Happy Publication Day to Eoghan Egan and THE OTHER SIDE OF FEAR. I purchased my copy direct from Red Dog Press and can’t wait to get stuck in. I’m always curious about an author’s journey to publication, so I invited Eoghan to my blog to share his story with us. First though, a little about the man himself and his latest offering to the crime fiction community!
About The Author
A native of Co. Roscommon, Ireland, Eoghan wrote his first story aged nine. At college, he studied Computer Programming, works in Sales Management & Marketing, but his passion for reading and writing remain.
Eoghan’s stories were shortlisted for the 2018 Bridport Short Story Prize, and Listowel’s 2019 Bryan McMahon Short Story Award Competition. Others have been published in various anthologies. He has also completed two crime fiction novels in a planned trilogy set in the Irish Midlands, and has started work on the third.
A graduate of Maynooth University’s Creative Writing Curriculum and Curtis Brown’s Edit & Pitch Your Novel Course, Eoghan divides his time between Roscommon and Dublin.
Eoghan constantly explores ways to increase his knowledge in the art of writing. He enjoys attending literary festivals and is excited about the prospect of getting back to face-to-face discussions with readers and writers. He’s also a heavy metal fan, and, post Covid, can’t wait to headbang at a rock gig.
Sharona Waters is determined to dig into loan shark Dessie Dolan’s business and see him brought to justice. But when a young woman she’s only briefly met goes missing, a much darker story emerges.
Pulled into the ruthless world of people trafficking – a world built on violent brutality and sudden death – Sharona finds herself caught between crime and conscience, pursued by powerful and ruthless criminals, and just one bad decision away from having her whole world crash down.
Sometimes, the only way forward is to risk everything, no matter the cost.
My journey through Self-Publishing & Traditional Publishing
Getting any novel published is difficult and mainstream publishers are a superb addition for any writer to have in their corner. There’s strength in numbers and they execute a lot of the heavy lifting with regards a sales force, marketing muscle and distribution channels before, during and immediately after a book launch. But it’s a myth that they do everything for their stables of authors. Writers still have to promote themselves – now more than ever – and when the euphoria dies down, they must keep the momentum going by becoming their own agent and marketeer, while simultaneously growing their writer platform… and deliver the next book on time.
On the other hand, there’s a certain freedom in self-publishing. It gives independent writers creative control, but it requires several skill sets they have to juggle. The options are:
A) Do everything yourself.
B) Continue writing, and project manage the operation by delegating social media, book cover designer, copy editor, formatter, narrator, advertising, publicity and promotion.
C) A mixture of A & B. It’s an exceptional person who has a flair for every phase of the procedure, so C is the preference for most indie authors. Each writer has to do the best they can with their own set of skills, and then buy in the services of professionals to cover the rest. Today, freelancers can deliver any piece of the process a writer isn’t comfortable doing.
I self-published Hiding in Plain Sight, the first novel in a planned trilogy, back in January 2020, and intended to have the second instalment out a year later. By January ’21, we were in full pandemic mode, and the landscape had changed. Live book lunches were out. Ditto meeting readers to chat about books. Bookshops close shutters. Book festivals are cancelled, and then go virtual. Great. Here’s an opportunity to moderate panels. Nope. Suddenly, bestselling authors are available from their living rooms, so zerochance of an unknown indie author getting on a discussion panel or writers’ forum.
With the second novel manuscript finished, I caught up on my reading, started writing short stories, decided to wait Covid out and self-publish my second book whenever the crisis passed. One of the books I read was a fabulous novel titled Sins of the Father by Scottish crime writer SharonBairden,and published by Red Dog Press.With nothing to lose, I submitted my opening chapters to this publisher in March ’21. Within a few weeks, Sean and his team read my work and requested the full manuscript. Up to this point, I was happy to self-publish, part of me wanted to exert freedom of choice and published on my own timeline, but this invite to let Red Dog Press read my novel, turned my worldupside down. Of course I wanted a publisher in my corner. Since 2012, I’d worked my butt off, spending countless hours writing this trilogy, attending writing festivals and completing writing courses. This trilogy deserved the best chance of success. A publisher could open doors I’d never get near. And thenthe wait and inner turmoil began. Do I really want to go through all that self-publishing drama again? Book covers. Formatting. Trim sizes and bleed lines. Digital rights management. Copyright registration. ISBN numbers. Ebookformatting… What if Red Dog Press decides to pass? What if I don’t hear back from them? What if… Oh, and the internet is now flooded with virtual book events.
In fairness, I didn’t have long to wait. The email popped into my laptop on Easter Monday night, with good news. Red Dog liked my work and wanted to publish it. (It made them cry, they wrote. I took that as a compliment). They also liked the idea of a trilogy and asked to relaunch the first in the series. Obviously, this wouldn’t happen overnight. Red Dog Press publishes several books per month, so like planes on a runway, you get a slot and wait your turn.
Towards the end of ’21, the edits were sent back to me and once they were done the publishing machine rolled out, with an official publication date for The Other Side of Fear set for Tuesday, March 29th 2022.
Thankfully, Covid restrictions have finally eased, and I’m in the lucky position that a local, live book launch date has been organised for the Saturday, March 26th. Can’t wait to get back chatting to people about their reading habits and answering questions.
What Eoghan hasn’t told you is that he is a massive champion of his fellow crime writers, myself included, so I am delighted to share his story with you and urge you all to get a copy of this book! This book has been dedicated to readers and those who support the writing community. Let’s make this a bestseller! Huge thanks for the lovely acknowledgment as well, Eoghan – means the world to me!
Fascinating insight into the frustrations and successes of trying to make it as an author. Good luck with the book