An Interview with Jim Miller of "Mined Your Own Business"

Today at jexbo we’re talking to Jim Miller, author of “Mined Your Own Business.” Let’s see what he has to say:


Why did you decide to self-publish?

I decided to self-publish for a number of reasons. In no particular order, but of equal importance are; royalties, more overall control of my novels, the ease of publishing today and a kind of ego related, "I did it all".
What was your biggest challenge to overcome in self-publishing your book and why?

The biggest challenge for me was the initial hurdle of getting a book published. I have been writing for many years, but my novels all seemed to get stuck on disks or manuscripts in drawers, all waiting for the best time for me to move. I would often tell people that the marketing side of writing was where I didn't apply myself. I was doing tons of writing, but not much of 'getting it out there'.

A friend who worked for a small press asked if I had anything ready for print that he could have a look at. I gave him the story 'Mined Your Own Business' and after a couple of weeks he emailed me and said that the publisher wanted to offer me a contract to put it out as an ebook. At that time I was busy working on entering the self-publishing world, but I said okay.

A few weeks later, in May, 2011, he notified me that 'Mined Your Own Business' was up on Amazon. After the thrill of seeing it up there and both my wife and I purchasing a copy I settled down and realized that I was now a published mystery writer. That realization gave my level of confidence a boot upwards and when a few reviews showed up and people actually liked it, I was ready to accept the fact that I could be a writer for real. Notwithstanding that I had had a ton of articles published in newspapers and other little clips, friends telling me who good my work was. All of that didn't seem to matter to some inner me. But, now? Now I've got the confidence to go out and self-publish with enthusiasm.

What has been the best part about self-publishing your book and why?

I think that some of the above fits this category. But the sense of accomplishment was huge. A kind of validation of myself.

What advice do you have for other writers who are self-publishing their book?

I can't say enough about just going for it. Without that little bit of a shove from my friend I might still be storing up manuscripts and writing for myself. I have to admit that I do re-write a lot, and put long hours into making it the best I can. My inner voice will tell me, "Nope, that scene, Jim, it sucks." And try as I might to shut him, up, we both know it's not the best I can do. So I go back and re-do it. It might be days before I finally accept the fact that if I left it, I was only fooling myself. So, in summary, write it as many times as is necessary - you shut up that little voice, and then you ignore the next little voice that says, "You ain't good enough." and you do it.

Is there anything you would like to add?

Yes, Jerry Cleaver, a writing teacher has a book out, 'Immediate Fiction' and in that are two rules a writer needs to live by:

I can do it!

Whatever writing problem you have there will be a writing solution.

A bit about the ebook selling. The evening of the book launch on Amazon I got an email from my editor who said, "We've been up for four hours and already sold two copies of 'Mined Your Own Business'."

I had to reply, "Yes, I know, Bev bought one and I bought the other."

My temporary blog site is rabbihawkins.blog.spot.com

'Mined Your Own Business' is on Amazon at http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004XMZXX0


Thanks for sharing your information with us Jim, and good luck with book sales!

If you’d like to share your self-publishing story with jexbo readers, please write to me here. Thanks!