The Inmate Interviews 1 - Matthew Stott

So this part of the blog is where I invite other people to join me in the my comfy padded cell in the "Evadne Hashagen Asylum For The Perpetually Bewildered". The intention is to have short interviews with new or less well known authors, artists and genre fans - to help (in a very small way) to promote and spread the work about their work and generally have a good chat. I've never done this kind of thing before so time will tell if I am a good interviewer or not.

My first guest is someone who I have exchanged tweets with a lot over the last year about our shared love for Doctor Who. I have also followed his interesting and often funny journey to becoming an independent published author. When his first book was recently released it seemed the ideal time to chat to him and find out a bit more. It's:

Matthew Stott 

Hello Matthew and thank you so much for joining me here in the Rubber Room. Can you tell me a little about yourself and your background and what led you into writing in the first place?
 
Hello! I’m Matthew, I’m a writer. I’ve always been a writer, apart from those six months aged six when I decided I’d quite like to be a private detective. I don’t remember a time I didn’t write stories, so I’ve no idea where it came from, other than by saying something that would make you cringe and bite your fist. Something like: ‘I was touched by the writing muse from the moment I was born.’ YUCK. I currently split my time between writing funny scripts, and spooky novels. Oh, and arguing about Doctor Who on the internet.


You have done a fair amount of writing for TV and radio comedy. What prompted the desire to move into novels? Do you see this becoming your primary medium?

Up until a couple of years ago, I’d written very little prose since I was a teenager, concentrating almost exclusively on scripts. Then I started writing daft little prose comedy bits to entertain myself, and realised I didn’t want to only write scripts anymore. You can do stuff with prose you just can’t with scripts. Plus, people actually read your prose, the only people who read scripts are producers, directors, actors. You’re creating a blueprint that a bunch of other people then add their own bits, ideas and pictures to. With prose, it’s ALL MINE. I like that.

I hope to continue to split between my two writing worlds. It’s good to continue being daft in my script writing life.


Your first novel 'A Monstrous Place: A Tale From Between' has just been published to very good reviews, and I enjoyed it hugely myself. Can you briefly outline the plot for the readers and the overall tone you were going for?

Between is a strange, fantasy land that exists in the moment between being awake and falling asleep. There’s lots of things in the Between that would like to do nasty things, like stealing children to plant in a monstrous garden so they can feast on their souls. A plucky, no-nonsense girl called Molly realises that danger lives very close to home, and must travel Between to stop any more children going missing.

I wanted it to feel a bit spooky, with nice moments of horror, but for it, overall, to be a bit of an adventure. Fun. Each of the three Tales From Between so far have a slightly different feel. I think the next one leans more into the horror. The third one, more of a dark fairy tale.

The book contains a couple of sections that border on horror (without being at all gory). How important are moments like this and is it difficult to know where to 'draw the line'?

I love a good scare. A moment of creep. An image or idea that will play on a readers mind. With a book for younger readers, you do have to walk a fine line, of course. But then kids love a scare. We worry too much about children’s delicate brain-stuff; I say they can take it. In fact, they demand it.  As long as it’s not going to permanently traumatise them, I’m fine with it! There was a moment in Monstrous where a creature gets a knife to the eye, and that did make me stop and consider for a moment. But then I thought ‘Nyeh, it’s a big spider scorpion looking swine, it deserves a point in the eye’. Also, 'The Graveyard Book' (by Neil Gaiman) opens with a man having stabbed a bunch of people to death, and intending to do the same to a baby! I figure, if Gaiman can get away with it, then so can I.


Your initial releases are in the fantasy genre aimed (I think) at 10-12 year old's. What attracted you to this genre / age group?

You’re right; the 'Tales From Between' series is aimed, primarily, at a younger age group. I very much enjoyed ‘Coraline’, and ‘The Graveyard Book’, so thought I’d try and hit up a similar demographic with this series. Stories aimed at a younger audience that more mature people would enjoy reading, too. Mine aren’t half as good of course, but then Neil Gaiman is a genius made entirely of story. Which is a bit unfair, really. It often seems like you can be a bit more imaginative and wild with where you want to go with prose for younger readers, too.

