Straight From the Mouth of 'I, Walter' Mike Hartner

Mike Hartner is a father, son, author, patriot, geek (ret), and husband.

His love of all things genealogical led him to writing, and writing has now led him to fiction and a large epic saga. 

He lives in Vancouver, BC with his wife and son.

His latest book is the historical romance, I, Walter.

Visit his website at www.accidentalauthor.ca.

Thanks for letting us interrogate interview you!  Can you give us a go-for-the-gut answer as to why you wanted to be an author? 

To write and learn about people, including myself.

Tell us (we won’t tell promise!) is it all it’s cracked up to be?  I mean what are the perks and what are the demands? 

The perks include seeing your book in the public domain, and readers feeling strongly enough about it to review the book.  The demands are to constantly market your book and yourself, while trying to find time to write another one.

Which route did you take – traditional or self-published – and can you give us the nitty gritty low down on what’s that like? 

Self-published.  It’s the fastest way to get to the public, but requires a lot more work on the marketing side.

What’s the snarkiest thing you can say about the publishing industry (e.g. rejections, the long wait, etc.)   

Just that the learning curve is incredibly steep, especially for first time authors.  But there are great people who are always willing to help.

Tell us for real what your family feels about you spending so much time getting your book written, polished, edited, formatted, published, what have you?   

Now that it’s done, much better. But this was a ‘release’ project.  It allowed me to de-stress after a long day of family work

What was the craziest or insane thing that happened to you in the book publishing process?  

I think the craziest thing that has happened in the process is finding a number of marketing avenues that need to be pursued, and yet they are opening very slowly.

How about the social networks?  Which ones do you believe help and which ones do you wish you could avoid?  

I’m trying not to avoid any of them.  Twitter and FB and LinkedIn are the prominent ones right now.

Book sales.  Don’t you just love them (or lack of?)?  How are you making the sales happen for you? 

Starting with the release of kindle in April, I was trying to find people to review the book.  Now, I’m preparing for an Au-Se-Oc  blog tour and interview round, while still trying to get into a few stores like B&N.

What is one thing you’d like to jump on the rooftop and scream about?   

I’d like to jump and scream about how grateful I am for all of those people who have borrowed, read, purchased, listened to I, Walter and have already commented on it.  For those who haven’t, I’d love to hear what you have to say as well.

Okay, too much sugar for you today!  Here’s a nice cup of Chamomile tea and come on over and sit under the cabana and watch the waves roll in.  Now…can you tell us what you love about being a published author and how all those things above doesn’t matter because it’s all part of the whole scheme of things and you wouldn’t have it any other way?

I love the responses I get from reviewers, and the interest it provokes in people who know of me.