike: I was very lucky to have an acquaintance that had been a professional editor for a Young Adult publisher. She happened to be from the Ocean City area and volunteered her services. I didn’t realize how valuable that would be until I got feedback from her first reading. Her suggestions involved subtle but important changes that greatly improved the story arc and increased the stakes for my protagonist and magnified his losses. All without changing the substance of the novel.

No one should ever consider self-publishing without hiring a professional proofreader. I hired another acquaintance to do an initial proofread on the work. She amazed me at the errors she caught after both my wife and I had poured over every word. Then I sent the manuscript to a professional proofreading service and that came back with extensive corrections.

I thought I was done with proofreading until I received my first proof from my publisher. In the first chapter I came across the word “band”. It was supposed to be “bang”.

Proofreading represents the quality control aspect of writing. A work with poor sentence structure, grammar, and spelling errors will destroy a good story.    

Jennifer: Please tell us your top three, most successful book marketing tips.

Mike:

1.   Don’t hide your light under a bushel. Tell everyone you know that you are writing or have published a novel. You sell books one at a time. Collect email addresses of everyone you’ve known since high school, clubs and organizations that you belong to and let them know your book is available.

2.   Utilize social media. Facebook is the most prominent but also think Linkedin, Twitter, and YouTube.

3.   A first time novelist should also have something other than their novel to demonstrate their style and skill. I have short stories and poems available on my website for people to read before buying my novel.

Jennifer: Do you have an author blog? If so, how do you attract readers? What is your blog's address?

Mike: Three things that I enjoy doing are reading, writing, and watching movies. I decided to put those three things together in my blog by writing book and movie reviews. I share my thoughts with readers about films and books that I like and why I like them. Every time I post a new review I announce it to my Facebook followers and whenever giving people my business card or a bookmarker I let them know about the reviews as well as the short stories and poems.

The blog address is: http://www.michaeltuckerauthor.com

Jennifer: What have you done that has successfully increased your online sales?

Mike: The first day my novel was available for sale I started sending emails to everyone in my contact list, over 200 people. Instead of an email blast, I took the time to address each person individually. I started each email addressing the recipient by name and tried to make a personal comment. The body of the email was the same message that went to everyone and was easily copied and pasted. I also asked them to write a review on Amazon.

This resulted in a spike in sales within the first week of publication and a surprisingly high number of reviews posted the first month.

Jennifer: What online sites do you prefer to network with authors, publishers, editors or readers?

Mike: Most of my networking with authors is in person. I belong to two critique groups. Meetup Nashville also has a very active writers Meetup segment.

KillerNashville has a wide reach for authors despite its regional name. They are very active on Facebook. Other sites that I interact with are WritingRaw, AuthorsStand, Writing.com, GoodReads, and Shelfari.

Jennifer: What advice would you give aspiring authors about self-publishing?

Mike: Be careful about who you select to publish your work. Talk to other authors about who they used and ask what was good or bad about the publisher. Then try to determine what and how much you want to do. What are your skills? Can you do your own cover design or do you want to cede that your publisher. What is your budget? You will be paying for what the publisher does but it may be worth it if you are not capable of doing a reasonably professional job of the task yourself.

Jennifer: Your book's interior formatting is exceptional. Did you purchase software, hire someone, or do the work yourself?

Mike: My answer is somewhat an extension of the answer to the previous question. I knew nothing about formatting, so I paid my publisher to do the formatting of the interior. I didn’t want to think about font type, size, indention, or make any of those decisions. They did it, I looked at and liked it, and gave the go ahead.

Jennifer: What projects are you working on now? Please describe.

Mike: I about half way into “Capricorn’s Collapse” the follow-up novel to “Aquarius Falling”, it catches up with Tom Delaney ten years later. Several characters from Aquarius make an appearance and many new ones are introduced. Delaney is now financially successful, thanks to his money laundering skills; he is drawn into the Watergate scandal, and becomes involved with the IRA.

I also will occasionally write new short stories and poems.

Wild card question: What writers have influenced you?

Mike: Of contemporary writers, George Pelecanos is one of my favorites. His scenes are vivid and detailed. He is able to put his readers in the action by providing bits of information, such as clothing, what the characters are eating, the amount of the restaurant bill and tip that was left. His dialogue is gritty and real.  

Patricia Highsmith has also been a great influence. Her Tom Ripley character is a sociopath and does terrible things but you find yourself pulling for him to succeed. It takes a great writer to be able to do that.

Michael J. Tucker is a former insurance executive who now writes novels, short stories and poems full time. A native of Pittsburgh, he has lived in various East Coast and Midwest cities. He currently lives in Tennessee with his wife Lynn and dog Gracie.