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| Dawn Smith of Dark Dawn Creations |
"Right now anyone can publish but I don't think that will be true for long... "
Dawn Smith.
Ebook cover designer. Paranormal writer. Poet. Biker. Boudicca look-a-like. Tattoo buff. Crackshot, proud mother, and a woman with strong opinions about Independent Publishing. She spoke to Green Wizard about this and more on Yahoo Messenger in a fascinating interview.
Hi! Tell Wizardwatchers about Dawn Smith?
Hi! Wizardwatchers. I am married to a wonderful husband
and have three beautiful daughters. I live in the dry dusty desert of Avondale,
Arizona. I am a prodigious reader, a writer of ebooks and paperbacks, and
latterly an ebook cover designer. Agewise,
I alternate between 29 and 32 depending on who I talk to (laughs).
Haha. How long have you been writing?
I’ve been writing ever since I can hold a pen! Anything
that came to my twisted little mind went down on paper in the form of short
stories to poems. Four poems I have composed have won contests or been
published in the last twenty years.Recently, a
poem I composed reached the top twenty of the world poetry competition. I
thought your readers might like to read this.
It’s called
The River of Hate.
In
every time, there is a place,
To turn our back against the race,
Warm hearts turn cold with jaded eyes,
Spitting out their hated lies,
Cracked lips parting in the wind,
The great deceiver in the end,
Trumpets sound with blaring tones,
Under feet the worn earth groans,
Take a breath and shuddered sigh,
In the darkness tripping by,
The Gods have come to let me see,
Who is there to remember me?
No coins for me to pay my pass,
The boatman sails by me and laughs,
The river Styx flowing red,
The cold damp earth to be my bed,
Summerland a place of dreams,
It’s Tartarus for me it seems,
A taloned finger crooks to me,
At Hades’ feet I live to bleed.
That’s beautiful, Dawn. Thanks for that.
You're welcome. I love my poetry. In the eighteenth century,
poets were the rock and rollers of the world, but that didn't last long. I wish
those days would come back!
Moving
on. How did you come to found Dark Dawn Creations?
I founded Dark Dawn Creations on the belief
that even the poorest of Independent authors should have good cover art. Through my journey as a self-published author
I found one thing to be true. While the author is usaully not well paid, the
suppliers of services like cover art and editing were robbing the author blind. I paid
a lot of money for my first e-book cover and, quite frankly, I knew I could do
better myself. So I set up DDC, which aims to offer a service affordable to all Independent
authors and I’m proud of that.
Going over to your writing. What do you write? In what
genre?
I write paranormal romance, urban fantasy and paranormal erotica. Fiction.
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| Ultra -Minted Paranormalist, Amanda Hocking |
What’s that? Sound’s
interesting?
Paranormal erotica takes the love for the monsters that lurk in
our heads to a whole new level, Literally. Think Twilight, but dirty… really
dirty (laughs).
Is it a popular genre?
It has proved to be a popular genre, much more popular than I
thought when I started writing. The sudden interest in all things paranormal thanks
to Stephanie Meyer and Amanda Hocking have stimulated the fascination.
Are you a novelist? A
short story writer? What have you written?
I am a novelist. I have written The Children of fury series and
the Bear Canyon Shifters series.
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| Children of Fury Trilogy |
I understand one of
your books did really well?
Yes. Hailey's Coyote the first book in the Bear Canyon Shifters
series spent three months in the top fifty of it's genre and there's a sequel
planned. There is a compilation with a friend of mine Kandy Reed
So with a track record
like this, how did you come to set up a business designing e-book covers?
I've always had a love for art, that being said as a self-publisher
my Minor in art and design came in handy. I started out designing my own
covers and moved on to helping out fellow author friends eventually I took the
bull by the horns and decided to turn cover art into a full time job
You work full time?
I do. More than full time actually
All this and three kids too?
Haha. It is a challenge, but one I get ahead of each day with a
smile on my face. (laughs). I have a tight routine. Right now it consists of
waking up at 9 am, and heading straight to the computer and checking my email. I'm doing website stuff and answering
emails until about noon. I take a few hours break and get hubby off to work and
then I'm back on and begin designing until about two am
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| Tibetan Bowl Stress Reduction |
2am?
Yes that's right I've always been a night owl. This job helps facilitate
my nocturnal tendencies
Do you work better at
night or in the day?
At night definitely. With a five-year old and a two year old
running around. It's hard to get any serious work done during the day and of
course, you do all the housework and help with schoolwork too.
