interview: Author Scott Nicholson + kindle giveaway!

Hi everyone! We have Scott Nicholson, paranormal thriller author at Darlyn & Books today as a part of his Kindle Giveaway Blog Tour. It's really exciting to have him again here. If you all remember, he wrote for a guest post at Darlyn & Books entitled "The New Era of Reading" a couple of month ago and I also had his book reviewed; The Red Church. There's the giveaway details at the end of the interview. Enjoy!


D: It’s been two months since your Kindle Giveaway Blog Tour began. How do you feel?

SN: I’m enjoying it a lot. I’ve made some new friends and led people to new book blogs, and only a couple of times have I had those “Where am I today?” moments. It has taken away from my writing time, but in the new publishing era, book bloggers are the center of the action.


D: I think you did a great jump start on the phenomenon of Kindle/E-readers and e-books. Everyone’s talking/discussing/twitting about Scott Nicholson Kindle Giveaway around blogosphere. How do you take it? It’s a good thing right? (And not because the readers only want a free Kindle *wink*)

SN: We all dig free stuff, and one of the tricky things is some people on the tour don’t buy e-books yet because they don’t have a kindle. But I think many of the people who don’t win will probably buy one by Christmas. I actually got a bit of a late start because I’ve only been doing this 10 months, but I immediately saw all the benefits of the new era—the most important being the immediate connection with readers.


D: It’s amazing how you setting up the 90 Days Blog Tour and it’s nonstop. WOW. I’ve been around reading your posts on other blogs as well and every day is a new thing we get from you, very refreshing. If I were you, it’s hard to keep it real and organized but you did really great. How you did you do it? Got any extra hands?

SN: The only hard part was personally contacting probably 250 bloggers to set up dates. I didn’t have a list or a plan, I just started prowling the Internet. This whole idea was born in mid-July and originally I was going to give away one paper book per stop, then I realized that wasn’t my audience now. Sane writers generally do one-week blog tours, or one month at the most, but I wasn’t going to promote just one book, I was going to talk about the entire Scott Nicholson universe, which had never been revealed in all its strange, kaleidoscopic splendor. Plus I figured at some point I’d fail spectacularly and at least provide some entertainment.


D: Okay, let’s talk about your amazing books. I’ve read The Red Church and it’s brilliant and planning to read Drummer Boy for Halloween. At first I thought it’s just horror and scary but it has thrills at the same time. All your books have the same elements and keep me wondering if you write what scares you or assume that it will scare your readers when you wrote them? Do you plot the mystery, characters and everything too?

SN: Well, I don’t really plot, and I borrow a lot from local legends, and my core work is definitely paranormal and supernatural thrillers, but the new era and publishing my own work has allowed me to branch out in ways that would be nearly impossible in conventional publishing. I can do anything I want and all I have to do is convince you to give it a try. But the reader is the ultimate boss, and readers will tell me what sorts of things I should be writing and which things I should quit instantly.


D: Just want to hear out your opinion. Yes, we know E-books are a new era. But what about the price? They are expensive as the printed books and not everyone can afford to have e-readers. How can we reduce the entire e-books price and make them cheaper and affordable? (I’m not being pessimist but it’s a fuss among readers. We can’t wait for free stuff forever).

SN: Well, e-reader prices are already dropping, and so are e-book prices, but it’s not something you’d noticed unless you really track the trends and data. The evolution is accelerating faster than all the pundits predicted, but the pundits have been wrong about practically everything. The iPad was supposed to be the publisher’s savior and compete with Kindle, but it actually secured the Kindle app as the default reader of choice and spurred sales of Kindle books. Not many people are using the iBookstore. It was just another in a series of mistakes by publishers, but they have it tough and I can understand why they seek to protect what they know, because change is very threatening to anything that has a “tradition.”

The writers, readers, and publishers who are adapting the fastest have no investment in the old system, whether it’s the nostalgia of paper books or the dubious “legitimacy” of being accepted by New York. What’s really cool to me is that right now a reader can buy basically everything I’ve ever written for about the price of one hardcover book.


D: So what’s next? The tour will end at the end of the month. Do you have any upcoming projects you can tell us about? Any new book in progress?

SN: I launched four or five books while I’ve been on tour, and I haven’t really had time to promote them much or get out review copies. I just released the crime thriller Disintegration yesterday as a 99 cent special for a limited time. The next book is Cursed!, a fun paranormal romance co-authored with Kindle bestseller J.R. Rain that should be out this month. Then I have a few short-story bundles for winter as I finish the next book in the October Girls series.


D: So, are we going to know you as a paranormal thriller writer forever? Any plan to change writing style or genre?

SN: Well, I just remembered I have two new graphic novels out, Grave Conditions and Dirt. Grave Conditions features J.A. Konrath, Brian Keene, Stephen Susco, Jonathan Maberry and more, and Dirt has my adapted short stories. I should have my first children’s book out very soon—“If I Were Your Monster,” with art by Lee Davis. We’re working on another one now. And I’ve already started a sequel to As I Die Lying but it will probably be spring before it’s done.


D: Okay, last but not least. What is your normal day as when you are not writing? Or are you writing every day?

SN: Well, I’m a full-time newspaper reporter and I love my job but of course I’d rather be doing my own thing. But I was thinking about this just the other day, how right now I don’t have time to be successful. If I were a huge bestseller, it would put a lot of demands on me and I want to have some more books out and do my own thing for a while longer before there are “expectations.” One thing’s for sure, this indie game is a lot better business model for a writer than the old way, where you were shooting craps and had little chance at a future. Sure, there are a handful of millionaire bestsellers, but the story of most writers is that they died sick and broke, long forgotten by their publishers. Independent e-books are as close as a writer can get to a real pension fund.


D: Last one. Promise. What you love most about Halloween? Is there any spectacular activity or any traditions in your family on Halloween?

SN: Well, I like Halloween but Thanksgiving is still my favorite holiday. Halloween is 365 for me. I never have a problem putting on a mask, and it’s even more fun when it’s not the one socially acceptable time to do it.


D: Any last word before we wrap it up?

SN: Tater tots. But that’s two words. Thanks for hosting, Darlyn, and good luck with the Kindle giveaways, everyone. I wish I had a hundred to give you.

Thanks so much Scott for spending some time here!

About the Author

Scott Nicholson is author of 12 novels, including the thrillers Speed Dating with the Dead, Drummer Boy, Forever Never Ends, The Skull Ring, As I Die Lying, Burial to Follow, and They Hunger. His revised novels for the U.K. Kindle are Creative Spirit, Troubled, and Solom. He’s also written four comic series, six screenplays, and more than 60 short stories. His story collections include Ashes, The First, Murdermouth: Zombie Bits, and Flowers.



To be eligible for the Kindle DX, simply post a comment below with contact info. Feel free to debate and discuss the topic, but you will only be entered once per blog. Visit all the blogs on the tour and increase your odds. I’m also giving away a Kindle 3 through the tour newsletter and a Pandora’s Box of free e-books to a follower of “hauntedcomputer” on Twitter. Thanks for playing. Complete details at Blog Tour Site.