A Man and his Kilt

Seumas Gallacher is a self-published author of five Jack Calder thriller books, two books on blogging, a book of poetry, a book for women's aid, a book on self-publishing and is a serial blogger. We met several years back on social media. I assume he's wearing a kilt, bow tie and jacket for this interview.

SG: I even wear kilt pyjamas, m’Lady, Una. Thanks for having me aboard today.

UNA: Welcome. You've talked about writing poetry and angst related material as a teen. When and why did you shift to thrillers?

SG: When I decided to get into writing the first book, (which was never intended to be a series, by the way) I merely wanted to be see if I could write a whole book – any book – and it seemed to me at the time that crime thrillers were more in line with my own reading preferences. It was as simple as that.

UNA: Did publishing your first book, The Violin Man's Legacy, change your writing process?

I didn’t have a stylized writing process until then. It prob’ly developed from the writing of the first two books in the series. From there, I believe my ‘Author’s Voice’ emerged.

UNA: When writing, how do you keep the reader advised of the timeline? Do you use place markers like 'two days later,' or 'it had been a week'?

SG: Being action-driven, the stories normally take place over a condensed period of time, and their timelines and pace are quite easy to track. When there are parallel parts of the stories (secondary and tertiary threads) I make it clear how their timing coordinates to the main theme.

UNA: Has Jack Calder, the character, changed from Violin Man's Legacy to Deadly Impasse?

SG: I don’t think so, but my ability to develop his character gradually has grown with each successive book, as with most of the other main characters in the novels. 

UNA: Do you have unpublished MSS in the drawer? If you do, what reasons are there for abandoning a MSS?

SG: I don’t have abandoned MSS, but like most authors, I have a few Works-In-Progress. I don’t think I would start to write anything unless I was prepared to complete it at some time. I don’t give myself needless deadlines, as that it is the way to Scribbler’s Madness in my opinion.

UNA: Despite your success, a while back you moved to a publisher, and then quickly back to self-publishing. Would you care to elaborate the why?

SG: I got to the stage where I felt the burden of promoting and marketing, especially the SOSYAL NETWURKIN that I do, was crowding out the writing time, but I eventually realized, that no matter who the publisher may be, if they have a stable of say thirty authors, you are only gonna get around 3% of their marketing focus. You still have to do the lion’s share of the drumbeating. I also thought a publisher would get my books a wider audience. As it happens, sales fell significantly. Plus, I confess I like the sense of having even a moderate amount of control over my ‘business of writing’.

UNA: Let's move to marketing, of which you are a guru while self-proclaimed as a dinosaur. You have a huge success with the number of downloads without taking sales into consideration. Can an author survive without giving away their books for free?

SG: It’s always going to be a combination of ‘push and pull’ with the marketing. I was fortunate to get a lot of downloads paid for before I began to complement them with targeted programs of giveaways on Amazon Kindle. I also still enjoy selectively letting a few go, and only a few, in free draw competitions and reader groups on Facebook, for example, as that tends to create interest. I find when I give away through these channels, my paid sales do appreciate, as I don’t make all the titles free at one time – say at most, ten books out of one or two of the five titles, and which attracts attention from buyers.

UNA: Which social media do you consider the top three and what does each provide or allow you to do?

SG: Facebook, because I can develop friendships and relationships online easily there; Twitter, as it gives me a global ‘hit’ very quickly; and my Blog, for the opportunity to write about things that please me or amuse me - it also serves as antidote to the ‘heavy-duty’ crime-writing.

UNA: In your business of writing, what are the top four categories authors will benefit from following in terms of making a business plan?

SG: Time management is number one. Secondly, selective use of the SOSYAL MEDYA – you cannot be everywhere at once, giving the amount of attention each of these requires. Next, have a promotional program, as structured as you can, and maintain the discipline of it. Fourth, don’t throw tons of money at the project – no matter how good your writing, it’s a hugely book-populated market to be heard in, so make sure your pocket book doesn’t get overpowered by your ego.

UNA: What do you consider the top four parts of a successful promotion?

SG: 1. Create interest long before the event/launch/promo. 2. Define what the target market is to be.

3. Select the appropriate SOSYAL MEDYA channels to utilize. 4. Ask your global writer diaspora friends to help publicise the event. (And by the way, always, always, always, be ready to reciprocate their help).

UNA: You've utilized Goodreads to locate beta readers. How did that experience pan out?

SG: As an author, I’ve never yet figured out properly how to use Goodreads.

UNA: You had a unique approach to distributing your books into hotel gift shops. Would you describe the success or what you would do differently the next time?

SG: it is too time consuming, and a very localized exercise with limited sales off-take, but in my local community it gave me some traction initially. I would not use it as a longer-term sales mechanism, as you also have to yield about 50% of the sales to the outlets on a consignment basis – they do not buy the books up front, plus you have to do all the scurrying after payments, with invoices.

UNA: Is there another Jack Calder book or a new series in the oven?

SG: Number six in the series, NO IMPUNITY, is Work-In-Progress. I am also ghostwriting three autobiographies, and writing a more ‘literary’ book, set in the Middle East.

UNA: Thank you for taking time to talk to us, we, and me.

SG: My pleasure, as ever, m’Lady, Una. Thanks for having me here.

You can read more by and about Seumas:

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Una Tiers is an author who writes humorcides set in Chicago, Illinois. You can reach her:

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Joy Lennick

Semi Retired at Write at Home

5y

Thank you, Una; most interessting. I'm just another Facebook friend of Seumas' who admires his writing ability and am very fond of him as a unique and great character.

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