Today’s Guest: Young adult novelist JC Isabella, author of Chasing McCree and The Unofficial Zack Warren Fan Club.
Mr. Media is recorded live before a studio audience of Florida-based Accios with mischief and mirth just a spell and a trek away… in the NEW new media capital of the world… St. Petersburg, Florida!
J.C. Isabella wanted to write books.
But doing it the old fashioned way – you know, with paper and ink – can be a torturous, time-consuming process with no promise of success.
And so, modern, resourceful young twenty-something that she is, J.C. chose the do-it-yourself route. She wrote her first book, The Unofficial Zack Warren Fan Club in 2011 and published it in November as an ebook available via Amazon.com’s Kindle and Barnes & Noble’s Nook. She knows what high school kids think.
That apparently was a pretty good experience, and within three months, she wrote and published a second book, The Council, A Witch’s Memory. Book number three – Chasing McCree – arrived just 60 days later. And her fourth, the short story The McCree’s Star Spangled 4th – was in e-readers on July 5.
I expect she’ll tell us that her fifth book, The Unofficial Story of Kyle B. Johnston, will be out any day now.
J.C. ISABELLA podcast excerpt: “I was teased a lot in high school but I haven’t used anything that specifically happened to me yet in a book… Writing about high school–there’s so much you can do with that. I like to write about first things that happen to you.”
The great thing about J.C.’s books is that the barrier to entry – the cost – is very low, just 99 cents per title.
How does an author make money at that price? Well, J.C., who lives in Clearwater, Florida, has found a way – as a matter of fact she quit her job earlier this year to be a full-time author. I think you’ll enjoy her story.
By the way, if you read a lot of young adult fiction, there are many more interviews like this one at MrMedia.com, including my conversations with Sara Zarr, James Dashner, Lisa McMann and Heather Brewer.
Footnote: No trees were harmed in the making of J.C. Isabella’s books – or this interview.
J.C. Isabella Website • Facebook • Twitter • Goodreads • Order Chasing McCree from Amazon.com Kindle Shop for just 99 cents
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JC ISABELLA! I want to congradulate you on a job well done and I have been nearly pulling my hair out, trying to find the best home for my book, whether it be self-publishing or traditional publishing and so far self-publishing have had and proven to be the best way to go. There are small independent publisher’s who are good to team up with also, but I have recently sent in a manuscript to one and I am waiting to hear back from them. I have worked alongside and for the employee instead of working for myself, and I am learning that I really love to call my own shots and so I am really deciding on self-publishing so far.
Andrea–Good luck with your own book and so glad you enjoyed the interview! — Bob Andelman