You are giving the eBook version of 'A Monstrous Place' away for free. What prompted this decision and are people still buying the physical book?

First of all, I hate money. Can’t stand it. Offer me some and I’ll sprint off and over the horizon like a tiny, bearded bolt of lightning. Hatred of money aside, I’m giving it away so people will read it. I want to build an audience, and the best way to do that is to get as many eyes on your story as possible. Turn the curious into fans by offering them something they don’t have to pay for.

Some people still don’t much like eBooks, or just prefer a paperback sometimes (especially when the cover is bloomin’ lovely) so I’ve still shifted a few of those.

Do you think paper books still have a place in this increasingly digital world?

I hope so. I buy mainly eBooks myself now, but love physical books, too. Can’t beat a nice shelf full of ‘em. Perching a Kindle on the shelf isn’t quite the same, really. There’s always going to be a bunch of people who prefer the physical books, just like there’s a ton of people who still buy vinyl records.

You have already announced two follow ups in the 'Between' series. How important do you think it is for new authors to start strong 'out of the gate' with a body of work and keep building on that momentum? 

Certainly in the indie world, I think it’s vital. You need to build up a decent back catalogue quickly. Indie writers don’t have a publisher backing them with a big ad campaign for each new release, which means someone who buys one of your books might forget all about you and miss your new work. Have a few things out there for them to sample, and you’re much more likely to hold on to them in the future, to build an audience. It’s also why you need to build a mailing list, so you can tell the people who are interested in your work each time you have something new they might want to check out.

Having more than one thing available, and quickly, also means you’re less precious about individual titles, so are much more flexible in terms of the kind of promotions you can do, or are willing to do (such as giving the thing away to gain attention).

You've chose a self-publishing route for your novels. What would you say are the main advantages and disadvantages of this method?

The main advantage is that no one can say no to you. In my script writing life, around 257,000 (approx.) people have to say ‘yes’ to something for it to get made. Which means more often than not, someone somewhere at some point will say no, and the things dead. Another script sat gathering digital dust on your laptop. That was basically why I decided to try the indie route with my prose. I had meant to do the traditional thing and send out my letters to publishers, but when it came to it, I just couldn’t make myself do it. I didn’t want to go down the same frustrating route I was with my script work. Then I found out about people like Hugh Howey, and the guys over at Sterling & Stone, and decided to give the indie world a whirl.

It’s exciting, it’s punk rock publishing. You’re not waiting for a pat on the head, not waiting for someone to allow you to show people your work; you’re just getting out there and doing it. You can publish what you want, when you want.

The disadvantages are many. Such as having to do everything yourself! Unless you’re willing and able to pay for help. You have to market yourself and your work, you have to liase with cover designers and pro-edit people (and pay them out of your own pocket for their services, of course!) and obviously you don’t have a publishing house pushing your work in front of people. It’s also very, very difficult to get your work into physical shops, if that’s something you would like to see.

But the exciting nature of it outweighs all that. I’m not taking the traditional route off the table, I may well try and get a book trad-published at some point, but I don’t see myself turning away entirely from being a bad-ass indie.

You have also used social media such as Twitter and Facebook to help raise awareness / promote your books and you have a fairly irreverent and amusing relationship with your followers. What are your thoughts on this approach and how successful do you think social media is as a marketing tool?

Facebook is useful, in so much as that you can run very targeted adverts to the sort of people who might like what you’re pimping. But as for generally shouting about your work on a place like Twitter, it has its upsides and down. I’ve definitely found some readers, made some sales, because I have quite a lot of followers across a couple of accounts and some will give me a shot, but I imagine it’s also extremely annoying to many. Yet another tweet from me about a bloody book. So I worry about that, a bit.

