DIRE CONTACT - Supernatural Sci-Fi Thriller Series - No Brainer Book 1
SPACE TIME - No Brainer Series Book 2
How to reach JC Spark:
Intro:
Well, hey there, Writer. Welcome to The Resilient Writers Radio Show. I'm your host, Rhonda Douglas. And this is the podcast for writers who want to create and sustain a writing life they love.
Because let's face it, the writing life has its ups and downs, and we want to not just write, but also to be able to enjoy the process so that we'll spend more time with our butt-in-chair getting those words on the page.
This podcast is for writers who love books and everything that goes into the making of them. For writers who want to learn and grow in their craft and improve their writing skills. Writers who want to finish their books and get them out into the world so their ideal readers can enjoy them. Writers who want to spend more time in that flow state.
Writers who want to connect with other writers to celebrate and be in community, in this crazy roller coaster ride, we call the writing life. We are resilient writers. We're writing for the rest of our lives and we're having a good time doing it. So welcome, Writer. I'm so glad you're here. Let's jump right into today's show.
Rhonda:
Well, hey there, Writer. Welcome back to another episode of The Resilient Writers Radio Show. I am so excited today because we are with one of my favorite authors, J.C. Spark, and we are going to be talking all about the process from basically from zero to Dire Contact. So the name of her book is Dire Contact: No Brainer 1. And it is a sci-fi suspense novel. That's what I think it is. What would you call it, JC?
JC:
I would call it a lot of everything. So I, I was struggling a lot with this. A bit of so many genres. And now I'm going with this is not a bug. It's a feature.
Rhonda:
Okay. It's a feature. Um, and I love your, you say if good omens and doctor who had a baby, it would be dire contact, which I love. Yeah. And, but it's set in the United States. It's set in sort of New England really for the most part. So for all of it is in New England. I mean, except for the part that, you know, is more universal than that. So let's talk a little bit about the process of getting there. So you are someone who does a detailed outline, correct?
JC Spark:
Yeah.
Rhonda:
Yeah. In a spreadsheet, you did like a spreadsheet outline.
JC Spark:
Yeah.
Rhonda:
Yeah, so talk about that. What's your process like?
JC Spark:
I had the basic idea some years ago. And when I started to put the outline together, I very early realized I don't have one book here. There are at least three books. So I knew I had to plan this. I'm not sure if I would have planned it like I did without the First Book Finish. I'm honest. I did this course by Daniel Wallace before about character first plotting.
Rhonda:
Yeah, he does.
JC Spark:
So this was the first part and you will notice it all over my writing. This was perfect for me because the characters are the focus of this story. But I knew the story and I knew the story will be very complex with a big character cast. I have multiple timelines. I have, I think, nine point of views throughout the first book. So wait for book two, there will be more.
Rhonda:
Yeah, so that takes some real planning. So, how long did it take you to do the draft again? What, two months, three months? It wasn't very long, but it's, it's, you know, it's like 450 pages. So it's a, it's a substantia…
JC:
The first, the first draft was, uh, 120,000 words and it took four months.
Rhonda:
Four months. Okay. That's not so bad. Wow. That's great. So from there you revised and I know that well because you're in First Book Finish. And then one of the things that you did was you decided to do a crowdfunding campaign via BackerKit and were part of their Booktopia promotion. Can you talk a little bit about why you decided to do that crowdfunding campaign? What you got out of it and a little bit about the Booktopia experience.
JC:
Yeah, so the why is because I'm good at one thing and bad at another. So I'm good and I had a lot of knowledge about crowdfunding in general because I am owning a gaming shop, board games, and I sell crowdfunded games for some years now and I'm backing them for over a decade. So I am very deep into the crowdfunding.
And I had no idea how to get visibility. So when I was first thinking Kickstarter and on while preparing for the Kickstarter, I got in contact with the people from BackerKit and they told me about Booktopia, about this option. I didn't know this before. So I thought the platform is smaller, but so am I at the moment. I'm just starting out. So this might be an opportunity for somebody who does not have a big audience, be a small fish but in a smaller pool. So it kind of worked and the support was great from them. I was nervous about everything. And yeah, they were really great.
Rhonda:
So you went with BackerKit and you were part of this Booktopia thing where there were like a lot of... It was basically a big crowdfunding festival for all of these books. Yeah.
