{"id":15040,"date":"2015-09-22T15:00:42","date_gmt":"2015-09-22T09:30:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bookbuzzr.com\/blog\/?p=15040"},"modified":"2015-09-22T15:07:37","modified_gmt":"2015-09-22T09:37:37","slug":"an-interview-with-amazon-best-selling-author-carmen-fox","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bookbuzzr.com\/blog\/an-interview-with-amazon-best-selling-author-carmen-fox\/","title":{"rendered":"An Interview with Amazon Best-selling Author Carmen Fox"},"content":{"rendered":"

BookBuzzr author Carmen Fox’s eBook Guarded (The Silverton Chronicles)<\/a><\/i> recently hit the #1 spot on Amazon.com. We reached out to Carmen to learn more about her.<\/p>\n

The screenshot below was taken on September 14, 2015.<\/i><\/p>\n

\"Guarded<\/a><\/p>\n

1. Hi Carmen, thanks for taking the time to do this interview. Can you start off by telling us about yourself?<\/b>
\nSure. I was born in Germany, but since graduating from college, I have lived and worked in \"Carmen<\/a>England, just outside London. For many years I drifted from course to course, trying to fill my life with new discoveries and knowledge. As a result, I know a little about a lot of things. This may be helpful for a Jeopardy contestant, but it wasn\u2019t satisfying enough for me. Writing gave me a purpose. Every day I learn something new about writing, about publishing, and about myself.<\/p>\n

2. How many words a day do you average when you\u2019re writing a book? And, is there a particular time of day or night that you find you\u2019re at your best?<\/b>
\nI\u2019m a procrastinator, so sitting down to write doesn\u2019t always come easy. But once I get started, I tend to lose myself in my world. That could be late at night or during my lunch breaks. I aim to produce about 1000 words a day, less on the weekends, but occasionally I become so engrossed in the characters that I don\u2019t rejoin reality until 3000 words later.<\/p>\n

3. What\u2019s the hardest and easiest things for you about writing?<\/b>
\nAside from getting started, the hardest thing is staying objective. I\u2019m afflicted with many insecurities, as many writers are. For example, I love big, convoluted plots with misdirection and confusion deeply woven in, but many readers don\u2019t, so sometimes, while I\u2019m reading through a scene, I imagine the negative reviews and complaints, and I second guess myself. Once I\u2019m in one of those dark holes, it takes me a while to pull myself out.
\nThe easiest thing about writing is the writing itself. I live inside my characters\u2019 heads and can see, smell and taste everything they do. The challenge is to convey this rich experience to the reader.<\/p>\n

4. Do you maintain a reader list? What are the methods you use to find your readers and create the list and the relationship? Do you use social media, forums, newsletters and\/or support groups to build your list?<\/b>
\nI love the time suck that is known as Facebook. I\u2019ve met so many great writers that way, and more than a handful of loyal readers. I don\u2019t maintain a reader list, and even my newsletter has been neglected of late.<\/p>\n

5. What are some of the things that you are doing to market your book? How does BookBuzzr fit-in with your book promotion plans?<\/b>
\nMarketing is based on three areas: promotions, sales, and a continued presence in your chosen spheres.
\nIn terms of promotions, I do blog tours and spotlights, although my main focus is on leveraging the cooperation between multiple authors.
\nSales is the part I hate most. It\u2019s one thing to lower the price of your book as part of a promotion, but quite another to say, \u201cbuy it now.\u201d I tend to rely on Twitter<\/a> and Facebook<\/a> friends to spread the word, because having someone other than me shout my book is less painful.
\nFinally, my author platform. This is where I and my work become accessible to readers. My website<\/a> is a collection of book blurbs and the occasional blog post. Daily sessions on social media make my presence more immediate. I use BookBuzzr to liven up my website with a reading sample (that looks so much cooler than simply posting a few paragraphs), but mainly I wanted to offer readers a place where they can find my book in an independent setting among other works in the same genre. It\u2019s an invaluable tool.<\/p>\n