It must be quite a
pressured life. How do you relax?
It can be very stressful life, particularly when things go
wrong.
But I relax with Tibetan Singing Bowls on my Ipod, a cleansing Rosemary
bath and lavender candles. Heaven!
I hear you're a bit of
a metalhead too, is that right
I am, yes. Grew up on Ozzy and
Pantera. I remember the first
time I told my mom at fourteen that I was going to see KORN and Garbage in concert. She looked at me like I was nuts. My husband is a serious biker and I
like nothing more than he and I getting the motor running and getting out on
the open road! Easy Riders! I like everything fast, heavy and loud.
Earlier this year, I
fell into bad company and they started persuading me to listen to other forms
of music such as Dubstep and Skrillex and Neo and stuff, but I got bored of
that pretty pronto and kept the faith!! Now, where’s that Mosh Pit!
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| Pantera 1988 |
Haha. I listen to
nothing else. You’re in good company. Nice one, Dawn. What was the last band
you saw?
The last band I saw was KORN on the path of totality tour. Fear
Factory is next on the 3rd of August It's going to be great
(Wizardwatchers can get a feel of the type of gigs Dawn attends here).
I am officially
envious! Okay, three books, two CD's one DVD for your desert island, please.
Okay, for my books I'd take:
The Stand by Stephen King
Acheron By Sherrilynn Kenyon
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
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| Acheron by Sherrilyn Kenyon |
For my CD's, I'd take:
Ozzy Ozbourne: No More tears
The Seven Tibetan SInging Bowls
Movie? My, this is a hard one. It has to be Underworld.
That's one movie I can watch over and over again and not get
tired of it
The one with Kevin Costner?
No, silly. That’s Waterworld!
Oh, sorry.
Underworld. The one with Kate Beckensale and Micheal Speedman
Not seen that one!! I've seen the one with Kevin Costner in it. Nice selection, Dawn. I’ve noticed that you’re
seen as something of a guru in the independent publishing arena. What do you see happening in the next two
years in the ebook marketplace?
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| Ropey self published e-book that got through the net |
Well I'm not so sure I'm a guru (laughs) but I do see the trend.
Ebook and Independent Publishing is still in their infancy. There are changes coming, which will make the industry both more self publisher
friendly as well as more discriminatory against those that choose not to have
their work polished.
Right now anyone can publish, but I don't think that will be true for long.
Right now anyone can publish, but I don't think that will be true for long.
That’s going to be seen as a controversial statement? The whole subject is like the elephant in the room. It’s a big elephant, a real awesome African elephant that no one ever sees. There is far too much money at stake for the ones who are allowing self-publishing, and ebook and e-reader sales continue to rise. Eventually, there will be gatekeepers just like the big six and poor, unedited, rushed, subpar work will no longer be accepted
Who will be the gatekeepers?
Amazon, Smashwords, Barnes and Noble and other
companies They can already run checks on your formatting and for plagiarism. It
won't be long as the industry grows that they will begin running checks for
typing errors, grammar and the like
Traditional. publishers already decide what they want to publish and who can publish. Do you think that will happen in the Indie sector?
I believe it will to an extent.
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| New Amazon Evil Editors |
Oh MY!
Hang on. I don't think they will turn you away just because they don't
like your story, but you will have to find an editor. Definitely. While it costs them virtually nothing to have your
book on the digital sales. Unhappy
customers with sub par books will eventually make them began to do so. Amazon does not like unhappy customers
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| Upcoming Dawn Smith Novel |
I see. So, if you were
a first time author starting out today, would you self publish? Or go
traditional?
I would so self publish I'm
too much of a control freak to go through a traditional publisher
Okay, and finally what have the Dawn Smith massive got to look
forward to in the coming months?
Well first to come out will be the second book in the Bear
Conyon Shifters series, Serina's Promise.
Dark Fury the third Book in the
Children Of Fury series should be out by January of next year.
...and what about DD creations? your e-book cover work?
Dark Dawn Creations is growing rapidly. I've helped over twenty
authors already with more coming in every day. Dark Dawn Creations is here to
stay and eventaully become a staple in the self publishing Community. (I Hope)
Dawn, I know that Wizardwatchers wish you all the best and I hope DDC and your writing business rocks and rolls in the coming year!!
Thank you, Wiz. It's been a blast!
Contact Dawn at:
e-mail: dawnsmithbooks389@gmail.com
Business e-mail: dawnsmith@darkdawncreations.com
Blog: (Full of useful information and about to be revamped.)
Great interview
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