JC:
There were over 50 authors launching all at the same time. And yeah, we all supported each other and I really liked this a lot. So much easier if you are not alone.
Rhonda:
What a great idea. And I remember like I was back here, I was there to back yours, but I was like, ooh that one sounds interesting. So I actually backed a couple of things during the Booktopia. It was a really great event, actually, really great event. And so why did you decide to do crowdfunding, though? Why did you decide you needed to raise some money in order to move ahead with your project?
JC:
I did not think I had to, but I knew I could. And I thought there would be some inbuilt visibility and some inbuilt readers that I will get this way. And after the feedback from my beta readers, I thought that this personal contact to the people there was all very close. I thought this could be good for me to get my book seen from not so many people, but the few that were there have seen it. So I was really happy. I got over 70 backers. I got 74 backers. So this was really nice.
Rhonda:
And you met your, you met your goal, right? You met your crowdfunding goals. Yeah. I said that this goal was very low. I knew I would do a print run anyway, so there was no need to put this very high. But yeah, and I had a very ambitious project with two languages with print with e-book and audio. So this is not for the first book. It was and I mean, I have to say that and you were like, when you were in First Book Finish, and you'd come in and we'd be talking about what you're doing this week, I think, you know, you were doing the mostest of anyone because you were publishing it in German and in English for e-book, print and audio book. And that is a lot of moving pieces. Like it is a lot. And I think at times you were like, what have I decided to do here? But it all worked out in the end.
And I love the story. Like I think your characters are so just so interesting and so perfect for this for the like the meld between characters and plot is really great and you know it's quite engaging. Yeah and it's a page turner like it really is a page turner and it ends on a cliffhanger. So can we talk about that choice because it's a series right it's a it's a at least three books and there's a real like the cliffhanger to end all cliffhangers at the end of book one. So why did you decide to do that?
JC:
Because honestly, I had no other choice. I cannot explain. You will understand when you read the first page of book two, you will understand. I had to stop at this point because otherwise I had to add at least another 100 pages. And there is a natural break in the storyline because of what we will find out what happened because of what they done at the end of book one.
Rhonda:
Yeah, no spoilers, but you have to buy it and read it. It's such a fun read. I love books like this where, like, you start reading it at 9 p.m. thinking, I'll just read for a little bit before bed, and then basically you can't put it down because it's very page turner, you know, it's very like, oh, I'm okay, let me just read the next chapter. Oh, okay, let me just read the next chapter.
There's okay, so and it's, we're gonna call it scifi-suspense ish. And it's in it takes place in space world, you know, this this sort of its world, but it's a context, really, you know, in which this story happens. And there are some choices in here, there's this white kitten that represents something in particular. And can you talk about - and readers can't, listeners can't see this, but I'm holding up the book and the inside has, like the inside cover and the back cover, it's full cover color art of the characters. And, and I know you're making use of this white kitten on social media and, you know, to sign up for your newsletter, it's like follow the white kitten. And so I just love it. But can you talk about the artwork and why, like not every book has full color art inside. Now, are these special editions that you could only get if you backed up Booktopia, or are you gonna do more with the artwork?
JC:
Yes and no. These are special editions, and I will always have the special illustrated editions available with the color artwork on the front and the back, and with the black and white illustrations throughout the book. Every book will have this for the special edition. So you will get this when you crowd back the crowdfunding project or when you buy it directly from me, from my shop.
For the retail, I can't do this. I can't even do this for the e-books, something I learned lately that if you do the illustrations in an e-book, like what I have in this book, I have to pay to get them distributed. I will not get a penny out of it because the files are so big.
Rhonda:
Right. Yeah.
JC:
So this is not possible, but you can also get the illustrated e-book directly from me or when you crowdfund. I really love to have this and I'm working with the character art and everything around this for my newsletter and on my webpage. And I have big plans for my book world, so this will play a role.
Rhonda:
I love that you put a glossary in at the end. Why did you decide to do this? It's a like you've got the you've got the acronyms, right? Like the DBI DBS, deep brain stimulation, and then folding over, you've got the characters. So can you talk a little bit about this is at the end of the book once you've read it? So why not..
JC:
But I put a note that this is at the end of the book on the first page before you start reading so you know that this glossary is there.
