Today, I have the pleasure of interviewing the talented author Jacob Cooper. I’ve split his interview into two posts. In this Part I, he shares the dream that inspired his debut novel and how he has attracted an enthusiastic fanbase, many of whom have compared him with Brandon Sanderson and Patrick Rothfuss.
But first, his Bio: Jacob Cooper writes fantasy and epic fantasy books. His first effort, Moon Monsters, was written when he faked sickness one day in first grade to stay home and write. This book received the acclaim of his parents and sits in a black 3-ringed binder somewhere in their basement.
The Dying Lands Chronicle is a planned trilogy in the epic fantasy genre. Book 1, Circle of Reign, marks Jacob’s first major effort on the fiction side of writing. Prior to book 2, Song of Night, being released, a shorter prelude to the trilogy Altar of Influence, was released.
Aside from writing, Jacob is an accomplished percussionist, pianist, and composer. He enjoys power sports on land and water, as well as spending time with his family.
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What inspired you to write Circle of Reign?
Circle of Reign is book 1 of The Dying Lands Chronicle, a planned trilogy in the epic fantasy genre.
It’s a bit of a story, but essentially I had a dream once where I and my oldest daughter (only 2 years old at the time) were in the woods, walking home from a friend’s house. In the dream, we had heard on the radio that a kidnapper had escaped from a prison in the area. While walking through the forest to our house (why through a forest? Because it was a dream? Shrug), I got a very powerful feeling that we were in trouble. I still remember that feeling of terror vividly, of knowing a threat was near but not able to see it. The fatherly feeling of protection, knowing that you would anything to protect your child, was also present.
The next thing I knew, a guy jumped from up in a tree and tackled me. I yelled to my daughter to run…run where? We were still over a mile from our home (just the home in my dream, not our real home) and I was telling her to run? Looking back on the dream, it was a big gamble. How could my little one know where to go? How would she get there? In the dream, I could feel her terror, too. It was interesting feeling the POV of a small child.
I fought the bad guy, and eventually got the upper hand. After knocking him silly, I took my belt and hog-tied as best I could in the moment. It wasn’t very good and I knew that when he came around he could wiggle free. Should I stay with him? Chase after my daughter? I hadn’t actually seen which way she went. If I left the bad guy, would he find her before I did? What’s to guarantee the guy was working alone? It was an impossible decision for me. But, in the end, I chose to try and find her.
I ran through the woods toward my home, somehow believing that she would have this way…but the doubt kept coursing through me. She could have run anywhere. I called after her, frantic, bursting through the forest at reckless speeds.
Finally, I came out to clearing that backed into my neighborhood…and I heard her laughing with my dad. All was well and she was safe. In the dream, the feeling of relief was palpable, all consuming. When I woke up, I had to write the dream down right away.
About 5 years later or so, I was on my way home from work, reflecting on that dream. I wasn’t looking for a story idea (I’d never seriously considered writing a book), but one hit me: what if an assassin were chasing a little girl for something she had seen? What if that assassin could smell emotions? Track prey in that manner? What if the girl lived in the forest…her people being “wood-dwellers”? And what if they were blessed with incredible dexterity and swiftness as an advantage? This tense chase-scene developed in my head, not completely like my dream (it doesn’t have a real happy ending). I got home, raced out of my car, sat down and wrote the bones of what would become chapter 1 of Circle of Reign.
Maybe it’s a little cheesy, but a dream inspired the beginnings of the story.
Tell me about the moment when you decided you wanted to be a published author. Did you try querying agents? If not, why not?
You know, I guess I had thought about the traditional route at first. I queried a few agents but no where near enough if I were serious about that route. I had talked to a number authors who had once been with a publishing house and were now self-published. All of them preferred being self-published. All of them. That was very telling to me. Would I take a major publishing deal or agent? I’m not closed to it, but it’s not something I’m currently pursuing.
Did you ever think of giving up on your dream of publishing your first novel? What helped keep you going?
Once I decided to get it published, no. Nothing stopped me. I was frustrated with not being able to move faster, but there was a lot to learn as far as the process. Artwork, design, editing, proofing, interior formatting, editing some audio, getting that approved with ACX/Audible….lots to do. Still feeling my way through it all.
Tell me about your stint as a composer. Do you think this creative background affects how you write as an author? How?
