Wednesday, October 30, 2013

Interview & Publishing Tips With Author Nicole Zoltack




It's the day before Halloween--time for a spooktacular story! What could be better than chatting with Nicole Zoltack, author of Black Hellebore? After all, her book has a witch, and magic, and murder, and romance.

Before we get to my interview with Nicole, here's a quick summary of Black Hellebore:


Once a year for the past decade, Nicholas Adams returns to Falledge and leaves a black hellebore on his girlfriend's grave. While fleeing Falledge, he spies a shady man sneaking into the laboratory. Nicholas chases after him and dies for his trouble. A witch brings him back to life, only Nicholas is not the same man. Turns out, magic combined with a black hellebore in his pocket changed him into a kind of a super man.
Julianna Paige, his girlfriend's twin and deputy of Falledge, struggles to solve several murders. Nicholas, and his alter ego the Black Hellebore, helps her, even as she helps him move on and start to truly live again.
Unfortunately, Nicholas wasn't the only one changed in the laboratory explosion, and now a super villain is bent on destroying Falledge, and killing the Black Hellebore. But falling in love might prove more dangerous than any super villain.
Dark and intriguing, right?

And now a few questions with author Nicole Zoltack:


1. From idea to final product, how did Black Hellebore come to be?


Gail Delaney, the EIC of Desert Breeze Publishing, mentioned to her authors about how she thought superhero romances should be a thing. With how popular they are in comics and movies, why not books? And so I immediately started to think up a hero and mentioned to her it would be right up my alley, and here we are!


2. Can you give us a brief summary of your writing process? Plotter? Pantser? Somewhere in between?

I am a pantser, although I am starting to kinda outline if having one sentence or a phrase for a few chapters ahead counts. :) I doubt I'll ever be a heavy duty plotter, but I must say, even that brief outline is helping me tremendously with writing White Hellebore.


3. Black Hellebore is published by Desert Breeze Publishing. Can you tell us a bit about your experience with a small publisher?


I'm very happy with Desert Breeze. They published my Kingdom of Arnhem trilogy and now they are publishing my Heroes of Falledge trilogy. I love their covers. Amazing! And there's editing and they supply the ISBNs and the file conversion and the uploading. I love that I have to fill out a long form for the cover art. That I have input. Covers are huge with selling books. 


4. Can you offer us any advice about book promotion? What's working for you and what isn't?


Ah, book promotion! So important and yet not easy at all to know what works and what doesn't. The best means of promoting is to first learn who your target audience is and to then find them without being all "buy my book." For instance, if you write about pets, go onto pet message boards and be an active participant and reach out to people that way. If you become friends with the other people on the forum, they'll check out your profile and learn about your books. Word of mouth is key, but finding those people who will spread the word about you in the first place can sometimes take some time, but it's so worth it. 


5. Is there any writing or publishing advice you'd like to share with us?


Never stop writing. Never stop reading. Never give up.


Excellent advice, Nicole!

Friends, do you love superhero stories? Creepy cool mysteries? Have you worked with a small publisher? If so, did you have a similar experience? Please share!

Connect with Nicole at the usual haunts: Blog, Facebook, TwitterGoodreads

Want to win Black Hellebore goodies? Enter here for a Rafflecopter giveaway.


Nicole Zoltack loves to write fantasy/paranormal, romances, horror, historical, for adults and young adults, novels, short stories, and flash pieces. She doesn't want to get boxed in by genre -- she might be claustrophobic! She's also an editor for MuseItUp Publishing and works as a freelance editor.
When she isn't writing about girls wanting to be knights, talking unicorns, and zombies, she spends time with her loving family. She loves to ride horses (pretending they're unicorns, of course!) and going to the Pennsylvania Renaissance Faire, dressed in period garb. Her favorite current TV show is The Walking Dead.

29 comments:

  1. Covers are very important! I don't fill out a form, but I do get to speak with my publisher's illustrator before the cover is made.

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    1. Yes! People have told me they bought Woman of Honor because of the cover.

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    2. Alex, covers really are such a huge part of a book's success. I think it's cool that small publishers respect the author's opinion.

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  2. Congrats to Nicole on her book!

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  3. Thank you so much having me, Julie! :)

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    1. Nicole, it was my pleasure. Good luck with the book!

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  4. I ADORE superhero books/movies/anything else. This one is on my TBR list, and I can't wait to get to it...as soon as I can breathe again. ;)

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    1. Crystal, thanks so much for adding Nicole's book to your TBR list!

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    2. I so hope you enjoy it! I know all about huge TBR lists!

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  5. Congrats to Nicole. I loved her outlining advice. I may try it.

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    1. Natalie, I also like that advice! Reminds me of the "headlights" approach. Just write what you see in your headlights.

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    2. I hope it helps! And yes, "headlights" does sound about right! :)

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  6. I was especially intrigued by the phrase "his girlfriend's twin", because that already will stir the pot, so to speak. :) I haven't read a lot of mysteries, but I do like them; I like trying to solve the mystery before the story ends.

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    1. I like the girlfriend angle too! Makes it more intriguing.

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    2. Oh, yes, lots of conflict on both of their ends concerning Justina.

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  7. Me - super heroes. Done deal. Congrats NIcole.

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    1. Leslie, thanks for stopping by and supporting Nicole!

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  8. It's great Nicole has such a positive small press experience. It makes such a difference, and allows writers to focus more on the writing. Thanks for the marketing tips. I need all I can get. lol
    Congrats on the new book!!

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    1. Yes! If I wasn't happy with Desert Breeze, I wouldn't have chosen them for Heroes of Falledge. I'm very happy with them!

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  9. I think superhero stories are awesome! There's romance in every superhero comic. It's about time to have it in novels, too! Nicole's book sounds awesome. Great interview and recommendation!

    Happy reading and writing! from Laura Marcella @ Wavy Lines

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    1. Exactly. Superheroes need love too. Thanks for stopping by!

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  10. Nicole is always interesting and informative. Thanks for the interview with her, Julie. Good luck with your new release, Nicole!

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  11. I like hearing about writers who aren't afraid to tackle different genres! Great.

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