Rudy Mazzocchi is both an award-winning author and entrepreneur with a
history as an inventor, venture capitalist, angel investor, and founder of over
a dozen new technology ventures throughout the U.S. and Europe. He's been
fortunate to have the opportunity to see the newest innovations in healthcare
and work with some of the most brilliant researchers, scientists and physicians
in the industry.
Authoring over 50 patents, he has been influential in pioneering new
companies involved in cardiology, oncology, orthopedics, neurosurgery and even
embryonic stem-cell development. Through these efforts, he has become the
recipient of many technology and business awards, including the Ernst &
Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award in Healthcare (2004), Businessman of the
Year Award (2005), and Global Entrepreneur of the Year Award (2013).
Combining these experiences and opportunities, he also found the
initiative to start writing a collection of medical thrillers based on true
events, now known as The EQUITY Series. The first book in this series, EQUITY of EVIL has received numerous
literary awards since its release in March of 2012. http://www.rudymazzocchi.com
Amazon Link to
Book: http://amzn.to/19jY1vN
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?
I
believe it was just the challenge of finishing another journey. While on a
10-day cruise with my wife down through the Panama Canal, I was bored out of my mind… pacing the
deck of the ship after the third day. She suggested that I go to the ship
library and find a good book to read, and I’d replied, “I would rather write
one, than read another one.” She basically dared me to, so within the hour I
was madly
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?
My
novels are based on real medical sciences that might not be commercially
available for another 8-10 years and include several controversial themes that
will force our society to re-think our moral, ethical and political views on
many topics; e.g. abortion, euthanasia, genetic engineering, and the rewiring
of our brains (neuroplasticity). These are confidential, secret developments
that I’ve been privileged to get a sneak preview to, but cannot disclose in the
normal business arena. By converting them into fictional themes in my
thrillers, I can unleash my knowledge of these bold, new and exciting
technologies in such a way as to not get me into any trouble! It’s very
rewarding to incorporate all of this into an entertaining and educational
format.
Unfortunately,
I find the most demanding (and frustrating) part of publishing is in the
promotion and branding of your labels. I had simply expected to see all my
works sitting on the bookshelves of those small stores in the airport terminals
throughout the country. Hah! Rather than flying from city-to-city for book
signings, I’m spending hours a day on social media trying to get the word out
‘one-reader-at-a-time’!
Which route did you take – traditional or
self-published – and can you give us the nitty gritty low down on what’s that
like?
I
was emphatically told by my initial editor that I should make every attempt to
identify a traditional publisher to minimize the heavy lifting required to
self-publish. Given the demands of my day job as a Chief Executive Officer of a
medical device company, this made a great deal of sense. We both agreed that I
would not have the time and energy to self-publish. He’d also indicated that I
would have to make room in my garage for all the slow-moving inventory. So, I
went old-school and started by soliciting the representation of a literary
agency – which took nearly six months to accomplish. After convincing the
Trident Media Group in Manhattan to take me on as a client, it took another
4-5 months to identify and negotiate the terms of a publishing contract with
Twilight Times Books.
What’s the snarkiest thing you can say about
the publishing industry (e.g. rejections, the long wait, etc.)
Snarky?
Cool word… I’ll have to use that somewhere in my next book. I guess, the snarkiest thing would be the lack of
strong marketing and distribution support. Don’t get me wrong, I am very
fortunate to have the engagement of my publisher, but it is my impression that
regardless of the size of the publisher, it is still up to the author and their
publicist(s) to promote and market the book. It’s a challenging business model
that requires a great deal of investment by the author – of both time and
money.
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?
They
have been extremely supportive, but for me, it’s all about the timing in my
life. I’m now 50-something and the kids are all off doing their own thing; i.e.
working, college, graduate school, etc. I wouldn’t have had the time and energy
to pursue my writing interest when I was a younger business man, obsessed with
establishing new companies while raising a family. They all now think it’s very
cool and they’ve become my biggest fans!
What was the craziest or insane thing that
happened to you in the book publishing process?
The
craziest times have been over the selection of titles and book cover designs. I
can appreciate the importance of both, but I was overwhelmed with the amount of
input and scrutiny I received regarding these two elements of getting
published. I mean… it was easier to get book reviews than to get my agent,
editor, publisher, publicist and wife to agree to the title and cover design!
For
example, my first thriller was originally titled Harvest of the Unborn, a novel based on true events that includes
the pirating of aborted fetuses and the harvesting of their precious organs
that are hydroponically grown to support a multi-billion dollar organ
transplant market. None of the top publishing houses would touch such a title
by an unknown author. It took several months to come up with a new
(appropriate) title and cover design… now EQUITY
of EVIL. We had similar issues with my third book, STORYTELLING – The Indispensable Art of Entrepreneurism, a
non-fiction business book that reveals one of the key essentials of being a
successful entrepreneur. Weeks were lost during the debate of the cover design.
A publicist was fired over an argument regarding the use of the word
“indispensable” in the title. It was absolutely crazy!
How about the social networks? Which ones do you believe help and which ones
do you wish you could avoid?
Given
the medical/business elements of my books, I’ve found that I get the most
traction with LinkedIN. Here I can reach a vast network of not only
individuals, but societies, organizations and “clubs” that communicate openly
on a daily basis. Twitter is okay, but it’s been tough to expand the amount of
followers. Unfortunately, I find Facebook to be the least effective for me.
Maybe there’s just too much noise out
there for it to be a valuable place to promote these types of books.
Book sales.
Don’t you just love them (or lack of?)?
How are you making the sales happen for you?
There
are different challenges in promoting fictional thrillers compared to this
non-fiction book, STORYTELLING.
Fortunately, this book has been positively reviewed and recognized to address a
critical element of business that has been overlooked by the business and
entrepreneur programs in universities throughout the country. Therefore, we
have been making a big push to inform the top thirty universities/colleges in
the U.S. that this book is available. Many have
already implied that this should be mandatory reading in their curriculum and
I’ve been asked to give either guest lectures or keynote presentations at their
schools.
What is one thing you’d like to jump on the
rooftop and scream about?
“Hello
America! Do yourselves a favor and turn off your
damn TVs and Xboxes and read a book!”
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?
Hmmm…
I guess what I love is the fact that I am now ‘a published author’. I’ve
accomplished some great things in my career, been an accomplished athlete,
raised two wonderful kids, proud to be considered a loyal friend to many, and
have a den full of awards and certificates. However, there is something
extremely rewarding about being ‘a published author’. It’s the cool factor! When I’m now introduced
prior to giving a keynote presentation or a guest lecture at a university, the
audience lights up when the moderator finally says, “… and on top of that, Mr.
Mazzocchi is an award-winning published author of both non-fiction and
fictional novels.” How cool is that? www.rudymazzocchi.com
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