I believe there’s a distinct connection between music and writing. I have always loved progressive rock: the long songs, sound effects, intricate movements, odd time signatures, key changes, modal chord scales and the like. I guess I like the “epicness” of that musical genre. Same reason for film scores…they tell a story that causes you to feel. I have found that a lot of epic fantasy fans love prog rock as well for a lot of the same reasons.
In my story, there are lots of POVs. Keeping track of all of that is a lot like conducting a symphony and making sure every section is in tune and harmony with the rest of the group. I’m not perfect at this and have things to learn, but yes, I believe being a musician and composer has helped in my writing. We’ll see more musical influence in book 2, Song of Night.
What do you think accounts for your amazing self-published stats of 2,000 books sold in 2 months?
Closing in on 3,000 sales currently. I hope those are good stats, but I’ve got nothing to compare it with! I did a fair amount of pre-release marketing via social media. I gave away a free intro (including the chase scene mentioned earlier) that hooked people. There were over 5,000 downloads of that free intro in a single month. That helped build a following of people who were excited about the story.
I don’t think it was all me, though. I have to give credit to the cover artist, John Avon, designer, David O’Connor, and narrator, Michael Kramer. I have had people tell me they have bought the book because of the cover alone or the audiobook because of who the narrator is. That’s part of making the book the highest quality it can be. I’m just glad that the vast majority of people have enjoyed the story.
What is your writing process? Do you outline or not? How do you keep your world-building organized?
I’ve tried to outline before but I usually end up getting frustrated and just want to start writing. I’m more of a discovery writer. I might have major milestones I want to hit, but how to get there is anyone’s guess. I let the characters develop the story as a I write. Truly, I have been surprised at various times with where the story went. There are two major plot lines in Circle of Reign that I never contemplated until 30 seconds before they were written. They only came to be as I persisted in writing. Had I been outlining, I don’t believe they would have come to me and the story would have been less, in my opinion.
Along with the plot, the world-building was an evolution. One of the unique characteristics of my world of Våleira is that the lands cycle: a process of dying and being reborn over centuries. That creates a world-wide nomadic culture among the people that is fairly interesting as a backdrop. Your land may not cycle during your lifetime, but you know that some day, your people will absolutely be leaving this land. You also know that invasions will happen by people whose lands are currently cycling as they look for a new home. You’d think that was something I came up with at the start…I was 3 years into the writing when that little element came to me and changed everything.
How did you get the word out about Circle of Reign?
Well, I think I’m still working on that. Social media has been a big deal. Marketing a free intro really helped as well. I try to engage with fans on a daily basis through social media and expand that through internet forums like SFFworld.com and Reddit.com. Interviews with bloggers help as well. I really need to get my blog going still, which is part of a website revamp that’s currently in the works.
Cross marketing also helped. John Avon, the cover artist, shared the book on his FB page, as did Michael Kramer, the narrator. There’s a lot more I could be doing, but of course it’s hard to do all things when you’re self-published.
I have hired a publicist to help, but the jury is still out there. We’re about 60 days into that campaign without a lot of tangible results just yet. Still having faith there…
You have nearly 15,000 Facebook fans. How did you build such a huge Facebook fan base?
Targeted marketing and word of mouth. I saved up for a while to have a decent marketing budget. I think this is really important to get a book off the ground and help develop a readership.
Your Audible sales is climbing the charts. What made you decide to go audio? Do you recommend it to authors and why? Any advice for getting the best audio out there?
All I can say is hire a well-known narrator in your genre. Some genres work better for audiobooks than others. Fantasy and sci-fi I believe to be genres that accept audiobooks very well. Some of the folks at ACX (the company behind audible) have told me that by far the fantasy genre does the best with audio. I’m not sure why that is.
In my case, hiring Michael Kramer was a huge boon. He has a following because he is THE voice in fantasy in my opinion. There are great narrators everywhere, and we all have our favorites. I was blessed that Mr. Kramer chose to take on the job even though I was a self-published, unknown author. He expressed excitement for the project and the book. That meant a lot to me. John McElroy, a 4 time Grammy-winner, produced the project and did a phenomenal job.
This part of the publishing process was a large investment. Was it worth it? Yes. The royalties that ACX/Audible pays are good and the audiobook is outselling the kindle and paperback 3:1. Maybe someday I’ll be able to write books as more than just a hobby!
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Thank you Jacob! Coming up next time, in Part Two: Jacob Cooper talks about his writing and revision process, and also divulges some interesting tidbits about him that very few people (if any) know about!
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