[00:00:00] Speaker A: Foreign.
[00:00:07] Speaker B: Hello and welcome to Small Publishing in a Big Universe. I am your host, Lisa Jacob. This month's episode is sponsored by Graveside Press and Cupid's Arrow Publishing. From Water Dragon Publishing this month Flashes of Time by Miko Rihuela Prophecy of Honor by Fred Wace Graveside Press has howl Black Rose by Arlo Z. Graves in its Tiny Terrors program this month Zombunny by Craig Crawford and for Cupid's Arrow Publishing, Dalliances Spring 2025 step into an old west of legends, legacies and lies, where machines come to life and and deadly silver terrorizes the land. 24 years have passed since the devastating awakening of the rogue commuter train. Bucephalus left countless dead and America forever changed. It also took everything from Geist warden Gabriel Velasquez. It took his father, his sister, and left him infected with silver, an illness that can be controlled but not cured. Since that day, Gabriel has lived for vengeance. But his time is running out. A chance encounter in the Nevada desert sends Gabriel on the trail of the legendary Colt.45 Hunt Line Special the Black Rose. Fabled lawman Wyatt Earp himself once carried the cursed revolver. Only Silver can kill Bucephalus, and only the Black Rose shoots Silver. She's exactly what Gabriel needs, and he'll go to any lengths to get his hands on her. He will take the Black Rose for himself, one way or another, and finally have his revenge. But the Black Rose has plans of her own. Black Rose is available this month in hardcover, paperback and digital editions from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, Smashwords and other online booksellers, or support your local independent bookstores by ordering it through bookshop.org for more information, visit their
[email protected] welcome to Small publishing in a Big Universe. We have with us today writer Michael Fedor. Tell us about your most recent book.
[00:02:31] Speaker A: Tree of Liberty is book two in the Bull Moose series. It picks up minutes after the conclusion of book one, and it's the exciting tale of the January after presidential election and the fight over who will become the victor of the election, whether that result will be decided by the contingent election procedure by the Congress or a popular revolution in the streets of Washington, dc.
[00:02:54] Speaker B: Is this based in nonfiction because of the obvious, or did it come up from your imagination before all this stuff happened?
[00:03:01] Speaker A: Well, it came from my imagination before all this stuff happened. 20 years ago when I was still teaching high school, the end of my original manuscript resulted in the President refusing to accept the results of the election and having there to be a Revolution in the streets of D.C. to pull him out of the White House. And it looked a lot like January 6th 6th. When I saw that happen on the news, I was like, oh, my goodness, my book's coming true. And who wants to read fiction that's happened? So I had to go back and do a complete rewrite of the book, make it more fantastical. But I do like to say that my thrillers are. They're plausibly terrifying. Although it is fantasy and it takes place 20 years into our future in 2044 and 2045. There are threads of the present in that future. We share a common history with this future. And so some of it's a bit of a warning or canary in a coal mine about this was where we could be headed if we don't change paths.
[00:03:54] Speaker B: Do you usually write fiction or nonfiction?
[00:03:57] Speaker A: I have written for my career for 25 years, mostly nonfiction. As much as I love writing nonfiction and continue to do it for a living, writing fiction for me was an exciting release and an exciting new challenge that I started in 2023. Professionally, I was surprised to learn how many more conventions I wasn't aware of and how much more consideration I had to put into the first five words, the first five pages, the first 50 pages when writing fiction. And the thing I used to yell at my students about in class 20 years ago, show me what's the character's feeling, don't tell me. And that was a mistake I was making again and again and again. So I actually wrote. Really love writing political thriller because it gives me an opportunity to really exercise my imagination and maybe escape from the stormy present a little to some characters who I find exciting and redeeming and I want to cheer for. You know, some people told me there's more money in nonfiction. I'd love to write a nonfiction work, but I had an itch I had to scratch, and so I wanted to get it out in less than a year, which I did. Two books in less than a year. I know nonfiction takes years to write, lots of research, and I'm not quite ready for that yet. I think I like the pace of writing fiction right now. For me, I'm a Panther. So I'm just sitting down, blank screen, and I'm just writing and I'm seeing where the story takes me. In fact, I'm working on book three now, and yesterday discovered a really exciting thread and just wrote for three straight hours. Just discovering that exciting thread. It wasn't something I anticipated. It's just as the words flowed to the page I suddenly said, that's it, and started going, so. So that's that I really find exciting.
[00:05:35] Speaker B: So you ended up writing the Bull Moose series, like you said, to scratch an itch. Do you have any other things you might try and do?