Rhonda:
But you can just check and see like, oh, wait a minute, which character is that again? And you can look at the book, is that it? Yeah, just to... Did you have to have so many?
JC:
Well it was easy for me, but I thought just in case, I didn't want the reader to worry about, oh, I could not remember this one character, or was he the brother, or was he the...the other guy. So this was one part. And then there is not so much, I think, physics involved that are, I tried really to make this easy to understand. And I think every reader I had until now had an easy time getting it.
But to look these things up to simply go to the last page and check what is a BCE.
Rhonda:
Yeah. Yeah, no, that's great. So, and I think it's useful for a book like this. And anytime anybody has, you know, quite a number of characters, it's so great. So can we talk a little bit about, I know you learned a lot through the crowdfunding campaign and then also through the self-publishing. Can we talk a little bit about like lessons learned in the, in the whole process for you and what you would do differently next time or, you know, anything like that?
JC:
Yeah, what I will do differently, I will plan in a bit more time. This was a first time with everything. And I think what I was struggling with the most was that I absolutely underestimated the time certain things took, starting with revision. This took so damn long. But I know why now. And I think my drafting is a bit slower this time, but I think I will be faster in revision. But I'm close to done with the delivery of everything from the campaign. But
There is still, you would know, the English audio is still missing. But getting the German audio right took us so long. The English is coming together well, so we have to do this listening. You have to listen to every track to make sure it's correct. The narrator is reading really what is in the book.
You know, sometimes you when you're reading, you're making stuff up. So I have to check this will take some time, but this is nearly done. So I'm positive that when the new campaign starts, everything from the old one will be delivered, but I will plan in more time for the next one.
Rhonda:
So when does the campaign launch for the next book?
JC:
It's March 25th. So there is. Yeah, there will be.
Rhonda:
There is Dire Contact book two?
JC:
There is Dire Contact book two on BackerKit. No, this is not Dire Contact. This is Space Time. This is the No Brainer book two. No Brainer book two. It will be called Space Time.
Rhonda:
Space Time. Okay, so we go from Dire Contact to Space Time. Yeah.
JC:
And at the same day. Yeah. I will have Dire Contact launch wide. So it will be on Amazon, on Kobo, on Apple, on Google. It will launch everywhere.
Rhonda:
You get it anywhere you get your books, Dire Contact, No Brainer One. Okay, great. I wanna talk again about the Illustrated Character Art. How are you using it now? So you had it done, you worked with an artist. It came out brilliantly. Like I think it looks really, really great.You know, and and so how are you using the character arc art other than in the book?
JC:
I am using it on social media. And yeah, I plan, I use it in my newsletter. And I plan so this is really middle to long term plans, but I want to have a dedicated server for the for the book world. I have planned so much more and the characters will simply live there. So they will always be part of this world and I'm working on having them in different situations and do something else with the artwork. So use it with future characters.
Rhonda:
Oh, wow. And you worked with an illustrator for that. What was that like? Yeah. With an illustrator to, you know, cause you've got, you've created these out of nothing, like out of just ideas in your head. And now you have to translate it to another human being to do the illustration. What was that like?
JC:
Um, a lot of back and forth. I was, I'm really happy with how they turned out, but it was a lot of work on both sides. It took very long and I had to give him reference pictures for the characters, for the posing, for the clothes, for the colors, for... it is really...if I would have been able to hold the pen, I would have done it myself.
So this is why I decided I would try it myself. So my wife is working on design. She is doing a design course at the moment and I'm doing a mix. So I take existing photos. I photoshop, I work with different programs. At the moment I'm trying out a lot to see okay what do I want, what do I want to use, what don't I want to use. And I hope that my own home artist will get to the point where I need her to be fast.
Rhonda:
But I love that. I think that’s one of the, one of the fun things about self-publishing is all the extra things you can do. Like you can do these special editions with art, then you can use the art on social, you can use the art. Most of us, most authors don't have character art that they can use on social to kind of show people the world of the book, you know? So yeah, I think that's really great.
So if, again, going back, so you did the art, but again, going back. And not just going back, because you're going forward. You're doing book two. I know you've got a couple of poetry books that you're looking to publish. And then there will be book three. So you're just keeping on keeping on here. What would you do differently other than time? Would you cut out anything? Would you decide, oh, only one language? Only no audio or like would you would you change anything or do you still want to do it all but but just make more time.
