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Q & A with Kindle Bestselling Author Kathleen Shoop

Publishing through CreateSpace, marketing, and more

by Jillian Bergsma

Over the past two years, author Kathleen Shoop has become a self-publishing phenomenon. While her sales may not match those of Amanda Hocking or John Locke (yet), Shoop has used CreateSpace and Amazon to score some major success. Her 2011 debut novel, The Last Letter, is a 2012 IPPY Award Gold Medal Winner, an International Book Awards Finalist, and an Indie Excellence Finalist. Today, The Last Letter is #6,546 paid in the Kindle store—meaning the novel is in the top 1% of the one million-plus Kindle books available. Shoop’s latest novel, After the Fog (an IPPY Gold Medalist in 2011), is well on its way to achieving similar stats.

Shoop clearly knows how to do self-publishing right. In our exclusive Independent Publisher interview, she discusses her experiences publishing through CreateSpace, the best marketing tools for an author, and the benefits of the right PR.

IP: Tell me a bit about yourself: your background, your experience in writing, and why you turned to writing novels.

Shoop: I've worked in public education for the last 21 years. I have my PhD in Reading Education and have been writing fiction seriously for the last 10 years. I've been a voracious reader—every person in my family was always knee-deep in books—my entire life. I love movies, stories of all types and when things happen to me in life I begin to record the event in my mind as though it were plotted on paper. Humorous events, sad events, joyous experiences, all of them are experienced by me at least twice—once in real life, once in my head. The way people move, express themselves, and live is fascinating to me. Just sitting around talking about what I see in life is not fascinating. Bringing it to life through fiction can be. 

IP: What inspires your books? With their historical contexts, how much research goes into the projects?

Shoop: I find inspiration everywhere. I read the newspaper almost every day. Barely a day passes when I don't cut out some article that informs my writing (or will in the future) in some way—it could be a character, an event, a story—the paper is full of compelling nuggets to fuel my writing. In terms of research, yes, the historical fiction I write requires a lot of research and many layers of writing in order to ensure that each historical fact or "prop" is used in some way by a character or is part of the plot. Otherwise I'm left with information dumps that I love and enjoy, but most readers do not. I do at least two rounds of major research—One before/during the first draft and one between the first and second draft.

IP: Why did you decide to publish through CreateSpace?

Shoop: I chose CreateSpace because, not knowing what I was doing the first time, I needed to keep the process as compact and efficient as possible. It made sense that CreateSpace was associated with Amazon to that end. Why did I go back to Createspace the second time? Because they provided a top-notch product and experience in every way. My design team was available almost around the clock. When I called to check up on things, they answered with happy voices, pleased to help me even when there was nothing new to report. When I needed to submit changes they moved as quickly as was humanly possible. They talked me through every step and never, ever expressed a bit of annoyance to me when I needed reassurance that something was being handled the way I wanted it to be. They were fantastic in every way.

IP: Your debut novel The Last Letter has sold (and been reviewed) incredibly well on Amazon. What do you think set your book apart?

Shoop: I think the first step in The Last Letter's success was the time and effort I took in developing the story and in editing. Once I knew it was going to be self-published I wanted to proceed with all the care that a traditional publisher would.  I also think the cover, by Julie Metz, contributed to sales. People seem to really love the feel of it, it's attention-grabbing. And I hired a publicist, Crystal Patriarche at Booksparks PR. Because I did not have an online profile at all she was a huge help in getting me a blog tour and drawing attention to the book once it started winning awards like the Gold IPPY. Winning the award was huge. It really makes a difference when booksellers and buyers see a book has been validated that way. Book sales alone are huge validation for the value of a book, but the awards really help, too and feed the cycle of sales. I've also worked with the World Literary Cafe to plump up my social networks. There are amazing, generous authors there willing to help writers through every step of self-publishing. Networking and marketing are my biggest weaknesses as a writer. The people at that site are amazing. I'm afraid luck is a part of the equation, too. I wish it wasn't. No matter what luck is involved in self-publishing success, it feels good to have the opportunity to get my books out to readers, even when sales are slow. Sales will take care of themselves eventually, if the book is good. It will find its audience. 

IP: What are two or three of your tried and true marketing strategies?

Shoop: The best marketing is getting another book out. This is tricky because I am a slow reviser/editor so I can't move too fast for the sake of getting content out there. But I think that the more quality writing that I have out the better I will sell without having ads. Word of mouth is the single best marketing tool. In the internet age, word of mouth is more than just the woman down the street who will tell her friends about your book. Building quality relationships at places like World Literary Cafe will ensure your book gets out into the world—that it sells outside your natural friendship bubble. For me, part of word of mouth was not only local people I was running into on the street, but buying ads to make sure my books didn't disappear among the millions for sale. Giving books away is also good. There are many people who can't afford to buy books. I never let someone walk away from me without a book IF they're interested in reading, even if they can't pay for it. My first "fan," contacted me after seeing an ad I ran in Mary Jane's Farm magazine and asked where she could get The Last Letter. It wasn't out yet, but because she was so excited to read the book I sent her an advanced copy. She happened to love it and then not only wrote a review but bought stacks of books, passed them out to her friends and even asked her local bookstores in New Hampshire to order it. That kind of marketing is priceless. She did the same for my second book, After the Fog as well.

IP: How have you used awards to help market your book?

Shoop: Crystal Patriarche has used my awards to push PR opportunities and it's been very helpful that way. It's hard to get traditional press for self-published books and the awards really help to that end. I post the medals on my site and let them speak for themselves (after the initial excitement and announcement regarding the winning!). But, yes, by virtue of being there on my book, the IPPY is marketing for me!

 

 

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Learn more about Kathleen Shoop, The Last Letter, and After the Fog at http://kshoop.com/. And be sure to check out the sidebar for details on her next two novels.

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