E. R. Johnson currently resides in England where she has the works as a Teaching Assistant.
Her love for stories sparked from a very young age and her passion towards writing grew from there. When not working or writing, you may find her in contemporary dance classes, out exploring in the countryside with her camera in hand, playing musical instruments or painting. With a passion for exploring and traveling to new places, she seeks out adventure whenever she can to inspire new stories.
Clockwork stars is dystopian Sci-fi fiction but at its core its an insight into the difficulties of mental health. I hope that in putting this story out there I can bring more awareness to a subject which is still very misunderstood.
Alongside the mental health issues I wanted to convey a message of hope and never giving up in difficult times which is something we all need to be reminded of right now.
What were the top three mistakes you made writing / publishing your book what did you learn from it?
A mistake I made when publishing was not building up enough anticipation and marketing prior to my release date both through beta readers and social media.
Being my debut novel as a self publishing author, it was worth hiring professionals to help me with formatting but I wish I’d done some more research into that and contacted a few more people. I discovered ‘Fiverr’ prior to accepting an offer and I wish I’d discovered it sooner as I could probably have saved myself some money.
Despite the higher costs, part of me regrets not going down a more traditional route of publishing. Self-publishing is a great option and it was the best one for me at the time, but I could have never anticipated just how hard it would be to sell myself and my work without professional assistance.
The biggest advice I can give to aspiring writers is not to worry about the endgame but just to enjoy the process and thrill of writing. You can flesh out your drafts further down the line.
In the stage before publishing, do your research, explore your competition and find and promote to your market.
Some marketing techniquesthat have worked for me are being consistent and present on social media and targeting my audience.
Take advantage of Facebook ad features as well as Amazon’s Kindle promotions.
If you had the chance to start your career over again what would you do differently?
I think most of us would like a “start-over” but I feel the mistakes I’ve made in my career have really allowed me to better myself. Working with young children, you can never anticipate what will happen in the day and that’s part of its charm. My career has taught me how to improvise, reflect and think on the spot.
I think if anything I’d work on work-life balance, telling myself early on in my career the importance of switching off from the work place when you leave it.
- Reedsy.com
- Facebook group: Ask A Book Editor
- Book: Building Your Book for Kindle by Kindle Direct Publishing
How can we get in touch with you?
- Email: ej843410@gmail.com
- Website: ER Johnson
- Facebook: ER Johnson
- Goodreads: ER Johnson
ER Johnson Books Here
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