Author SM Radjy Both Audio Clips combined

The speaker wrote a book called "The Flight of an Orphan Thief" as part of a writing challenge. The book is the backstory of a character from when the speaker used to play Dungeons & Dragons. The title has multiple meanings related to the character's growth and journey. The editing process was challenging, and the speaker decided to self-publish the book. They faced obstacles in navigating the self-publishing process but found a platform called Miblart.com to create the book cover and handle technical details. Good evening, SM. How are you? Good. How are you, SE? I'm great. I can't complain. I want to thank you for coming on the show, and I appreciate you taking the time to come on the show and talk to me. Thank you. I really am excited to be here. Thank you. Well, you know, on Monday nights I interview an author, and on Wednesday night I interview somebody in the film industry. Well, today being Monday, I wanted to ask you a couple of questions. And my first question is, what inspired you to write The Flight of an Orphan Thief? Well, a couple of years ago I quit my job and traveled for about a year with my husband. And when we relocated, at the end of our trip we got to Portugal, I had a little bit of time where I was sort of between big projects, let's say. And I found out about the National Novel Writing Month, or NaNoWriMo, which is a challenge that's out of the U.S. but it's global, and the idea is to write 50,000 words in 30 days in the month of November. And I found out about it, it was probably mid-October, and I thought, well, I love writing, I've always wanted to do more in this space, maybe I should give this a shot. And so I decided to sign up for the challenge, and I came up with a lot of different ideas on what I was going to write during that month. But the one that stuck was the idea of writing the backstory of one of my favorite characters from back in the day when I used to play Dungeons & Dragons. So Dungeons & Dragons is a, I don't know if you're familiar with it, but it's a role-playing game. I was introduced to it by my older brother, so it was really an incredible, this was while I was in high school, so it was really fun. I got to engage with my brother and his friends, which was also special because they were all sort of eight, nine years older. And it was just a fabulous eye-opening experience into not just the world of adventure and dragons and fantasy, but being in the feeling like you were in the thick of it and problem-solving and all of that. And so I played a couple of characters over the years, but there were two that really made a mark. And so for one of them, who's a thief, I decided to write the backstory. So that is where Flight of an Orphan Thief comes from. Okay. So that's the reason why you named it that? What gave you the reason, you know, with the title? Well, the title, it has a couple different layers of meaning, and I can't give them all the way here because it would be a spoiler. Okay. But the premise is that it's a young orphan who's living on the streets of, it's a fictional world, right? It's a world that I invented. And it basically is sort of how she gets framed and then gets a second chance at life. And so the title, the first reading of the title is the fact that she's kind of growing into herself and finding her wings. And, you know, another level is that she is kind of fleeing the life that she was given to sort of come into her own and sort of build her own life. So that's where the title comes from. Okay. What was most challenging? Surprisingly, the first draft was not so challenging. It was really fun. The editing was really much more challenging. And I did a couple of rounds myself. I got my brother and one or two other people to read a very early draft to tell me what they thought. And then I hired a professional editor to do a developmental edit, so looking at sort of the big picture of the story and how the characters develop and see how I could strengthen that. And so it was really at that level where I got the professional input where I really had to dig deep because that really pushed me to take my writing to another level. It was enjoyable, but I definitely dragged my feet a lot more when it came to that part. Okay. So you said that the title, they were all hidden messages. Yes. Okay. So you got to pay real close attention to the story. Correct. What was your favorite scene to write about? There's a chase scene at one point where the main character sort of confronts, let's say, a bad guy or basically gets the best of him and then runs for it. And she's a small teenager, and he's a sort of big brute, and he chases her in the city. And it was really fun to write because, of course, it's a made-up world, right? So there's a little bit of magic in there, but not too, too much. And so I was trying to find that balance between if I was in the main character's shoes and with her skill set, like how would I try to escape someone that is so much bigger and stronger than me, and what could that look like in that setting? So I found that a lot of fun because it was maybe because of the adrenaline. I don't live through chases in my everyday life, so maybe it was sort of living vicariously. But I think it was probably also one of the scenes, when you talk to authors, I mean, you probably know this firsthand, but often they will say that their characters will sometimes surprise them. And this was probably one of those situations where I sort of knew there had to be some sort of confrontation or situation where she faces the bad guy, but I didn't actually know what was going to happen. And I sort of discovered it as I was writing it. So that probably added to the