JO-ANNE VANDERMEULEN “Conquer All Obstacles”

Best Selling Thriller Author

Larry Brooks is a bestselling thriller author and well-traveled workshop facilitator with a passion for guiding writers toward the fulfillment of their writing bliss.  His proprietary story development model, “The Six Core Competencies of Successful Storytelling” forms the basis of his teaching and drives the content of his recently launched instructional writing blog site: www.storyfix.com

1.) How long have you been writing? (Please include how and when you published your first book – also include how many books you have published)

I’ve been writing since my baseball career tanked in the late 1970s.  My arm was still good for scribbling and typing, so I wrote the obligatory set of unpublished novels that helped me grasp every last mistake a new writer can make.  My day job has always been centered around writing, mostly in the corporate arena as a partner in an agency that was sold in 1999.  I took the money and ran back to writing novels and screenplays.
That worked out okay – I sold my first novel, “Darkness Bound” to Penguin Putnam (October 2000) and was fortunate that it was an immediate USA Today bestseller.  Since then I’ve published three more, the last (“Bait and Switch”) named to Publisher’s Weekly “Best Books of 2004” list.

I’ve written two novels since, one available in serial form on Amazon.com/Shorts (“Schmitt Happens”), the other sitting under my desk.

2.) In your opinion, how has the publishing industry changed and how has this affected authors?

Great question, one that all aspiring authors should be aware of.  Publishers are basically all looking for home runs.  A new author gets a book or two to hit that home run, and if it doesn’t happen they are tossed under the bus.  It’s tougher than ever out there.

I about got lynched by saying this out loud as a keynote speaker at a major writing conference, though the agents in the audience all found me (hiding in the men’s room) to say they appreciated my spot-on take.  It is what it is.

This means two things to writers looking to break in.  First, it’s all about the work.  Your manuscript is the only thing you have even the slightest bit of control over.  Who you sell it to, how you sell it and for how much, and what happens to it afterwards, is almost entirely none of your business, since your agent will do the selling and your publisher will do everything else, including the great likelihood that they’ll re-title your work (all four of mine had the titles changed by the publisher).  So focus your dreams on the work itself, on learning how to write – and then doing it — the very best book you have in you.

The second thing is that so-called alternative publishing venues are more viable and plentiful than ever before.  Certainly you should swing for the fences, but if they don’t happen then turn toward smaller presses, including POD operations and self-publishing strategies.  Get your work out there, it deserves an audience.

3.) How important is marketing one’s book today?

New authors quickly learn that publishers provide virtually no promotion and marketing whatsoever.  It’s expected that authors will, at a minimum, create a website and pound the writing forums and bookstore stock signing circuit to drum up branding and visibility.  Reviews are the best marketing tool there is, but rarely are anything other than hardcovers from major publishers covered in major media, so online user reviews and word-of-mouth become the best marketing there is.

The formula is simple: sweat equity in equals market visibility equals sales.  No way around it.

4.) Tell us about your blog and why you chose the title.

My  blog has virtually saved my writing life.  It’s reincarnated my love of writing

and the energy I receive from working with other writers from the instructor side.  I’ve developed a very well-received story development model that’s unlike anything else out there, sort of a checklist-driven, criteria-based story architecture approach that, if you follow it, doesn’t allow you to miss anything or misplace anything else.  Of course, no model in the world can imbue your work with art and whimsy and emotion, but my approach can help you create a rich stage upon which your story magic can unfold.

As for the title, “Storyfix” was the URL for a prior story coaching service (still available through the new site), and it’s pretty applicable to what the new site is about.  My goal is to deliver unique daily value and motivation to writers who have looked but not found an actual path toward better writing, as opposed to the nebulous minutiae of sentence structure and incomprehensible esoteric “theory” so often passing as teaching these days.  Writers want a plan, a concrete list of things to cover and do, and a qualitative standard they can get their head around.  That’s what Storyfix.com is about.

5.) What’s next for Author Larry Brooks?

I’ve had a novel in the late outlining stages for two years now, and I’m bringing renewed vigor to completing it.   The more I teach the more I learn.  I’m also just now finishing two books on writing, including “The Six Core Competencies of Successful Storytelling,” and a shorter book that will precede it, “101 Slightly Unpredictable Tips for Novelists and Screenwriters.”  Coming to a blog near you.
6.) Would you like to add any closing thoughts today?

Just one piece of writing and life advice: find something to die for, and then live for it.  Writing is a wonderful way to pursue that passion.  Nothing other than great sex and parenthood will make you feel more alive and vital.

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