Author Spotlight: John A. Autero

 

If you had a writing motto what would it be?
It’s a marathon, not a sprint.

Where do you draw your inspiration?
Inspiration tends to hit me in a few different ways. Sometimes when I’m reading a novel or a comic book or watching a movie I’ll be listening to the story and pinpoint something very small and trivial happening that might have legs to be its own piece of work. I write these ideas down on a list for possible future stories. Music lyrics tend to hit me like that too. I also have the random lightning bolt that hits me while I’m working on something, like cutting the grass.

What is one interesting fact about you?
I collect baseball cards. My father gave me my first pack of cards when I was three or four years old. I don’t spend crazy money on them, but I have close to 100,000 of them. Oh, and I’ve been inside the arctic circle.

Have you learned anything from the self publishing process and would you do anything differently next time?
Don’t think you can write a novel without hiring an editor. I hired an editor for my second book “The Scorpion” and it was well worth it.

What has been your most successful marketing strategy?
I don’t think any of them have been all that successful. Review swaps have worked pretty well. My Twitter followers are growing. My next plan is to enter a few book contests.

What is the best kept secret you have found in regard to indie publishing?
I wish I knew the secrets, especially those connected with promotion and exposure. Getting your book in front of people is so difficult. But I guess organizations like yours and GoodReads and Author’s Den are there to help.

Read The Scorpion