Here are other reasons why I'm so honored to have Adam Croft today on Authors to Watch.
1) His self published thriller, Her Last Tomorrow, became one of the highest selling books in 2015, selling 150,000 copies in the first five months, which eventually brought him to the attention of Amazon’s crime imprint Thomas & Mercer.
2) In Feb of 2017, just this year, his crime thriller Only the Truth, ranked #1 in both Amazon US and UK. At the point in time, it was the highest selling book worldwide. Because of that, Amazon's Author Ranking placed Adam in the #1 spot as the most widely read author in the WORLD! With J.K. Rowling coming in 2nd. Sorry, J.K.
It's what self published authors dream of. Sales, Bestsellers, Book Deals.
Whenever I see someone achieve success, I just have to ask them...
HOW DID YOU DO IT?
If you listen hard enough, you'll definitely find something that will inspire you on your own quest to success.
So... let's listen to what ADAM CROFT, one of the bestselling crime and thriller authors in the world, has to say.
In 2017, your book Only The Truth became a worldwide bestseller in both the US and UK, and you were tagged by Amazon as the mostly widely read author in the world, with J.K. Rowling in second place. What an achievement that was. Tell us, Adam, how did it happen? Can you point out a single factor?
AC: If I had to point out a single factor, it would probably be that the book was chosen as the Kindle First pick for February. Books chosen for that feature each month tend to hit the top 10, if not the number 1 spot at some point soon after. Only The Truth went straight to number 1 across the world and was the bestselling book in the world at that time.
That must have been a really exciting moment!
Your success started with your thriller, Her Last Tomorrow, when it became a bestseller in 2016. You were still an Indie then. What did you do to accomplish that? Was it luck or did you do a specific marketing campaign that prompted the downloads?
AC: I'd been having good success before then, and had been writing full-time for about six years. For that particular book, I knew it had a very marketable hook and really cranked up the advertising, particularly with paid Facebook ads. That generated a lot of interest and after that it largely ran under its own steam.
What did you do before you became so famous?
AC: Took six years doing the same thing, trying to get to that point :-)
Consistency and patience pays off, huh? I'm really happy it worked out for you, Adam.
What made you choose to write Crime Thrillers? Have you written in other genres?
AC: It just seemed natural to me as that was what I enjoyed reading. I haven't written in other genres, unless you count murder mysteries or psychological thrillers as other genres. I also write plays and have had them published and produced all over the world. My plays are either comedies or odd surrealist pieces, so very very different from my books.
When you were still a self publisher, what process did you follow before you published a book?
AC: I still am an indie publisher. I only published one and a half books through Thomas & Mercer (one was a republication), and after that chose to go back to indie publishing. I have over 20 titles out, the vast majority of which are indie published. My process is generally to plan, then write a first draft, go through that and do my own self-edits, then send to my three-person editing team who send it back to me for more changes. During that time there's the cover design, marketing package and everything else going on.
I didn't know you went back to self publishing! I personally think it was a good move.
Can you give me your honest take on self publishing and Indie books?
AC: That would take me all day, but I think, in short, it's fair to say that it's now the dominant sector of the publishing industry and it's fully running under its own steam. It's now a mature sub-industry and the major publishers are coming to us to ask for advice. The tables have truly turned.
What advise can you give self published authors for them to achieve success?
AC: There's nothing I can say that would make some have success, but if you keep going, keep believing in what you do, keep learning and striving to improve, you'll likely get there.
In your opinion, how can we improve the Indie Industry? This includes both pure self publishers and hybrid. What do you think are areas of improvement?
AC: It's been said a hundred times already, but more authors need to stop trying to design their own covers and do their own editing.
Authors often have trouble taking advice (myself included), and we have to accept that professional cover designers and editors are there for a reason. Use them. If you aren't willing to spend money and have faith in your work, why should a reader?
We also need to stop pretending it's a gateway to traditional publishing. If anything, it's gone the other way. If you name me an author who's gone from indie publishing to trad in the last year, I'll name you five who've gone the other way.
An Indie after my own heart. :)
I read that Her Last Tomorrow is being developed for television. Should we expect that soon?
AC: In a word, no. Television moves even more slowly than traditional publishers. It's painfully slow. I'm hopeful, but until I'm sitting in my living room watching the credits roll up the screen, I'm not betting on anything.
Did you ever expect the level of success you achieved? How did it change your life?
AC: I don't know that I ever expected it, but I'd always aimed for it. I've got a long checklist of ambitions for my career and I'm slowly ticking them all off one by one. I guess I didn't expect it to happen so suddenly — I thought it might be more of a gradual increase of success — but I'm still not complaining.
I don't think it really has changed my life, and it certainly hasn't changed me. It's made things easier financially, of course, but that doesn't really mean anything.
Who is Adam Croft, the man? What makes you happy to be alive? What drives you?
AC: Actually, I think I'm driven by never being happy. The day I sit back and think, 'Yes, I've done it,' is the day it's all over. As long as I'm unhappy with where I am and constantly striving for more, that's what keeps me going.
In terms of who I am as a person, that's a whole story for another day, but outside of my writing life I'm a busy father and keen gardener. I don't get much time for anything else!
What's next for you? What's in the pipeline?
AC: If I told you, I'd have to kill you.
WOOT! What an ender.
You can tell he's a crime thriller writer.
Thank you so much for your time and wisdom, Adam.
You truly are an inspiration to all Indie Authors.
To quote Adam in his interview with The Guardian...
“Little old me, doing it myself from my back bedroom, has outsold people like Stephen King and Lee Child over quite a few weeks this year.”
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Adam's latest book, With a Vengeance, has just been released.
Well, I don't want to die yet so I'll just have to stalk Adam and follow his career.
You can stalk him too. I'm sure he won't mind.
Connect with ADAM:
Want to hear more from Adam? Watch his Interviews.
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