I’d like to welcome back author Barbara G.Tarn
Please recap briefly about your books: I’m the prolific writer who keeps putting out 25 titles per year, but sometimes it’s rewrites of old stories, sometimes it’s translations and only a third is brand new stuff.
What has changed since you last visited? Tell us your news! This year’s new stuff is about the Assassins Guild of Godwalkar, first mentioned last year in Saif’s Legacy and now in my Wyrd Worlds 2 story Guisarme. The other stories will come out between October and December.
Do you think indie/self-published authors are viewed differently to traditionally published authors? Why do you think this might be? I went to Loncon this year. I felt even more invisible than at Chicon. The fans aren’t aware of us – or maybe the Worldcon is for old people who are not aware of the ebook revolution – so we’ll never be nominated for a Hugo, unless we sell a short story to a traditional market that would put us in front of everybody’s eyes. The worldcon is still traditional publishing kingdom at this time, unfortunately. Hopefully things will change soon! 🙂
Looking back what do you wish you’d known when you started writing? I started writing longhand on a notebook long before the internet! What I see now with new writers is lack of patience. They want to get rich with one or two books. They don’t write because that’s a way of life. I could stop publishing (which is something I’ve started doing in the new millennium), but I’d never stop writing. And I’m grateful things are changing in the publishing world, allowing little me to put my work out there!
How have you progressed as a writer since you started? I’ve learned some writing techniques and can now write fluently in two languages (saves the money of translations in this global world, LOL!). I also learned to reduce my casts and move slower (some of my old stories read like summaries with dialogues), showing more and telling less, although I’m still not too fond of descriptions. I have a dry prose because that’s why I like to read.
What are your best marketing/networking tips? What are your worst? As long as you have fun, anything goes. Nobody knows the perfect recipe, so experiment with what you’re comfortable with. A friend of mine asked if blogging is still necessary. I don’t know, I do it because I enjoy doing it. When I won’t have anything left to say, I’ll stop. As for social networks, I use only Facebook and Goodreads, but your mileage may vary! 😉 Oh, and my #1 rule for marketing is “write the next book”! Announce the birth of your latest baby and go back to writing, without obsessing with sales!
What are your views on authors offering free books? It might work to spread the name… I’ve given away free POD books. Two I donated to a bookshop, and 4 that I didn’t sell at Loncon I improvised a UK-only Goodreads giveaway. I have only a couple of free e-titles, though. Free e-books don’t work as well as they used to (but I’m getting rid of all those dead tree books, LOL!).
Do you have a favourite movie? Nope. But I have a cinematic writing. I write down the movies in my head (hence the virtual casting) and often take inspiration from movies.
What are your plans for the future? When will we see your next book? Tell us about it. Already written: the Assassins’ Guild of Godwalkar. Waiting for the betas, then I’ll revise and send off to the editor/proofreader. Expect something in October as a taste, and the rest between November and December.
Give us a bit of information about your primary character(s). The protagonist throughout is Kilig I’m not sure yet in which order I will release them, but one part is about him and Saif, the other is about him and Hakeem, Saif’s son that you’ve met in Saif’s Legacy. He’s an assassin and a loner, but he did fall in love – twice. First with the father, then with the son… He lives in the interesting times of the birth of the Varian Empire, also explored in other books of the Silvery Earth saga (namely: Books of the Immortals – Fire)
https://libraryoferana.wordpress.com/2014/06/21/author-interview-number-fifty-two-barbara-g-tarn/
Links etc.
blog: http://creativebarbwire.wordpress.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Barb-aka-Barbara-GTarn/175559797281
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4717133.Barbara_G_Tarn
Author Central http://www.amazon.com/Barbara-G.Tarn/e/B0050P0R2G
Where to find everything (although the i-bookstore link seems to be broken):
http://creativebarbwire.wordpress.com/where-to-find-my-stuff/
Silvery Earth (adult unconventional fantasy): http://creativebarbwire.wordpress.com/silvery-earth-chronology/
Library of Erana 
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