Victoria Twead - Mitos suson

I love and support Indie Authors. I have virtually met and interviewed couple of authors on my blog and struck special friendships with them from a very special group on FB; almost everyone referred and spoke highly of WLM (We love Memoirs) group. I decided to go to the source being an Indie Author myself. There was one very special lady there that I especially looked up to, a New York times bestselling author who has generously supported the Indie Author community, in addition to producing her series of bestselling books, Victoria Twead.

Victoria Twead and Lola

1.Tell me about yourself.
Thanks so much for inviting me, Mitos! I’m Victoria Twead, and I’m a grandmother, an old fool and I used to be a chicken whisperer up a Spanish mountain. I’m also a New York Times bestselling author and a publisher, having founded Ant Press back in 2011. Oh, and I co-founded the We Love Memoirs Facebook group in 2013 which is a project that remains close to my heart.

2. Why did you write your first book?
My first book, Chickens, Mules and Two Old Fools was written after Joe and I had experienced our first five wonderful, hilarious years of Spanish village life. We fell head over heels in love with our tiny village and the rhythm of life in the mountains. It was an absolute delight to write about the eccentric characters, the customs, the food and the animals that entered our lives.

3. Amongst all the books you have written, which is your favourite?
I think that must be Chickens because it was a life-changer. I thought I would write only one book. However, when Chickens was launched it had such an astonishing reception that I couldn’t help writing the next one in the series. Then the next, and next. When Two Old Fools on a Camel hit the New York Times bestseller list three times, I was utterly hooked on writing. Husband Joe is absolutely horrified that I am still adding to the “Old Fools” series. I’m currently scribbling number seven. I doubt that I’ll ever stop writing.

4. I am aware that you write fiction books as well, what is your preference? Fiction or non-fiction?
Yes, I write fiction, too, but my passion is non-fiction. I find memoirs much easier to write than fiction because I don’t need to invent. And real life is often far more entertaining than any work of fiction. Don’t tell anyone, but my little fiction series, stories that take place in the English village of Sixpenny Cross, are all inspired by real life.

5. How many hours do you write in a day?
Usually none. I long to write, but Ant Press and We Love Memoirs take all my time, along with trying to stop my dog, Lola, rolling in mud or road-kill. Writing happens whenever I can steal some time from other duties. Luckily, with my Ant Press hat on, I love to help new authors get published, and I also adore We Love Memoirs, so it’s a win-win situation really.

6. Are you currently working on a book at the moment?
Yes, Two Old Fools Fair Dinkum is my current work in progress. I have notebooks stuffed full of amazing events I want to include, enough to fill two books. All I need is the time to write…

7. What would you advise emerging Indie authors?
Oh! I’d say don’t expect overnight success, particularly nowadays when thousands of books are being published every day on Amazon. Writing and publishing is the easy part. Marketing your book is much harder and never stops. And if you are a memoir writer, I’d say join We Love Memoirs immediately. You’ll never regret it!

8. Knowing what you know now about the publishing industry, what would you do differently to when you started?
I would never EVER have gone to a “hybrid” publisher with my first book. I think it’s wrong to charge authors to publish a book, then also keep a hefty percentage of their royalties. As a new author, I didn’t know any better so I was trapped. This experience inspired me to create Ant Press in 2011. At Ant Press we follow the traditional route where we offer contracts to authors, in which case they pay us nothing. Alternatively, we provide complete end-to-end publishing packages and do not take a cent of an author’s royalties. All rights and all control belong to the author, even if approached for translation, movie, TV or audio rights, etc. We think that is much fairer. Ant Press has published hundreds of books over the last ten years, including New York Times bestsellers. We love our job!

9. Are you still taking in submissions?
Yes! We have editors in the US, the UK, Spain and Australia. We specialise in Memoir but will consider any submission. We are always on the lookout for the next bestseller!

10. What are you reading right now?
I rarely have time to read books I choose myself but I am always excited to read submissions from new, undiscovered authors.

11. How did you come to form the amazing WLM that garnered so many members (6.3K)?
Alan Parks and I co-founded We Love Memoirs because we wanted to form a friendly community where memoir readers and memoir writers could meet and chat together.

12. To what do you attribute the success of the group?
Without question, the group is so successful because we don’t allow self-promotion, which we know is a real turn-off to readers. Instead, we offer a huge range of opportunities for authors to get their books noticed in the group, without self-promotion and all free of charge. WLM has blossomed into a warm, caring community with real-time meetups all over the world. Deep friendships are formed and books discussed and devoured. With our virtual parties and regular events, there is never a dull moment in WLM.

13. If you were a fruit or a vegetable, what would you want to be and why?
Easy! I’d be a grape. Why? Because I love the sun, and one day I might become a glass of wine. Bliss!

Thank you so much Victoria for your time and all you do for the Indie Author community.

You can check out more of Victoria here.
Victoria Twead’s website
Ant Press website