Morgan 1

Ralph Morgan
Creative Writer Interview
With Josh Goudreau, Author
Starbucks, Auburn ME
Tuesday, October 13th, 2015
Followed up via phone call, two days later.

I. Career Interview Questions

1. How would you describe your job to someone who is interested in
becoming an author?
Describing what I do is really pretty easy. A lot of people are familiar with
office work, sitting at a computer all day working away. Most folks also understand
what its like, at least in a theoretical sense, to do that from home. Its a lot like
that, except the things Im doing are not spreadsheets or computer programming,
but research and planning and a lot of writing.
The creative process is a little harder to describe and understand for folks
who have more analytical and less creative brains. A lot of what I do is away from
the computer and away from the tangible aspects of the job. Its the internal
genesis and synthesis of ideas that happen well before fingers hit the keyboard.
Those people interested in breaking into being an author as a career have
likely been doing all of these things already and so they know all about forming and
expressing ideas. The part that most aspiring authors dont know about is
marketing and the legwork and networking involved in that. So I write, but I also
spend a lot of my time marketing and selling my brand. Being an author is a
business as well as an art.
2. As a writer how important do you find communication skills to be?
Writing is communicating a story from the author to the reader, so
communication skills are vital in being able to articulate clearly the ideas being
presented. It goes beyond that however into the networking and marketing side of
things. Its vital to make and maintain contacts and that is very difficult if
interpersonal communication is a stumbling block. The better an individual knows
how to communicate, the easier the job becomes.
3. In what ways are you required to communicate and are there any that are
particularly challenging?

Morgan 2
Like I mention above, networking and marketing require a lot of
communicating. On a personal level, and everyone is different, I am not
comfortable bringing strangers in on a personal level. I am fine with initial
conversation but social networking is difficult for me and so I struggle to maintain
those vital contacts and an open dialogue with the important people I have met
along the way.
4. From the outside it would appear being a published author is certainly
different than the usual 9-5 job, in what ways do you think it is similar?
Like I mention above, it is similar in many ways. The job ends up being not
terribly dissimilar in a lot of ways to that of a corporate middle manager. Its steady
hours in front of a computer or making deals and negotiation contracts and the like.
The job sometimes resembles a sales position with shopping work around for sale
which involves, marketing, finding the best pay rates and so on.
5. As a writer do you find continuing your education important? If so what do
you concentrate on?
This is an interesting question, and kind of a loaded one. Tertiary education is
a useful thing regardless of a chosen career and the opportunities it provides are
invaluable. That being said, it is utterly unnecessary for success as an author. A
person with no continued education has the exact same opportunity as someone
with an MFA in creative writing. The career comes down to skill, talent, and
understanding of the field.
That being said, the person with the MFA has had numerous classes,
instructions, tutoring, and workshops that help improve the craft. Plus, it looks good
on a resume. The potential to learn more about the craft is there in continued
education so classes on literature, artistic evaluation and understanding, creative
writing, are perhaps the most useful. A thing many students of fine arts dont learn
is marketing and sales. Being an author is a business and an art, so business
understanding is invaluable.
6. How much of ones work does one need to get published before it becomes
a sustainable career?
This a tricky one to answer. Being an author is hard work and many long
hours need to be put in before it becomes a sustainable income. Book deals are
rare in todays market so most authors freelance and the vast majority of freelance
authors rely on another source of income. The amount of material an individual
needs to publish varies wildly from one person to another based largely on talent
and approach. Becoming a full time author is certainly possible but it requires a fair
amount of dedication and an aggressive approach to the marketplace.
7. Once you are published how do you go about spreading your brand?