enjoyment. Okay. What sets this book apart from any other book that's in the same genre as yours? That's an incredible and very difficult question. I want to say the fact that it's the backstory to a character that I did a lot of adventures with. So it's not just that I made it all up. It's a character that I got to know in a very different way than most authors know their characters. And so I think that link to Dungeons and Dragons and to me having, I mean, the adventures that I had with this character were way down the line, right, when she's a little bit older. But I think that probably makes it a little different because I didn't set out, you know, there are all sorts of structures, like the hero journey and whatever else, of sort of the pace and how the storyline is supposed to evolve. And this one was really dictated more from having a sense of who the character eventually becomes and then diving into what the backstory might be. Okay. Did you find any obstacles appear when you were trying to publish it? So I did research. I mean, this was the first draft I did in 2017. So this has been a slow burn in terms of getting this book out into the world. And I eventually decided to self-publish because from all the research I did, you know, fantasy is such a huge universe and there are so many really, like, epic series and books out there. And I think I wrote a great story, but the sense of the challenge of having to look for an agent and then find, you know, a publishing house that wants to take me on and then what that implies in terms of the loss of control over whether it's the art, the cover, how it's marketed, and the fact that nowadays, even if you get signed, you still have to do a lot of the marketing yourself as an author. It all made me decide that I was more comfortable with self-publishing. And so the biggest challenge was that I knew nothing about self-publishing going into this. I mean, I had done a little bit of light research along the way, you know, to sort of decide whether it was even an option. But there is just a – I mean, there's – it feels like a million decisions to make when you decide to self-publish. And to be fair, it's been a lot of fun to be on this learning curve, so I'm absolutely not complaining. But I think that was, you know, the biggest challenge was sort of deciding to take that leap and then trying to navigate, you know, what am I going to do myself and really learn sort of into the nitty-gritty detail versus what am I willing to outsource, what's my budget, how do I juggle all of that? Yeah. Did you have any problems with – as far as the book cover? And how did you – who created your book cover and how hard was it? Because – and the reason why I'm asking that and I haven't – I don't think I've ever asked any other author this question because I had a talk with an author yesterday, Toya McRae, and me and her co-wrote a book together. We were talking about the book cover. Right. And she was like, I like this as a book cover. I said, but we need to get the dimensions for the spine and the back. So we need to find out what it would cost for overlay. And she was like, what is that? And I said, that's the whole entire book because my very first book didn't see this coming. I paid for the cover alone. So when they printed up my book, it came back as galley books. That meant it had a glossy side and a glossy back with the synopsis on the back and the cover. So when I asked him, I said, hey, what's this about? And he's like, well, you didn't give us a spine and didn't give us a back. So that was my learning process, you know. And this is going back to 2000, maybe 10-ish, because I started the game in about 2005, 2006. So I wanted to know, did you have any problems or did you realize that you needed to get the dimensions for the whole entire book? It's a really good question. I decided to outsource my book cover for two reasons. One is that if I made my own book cover, it would have looked like, you know, Microsoft Art. And nobody really wants that, me least of all. And the second reason is all those technical details. I wanted to work with someone who wasn't just going to create the art, but could also deliver basically what I needed to upload it onto Amazon KDP, IngramSquare, etc. So I looked around a little bit. I used Reedsy. I don't know if you know them as a platform, but they're a fantastic marketplace. That's where I found my editor. They have some incredible designers and illustrators, but they were a little above my budget. I reached out to a couple of individual artists, but then I wasn't really sure. You know, I felt a bit more comfortable going with a platform for this first time. So I ended up landing on a platform called Miblart.com. And what I liked about them is that they basically will take on your project, and you only pay at the end of the process if you're happy with the results. And so that made me feel better about committing to them. And so we went through that, and it was a little slower than I would have liked, but I'm really happy with the end result. And what was great is that they handed me exactly what I needed. You know, I told them that I was going to publish on Amazon as my primary platform. And so they went ahead and gave me exactly what I needed in terms of the spine size and everything else. Oh, there's a bit of an echo. I don't know what happened. Yeah, I know. I'm getting ready to stop it right now. Okay. I was trying to figure out where it was coming from. All right, how about now? Do you hear it? Nope, it's all clear. Okay. All right. Sorry about that. It was on my end. No worries. So what did you find rewarding about finishing the project? I mean, seeing your work. I mean, my book is