Please Welcome my new Friend, Sid Frost

How long have you known that you were a writer? Did you receive a clear “call?” Or have you just loved writing all your life?

My earliest memory of writing is when my sister decided we would publish a neighborhood magazine. I remember where we were living at the time, so I had to be about twelve years old. The magazine included reviews of movies we’d seen as well as news about our neighbors

I had the writing bug from then on. Aptitude tests showed an interest in creative writing, but my school counselors said I should think of it as a hobby since few people made a living from writing. So, I ended up majoring in computer. I continued to write because I felt compelled to and had a number of articles published over the years.

The “call” came much later when something my pastor said during a sermon caused me to start writing Where Love Once Lived.

What is the genre you write in? Would you explain what it is?

I believe one of my major problems in getting published was due to not thinking about genre first. I tell all beginning authors to study genres first. I wrote the book first and then tried to classify it. Some people thought Where Love Once Lived was a romance so I sent it to romance publishers. One publisher liked it enough to request the entire document and they asked me to make drastic changes. Even after the changes, they said it isn’t really a romance.

Now, I just say I write Christian fiction.

How do you spend your writing days? Do you set goals to reach a certain number of words per day? Can you give us a general idea of how long it takes you to write a novel?

I do best when I have a goal. When I wrote Where Love Once Lived I paid for an online advanced novel class to help keep me on schedule. Students were supposed to already have a completed novel, and then we would submit 10,000 words every two weeks. During the two weeks, we were supposed to read and comment on each other’s work. I did, but I also used the two weeks to write my next 10,000 words. Since I had paid for the class I was motivated to write.

For my second book, Vengeance Is Mine, which is not yet published, I set goal for number of words per day. It wasn’t much, 500 I think, and then I kept record of the actual word count on a spreadsheet. That worked until I got to the edit mode and there was no clear way to count my productivity.

Tell us about your new book. What is the spiritual message in it? What can readers expect to get from reading it? How and where can readers buy your book?

The message I hope readers get is that God will lead the way if we let Him. My male protagonist travels halfway across the country to find happiness when all he needed to do was to let God back into his heart.

Do you ever feel like giving up? Most people don’t understand the stress, the work, and the joy of being a writer. How tenuous becoming a writer is. Do you care to share how it feels, what discouraging/encouraging times you’ve gone through?

Writing and not being able to publish what you write can be discouraging. Although I see changes with the influx of ebook publishers, many publishers don’t accept submissions from unpublished writers. They are told to get an agent, but that can be difficult to do. I talked to many agents after finishing Where Love Once Lived, but none would represent me. I won contests and some included free sessions with agents or publishers. They seemed to like my pitch and asked to see first three chapters, but that was the end of it. Well, White Rose Publishing did ask for the entire manuscript twice, but they are the one who determined my book is not a romance and they only publish romance. That was when I decided to go to CreateSpace and use the print of demand approach.
Who’s inspired you the most?

If it hadn’t been for Jan Karon ad the success of her Mitford series, I probably never would have written a novel. I also have to credit my pastor for reminding me it is never too late to fulfill a dream.

Would you explain how you “chose” (or were chosen by) a publisher? Do you just go “inny, minny, miny, moe?”

If I were starting out, I would get a book like Writer’s Markets and see who’s buying what. Then, I would check the websites of the top contenders and read what they are looking for and how they want the submissions.
Now, that you’re published, can you sit back and relax from the success you’ve experienced?

There’s no relaxing. I’m trying to find a publisher for Vengeance Is Mine while trying to market Where Love Once Lived. I have a book signing in Georgetown this month and one is Austin next month. I send out emails, press releases, post cards, and look for other ways to reach readers (i.e. buyers). I’m building a name on Amazon with reviews, tags, lists, blogs, etc. I have a newspaper ad to proof and get back in today. I made my own Kindle edition and put it on sale on Amazon. Now I’m teaching myself to create epub files so I can create ebooks for Nooks and iPads and anything else that comes along.

Do you mind telling us some of your likes and dislikes? Hobbies, interests? Where would you like to travel if you could?

In addition to writing, I teach and sing. At one time or another, I’ve earned income from all three. Now, singing is for fun. I was in an opera chorus for 15 or so years and now I sing with a community chorus that recently sang five performances in China. After that I spent a week at the Berkshire Choral Festival.

You recently had a book published. How and where can readers buy your books?

The best way to buy my book is by going to my website: http://www.sidneywfrost.com/
 and clicking on Buy. From there you find a number of places where you can order the book. The Kindle edition is only available from http://amazon.com/

Would you give us your blog or webpage so everyone can check it out? Anything else you’d like to share? Promotional information?

http://sidneywfrost.com/

http://christianbookmobile.blogspot.com/

Thanks, Sid, for visiting my blog!