Morgan 3
There are a few ways to go about establishing and spreading your brand. The
most reliable means are networking and marketing. Social media is an invaluable
tool but not the only one needed. Legwork and face to face meetings are the single
best means to establish contacts and spread your brand. Meeting someone in a
Facebook group is nice, but you remain an online entity, if you meet a contact, chat
with them, hand them a business card, and show interest in their work you become
a real person to them. Real people are contacts and colleagues and contacts and
colleagues help each other out.
The best way to meet people is at industry events such as conventions and
books signings and so on. Conventions dont make money but running the
convention circuit is vital for spreading your brand, making new contacts,
maintaining existing contacts, and generating interest. The ripple effect from
events is massive as online and bookstore sales reliably see a surge in the weeks
following.
8. How has the publication industry changed in the last ten years and how
does it affect you as an author?
The publishing industry has changed dramatically over the last ten years. By
the mid-2000s the monopoly that the big publishing houses had on the market was
destroyed by the internet. Publishing suddenly went in all directions at once and it
was a labor just to figure out what was a reputable publishing source and what was
just some guy with a blog. Now it has settled considerably with small press ruling
the day.
As an author this means it is easier to break into the field as a freelancer
since small publishing houses are always looking for talent. This usually means a
smaller opportunity when compared to the big book publishers of twenty years ago.
It takes a bit more effort to build a brand these days than it did twenty or even ten
years ago, but if you have the talent and dedication and you know how the game is
played, its easier than ever.
9. How will these changes continue to have an impact on the future of
publishing?
This is tricky to answer. The industry has changed dramatically over the last
fifteen years going from nearly impossible to break into, too difficult to navigate, to
the relatively stable market of today. I cant say if the trend will continue but it
seems likely it will maintain its current equilibrium of small press being the main
gateway.
10. As a writer you must draw some personal satisfaction from getting
published. Were there any surprises?
I put a lot of effort into each piece of writing I produce so it is always quite
gratifying to be accepted for publication. This is especially true after a particularly
long streak of rejections. Rejections are all part of the game though, so as

Morgan 4
discouraging as they may be, its important to get back out there and keep on
submitting.
The biggest surprise for me was when I was approached by an online
literature magazine called Prose Please. They were interested in using one of my
stories as the featured tale in a Halloween special. I was quite flattered since there
had been no open call and I had not submitted anything to them. They simply
enjoyed the story and wanted to feature it.
11. What would you have done differently in becoming an author?
My biggest regret in hindsight was a lengthy time I took off from trying to be
an author. I grew discouraged and disillusioned and set aside aspirations to be an
author for close to seven years. In that time the writing market changed
dramatically and while I had publishing credits, they were quite old and it felt like
starting from scratch. I feel if I had kept at it, I would be much more successful than
I am right now.
12. Do you have any tips for someone wishing to break into this career?
The best advice I can give is to write. Dont stop. Just keep writing. The
single most important thing is to keep at it and dont give up. Sometimes the words
dont come easy but keep your butt in your chair and your fingers on the keyboard.
If you dont have any completed work to sell, you wont make it very far.
Beyond that, submit to anything and everything. Open calls are everywhere
if you know where to look and getting out to them is necessary for those writing
credits and first few paydays. You will receive rejection letters in droves but dont
give up. Keep submitting until someone bites and you get published.
Finally, get out to events and meet people. Network your butt off because
thats where the real work comes from. Direct contact is how the successful
freelancers make their money, not open calls. It takes some effort to get there and
the big thing is getting your face in peoples minds.
If you keep at it, even if you have no idea what youre doing at first, it will pay
off. Established authors are almost always super friendly and helpful. If you have
even a modicum of networking capability its not difficult to succeed and if there is
something you dont know, ask those contacts you just made. Talent and
determination will win the day in this field.

