Hello riders and readers. Today I am sitting down with a talented author named Christopher D. Schmitz. He has his work cut out for him this September into October. Right now he has not only a Kickstarter running for his books Curse of the Fey Duelist. But he also has a crowdfunding campaign running for his series the Wolves of the Tesseract over on BackerKit. Talk about a double whammy. Throughout this interview you will get to know Chris and his journey thus far with the two crowdfunding platforms along with his campaigns that are running. Make sure to pull up a seat and stick around because things are about to get interesting. Happy reading everyone :).
****
Author Interview with Christopher D. Schmitz
Hi Chris. Can you please start things off by introducing yourself…
I write books that nerds like--both original content, but also gaming and fiction content for IPs ranging from D&D, Firefly, Shadowrun, Daggerheart, and many more. I do many genres but prefer SFFH.
Tell us a bit about your day…what does it usually look like?
If I can, I like to start my day with writing, but that's not always possible. I try to get in a workout, do some paid writing for contracts, and try to allocate at least one day per week for personal novel-writing. I work out almost every day to stay healthy, and most weekends I am at conventions or other sales events. I'm relentless about that. Every Wed. I run RPGs at the Weis Mansion B&B (Waterloo, IA) which I own with my wife.
How do you come up with your ideas for your books? Do you have a process?
I don't have a process for idea generation, those tend to come naturally, but I do try to vet them to make sure that they are good before I invest time in story writing...that means research.
What genres do you usually write within? Do you ever go outside of those genres?
I'm mainly SFFH, but have dabbled in non fiction, and others too. I am interested in so many things! I write murder mystery games that we play at the B&B and I think I may attempt some historical fiction in the near future because of a close tie to a badass historical figure. I wrote murder mystery game as a fundraiser for our local museum (Henry Grout's brother was murdered in Tombstone and the tale involves a cover-up, a vengeful investigation, a suitcase full of money, and a prison break... plus a secret society. I just need to finish my fantasy series before I can write the novelization).
You currently have two crowdfunding projects going. One is on BackerKit and the other is on Kickstarter. Is there a reason you chose to use two different sites to fund your book projects?
I much prefer KS because so many people use it. I know Brandon Sanderson uses BK exclusively, but getting people to sign up for accounts is an extra step and... well... people are kind of lazy. I use BK because I'm an invited guest author for their annual Printopia campaign; they push extra traffic toward it. I decided to experiment this year and run both at the same time to see what kind of cross traffic I'd get by running both at the same time... but then a glitch came up in KS (the primary traffic producer) and it derailed launch by 3 days and threw the whole thing into a tailspin. I love having data and providing it to other crowdfunded authors... but the total failure of the software ruined the test, and now I'm scrambling just to make sure everything goes as well as it can. The test (and the campaigns) are already ruined and I don't have an extra 9 months to setup the prelaunch period and re-try the experiment. Here are my links:
Tell us about the series you are promoting on BackerKit?
Backerkit has my dimension-hopping werewolf urban fantasy. After surviving a demon attack that should have killed her, Claire discovers that her missing archaeologist father uncovered an impossible truth—and that the magic flowing through her own blood will either save every world... or destroy them all... it's a complete series and will help print an omnibus with foiled, reversible dust jackets, foil stamped hardcovers, a color comic book, audiobooks, and more.
Click the banner to check it out in full detail:
Tell us about the series you are promoting on Kickstarter?
The Kickstarter is for my next installment of the Curse of the Fey Duelist series... it reads like John Wick vs. Legolas and pulls in lots of celtic mythology. A human trapped in the land of the fey learns that his blade of vengeance is tied to a dark past which he must unravel--the problem is that only his enemies know his personal history.
Click the banner to check it out in full detail:
The “Wolves of the Tesseract” is your complete series on BackerKit and “Curse of the Fey Duelist” you are featuring a new book in the Dark Fantasy genre. Can you tell us about the characters and the journey they undertake?
Crazy enough, the Wolves characters visit the land of Arcadeax, from the Curse of the Fey Duelist. WOTT is a complete series, but I knew I'd written something special with this setting. WotT is a complete series, and Fey Duelist's final installments are in writing right now.
With your two crowdfunding projects what are your main goals for the two running projects you hope to achieve?
I was hoping to be able to send traffic between the two fundraisers; people who backed both would get an entirely different special edition book (color art, foiled covers, etc.) book for FREE. Of course, most traffic comes in the first 48 hours and the software glitches pushed the launches apart by +36 hours and so all of that interest fell apart based upon consumer habits... so now I will honor that same deal, but the crowd who is most interested in that will never see it. There's not much that I can do about that but pivot: authors always need to be ready to pivot.