JC:
I think i still want to do it all so um to have all the artwork i need a print or ebook if i had have one i could do the other one too and um audio is um i think there is in audio. So this is the most cost intense part. So for audio, I'm going with a human narrator. That's what I was going to ask. It's not a human narrator. No, then it is a human narrator.
With the artwork, I will have, I think I will end up with a mix of very different things. But for the narration, I have a human narrator. And I have a guy who does both languages. So it's the same guy who's doing the German and the English version. This is was a really coincidence how this came to be. But yeah.
Rhonda:
That's super. Oh, I look forward to that. So let's talk about the cover. So I love this cover, but I happen to know it wasn't the first cover or even the second cover or third cover. So what's, what was your story with, with getting the cover right? Because the cover is so important with self publishing. You have to be able to look at it and go, yes, that is the kind of book that I want to read. And even, I think you've done a really great job, even with like your font choice, you know, says to me, Oh, this is the kind of book in this genre that I want to read. So, so let's just talk a little bit about your process of getting to a cover that you, you finally were happy with.
JC:
Yeah, the process was a process of getting away from everything that was not right. So I ended up with the right thing. So I always, most of the time I'm doing too much. I want too much. I wanted to put a whole story on the cover of the book and the beta readers liked the scene on the book because they knew the scene. But this is absolutely stupid to get people who don't know the book to read it.
So even if I liked the idea of that cover, it did not work. The very first one that I had would have worked, but it had a boy on the cover and I didn't want to signal child because it's a book for adults, not that a teenager can't read it, but I didn't want to have the signaled child. So that was our two. Then I had the cover designed from one of the tarot cards I had made for the campaign, the two hands, but that was too dark and it was, so it was not right.
In the end, I ended up with something that represented the title of the book. So the context and this cover. I wanted this to show this is it's suspense, sci-fi. It is dark in part, but it also has kind of some some quirky vibes at some points. So I wanted a slight hint at the light comic style maybe. And we made this, the hand on the cover is actually my hand.
Rhonda:
Oh wow! Okay.
JC:
So this is made from a photo of my hand. And yeah, and we changed the art style. And then my wife added the energy thingy.
Rhonda:
Oh my gosh. Okay. Well, not everyone has a life to do the cover, but I think the process that you went through of like, no, that's not right. That's not right. It has to reach people who haven't yet read the book. It has to be clear what genre the book is in. And I think you finally achieved it. So yeah. And then...ow did you make a decision about printing?
JC:
You mean, who would print it? The factory?
Rhonda:
Yes.
JC:
I did a lot of research. So I checked some in Germany, I talked to other writers here. But I was really not happy because they focused on other things than me. So they were focused on glitter and sprayed edges and piano. It's great because they are all in the Romanticism, but this is not for me. And this was not for my book. So I was looking for other options and I came about books factory and I have got a very good contact there.
I have one guy, one personal guy that is only, um, every time I have something I have to reach out to this guy, the company is in Poland, but the guy speaks German like…
Rhonda:
Oh, great. Wonderful.
JC:
This is, this is awesome. And they have a great support. The books, I mean, you, you got the book. I think they did a great job.
Rhonda:
I think the quality is very good. And you did a lot of, you did quality check. Like you got the book and went back and forth with them a couple of times.
JC:
Yeah, I had a test printed. I had also the the lyrics book test printed. And especially with the lyrics, I found out what not to do because I got the test prints.
Rhonda:
Yeah, when you when you have that book out, you'll have to come back on. We'll talk about publishing books of lyrics and poetry because it is different. It's very different.
JC:
Yeah.
Rhonda:
Yeah. So this is so, so exciting. So..
JC:
I have one thing I have to mention because I found out the hard way. You might have noticed that when you put my book on top of a pile of other books, the spine is upside down.
Rhonda:
Yes, I did.
JC:
Letters on the spine. And I did not realize this. This is German.
Rhonda:
But it's good for being on a bookshelf because the title is so... like it pops. It really pops.
JC:
But I realized that the English version has to turn that around. I did not know this in advance. I really, I did my German version first and then I produced the English one and I just replaced the words. And yeah, Jacqueline got it and she sent me a photo of my book on top of others and said, your book is upside down.
