Bestsellers, Becoming Human & Thundercats! An Interview With Eliza Green!

Eliza Green

Rohan: Today I have the pleasure of speaking with up and coming Irish Science Fiction writer, and Amazon Bestseller Eliza Green. Hi Eliza! It’s so great to meet another Irish indie other who has just released their debut sci fi novel. And a red head like me too! Thanks for stopping by The 7 things today.

Eliza: Thanks for having me, Rohan. I’m always excited to chat with a fellow Indie author. Aren’t Indie authors the nicest group of people around?

Rohan: Yes definitely, since beginning my own indie writing adventures I’ve met so many helpful and supportive indie authors! I want to ask you about your influences. So much of what writers create is affected by what they are exposed to at a young age. What kind of books, movies or cartoons did you like when you were young? And how did they influence your writing?

Eliza: I was a typical girl who played with dolls and read books that were appropriate for my gender. But I slipped out of reading quite easily. I only picked it up again when I was in my twenties. Movies and TV were a different matter. I watched a lot of what the boys were watching: the A Team, MacGyver, The Rockford Files. I also devoured Science Fiction – E.T. and Close Encounters of the Third Kind were my first Science Fiction films. My taste in cartoons varied, but I really loved Thundercats and Dungeons & Dragons. I have a dark side and I think that’s reflected in my writing and reading choices!

Oh childhood, you were so awesome!

Rohan: I loved Dungeons & Dragons when I was young

Writing can be a lot like a roller-coaster ride, both the creative process and then the whole books sales and marketing side. I know I have days when I’m on top of the world and then others when all seems lost haha. What has been your biggest challenge since the release of Becoming Human?

Wowsers!

Eliza: Trying to understand how Amazon works and how I can benefit from it. Sales were slow in the beginning, then I did a BookBub promotion, and suddenly I was an Amazon Bestseller. That was great, for about a day, until I started to question how I got there and how I could compete with similar titles. Sales have something to do with the quality of the book you produce. Mostly, it’s about visibility.

Rohan: I know you were over in England recently for the London Book Fair. You wrote a couple of great posts about it on your blog, but what was the number one take away point from the show?

Eliza at the London Book Fair

Eliza: Indie authors are generous with their time. And, there is still a lot of stigma attached to the idea of independent authors, especially among traditional publishing. Attitudes will have to change because Indie authors are evolving faster than trade publishers can keep up.

Rohan: I definitely agree. We’re seeing something similar to what happened in the music industry a number of years ago, those who perpetuated the old models got stuck in the proverbial mud. Have you ever traveled outside of Ireland and the UK? If so where, and if not where would you live to visit or live?

Japan!

Eliza: I’ve been to many places, from Japan, to Australia (my brother lives there), to Canada. But something always pulls you back to the familiar. I think I’m a home bird.

Rohan: I know what you mean. I am jealous about Japan though! Definitely on my “to visit” list. Although I was born in Australia I’ve lived in Ireland much of my life as my family is originally Irish. It’s a small enough place and one thing I’ve noticed is that just about everyone has a story to tell about someone well known. Any celebrity relatives, or funny or interesting brushes with fame?

Eliza: My friend grew up beside Bono; she casually refers to him as Paul Hewson (his real name). To her, he’s just a neighbour, not someone famous around the world. My brother worked on Michael O’Leary’s house (Ryanair boss) when he was getting renovations done. I’ve met a few sporting stars, Irish ones of course.

Rohan: Ha! I knew it, very cool

We all have our fears. Whether they are phobias and other irrational fears, or fears surrounding our work and creativity. What are you most terrified of as writer, and also just as a person?

Eliza’s criticism face!

Eliza: My fear is that I’ll end up doing something I hate. I work full time and I’m pushing to get out of there because it doesn’t excite me anymore. As a writer, you fear criticism, but that is an irrational fear because some criticism can be constructive.

Rohan: Yes, criticism is either constructive which we can learn from, or just plain nasty which can be ignored. Still I think all writers have a natural sensitivity and distaste for it haha! Just recently Becoming Human hit the number 1 spot in the paid Science Fiction Adventure charts on Amazon! Congratulations, you are certainly doing something right! During the process of writing, publishing and marketing your debut novel Becoming Human, what is the most important thing you’ve learned? If you could go back in time 2 years, what would you tell younger Eliza to help her out during the process of creating and releasing her book?

Eliza: Thank you. As an indie author, I am more accessible to readers, because I control the process from start to finish. The negative side of being an independent is that I do it alone. Reviews are important, but readers spreading the word about a book they like, is massively important to indies – more so than those using trade publishers who have a marketing department behind them.

I would tell her to plan her promotion better and to use more beta readers. I’m discovering silly things that I could have caught, had I prepared the final draft better. They’re all fixed, so hopefully earlier readers didn’t notice! The promotion element is scary, because you don’t know where to begin. I’m using this year to test out what works for Book 1, so I can apply it to Book 2.

Rohan: Yeah, I had the same experience releasing Gyaros Book One, I published it about 3 weeks to early. Thankfully the early errors were not too major, still quite embarrassing though and something that won’t be happening with future books. And finally when can fans look forward to the release of the second book in the series?

Eliza: I’m aiming for December 2013. I have set up a mailing list on my website, so people can sign up for notifications of new releases.

Click Here to sign up for Eliza’s mailing list and keep up with all her news!

Click Here to visit and follow Eliza’s blog!

Rohan: Thanks so much for taking the time to do this interview. I wish you all the best with your continued success! And to all you readers be sure to check out Becoming Human