Simon Royle–Indie Author Selling Well with Debut Ebook [Interview]

Whether you’re already an indie ebook author or just thinking of getting started with e-publishing, you’re probably as excited as I am to hear about all the folks doing well with their offerings. Today, we have a short interview with Simon Royle, a science fiction thriller author who published his debut ebook Tag a couple months ago. He was nice enough to interview me about Encrypted last week, so I wanted to return the favor. He’s also selling quite well, despite only having one novel online, so you might want to stalk him to see what he’s doing!

You can purchase Tag at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Smashwords.

Let the questions begin!

I don’t usually ask the “can you tell us about yourself?” question, but it sounds like you’ve led an interesting, well-traveled life! Would you like to share some highlights for us? And tell us what led you to settle down in Thailand?

My father was in shipping. The closure of the Suez Canal meant many ships had to travel around the Cape of Good Hope. This happened when I was three. When I was ten we moved to New Jersey, my father worked in New York, and after a short spell there, back to England. When I was sixteen we moved to Hong Kong. By then I had lived on four continents, and experienced vastly different, but same (English speaking for the most part) cultures.

I think the most enduring thing to come out of that is a perspective on nationality and culture that is in the minority – a global outlook. I don’t have allegiance to any particular nation state, but rather look upon humans as a race (and a fairly poorly developed one at that). As an example: I bemoan the fact that we’ve been around for 7,000 years as “civilizations”, and yet we still spend the most of our money on perfecting ways to kill other humans.

Thailand just happened. I first went there when I was twenty-four on a short week’s holiday, and had a great time. For the next two years I flew there regularly, practically every chance I had, and traveled the country extensively. I’d fly in, do the ‘One Night In Bangkok’, (makes a hard man humble) thing; and then hire a rental car and drive. On those trips I found the Thai people to be incredibly generous, warm-hearted, and, well, I guess suited to my character. Two years after that first holiday, I went back to live and have stayed. I travel quite a lot around the region, and sometimes further afield as part of my day job, but for most of the last twenty-one years, I have lived in or near Bangkok.

Okay, now for the book stuff! Please tell us a bit about your first novel and what led you to e-publishing.

I got the idea for Tag after reading an article about a Dutch nightclub where members were (voluntarily) injected with an RFID device. The RFID chip held their personal details and credit. Passports and social security numbers, or other forms of identity are relatively modern (and still primitive) constructs. It got me thinking that as as we evolve the various issues around personal identity become more complex and inevitably technology will play a greater part. I chose to address those ideas in the form of a futuristic thriller.

E-publishing was a natural step given the rising dominance of digital channels. I work in the software industry so I was aware of what was happening on-line and had been tracking the rise of eBooks since mid-2007.

I also prefer the business model. I hired my own editors, proofreaders, cover designer and typesetter – all of whom are involved full-time in publishing. Some were great, some not so – that’s business. Live and learn. Now I’ve got a great team. A side benefit is that I have met some incredibly talented, savvy, and genuinely cool people while doing this. You have a problem or don’t know how to do something – put your hand up – someone who knows will give advice.

I’m impressed (envious?) of how well Tag is doing at Amazon, especially since it’s your only novel out there, and you just published it a couple months ago. What have you been doing for promotion?

Kindle Nation Daily and blogging that’s it.

It looks like your blog has been up longer than your book. When did you start it, and what made you decide to start your “Indieviews” series?

I started the blog in September of 2010 and traffic has grown steadily every month, it averages between eighty and one hundred visitors a day. Month on month, traffic has been increasing by about 45 per cent. That just tells me that the interest in indie authors and their books is growing all the time.

The ‘Indieviews’ came about simply because I had traffic and could make my visitors aware of some cool authors and their books. I expanded that to indie ebook reviewers and readers. Everything on my site is an offshoot of stuff that I am interested in – I’ve learnt many things by reading those interviews.

Are you working on any new projects you’d like to share?

K:OS, the sequel to Tag. First chapter is out there already. It picks up three months after where Tag ended. That’s all I’m saying for now 🙂

Thanks, and good luck, Simon!