Promotional Discussion with Jim Musgraves

You have been invited to share your promotional experience with others.

Your Name:
Jim Musgrave (a.k.a. Efraim Z. Graves)

1. Where you are from and where are you now?
Fall River, Massachusetts. San Diego, California

2. How did you get started writing?
I wrote in high school on the paper and I began seriously writing fiction after I received my Creative Writing M.A. from San Diego State University in 1987.

3. What do you do when you are not writing?
I teach college English courses (both online and in the classroom).

4. What would readers like to know about you?
I am a recovered alcoholic with 21 years sobriety.

5. What inspired your first book?
It was a non-fiction book for online writers called The Digital Scribe: A Writer’s Guide to Electronic Media (AP Professional Press, 1996). I wanted to create a book for writers new to online technology.

6. How many books have you written?
Four novels, one collection of short fiction, two non-fiction books.

7. What are the titles of your books and what genres are they?
Lucifer’s Wedding (horror), Russian Wolves (political thriller), Sins of Darkness (political thriller), Iron Maiden (alternate historical, American Civil War), The President’s Parasite and Other Stories (short stories), The Digital Scribe: A Writer’s Guide to Electronic Media (technical), and Argument Online (composition ebook).

8. How do you decide on that topic or genre?
Most of my books have a socio-political emphasis.

9. How do you manage to keep yourself focused and on track?
With non-fiction, I have an outline. With fiction, I have my imagination, and I want to see what happens next.

10. Do you write to make money or for the love of writing?
Both.

11. What are some traditional methods of marketing you have used?
I have taken out ads, done radio talk shows, developed book trailers, and used a web site and blogs.

12. What are some unique methods of marketing you have used?
Book trailers and niche ads.

13. Do you sell through a website? If so, what’s the address? If not, why not?
I publish my own titles at http://www.contempinstruct.com/books/books.htm

14. Where can people order your books?
Any major online retailer and at my site.

15. What format are your books – e-book, print, audio etc?
Print and ebook. Two of my short stories are in audio format sold through Sniplits.com http://www.sniplits.com

16. Will you write more books?
Yes, as I would die without writing.

17. What do you have in the works now?
A horror fantasy called The Night Visitors.

18. What does the future hold for you and your books?
As the public becomes more aware of independent authors and publishers, I believe my work will become well known. There is, in my opinion, a definite move away from big publishing.

19. What was the most successful thing you did to promote your books?
The Blog Tour with promotional specialist, Nikki Leigh.

20. What was the least successful thing you did to promote your books?
I took out an ad in a Civil War newspaper, and then I sent my novel in to be reviewed. The person “assigned” to review the book never read the book and gave it a horrible review based totally on what he saw on the cover! Luckily, I was able to write to the editor and prevent the review from being published.