Author Corner With Cj Fosdick's

Welcome to Authors Corner with Cj Fosdick

Before we get started here is a little bit about her: 

Cj Fosdick’s writing career began in Milwaukee, Wisconsin after winning her first writing contest at age ten. Since then, she has flourished in tropical Minnesota with fiction and non-fiction published in local and national publications and in three short story anthologies, while giving horseback riding lessons on her mini-farm for 15 years. Her recent novel from The Wild Rose Press is a time-travel mainstream historical romance titled The Accidental Wife. She is an award-winning member of RWA, Women Writing the West, The Historical Novel Society, and a devoted Outlander fan.

Now on to the Interview!!! 

Why do you write Cj?

Because I have to...like breathing…and reading…

What made you decide to sit down and actually start something?

Ideas and perceptions always flowing. Big impetus came when a contest judge told me the short story I entered begged to become a novel. It took 6 months to add 80,000 words and less than a year to see The Accidental Wife in print by Wild Rose Press.

What genre are your books? 

 Mostly historical, but I love to mix the genre with mystery, romance & adventure. Some of my short stories have been contemporary.

What draws you to this genre? 

 Always been a history buff, and loved costume dramas on TV or at the movies. Reading historicals is like armchair time-travel. The past enlightens the future.

Where do your ideas come from? 

 Reading good books in genres I love, traveling to historic places, researching eras and colorful people, and observing friends, family, newsworthy characters in the burlesque of life.

What are your ambitions for your writing career? 

 Best Seller status? At least writing ten more books, maybe a movie or series?

Which writers inspire you? 

Diana Gabaldon, Diana Gabaldon, Diana Gabaldon. While writing my novel, I took breaks when the muse was slowing down to read at random from any of her Outlander books. I met her at two HNS (Historical Novel Society)Writer Conferences, the most recent one in Denver in June. I was going to read from my novel but developed laryngitis and she graciously offered to read my excerpt. She’s very accessible, very intelligent, and oozes talent. The wonderful Starz TV series of Outlander has boosted her book sales. She’s currently #1 on Amazon, a worldwide best selling author in 42 countries with 26 million books sold in all. My heroine—even in the dedication of my book.

Do you have any advice for other authors on how to market their books? 

 Acquire reviews, tweet, network with other authors online or at writer conferences. Try to book appearances with book clubs. Blog, write a newsletter, post on facebook. Use every opportunity to become visible. Plan a book sale, book launch, keep business cards and print copies on hand. (I once sold 2 copies in a restaurant after being asked for directions.)

What are your thoughts on good/bad reviews? 

 Good reviews are a perk to writing…and marketing. The one bad review I had was from a clinically depressed woman who said she “couldn’t get into it.” I knew her, and she confessed she only read a couple chapters. It was pretty ego-deflating and I reacted badly by emailing her. She blamed herself, but didn’t retract the review. I didn’t think it fair that anyone reading 16 pages out of 345 should be ethically able to review—or would even want to, but this apparently happens to other authors. As long as a bad review doesn’t pan the writing or plot, I don’t think it hurts book sales, especially if all other reviewers loved the book. We can’t control the reader’s mindset or preferences and challenging their opinion is useless. Best to just develop a thick skin and forget the bad reviews and celebrate the good ones with wine and chocolate!

Do you have a strategy for finding reviewers? 

 I asked some avid readers to review my book, asked a couple authors who’s books I liked if they would write a review or even swap reviews, snagged a Goodreads reviewer, also encouraged people who commented they loved my book to write a review, and sought reviews from multiple age groups who read the book.

Did you do a press release, Goodreads book launch or anything else to promote your work and did it work?

 With another author, I rented a room at our Athletic Club, offered wine and snacks, book and gift baskets, and 60 people showed up by invitation for a book launch party. This was very expensive, but semi-successful. Sending a press release to our local paper was less successful, but I did get a couple paragraphs in the paper. Getting bylines about my book in a local magazine after writing a couple humorous features helped me with visibility. Emailing, Facebooking and tweeting may have helped, but when I offered the eBook for sale at .99, sales shot up dramatically on my Amazon author’s chart. 

What advice would you give to aspiring writers? 

 Persist! Read the best in your chosen genre(s), then work toward emulating, equaling and even surpassing your favorites. Try to write something every day, whether it is 100 or 1000 words, even if you think its trash. Check out the webinars that are offered—especially on grammar, attend writer conferences, build an email and Facebook following, join a local writers group and/or National groups like RWA, WWW, HNS, MWA, subscribe to writer magazines and enter contests offered to see how unbiased judges (not family or friends) perceive your work. Persist!


How can my readers discover more about you and you work?

Email: Falorac@gmail.com
Website: http://www.cjfosdick.com
Blog: on website http://caroljfosdick.blogspot.com
Facebook: Cj Fosdick (from Rochester, MN.) http://www.facebook.com/cjfosdick
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/Falorac13
Amazon Author Page: http://amzn.to/1DSYNiI
Goodreads: http://bit.ly/1HfPWJ1
The Wild Rose Press: http://bit.ly/1IGjUrF


Make sure you Check Out Her Work!!