So I'm just saying this because I noticed a trend that a lot of authors are thinking about publishing in German. So for them, think about the spine that you turn the letters around.
Rhonda:
You turn the other way. Yeah, things you don't think about when you when you're, you know,
JC:
Yeah, exactly.
Rhonda:
I'm doing something in a language. Yeah, so good. So in the end, why did you decide to do two language versions? I mean, you're German. You can write in German, obviously. So you could have just published a book in German. Why? Why did you also decide, no, I'm going to do two languages because it meant two languages on the website. Two languages and then a newsletter, right? So you're always double, you know, doing everything twice in two languages. Why in the end was it important to you to do that?
JC:
First of all because I could, then obviously, I mean, the German market, the book market in German is really huge, but nothing compared to the English. So it was for marketing reasons to have a broader audience for the book. And also most of my contacts were online and English speaking. So most of the people I know speak English.
So, and I even started the first story idea was written in English. Yeah. But I drafted in German and did the translation. I did all the translations myself. So I had a very good editor for English, I think.
Rhonda:
Yes.
JC:
Yeah.
Rhonda:
And I know you had a bit of back and forth with your editor, right? Like you were...
JC:
With the German editors. Yeah, I had.
Rhonda:
But the English was good. Obviously I've only read the English because my German is limited to, I think, gesundheit. But it reads so well in English. Like it just, you write like in English, it reads like it's a native English language.
JC:
I had some native speakers also with the beta readers and I had two locals check so I got two people from the New England region to help me get rid of some mistakes and dialogue and put you know the the kid who's a bit overusing the word wicked.
Rhonda:
Yes, yes, yes.
JC:
This was because of a New England reader pointing out if you want somebody to to push the New England thing, have somebody have a take with Wicked. Wicked.
Rhonda:
That's so good. That's so good. Well, listen, congratulations. It's a great book and an amazing experience. Like I just watching you, you know, go through this in First Book Finish and how you were, you know, you were so doggedly consistent. And I know that you felt sometimes that you were behind and you know, the timing was too tight and there were so many things to do and it was overwhelming.
But watching you like, you know, not being in your head, not doing it and watching you, it just seemed like, yeah, no, now she's finished the draft. Now she's finished revisions. Now she's finished editing. Now she's doing her campaign. Now she's got a cover. Oh, now she's got a different cover. Now she's got the art. Now she's got the, you know, like, it just seemed like it was happening and happening.
JC:
She is very good when working under pressure.
Rhonda:
Yeah, yeah, well, good thing, because it was, there was a lot of pressure to this. But, you know, part of that was the, was the crowdfunding campaign, which happened at a particular time, so that you could be part of this.
JC:
Yeah.
Rhonda:
So that, and then once the campaign closes, then you have to get the things out and so on. So, and mine came a little late. I know you got them out, but we had a postal strike here. So it's at somewhere, I don't know where, and then finally it came. So congratulations. Are you happy with it in the end?
JC:
Yes, I am. I'm really happy with the result, with the book. I had no idea what to expect from the campaign. So I set my expectations very low there. This was really to get my feet wet to see if I can handle this. I did a lot of firsts there too. Like I did this live video call thingy when we launched with the other authors. And this was, this was horrible for me. So I'm really not the..
Rhonda:
You did it and then you've done it.
JC:
I did it. I did it and I did not die. So yeah. And I did it again, three times during the, uh, the time of the campaigns. So.
Rhonda:
So great. Yeah. All right, everyone, the book is called Dire Contact: No Brainer Book 1. I will put a link in the show notes so you can grab yourself a copy. If you like being kept up late at night by a book and you enjoy suspense, even if you're new to sci-fi, because it is sci-fi, but it is rooted in the contemporary world. So I think anybody would really enjoy this. So I'll put a link in the show notes. Thanks so much for being with me, JC.
JC:
Thank you, Rhonda.
Outro:
Thanks so much for hanging out with me today and for listening all the way to the end. I hope you enjoyed today's episode of The Resilient Writers Radio Show. While you're here, I would really appreciate it if you'd consider leaving a rating and review of the show. You can do that in whatever app you're using to listen to the show right now, and it just takes a few minutes.
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