not out yet, right? It comes out on the 20th of March. But I already got a print proof, and I've shared copies with people that are willing to read an advanced reader copy in exchange for a review. And so getting to move past the stage where friends or family ask me, sometimes I mention that I write. But being able to actually share my project with the world, I mean, there's nothing really like it. And I just find it incredibly exciting and rewarding. And again, I'm going in with, I think, pretty reasonable expectations. I'm not expecting to make a bestseller list, although if that happens, that would be great. But I'm really just excited to have my book out there. And if a couple of people enjoy the story or if a couple of people read it and think, you know, I could write, too, then that already would be fantastic. Yeah. I asked authors that question because I, on the other hand, I really didn't have any no joyous moment when I published my first book. For one, I started writing through a situation that was going on. I was getting out of a relationship and I just started writing short stories. And by the time I finished and figured everything out or how to publish it and everything else, I think the joy was wiped away. Yeah. You know, so, yeah, I like to hear when authors say, yeah, you know, I had a good time. You know, I, you know, I enjoyed it. You know, this, that and the third. But, you know, I just that personally to me the first time around, it wasn't. But I was impressed on how many people were interested in reading the book when they got it and the feedback that I got. So I said, wow, you know, I can write a novel now. I know they love my short story. Let me let them see a whole novel, you know. No, I mean, I think it's a very good point because something you hear a lot is that people will usually, I mean, often people will write a book either because they feel like they really have a story to share or because they love writing. But when you publish and when you get into marketing, I mean, that's a completely different side, right? It's a business thing. It's a completely different skill set. And a lot, I think a lot of authors struggle with that because they don't enjoy that, you know, the more, I guess, technical side of having a book out there and having to market it. And so in that sense, I think hearing that sort of cautionary tale helped because I really, I came into this thinking, okay, it's not like I'm going to have a huge budget for marketing. It's not like I've done this before. So it's going to be a learning curve. But I really, I'm so excited about having my book out there finally after all these years of, you know, I consider myself an author. But on some level, it still feels like until you have a book out, you're not an author. And I know that there's a lot of debate around that. But so I think to me, I decided to sort of upfront embrace the joy and let the rest go. And so it has helped a lot because I'm really, I'm doing what I can in terms of marketing while recognizing that there is a zillion other things I could be doing, but I'm not. And it'll probably have an effect on how many books I sell, but that's okay. So I think there's a lot to be said for sort of how you gear yourself up to get your book out there, right? And kind of what your headspace is. Yeah, well, you know, the authors now, you know, you have social media. So you have other platforms and other ways, you know, because some people don't know how to approach somebody about their project. But it might be easier to go on a computer and say, hey, you know, follow this link. Or, you know, you write something jazzy and post it, you know, and people be like, wow, I like that, you know. And what I learned, too, with promotion, a lot of people like hashtags. Hashtags and like little symbols, like you might see a bullhorn or you might see flashing lights. And it just seems like something like attention or coming soon. And it seems like that is like a marketing ploy, you know. I mean, it's, you know, and I mean, social media is an incredibly powerful tool. But even so, you know, more and more platforms, you have to pay to get in front of the right audiences. And the algorithms are changing all the time. And there's a lot of noise out there. I mean, you know, you hear these incredible stories of authors that get on TikTok and start making videos and then sell, you know, a bajillion books. And that's incredible. But then behind that, there's hundreds, if not thousands of authors that are on TikTok that are not selling a million books. So I think it's, you know, there are a lot more tools and there's a lot more ways to get in front of your audience and sell books. But I don't know that it always makes it easier. But, you know, for now, ask me again once my book is out. I might have a different answer. Well, you know, you're right, because a lot of times, and you think to yourself, you're like, hold on, I've done XYZ. And how did they just come up? And then you try to do a little research and see what they did. And you're like, you try to match it up. And you're like, it is just not, it is like they hit it at the right time. Exactly. It seems like everything with the algorithm is the timing. You know, there's that. And then there's also, and this is not just in terms of writing. This is something that I think we do worldwide and in every industry. But sometimes suddenly there's a book that comes out that, you know, it's explosive. Like it's bestseller charts. It's just like it's all over the place. And the tendency is to think, wow, that author has become an overnight success. But that overnight success probably took them 10 or 15 years to achieve. And like it might be their fifth