Moving forward, I think Twitter, and my author page on Facebook, will be places for me to mix with the people who have followed me because they’re fans. It’ll be less about selling, and more about hanging out with people who already like and want my work. Then you’re tending to your people, building that relationship for the long term, rather than shouting into a void, hoping to attract a person or two.

Tell me about the excellent covers for your books and how they came about. Do you think that the cover still plays an important part in the buying process?

Thanks! I think they’re rather lovely. I simply approached pro-designers on a site called 99 Designs. Ran a competition to find the right cover for 'Monstrous', was inundated with a ton of covers, and fell in love with the early version of the cover that now adorns 'A Monstrous Place'. The designer is a real find, and he’s done a further three covers for me now, and I’ll go back to him again in future. I mean, that 'Monstrous' cover is not one of those dodgy covers you can see on indie works washing around Amazon, it’s genuinely fantastic. I was very lucky.


Standard question I know, but which writers would you like to be compared to ?

Stephen King, Neil Gaiman, Steven Moffat. Scares, wonder, laughs, imagination, a strong flavour, a stable of fans who love their work.

Is there anything else you would like to share about your upcoming work? Are there any teasers you can give about unannounced projects?

Well I have two more 'Tales From Between' books hurtling towards your eyes between now and February 2016 (and more after that if people want them), and I’m about to release a very creepy tale, ‘Sixty-Six’, in time for Halloween. That’s aimed at adults, for sure.

As for unannounced... I have, at some point next year, the most ambitious book I’ve written so far being released. It features numerous characters facing an end-of-the-freaking-world sort of a situation. It’s a touch 'Invasion of the Body Snatchers', a bit 'Walking Dead', a bit Stephen King, a bit 'Triffids', hopefully a bit good. It also might be one where I fall flat on my face. So look out for that.

And after THAT.... well, I want my own 'Doctor Who'. My own 'Hellboy'. My own 'Rivers of London'. I think I’ve found it...

Finally as some may know you as an avid 'Doctor Who' fan and this blog has a lot of 'Doctor Who' content, I have to ask - what is your favourite story and why? (You can have one each from both the Classic and New series).

Classic: Oh GOD. I could go for 'City of Death', 'The Mind Robber', 'The Caves of Androzani', 'Ghost Light', 'Remembrance'.... but today I’ll plump for ‘Survival’, the last story in the classic run. It’s great, modern feeling, with a Master who is actually scary. Seven & Ace, the best.

New: Again, I could say 'The Eleventh Hour', or 'Human Nature', or 'Time of Angels'; but right now I’m going to go for ‘Listen’. IT’S AMAZING. For me, no one can write Who as well as Moffat at his best, and ‘Listen’ is Moffat at his best, plus an extra 10%.

Matthew Stott - thank you very much !

Huge thanks to Matt for being my first victim / guest and for giving such lovely answers to my questions.

Matthew's website is 'The Strange Stories Of Matthew Stott' and can be found at www.mrmatthewstott.com

There is a link at the top left of the home page to sign-up to the newsletter and get your free eBook copy of 'A Monstrous Place'. It really is an excellent first novel from a new author and well worth your time. Plus it's free. Who doesn't like free stuff? A full review will be on the blog very shortly and I am looking forward to seeing how the series develops.

If you prefer your books in physical form then you can grab a copy from Amazon here. It's a bargain at £4.99 and you get to see that wonderful cover in all it's glory plus help support an independent author. Go on, you know you want to.

If you want to follow Matthew on Facebook, you can find him at www.facebook.com/matthewstottauthor

Alternatively if you prefer Twitter you can tweet him at @MattStottWrites 

Matthew's alternate superhero identity as a Doctor Who fan is @DoctorWhoThing 

That persona also has it's own blog at www.doctorwhothing.wordpress.com/

Finally, Matthew's publishing imprint is called 'Fenric Books' and is at www.fenricbooks.wordpress.com and on Twitter at @FenricBooks if you want to cover all the bases.