[00:05:44] Speaker A: Absolutely. The Bull Moose series was born out of a frustration with the 2004 election and feeling like the two parties were not talking to the public anymore. And it felt like that situation has gotten worse and has expanded. And so the book series explores what happens if suddenly a third party emerges that is speaking to the large portion of the electorate that feels left out. I also have a notebook full of ideas right here. Other story ideas, and another that I wanted to explore is the role of Edith Wilson in acting as president in the year after Woodrow Wilson's stroke. She would consult with him in private and she'd come out of the room with his orders. And I really thought it'd be exciting to explore a fiction story that really sees her as the first female president of the United States. Really making decisions in his absentia, having suffered a stroke. Another idea is the Discovery Corps, something that Thomas Jefferson kind of tapped Lewis and Clark as his Discovery Corps. They were going to traverse the Louisiana Purchase and they actually thought they would encounter Woolly Mammoth because they had absolutely no idea what lay west of the Mississippi River. And so they were prepared to confront all kinds of creatures. And when they didn't find them, maybe a little disappointed. Meriwether Lewis ends up dying of really strange circumstances after the journey ends. I would like to write a maybe middle grade fantasy series about the Discovery Corps. That's something that's really a project that I'm exploring next because I'd like to explore some magic and some wonder and write for maybe an audience that could be both youth and adults who'd like to read middle grade fiction and fantasy. And I think it still could combine my excitement for history with my desire to incorporate some fantastical elements. Do something that hasn't been done right. Wizard School's been done done. So I'd like to try something different. Maybe 20, 28. We'll see. I'd like to do six in the bull Moose series and then maybe pick up on the Discovery Core after that.
[00:07:42] Speaker B: I'm assuming you read a lot of history.
[00:07:44] Speaker A: I do, yeah.
[00:07:45] Speaker B: What particular time in history do you like the most?
[00:07:51] Speaker A: I do gravitate towards American history, and I think I'm more intrigued by the strange and the fantastical adventure or the the influence of the unexpected. Candace Millard is my favorite non Fiction, historical writer. She wrote the Destiny of the Republic. She wrote a book about Teddy Roosevelt, the River of Doubt, which inspired me to get back on track to write this book, Bull Moose, the River of Doubts, about Teddy roosevelt losing the 1912 election and going to the Amazon rainforest to find himself and find the source of the Amazon river and its tributaries. So I really get excited about exploring big personalities in history and kind of unraveling more about their motivations and also their insecurities, which I think we all kind of gloss over at times. These historical figures who've accomplished so much, just how much they personally have to overcome in their lives, that they were just as human as any of us and probably sat in rooms alone wondering if they were the right person to do the thing they were trying to do. I have a quote by Thomas Edison on my wall. It says most failure results from people giving up just before they were about to succeed. And so it's like figuring out how do we have that same level of persistence that they had. I like the Civil War period. I like the Pre World War I era, that kind of turn of the century stuff. It's before the world became consumed with technology and nuclear weapons. It seemed like there was some a slower pace and a lot more time for discovery and exploration. So that's what really gets me excited when I'm reading history. And I had to read a lot of thriller in order to write thriller, because I had to see, well, what do audiences expect in terms of pace, in terms of character development? And you know, I'm not a terrorism thriller writer. I don't really like the stories that are all driven by a race against the clock to stop the bad guys from blowing up the earth. But I do like the race against time structure of a story. And so trying to figure out how those conventions work and where's the MacGuffin and those types of people.
[00:09:44] Speaker B: Do you self publish or do you use a small publisher? And which one do you find the most satisfying?
[00:09:50] Speaker A: I'm self publishing right now. I set up my own publishing press. I think it's smart for independent authors to do that, for liability and for copyright and protection. Epic Edge Press is my publishing imprint and I set that up right after I wrote my novella the Senate Deception, which is a free book that I give away for folks to get a taste for my writing. And I find that it's very satisfying to be independent because I control the pace of my writing and I control the direction of the story. I have complete literary license over the story arc and the ending in the beginning. It doesn't mean that I don't work with editors. I do, I do take their, their input very seriously. And I myself reaching for commercially viable fiction. So I know that there's certain things that readers need and want in a story for them to continue to read and to spend their hard earned money on it. One, I think the biggest challenges with independent publishing is just getting the marketing right so that you can reach your audience. And I think that comes with real investment of time and resources. And I'm not rushing into that. I'm taking my time. I have had great success in getting about 500 copies sold of book one and my goal is at least 2,000. So I'm quarter of the way there. But I think what will come is the exposure through running smart advertising and running smart marketing to capture more of the audience. And there's no guarantees with big traditional publishing houses. Even though they're going to give you an advance check and put marketing budget, they may market your book for a month and then decide it's not selling and pull at all. So for me at least I have control over how long I want to work on this book and how long I want to edit it. And I also find that versioning is okay in self publishing. When I discover that something didn't work, I'm not shy about going and making a second edition and going back into a published work and making a tweak or making a change. Because ultimately I don't view my literature as a gold block. I view it as a river. It's going to change. And so certain things right now that are happening in the real world, how much does that influence the story? I'm not changing the plot, but I might change a fact or I might change a detail or a piece of dialogue that now maybe I've read it 50 times and the 51st time I don't like it. I don't tinker endlessly because it's possible as an independent author to tinker endlessly with your work. But if I see that something hasn't worked in the story, I'm not afraid to go back in and, and make an edit. I did that with the Senate Deception. There was something that just wasn't working in the story and I went back and made a new version and it's okay. I own the rights. I can do that. But I think that when you make that leap, if you're considering independent self publishing, I think the first thing you think very seriously about is creating your own LLC for liability. Protection. You don't want to be in a position where someone can sue you and take all your possessions. So if you distribute through an llc, you're creating a legal protection for yourself. That's the smartest thing you can do. And then secondly, I think it also adds a level of stature, a level of credibility, when the imprint on your book is a publishing name, not your own name. And so I think that that's something that independent authors should not be shy about doing. I'm not hiding the fact that I'm an independent author. Would I be open to hybrid publishing? Sure, with some strong conditions. If Penguin calls me and wants to print and distribute the Bull Moose, let's talk. But I'm also going to be careful that I don't want to be in a situation where I'm writing to what they're they believe my fiction ought to be, because that's not why I'm doing this. I want that creative control about who Jackson Piper is and what the arc of the story is going to be. But that's where I'm at.