book. It might be their 25th book. I mean, you don't know. And so I think that there is, and social media makes it worse, right? Because social media, you tend to only show sort of the good and the fun. And so I think that there's also, there's that element in play, right? Where it feels like other people are just, it's two clicks and they got it. And then an actual fact, it's not. Most people that are succeeding as writers have really put in the hard work and the sweat equity to really figure things out and get the right partners and, you know, whatever else. So it's, I know that being an author has this kind of, you know, being a writer, people think of sort of Ernest Hemingway and having cocktails and writing and whatever. But nowadays it's really a lot more than that. Yeah, yeah. It just, I don't know, you're right. Because there's times, you know, you'd be like, you'll see the success, but you'll never see the struggle. And it's like nobody puts any emphasis on the struggle. They just want you to see the end result, you know? So it does seem like it was overnight. How did they do this? Exactly. You know, so, you don't know how many times they got a no before they even seen the yes, you know? Exactly. Did you have any writer's block? Did you experience any writer's block even though you knew where your story was going? Not in so many words. I think in terms of the drafting, I found it relatively easy. I mean, being part of that challenge helps because I do have a little bit of a competitive streak. So I was really out there trying to get the words in and get the story on paper. But then I think I kind of circumvented that because I took so long to get back to the editing. And in the end, if I'm being really honest, the only reason that this book is seeing the light of day now is because I found out that I was pregnant with my second daughter in August, which is really exciting. But then all of a sudden, on the tail end of that, I realized, well, if I don't get this book out before my second daughter is born, it's going to push it back by another year or two because I'm not going to have the brain space to do that. And so that just – any writer's block that I had in terms of editing or moving ahead, I just looked it straight in the eye and I said, you're out. There's no more playing around. Like either I'm in and I dive in and I get this book out or it's going to gather a proverbial dust in the computer drawer because it's already been however many years since I wrote the draft. So circumstances in that sense were in my favor. Okay. Do you have any plans for a sequel or companion novel? I do. I actually already started working on what I thought was going to be book two, but it might be book two and three. So stay tuned because there's definitely more where this came from. Okay. If you could talk to an upcoming author right now, what would you tell them? What good advice would you give them? It feels too early for me to be giving advice to anyone because I'm still figuring things out. But I think I would – in a nutshell, I would say go for it and don't hesitate to ask questions. And I say that because I found – I've reached out to authors randomly. I'll come across a – it's happened once or twice that I'll read a book and I love it, and so I sign up for the author's newsletter and then I'll just hit reply and send them a note. And I will say that four out of five times they actually reply. And I mean my note is sometimes just to say I'm in awe, but other times there'll be a question or – so I think that there's a lot – the writing community is not an easy one because it's so big and a lot of people are doing their own thing. But I think people really want to be supportive. And so I would say don't hesitate to try and connect and ask questions and build your community, whether it's virtual or in person, because at the end of the day, that's I think what will make a difference to really help you feel like a writer and get a little bit ahead because otherwise it's really easy nowadays to just be stuck behind your screen and typing away and you feel just really alone in your project. But if you have a good community around you, then the sky's the limit. Okay. How competitive do you think being an author is compared to your fellow counterpart authors? How competitive do you think you have to be? I think that's a little bit of a trick question because I think you – I mean there are so many books that are coming out every day, right, whether it's self-published or traditionally published or hybrid. So in that sense, I think that there's a lot of competition. There's a lot of noise out there. But at the same time, there are a lot of readers out there, too. So I don't think – if I'm helping you sell books, I don't think that means I'm shooting myself in the foot because I'm going to sell that many less books, right? It's not a win-lose. I think that you have to – it also depends what your goals are as an author, right? Some people write a book and they really just want to have written a book. They don't mind if it sells to 10 or 100, 3,000 people. Other people are aiming to make a living out of that, right? And if you want to make a living out of being an author, that's very different. But no matter what your goals are, I don't think it's a cutthroat industry. I think that there's a lot of space for collaboration and for supporting fellow authors. And I think that's part of what makes it so wonderful because it's not – yeah, other industries, what comes to mind is finance, but that might just be me projecting. It feels like it's much more cutthroat because if you get a client, then somebody else is not getting that client versus readers tend to be selective. But