Tell us about the tropes that you will find in “Curse of the Fey Duelist” and the “Wolves of the Tesseract?”
WoTT is something of a self-discovery tale where everything our heroine thinks she knows gets swallowed up in greater shades of hidden reality. It's portal fiction that mashes up scifi and fantasy. It has elements of both "everyman" and also the hero's quest.
What different tiers or rewards have you unleashed when you launched your campaign over on BackerKit & on Kickstarter?
I always include digital tiers (including audio when able) plus paperback in addition to the special edition hardcover.
Do you have any advice for authors that are thinking about doing the crowdfunding option? Do you prefer one site over the other? Which works the best for your needs?
Kickstarter is by far the easier option, though backerkit is much more powerful. I would also recommend newer creators get involved in different Facebook groups for crowdfunding and watch/lurk for a while to learn best practices.
What advice would you give to an author looking to start their journey into print? Can you tell them some of your first steps when you were a new author?
Definitely watch out for BS. There are a lot of Sharks and Turds in the swimming pool and you'll need to learn to spot them. Sharks are predatory and want a slice of the pie: I don't mean editors and cover artists (though some of them can fall into that category, but those are things you do legitimately need.) The easiest ones to spot often lie or allude (like JR Tolkien Publishing, or Kindle Print Shop and other names that mislead by alluding to quality.) A lot of those places sell "publishing packages" that do not come as advertised. Always get feedback from real, legitimate authors... not the Turds. Turds enjoy floating around like a swimmer and are the first to give advice online--often wildly wrong/bad advice. You probably know a few. The better online writing groups have good turd-mitigation protocols like banning self-promoters, vetting questions, limiting posting, and consequences for not searching the chats for answers first (otherwise you'll get 5 people per day asking "how I do publish to amazon?").
Our interview is about to end and I wanted to check in with you to find out if you had anything else you would like to add for our readers to enjoy? Please share some fun facts about yourself or any additional information about your two crowdfunding projects that you think potential backers need to know…
I am really bad at online sales. It's not my particular skillset, but I am pretty good at face to face interactions. I teach people those skills in my book, How to Sell More Books at Live Events... a lot of the mindsets and practical pieces in it translate to crowdfunding. It's a different landscape from a digital storefront or trying to scream loudest in a room filled with Amazon Ads... probably the most important thing is to urge you to get involved as a backer for a few projects so you see it from a supporter role, then use groups and help provide feedback to creators in prelaunch (you get to see the back-end on how these are setup) and then launch slow with a small project and a small goal. Wading in helps one not jump in over their head.
****
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Christopher D. Schmitz writes books nerds like. Sci-fi, Fantasy, and horror that read as fast-paced adventures filled with ancient mysteries, unforgettable monsters, impossible choices, and just enough humor to keep the darkness from winning. When he isn't writing, Christopher is designing tabletop games, organizing conventions, speaking at writing conferences, and helping other creators bring their own stories to life. He's been fortunate enough to write in a ton of IPs he grew up playing in, and brought his style and wit to them.
He can be found online at www.authorchristopherdschmitz.com
****
CHECK OUT THE TWO CROWDFUNDING PROJECTS!
Wolves of the Tesseract Trilogy
Omnibus, Comic, & Audio!
A demon set Claire's house on fire—and that's just the start. Hunted by cultists, monsters, and eldritch gods, can she master reality-bending magic in time to stop a multiversal apocalypse in this action-packed supernatural fantasy trilogy?
by: Christopher D. Schmitz
Curse of the Fey Duelist
Court of the Scorched Throne FOIL!
Dark Fantasy Special Edition novel in the epic fae series. eBook, pb, or HCw/foil, painted edges, and more! +a new novella, 4th book!
by: Christopher D. Schmitz
****
Thank you for stopping by KM Jenkins Book Nook's Blog and reading up about Christopher D. Schmitz and his two currently running crowdfunding projects. Make sure to click the BACK THIS PROJECT TODAY button this way you can check out both campaigns individually. Christopher hinted about a potential free book if you back both. You can reach out to him on either site to find out if that is true or not. I hope you take the time to enjoy this interview and look forward to following Christoper on his journey over on Kickstarter and BackerKit together.
Did you enjoy this post?
If you did an you want to find out how to get notifications when new content like Christopher's interview go live subscribe to our blog. Head over to our sidebar menu and click the RSS Feed Option or the Follow Me Button. Either way will notify you when we have new content for you to enjoy. Until next time.
~ Katie
No comments:
Post a Comment