[00:13:20] Speaker B: What is some advice for a new author?
[00:13:23] Speaker A: The loudest voice in your head when you're a new author is the voice of doubt. You are going to be spending so much time, more time than you can even imagine, writing a 90 to 120,000 word novel or book, and you are going to get 30 to 40,000 words in and you are going to be convinced it's total crap. And it's because your own voice in your head is telling you you can't do this and you should just stop and you should just quit. And your challenge as a new author is to surround yourself with other people who are going to read your work and tell you the truth. And if they tell you the truth, that your writing is not very good and you should consider being an editor, a copy editor, a cover designer, a dog walker. Take their advice. Listen to them, because they're going to try to save you heartache down the road. But if they tell you that your writing is very good and that you have a natural talent and skill for painting compelling literature and stories, then believe them when they tell you that and let that voice be the louder one in your head so that you will continue past the 30,000th word and get all the way to the end. I was filled with doubt when I was writing my first book and convinced that my editor, who had taken the book for two weeks and hadn't gotten back any feedback to me, I was convinced she was just looking for the Right way to tell me how bad I was.
[00:14:44] Speaker B: What did she say?
[00:14:46] Speaker A: She said you have a natural talent for this. You're a great thriller writer. There are some things we want to improve here, but you have, at the very essence, you had the skill of a thriller writer. You create great tension. You built the tension in the story. Wonderful cliffhangers at the end of the chapters, vibrant characters. They all have different voices, really compelling details that draw me in. Now let's find ways to make the characters more relatable earlier in the story. Let's be more clear about the stakes in the writing so the audience knows why they should keep going. These are the craft of writing fiction that I was not as experienced with, having just been my first venture. So having a team of professionals who can help you tell you, like, this is what your story's missing, and if you can work with an author who will listen to that, then it's golden. That was the other thing my editor said, is you took the feedback and you did something with it. And as an editor, that makes me feel so good because you just didn't ignore my feedback. And all the time reading and writing that feedback for a reason. So again, a new author, allow the people around you to help raise the voice of confidence in your head because you are going to be great if you have the talent and you just need to see it through.
[00:15:54] Speaker B: Where can people contact you?
[00:15:57] Speaker A: My website, michaelfadorbooks.com is the great place to reach me. That's like the hat without the A F E D O R. There you can see the contact form. My email address authoraichelfoodorbooks.com is there. Send me a note. Tell me that you love my writing. Hated my writing. Maybe you have questions about why Ron Bender did this or why Ziggy did that. I love to hear from readers and I also really love to hear their feedback. Who they think should play these characters in the movie version. Everyone believes this is going to be a movie or a Netflix series or streaming series. And I'm like, yes, I agree with you. Tell me who you think the actor should be. I love hearing that feedback. You also can find me on Facebook and Instagram at Michael Fedor Books and Twitter or X. Michael J. Fedor.
[00:16:41] Speaker B: Well, thank you very much.
[00:16:42] Speaker A: Thanks so much.
[00:16:54] Speaker B: Dalliances Spring 2025 Love is love. Dalliances celebrates all kinds of love and relationships, from love bringing a ghost back to life to finding love in an elevator to true love between two women, a variety of short stories about romance and deep friendships. Dalliance's Spring 2025 is available this month in hardcover, paperback and digital editions from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, Smashwords and other online booksellers, or support your local independent bookstores by ordering it through bookshop.org for more information, visit their website at Cupid's Arrow Publishing.
[00:17:44] Speaker A: Foreign.
[00:17:47] Speaker B: Thanks again to our guest. We plan on publishing new episodes every month. If you want to know about small publishing in a big universe, visit our
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[email protected] this podcast was recorded and edited by yours truly, Lisa Jacob. Executive Producer is Stephen Radecki. Theme and ad music is provided by Melody Loops. Enhanced transcription services are provided by Lisa Jacob. This month's episode was sponsored by Graveside Press and Cupid's Arrow Publishing. You can also listen to our podcasts on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music and most of your favorite podcast services. Thank you very much for listening and see you next month.
