Tracey Garvis-Graves

Have you heard of a successful, international author and wished you got to chat to them? As a writer or reader, this may be an author who’s been on the top 10 New York Times bestseller list. Or the USA Today bestseller list. Maybe they have almost 900 reviews on Amazon, with an average of 4.5 stars.

Today, Novel Girl readers, I present to you author, Tracey Garvis-Graves. Her bio is extensive. The information above is part of it.

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She’s on  [Click icons]

The below interview is on her book, writing, publishing, marketing and what’s up next …

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What are your views about an older woman/younger man relationship in life?

I’m married to a younger man, but I’m only six months older so I suppose that doesn’t count I really do believe that true love conquers all and age is just a number. If the man happens to be younger than the woman I see no problem with it. All that matters is that the couple is happy!

Every now and then, a stellar concept becomes a story. Jack and Rose, Edward and Bella, and now T.J. and Anna. Tell us about how you developed the story for On The Island.

I knew I wanted to write a desert island book. I’ve loved the premise ever since my mom took me to see The Blue Lagoon when I was thirteen-years-old. I’m also a huge fan of the T.V. show Lost, and I really enjoyed the movie Castaway, even if I didn’t quite buy the relationship between Tom Hank and the volleyball. For On the Island, I wanted to put two people who really shouldn’t be together in an isolated survival situation, and then see what unfolded.

Why did you choose to self-publish?

I was not able to obtain agent representation. I queried fourteen agents and received fourteen form rejections. On the Island didn’t fit neatly into a single genre, and it had a risky storyline. I felt it would be better to self-publish than to continue hoping that someone would take a chance on it. In retrospect, it was the best decision I ever made.

We love hearing a “How I Found My Agent” story. What does yours sound like?

My agent contacted me after On the Island started selling well. I wasn’t in need of representation for my print and e-book rights, but I needed someone to handle subsidiary and film rights. I signed an agency agreement and they’ve done a wonderful job so far. I couldn’t be happier.

What was it like receiving the news that MGM wanted to option the rights to make your novel a film?

A bit surreal, actually. I still don’t think it’s sunk in. Maybe someone should pinch me!

I never dreamed any of this would be possible. I thought I’d sell a couple hundred copies if I was lucky.

Don’t blush but I’m going to run off these stats. 250,000+ copies sold in just over 2 months; top Hollywood production company, MGM, bought the film rights; 4.7 star average on Amazon. First part: Did you think this was possible?

The book has actually been out since last September [Amazon stated this date differently when I checked. Hm, not happy about being made a fool.] so the sales period is longer than just two months, but I’ve definitely sold the bulk of those copies since mid-March. I never dreamed any of this would be possible. I thought I’d sell a couple hundred copies if I was lucky. I really hoped that readers would connect with the story, but I had no way of knowing if they would other than putting it out there and waiting patiently to see if the book would take off.

Second part: What reasoning can you describe for astronomical sales in such a short period?

Amazon selected On the Island for their ‘The Big Deal’ promotion in March. My book and 199 others were discounted and prominently displayed for an eight-day period. At the end of the promotion, I expected the book to drop back down in rank, but the opposite happened. On the Island held on and actually moved up a few spots, eventually reaching the top 10 in the Kindle store where it’s been ever since. I’ve been very fortunate to reach a large number of readers, and those readers are telling others about how much they enjoyed T.J. and Anna’s story. I have the best readers in the world.

Marketing Dos and DON’Ts for self-published authors?

Don’t waste a lot of time blogging and tweeting. Social media is important, but it isn’t what sells books. What sells books is a compelling story that is different from everything else out there. Whatever you write has to resonate with a large group of readers because it’s their word-of-mouth marketing that will really have an impact on your sales. Don’t be afraid to write something a bit ‘outside the box’.

Tell us more about your next novel, Covet. Release date, synopsis, hookline? Mmmm…

I don’t have a firm release date for Covet, but I’m shooting for late fall/early winter. It’s women’s fiction so I’m shifting genre a bit. Here’s the listing on Goodreads. The next book after Covet will be a return to contemporary romance (with a healthy dose of action and adventure).

You’ve well and truly earned your fame. The mic’s over to you for any other random, juicy gossip:

No real gossip, but I do want to let other writers know that there are many avenues to get their work in front of the readers. Self-publishing is a very viable option, and it’s wonderful to let the readers decide what is worthy of being read. If you choose your cover art carefully and write a compelling blurb for a compelling and interesting book, you have a real chance of making it. Once a book reaches the marketplace it’s on a level playing field. If readers like it they’ll review it positively and they’ll tell others. That’s the most important thing.

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– LINKS –

On the Island on:

Amazon US, Amazon UK, Penguin (Aust.), Smashwords [all eBook versions], Barnes & Noble

Tracey Garvis-Graves on:

Twitter, Blog, Facebook, Goodreads

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