Online Book Review

Online Book Review Readers,

I am happy to bring to you today an original interview for the Online Book Review with author Erik Williams. Erik is part of a new generation of authors who are finding their readership primarily through online books and internet distribution. His novella “Gone, the Day” is a bestseller on Amazon Kindle as an online book, and he writes regularly at his blog Angry Penguins & Drunken Monkeys. His insights to online books and publishing are terrific, and his online book is a rippin’ good yarn. Please join me in welcoming author Erik Williams to the Online Book Review.

–Stacey Cochran

STACEY COCHRAN: Tell us about your new novella “Gone, the Day.” What’s the story about?

ERIK WILLIAMS: Hey, Stacey. Thanks, first, for taking the time to talk with me. “Gone, the Day” is a story about a high school senior named Mike who wakes up one morning to discover the world has ended.  Well, the world as Mike knows it.  The sun is gone and the world is blanketed in darkness.  Before he can question what has happened, or even his own sanity, great beasts swarm out of the void and unleash an assault on mankind.  As he tries to survive, he also attempts to make sense out of what is happening and why.  The only problem is the beasts aren’t interested in giving a reason.

STACEY COCHRAN: Why did you decide to publish it on Amazon Kindle?

ERIK WILLIAMS: Well, I don’t think there’s any doubt that traditional publishing is in trouble.  Will it die?  No.  But I think consolidation and downsizing is in the cards.  In fact, it’s happening already with major houses circling the wagons around their big name authors.  This means opportunities for new authors and even mid-listers are shrinking.  Fast.  That leaves two options to get your work out there: the small press or self-publish.

I’m a big fan of the small press but it doesn’t reach the mass market the traditional publishing does.  I am not a fan of self-publishing, either.  The quality and professionalism put into self-published products is often poor at best.  Kindle, though, is a different monster.  It provides a large accessible market which is growing.  It offers an easy platform in which to upload to.  And it allows the author control over their work.  It doesn’t ensure quality and professionalism.  But it doesn’t charge you to publish and the market has a say in whether you succeed or not.  If your product is poor, you’re not going to sell anything.  The pressure is on the author to ensure they are putting out the best work they can.

For me personally, I want to build a readership.  Return readers.  People who, when they see my stuff in print or online, will come back again and again.  Kindle offers a fresh market of readers who are hungry for new content.  I figured, why not try and tap into that.  Plus, it’s not easy selling a thirteen thousand word novella to traditional publishers.  This way, I can hopefully build a readership and make a little money on the side.

To me, Kindle and platforms like it are going to soak up large chunks of the publishing market.  I don’t think it’s the future, necessarily.  And I don’t think it’ll put major houses or specialty presses out of business.  But it will demonstrate that technology is rapidly changing the market place, possibly in the author’s favor.  Now if Amazon would just pay a better percentage!

STACEY COCHRAN: What did you think of John Rector’s “The Grove”? I saw on your blog that you were giving it a read.

ERIK WILLIAMS: “The Grove” is outstanding personal psychological thriller.  I pretty much read it in one sitting.  It sucks you in and never spits you out.  If you’re a fan of crime fiction or horror, you need to check it out.  John Rector is guy you’re going to hear a lot about in the future.

STACEY COCHRAN: Why “angry penguins”? Is there a story behind the penguins and monkeys, or is it just a cool name for a blog?

ERIK WILLIAMS: There’s not a good story behind it, unfortunately.  I’m a bit of a clown and, to me, the image of an angry penguin, one with a gun and an eye patch or something, is hilarious.  So is a monkey knocking back shots of Jim Beam and smoking a corn cob pipe.  When I started the blog, I wanted to come up with a cool name like so many others out there.  But after a while, I just said screw it, I’ll call it “Angry Penguins & Drunken Monkeys”.  Everyone who’s been there seems to like the name.  Sometimes you just have to go with who you are.  And, like I said, I’m a bit of a clown.

STACEY COCHRAN: For some reason, I detected from your novella a “southern” voice. Are you a Southern writer?

ERIK WILLIAMS: Wow, you’re the first to ever say that.  I’m not a Southern writer but I did grow up in the south between Virginia and Florida.  But I’ve spent a lot of years in California, too.  I’m not a man without a state, per say.  I definitely identify with a lot of southern culture and love many southern writers.  I don’t miss the humidity, though.

STACEY COCHRAN: What’s the thing you enjoy the most about writing?

ERIK WILLIAMS: Telling a story.  Everything about writing is work, hard damn work.  You’ve got to have a love and passion for telling stories.  If you don’t, why would you want to write?  It’s lonely and often miserable.  But when you finish your story, whether it’s a novel or novella or short story, nothing feels quite like it.  For me, that’s the part I enjoy the most.