One of the key benefits of attending writers’ conferences is the people you meet, and this interview with a fellow author and blogger is a lovely example of one of those spinoffs.
I had the great pleasure of meeting Christina Boyd at the April Chanticleer Authors’ Conference in Bellingham, Wash., where we both won book awards. She took home a First Place ribbon in the Somerset Book Awards category (recognizing emerging talent and outstanding work in the Contemporary and Literary Fiction genre) for her unpublished novel Woman in the Painting, and I won a First Place ribbon in the Nellie Bly Journalism category for my debut Chained Birds.
I was delighted when Christina asked to interview me for her blog, The Quill Ink, and she published our bookish Q&A this week. With her permission, I’ve excerpted some of our insights for this post.
The first thing Christina asked me was a great pre-Chained Birds time-machine question:
CHRISTINA: What do you wish you had known before you started writing a book?
CARLA: That, unless you are a lead title with a Big Five imprint, the marketing aspect of publishing is not only expected, but necessary, and is daunting for newcomers. In many ways, learning how to market and self-promote was harder than writing the book itself!
CHRISTINA: Goodness, I hear that from a lot of authors these days. It can be especially daunting when marketing doesn’t come naturally to some.
I’ve reflected on that question a lot and feel like I’m now in a position to help others navigate the journey of book publishing, whether as an indie, self-published, or trad-pubbed author. To that end, I’ve been outlining a multi-part series of blog posts that will cover self-promotion and many other things I’ve learned along the way in launching and marketing Chained Birds. So stay tuned for that … and thank you, Christina, for giving me this idea! π
Christina and I also discussed how nonfiction character development is similar to fiction, my experience with audiobook narration, and what’s next for me:
CHRISTINA: What is your current project or latest release?
CARLA: I canβt go into details yet, but I am working on my next true crime book. I hope to have an announcement about that soon.
Sorry to be vague, but I do plan to share news about this soon (one more thing to stay tuned for in this space π). I will say, though, that readers of Chained Birds were given a sneak peek at this project in Chapter 17 π
You can check out the rest of our interview here.
I’d like to thank Christina for featuring me on her blog and adding me to her long, impressive list of author interviews. Christina wears many hats, including writer, blogger, reviewer, artist, and book editor. As noted in her bio section:
“Since 2013, Christina has curated seven multi-author anthologies and edited over fifty-five books. A life member of Jane Austen Society of North America andΒ Pacific Northwest Writers Association, Christina lives quietly in the wilds of the Pacific Northwest with her dear Mr. B and a silver Labradorβnow that her Boydlings have gone off on adventures. Her own English fantasy came true thanks to actorΒ Henry Cavill when they sipped champagne together atop the London Eye. True story. You can Google it.”
Carla Conti is a true crime journalist, storyteller, and prison reform advocate. Her debut book, Chained Birds: A True Crime Memoir of Justice, Survival and Redemption Behind Bars, is out now with WildBlue Press.