II. Interview Insights

When I sat down with Mr. Goudreau, I told him that in High School it had been
an aspiration to become a writer. He asked how much writing I had done and I had
to confess that I had not done much writing since High School. I had at the time

Morgan 5
written several journals full of poetry. One of which, Grants Pass, had been
published in the school paper. I had started on a novel as well but it never got
finished. At the time I thought authors write a book and if it was good, which why
wouldnt mine be, it got published. Not only was this simply not true, but I was not
taking the time to learn my craft either. But the biggest blow came when in my late
teens I got in trouble with the law. It was at this point when my creative muse left
me for almost two decades and I wouldnt find the patience or creativity to write
until I met my wife, whom was also an aspiring writer, and it was through her I meet
Joshua Goudreau, published horror and Mythos writer.
Several weeks ago I joined his writing group that meets once a month at the
Auburn Public Library. It was at this time there was a discussion about exactly how
much the publishing industry had changed in the last dozen years. So Mr.
Goudreaus answers did not exactly surprise me, but only because I was privy to
that exact information several weeks ago. I even saw it in action when I was telling
him about a story idea and he turned me on to a New Hampshire publisher that was
going to be putting out a horror anthology next year about horror stories set in their
state. This in turn motivated me to begin fleshing out the details of my story.
One aspect of how the publishing industry has changed dramatically which
came as quite a surprise was learning about how much aspiring authors use
Facebook and other social media to create a fan base for their work. In the era I
grew up in, even as I aspired to become an author, only established authors had
such things and they were usually handled by a publicist not the author. So, much
more direct contact is made not only with fans but with other authors as well. I have
to admit the idea of meeting new people at a convention does appeal to me.
Most of the communication in this field will take place in one of three ways.
Online through emails with publishers, fans and peers, over the phone with
publishers, and face-to-face with fans and peers with the occasional publisher
thrown in. Through vessels such as Facebook, email, and face-to-face meetings with
fans and peers at conventions (and hopefully one day book signings) we get to put
a face to the name. It is vitally important to make that face as engaging and friendly
as possible.
The biggest issue I can foresee with engaging directly with fans and other
authors while trying to build your writing brand is the potential to be flamed, and to
react poorly to negative reviews from peers and fans. This is a huge area which
could potential break a budding career. The internet has an endless memory and
this means your interactions with others in that media should be thoughtful. All too
often we hear about famous people tweeting his dumb message only to be
apologizing for their insensitivity a few days later. The advantage that the online
interactions have is you have the opportunity to think things through before you hit
send and too few people take advantage of it.
The publishing industry has shifted from being run by just a few titanic
publishing firms to spreading into small independent publishing firms that must
constantly churn out new products to stay relevant and that is to the modern
authors advantage. Now jobs are spread by word of mouth and open calls. It is

Morgan 6
essential to get out and engage fans, publishers, and fellow authors. This is how you
learn about upcoming publications and when you can finally sit down and ply the
craft to submit for an open call in an attempt to get published. Twenty years ago if
you basically werent already a published author, or knew someone influential in the
publishing industry you couldnt even get someone to look at your work, let alone
get it published.
I think the thing that might be hardest for me to deal with will be rejection.
But to be honest with how many publishing options have opened in the last decade I
also know that the right publication will come along eventually, it just has to be
seen at the right time. They cant say yes if I dont ask them. That is a philosophy I
will need to embrace wholly so my shatter my ego.
Mr. Goudreaus advice to me was exactly what you would expect from one
author to another, write. In light of the changes to the industry in recent years he
also says you must get out there and make yourself know. At the end of the
interview he even asked if I had interest in driving down to a convention with him so
I could start to make my own contacts. Like he said most authors tend to be very
friendly.
I found that after the interview as I sat back and reflected this is really my
calling. The interaction with fans, publishers, and peers appeals to my social nature.
I enjoy meeting new people and I have always thought no matter how brief that
everyone you meet can teach you something. I think too that being a writer fits my
personality quite well. Im an introvert and with a few exceptions writers spend
much of their time alone honing their craft and churning out stories. My INFJ MyerBriggs type seems especially suited to being an author. I love how expressive
language is and how it can be used to shape a story, pull emotions from readers,
and simply entertain. I have the creativity, focus, and concentration to be successful
in this career. Overall Im more encouraged than ever to pursuit writing as a career.