they also – if they love reading, they're going to get lots of books. So you helping another author sell books does not mean that you won't be selling yours as well. Okay. Do you have – if you had a chance to write a different genre, what would it be and why? I have two answers to that. It would be – I think the first answer is memoir. And that's because I – well, I already have a memoir that's in the pipeline actually because I lived in New York. And I grew up in cities and I lived in New York for a couple of years. And then I transitioned and now I live in rural Portugal and I live on an off-grid farm. And it was an intentional transition and an amazing one. But I think that a part of that – while I don't expect everybody to make the same choices I did, I think that there's a piece of that story that can help people figure out how to design their life so it's really a life that they love. Because I think a lot of people end up kind of stuck in a job they don't love or stuck in a place they don't love. And sometimes, of course, it's kind of – it's hard to break out of that. But I think other times it's just about taking the time to just think it through and make decisions accordingly. So memoir is my first answer to that question. And the second one is children's stories. And the reason for that is – well, there's multiple reasons. One is with my daughter. I mean, I love storytelling. And with my three-year-old daughter, I've already – I mean, I've made up so many stories along the way because when she was a baby trying to put her to sleep, I would make up songs. So I think there's a lot – there's a lot to be done in terms of children's literature, a lot of lessons to share and insights to share but in a sort of a son-loving way. And personally, I would add in sort of a way that connects kids back to nature because I think that's something that – you know, kids naturally feel a link to nature. But society-wise, we are trying our hardest to sort of separate from nature, which I disagree with fundamentally. But that's a whole other conversation. So I think that the two genres, memoir is kind of already in the pipeline, and then children's book would be my next sort of challenge to tackle if I ever get around to it. Yeah. Well, I'm going to tell you this. I'm a former New York native myself, and there's a lot of things that these kids could not survive that we did. And vice versa probably, to be honest. And it's just – you're right. So, you know, I can see that, you know, trying to get them back to nature and understanding. Because when's the last time you told a kid, you smell like outside, you know? That was the biggest thing that the parents – like, you stink. You smell like outside. That's true. I remember reading – I don't know if you know Calvin and Hobbes, the comic strip. Yeah, yeah. That little boy and his tiger. And there's one sort of that I remember where he said something like, you know that it's been a good day if you have grass skin marks on your knees and dirt all over yourself, or something like that. And I remember reading that and thinking, I don't know how many kids would understand that, right? Because so many kids now are more indoors and city and whatever. But I love that. And I think it's so, so true. And it's also interesting. You know, I see with my daughter, like, my instinct, which I think is how society conditioned me, is to try and not let her get dirty. And very quickly I was like, wait, that's ridiculous. She's a kid. She should. Like, whether she's covered in mud or flour or paint or whatever it is, like, it's just clothes. It'll all wash out. It's fine. But that is such a sign of a beautiful childhood. So I fully, fully encourage that. It makes you question your childhood now that you tell your kids, oh, don't do that, don't do that. Yeah. You're like, were we really abused? You're like, where did I get that rule from? It's such a random rule. Yeah. So in closing, is there anything you want to share with us? Well, I want to thank you for inviting me to be a part of this podcast. And whoever is listening, I want to thank them for listening all the way through. And, you know, for any writers, aspiring writers out there, if there's anything I can do to help, I'm happy to. And I hope this is just the beginning for me in terms of my author journey. But, yeah, thank you. Okay. Do you have any social media or anything that anybody can follow you, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram? Of course. I am on Instagram under smrajiauthor. And if you go to sraji.com, that is my author website, and there you can sign up for my newsletter if you want. Those are probably the two best ways to connect with me. Okay. How would they be able to purchase your books? On Amazon. The book comes out on the 20th of March, which is the Persian New Year. My father is Iranian, so that's my kind of link to that side of my roots. It will be on Amazon both as an e-book and as a paperback. Okay. Thank you again. And I wish you continued success. Thank you. And I definitely got to bring you back on the show. I want to bring a bunch of y'all back. I actually want to bring all y'all back. I would love that. Because all y'all had some interesting stories, you know, where y'all at now in your career. And I would love to just see and let everybody hear, you know, the success. After, you know, the last show. Well, I would love to come back and share my successes. So, from your mouth to God's ears, hopefully. And I look forward to our next conversations. All right. Thank you. Well, ladies and gentlemen, this is another episode of The Voice Behind the Pen. I'm your host, author, and screenwriter, Essie Dickens. Good night. That did. That flew by.