Sci-Fi and Fantasy are just two of Becca Patterson’s preferred genres. An author hailing from Minnesota, she has been writing for as long as she can remember, and takes much of her inspiration from the teenagers she works with. In her spare time, Becca enjoys making her husband laugh, and playing string with her three cats. You can follow her on her website at http://becca.mreauowpublishing.com/ , on Twitter @mreauow or on Amazon
1. Do you aim for a set amount of words/pages per day?
I set my goal daily, depending on what else I have going on that day. I mean, if I’m going to have all of an hour at home before bedtime, I’m not going to expect 5000 words. Usually, I manage between 1000 and 2000 fresh words a day when I have out of the house work to do. 2000 – 5000 when I’m home most of the day.
It’s different, too when I’m in an editing cycle. Editing takes a lot longer and it’s really hard to count the words or pages. Sometimes you end up completely re-writing a page to fix that one little bug, and other times you go three or four pages with just a couple of grammar and spelling corrections. Sometimes you realize the whole scene just doesn’t need to be there, or that you missed one in the initial write up. Then there are the times when I stare at the sentence for half an hour trying to figure out what I was trying to say.
2.So, what have you written?
I have three novels out right now, with more coming as I get them finished.
Hero’s Call is a fantasy centering around a woman from one world who gets transported to another to be a lord’s hero, but it doesn’t work out like that. She ends up befriending a 12 year old mute girl, the Princess and Queen elect of the country, a griffin and a dragon.
Daughter of the Revolution is a wild romp through the galaxy as Crown Prince Tristan finds his long lost twin sister, Emalynn and her friend Murphy. The three of them find unique ways to foil the plots and plans of Lord Philip and return home safe and sound.
Daughter of the Queen Follows Emalynn through the trials of becoming the heir to the throne and a daughter to her birth parents, while fighting off the conspiracies that abound within a political family.
Coming soon are: Queen’s Own book 2 for Hero’s call, Daughter of the Colonies and Son of the Others books 3 and 4 for Daughter of the Revolution
I also write whatever comes to mind at becca.mreauowpublishing.com.
3. What are your thoughts on good/bad reviews?
Everyone has their opinion and they are entitled to it. I don’t like getting a bad review, but I just remind myself that it just means that person wasn’t really in my audience. Some people write bad reviews because your book has some trigger for them in it. I think of all the very vocal people who thought Harry Potter should be banned because of the magic. J.K. Rowling still did just fine for all the millions of others who loved the books. You can’t please everyone, so don’t worry about it.
Then there’s the open “secret” that Amazon’s algorithm doesn’t pay attention to the rating, it only counts reviews and sales to determine a book’s ranking. As far as Amazon is concerned, that one star review counts the same as the 5 star review. Some people pay attention to the ratings, but I know as many people who look for low rated books as look for high rated books, so again, it doesn’t really matter.
4. What part of your writing time do you devote to marketing your book?
Not enough.
Or maybe it’s too much. I try to put my marketing into my social media time, which is great for sending out the notices, but I have to spend some time making the marketing cards and writing up the releases. I have to try to balance the time I have between all the various aspects of being an indie author. Writing (including editing) is the most important. Designing my books comes next and then comes the marketing. It kind of has to go in that order because I can’t market a book that isn’t written and people can’t buy one that hasn’t been designed and formatted.
5. For your own reading, do you prefer ebooks or traditional paper/hard back books?
I ready anything, anywhere. If it’s words, I read it – even when I don’t know the language. I’m strange that way. My preference is for wherever the words are.
Seriously, I like the different formats for different reasons. Ebooks are light and carry a whole book store inside. Literally, if you’ve got a WiFi connection. You are never out of books to read. I don’t dare take them into the bathtub.
If you drop a paperback in the bathtub you can get it back. It will be a little fluffier than it used to be, but for the most part, still readable. Paperbacks and even hard covers are signable. I love to get books signed by the author, especially when I know the author, so I’ll plunk down the extra cash just to get something they can scrawl their name on.
Paper books don’t need batteries. The flashlights needed to read them at night do, though.