Interview With Author Garry Moore

 

1.      What inspired you to write this book?

I wrote the book during lockdown during the Covid Pandemic. I wasn’t allowed to go to work for a year because of a lung condition. I’m a filmmaker and found it frustratingly hard to break into the industry. I had so many ‘nearly made it’ chances that I thought it would be useful to write a book about my experiences for other would-be filmmakers. 

2.      What exactly is it about and who is it written for?

The book is primarily my memoirs of my time as a filmmaker, trying to break into the film industry and the many problems I had along the way. One of the main through stories is how I came to make a film with a 15-year-old Jade Thirlwall who would go on to win the UK X-Factor with girl band Little Mix who would become one of the biggest girl bands in the world. I thought highlighting this story would garner a lot of interest and, as it’s the only film she ever made, I thought her fanbase would be interested, especially as the book includes many exclusive on-set photos of her taken at the time in 2007. The book also contains many stories and anecdotes of my time as a filmmaker so it’s also cautionary tale for aspiring filmmakers. 

3.      What do you hope readers will get out of reading your book?

I hope that general readers will get a better insight into how difficult it is to break into the film industry, how ruthless some people can be, or how indifferent some others can be towards you or your film or what you wish to achieve. As for the Little Mix fans who may read it, I hope they will get pleasure from hearing how Jade made her one and only film and see some rare photos of her that not many fans will have seen before. 

4.      How did you decide on your book’s title and cover design?

The book’s title was heavily influenced by the fact that I was writing about my time making a film with Jade Thirlwall of Little Mix. It’s a play on her band name. The cover was always going to feature a photo of Jade Thirlwall, but apart from that it was a template that was available on Amazon, as I self-published through Amazon KDP. I didn’t have the budget to hire anyone to create one specially. 

5.      What advice or words of wisdom do you have for fellow writers – other than run!?

It may not be for everyone but ‘Self-Publish’ rather than trying to get an agent to take on you and your book, who will then have to sell it to a publisher. The process can take around 3 years with a traditional publisher and you get around 12-15% in royalties, whereas with self-publishing you can publish within days and get way more royalty-wise. For e-books on Amazon you get 70% in royalties. On the down side you have to market your book yourself or pay for a PR company to do it for you. A traditional publisher will have the clout to get your book to all the retail outlets and have a budget to market it, so you have to weigh up what way is best for you. You may also get a sizeable advance if there is a bidding war for your book, but don’t hold your breath. I’d also add that you should check out thoroughly who you sign with before you sign with them. I thought I was signing with a reputable publisher when I first got a traditional deal for this book. I endured 3 years of incompetence with them and 3 days after they published the book, they withdrew it because their compliance department said I’d broken the terms of the contract, which I hadn’t. I eventually got the rights back and four months later self-published it, adding a further chapter to the book to explain what happened with that publisher, so just beware. 

6.      What trends in the book world do you see -- and where do you think the book publishing industry is heading?

I think there will always be a place for traditional publishing but I see a lot more people self-publishing these days. There has also been a surge of AI generated books using a variety of AI tools which can create a book in no time at all, but they are often nonsensical or of poor quality story-wise. I don’t know, I’ve never read an AI generated book, so I’m just going off of what I’ve read about them from third parties, but AI is moving so fast now that, this will definitely be something we see more of. Perhaps we will need to classify it in its own genre if AI generated. 

7.      Were there experiences in your personal life or career that came in handy when writing this book?

I think its self-explanatory – I’m a filmmaker and the book is about filmmaking and the encounters and problems, and wins I had. This is definitely a personal journey for me. This was my life. Still is, to a certain extent. 

8.      How would you describe your writing style? Which writers or books is your writing similar to?

Because this is a memoir, I don’t think there’s a particular style or someone I can compare myself to here. What I will say is that I try to be truthful. There are no overly exaggerated stories to try and sell the book, what you read really happened to me. 

9.      What challenges did you overcome in the writing of this book?

The challenges I had, because this was real life and real people I was writing about, I had to be mindful of how I portrayed those people. Having said that, there are some diabolical stories about diabolical people in the book, so I have had to change a few names to avoid any legal comeback. Writing the book was quite an easy process as I was just writing about myself and things which happened to me. The only thing I worried about really was, whether I would be able to sustain interest long enough to fill an entire book. 

10.  If people can buy or read one book this week or month, why should it be yours?

I think people should buy my book because it’s truthful, there are funny moments, shocking encounters, and a great insight into the filmmaking process. When you consider the fact that I’m not even in the professional filmmaking industry and all these things have happened to me, then what far greater things are happening there? What disturbing things are going on there? 

About The Author: Garry Moore is a multi-award-winning UK writer, producer and director of over 40 short films. His films have screened at many international film festivals and even at a United Nations funded event in Mumbai, India. His debut feature film, a thriller called ‘Melanie’s Grave’ is currently bring represented by Adler and Associates Entertainment, Inc and is due for release in September 2024. He is also an author, having his short horror stories published in the anthologies, ‘Twisted’ and ‘Twisted’s Evil Little Sister.

Link to YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfgWpooYXHU0Bqwd0t05O4A

 

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About Brian Feinblum

Brian Feinblum should be followed on www.linkedin.com/in/brianfeinblum. This is copyrighted by BookMarketingBuzzBlog ©2024. Born and raised in Brooklyn, he now resides in Westchester with his wife, two kids, and Ferris, a black lab rescue dog, and El Chapo, a pug rescue dog. His writings are often featured in The Writer and IBPA’s The Independent.  This award-winning blog has generated over 3.9 million pageviews. With 4,900+ posts over the past dozen years, it was named one of the best book marketing blogs by BookBaby  http://blog.bookbaby.com/2013/09/the-best-book-marketing-blogs  and recognized by Feedspot in 2021 and 2018 as one of the top book marketing blogs. It was also named by www.WinningWriters.com as a "best resource.” For the past three decades, including 21 years as the head of marketing for the nation’s largest book publicity firm, and director of publicity positions at two independent presses, Brian has worked with many first-time, self-published, authors of all genres, right along with best-selling authors and celebrities such as: Dr. Ruth, Mark Victor Hansen, Joseph Finder, Katherine Spurway, Neil Rackham, Harvey Mackay, Ken Blanchard, Stephen Covey, Warren Adler, Cindy Adams, Todd Duncan, Susan RoAne, John C. Maxwell, Jeff Foxworthy, Seth Godin, and Henry Winkler. He hosted a panel on book publicity for Book Expo America several years ago, and has spoken at ASJA, Independent Book Publishers Association Sarah Lawrence College, Nonfiction Writers Association, Cape Cod Writers Association, Willamette (Portland) Writers Association, APEX, Morgan James Publishing, and Connecticut Authors and Publishers Association. His letters-to-the-editor have been published in The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, New York Post, NY Daily News, Newsday, The Journal News (Westchester) and The Washington Post. His first published book was The Florida Homeowner, Condo, & Co-Op Association Handbook.  It was featured in The Sun Sentinel and Miami Herald.