Tuesday, September 3, 2024

Interview With Author Parker G. Emerson

 


 


 

 

1. What inspired you to write this book?

 

 When I told friends and acquaintances about some of my travels, they were interested in the stories and suggested I collect them into a book. As I began writing, I thought it makes more sense to have a series of books, each about a specific adventure in travel rather than a collection of unrelated anecdotes.

 

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

 

 This book is about the sights and experiences on a Viking River Cruise called “Paris to the Swiss Alps” which my wife, Sandra, and I took in Spring 2019. It (and the rest of the Travels with Spot series in development) is written for two groups of people: those who are not able to travel, and those who want to know what to expect when they do travel.

 

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

 

I hope that those who are not able to travel for any number of reasons get the feeling of what it is like to be in the various places — to have a vicarious adventure. Those who do travel will want to go to the places I have been to enjoy the ambiance and experience the same and new adventures for themselves.

 

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

 

The title came from the idea of writing a series of books, which suggested the title of each should have something in common. Another title concept is derived from John Steinbeck’s book “Travels with Charlie: In Search of America” (except that Charlie was his dog and Spot is me) which describes his trip across America and is roughly similar to my descriptions of my travels.

The cover design concept comes from old newsreel leaders and movies such as the Indiana Jones series in which the route the traveler is taking is displayed on a globe. I wanted to use this motif to quickly illustrate where the travel occurs.

 

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

 

As we were all told in school, “Walk, don’t run.” Don’t rush into getting published, but certainly proceed with writing. I think writers need to decide first why they are writing. For personal gratification? To earn a living? Because they have an important message? To occupy their spare time? Or some other reason or combination of reasons? Once you’ve decided why you’re writing, estimate the realistic size of your reading audience (No, everyone is not waiting breathlessly to read your book. Ten people, perhaps, but probably not tens of thousands.), and how much time and how much of your money you’re going to put into it.

Sales, whether books or mouse traps, happen not because you’ve got a better version than everyone else. Sales happen because people hear about your product (book in this case) and decide they need it. Marketing is essential, time-consuming, and expensive; and roughly 80% of the marketing expense does not result in sales — but it’s nearly impossible to determine which are and which are not effective. Choose a marketing team that has experience marketing not books in general, but in marketing your type of book.

 

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

 

The largest trend is a dramatic increase in self-publishing which is largely due to the current technology of printing on demand and small volume printing. While this makes it easier to physically produce books, it does nothing to ensure the quality of the contents or determine the realistic market for any given book. “Traditional” publishers use their own money to publish and market books, so they tend to be more discriminating in selecting what books they will publish because they have a good understanding of what the market is for a specific book. Conversely, self-publishing houses use only the author’s money, so they will publish essentially whatever the author gives them, and marketing is generally an afterthought or very generic.

 

I suspect the industry will continue to become more fragmented with less and less critical review and revision of books prior to publication. E-books of various formats will continue to grow in importance as people rely more and more on electronic devices for their information. (Why buy a book and carry the book and your phone when you can download the book onto your phone?) More and more books will be available only in electronic form, making publishing easier and easier, but making writing for a living harder and harder.

 

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

 

The high school I attended required high quality writing in every course. You could not get an A on a science paper or anything else unless it used good grammar, proper punctuation, and was well written using appropriate vocabulary. We wrote papers for every subject every week, so writing and self-editing became second nature. I learned to write as I would speak, and the writing improved my speaking and thinking.

 

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

 

My writing style is, I hope, conversational, especially in the sense that it is how I would speak face to face. I try to select each word that is appropriate to the moment and look to employ onomatopoeia and alliteration which help convey images and flow in the language. While generally conversational in tone, my style also changes depending on the topic; describing the process of preparing a presentation to an audience is different than describing what it’s like to walk down a steep gravel path.

I like to think my writing is like John Steinbeck or Louise Penny, both of whom tell their stories in a straightforward manner with graphic description where necessary and storylines that pulse in intensity.

 

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

 

The biggest writing challenge was getting started, deciding how to proceed. I finally began with the schedule of events and then filled in the details in a linear manner. Marketing the book is a challenge yet to be overcome.

 

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

 

Travels with Spot: Paris to Zürich is a little escape from whatever you’re doing, yet it feels real in the moment. We can all use a little escape now and then.

 

About The Author: Parker G. Emerson has traveled throughout Europe, the United States, and parts of Africa, Mexico, and South Korea beginning with an unguided trip to Europe in 1973. He acquired the nickname “Spot” as the navigation center supervisor on the nuclear missile submarine USS Simon Bolivar (SSBN641) during eight years and 15 deployments deterring global thermonuclear war. He completed his B.S. in business administration at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, VA, while still on active duty. After leaving the US Navy, he moved to California where he worked in the aerospace industry and simultaneously earned his MBA from the University of Southern California. Mr. Emerson has held senior management positions and has started and sold several companies. He is a co-author of The Public Administrator’s Companion: A Practical Guide 2nd edition. Now retired, he and his wife, Sandra, enjoy traveling and writing about their adventures. For more info, please see:  

www.emersonenterprises.com

 

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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 5,000+ 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, BookCAMP, 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.

 

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