William Hay graduated from Carleton University in 1988 with a Degree in Law and Criminology. He moved to Kingston Ontario where he has pursued a career in Law Enforcement. Through his career William has been an active amateur writer. His short story ‘A Woman Scorned’ won Best Short Story at Kingston’s Scene of the Crime Festival in 2007 and was published in ‘Kingston Life Magazine’. ‘The Originals’ is Williams’ first novel.

You can visit his website at http://www.williamhay.net/.

Welcome to Beyond the Books, Bill. Can you tell us whether you are published for the first time or multi-published? Can you give us the title(s) of your book(s)?

‘The Originals’ is my first published novel. This whole experience is a new, but exciting one for me.

What was the name of your very first book regardless of whether it was published or not and, if not published, why?

As it happens the title of my first book has changed a number of times, but at present it’s called ‘The Cause of Honour’. It’s another historical fiction about Canadians in the First World War, on a similar premise and design as ‘The Originals’, but on a much larger scale.

I started ‘The Cause of Honour’ in 2002, using our family computer, scrap of paper or my work computer (during lunch hour and breaks of course!), and found it to be a frustrating experience. Vicki, my wife, detecting how disgruntled I was over this and how much I indeed wished to put my creative juices into writing, purchased a laptop for my Christmas present in 2004.

After completing the first draft of ‘The Cause of Honour’, I elected to write a shorter story, sort of a snippet of a subject I found interesting during my research about Canadians in the First World War. Hence, ‘The Originals’ was born.

For your first published book, how many rejections did you go through before you either found a mainstream publisher, self-published it, or paid a vanity press to publish it?

Before going down that long path where rejection letters await, I did research of writers like myself, just starting out. But I went beyond experiences writers offered and searched the internet for any insight agents and publishing companies themselves could offer, because many writers have a dismal look on their prospects. It was depressing to read through some of the steps I apparently needed to take and the disappointments waiting for me. One writer’s strategy was to prepare a whole smattering of submissions, and then fire them off to as many publishing companies as he could. He had a magic number of ‘50’ rejections before being accepted. Ouch!

I followed one simply strategy: I researched publishers who publish the material I’ve written. This led me to a company which specializes in historical fiction. As bizarre as it might seem, my first submission was accepted. My ego gets carried away as I’d like to think it was because of how well-written it was, but I expect the specialization of this particular company played a significant part in getting my novel published.

When your first book was published, who published it and why did you choose them?

Chronicler Publishing is a Canadian-based company in Evansburg, Alberta. Charles Goulet, the company’s founder and owner, is the Editor-in-Chief and an author himself. He and his team read through the initial three chapters of the novel and the chapter-by-chapter synopsis I included, for several weeks, then decided to take on ‘The Originals’.

As I mentioned earlier, my research led me to the conclusion, it’s more beneficial to find a publisher who has shown interest in your topic previously. Having looked at what this company specializes in as well as having a quick look at the other novels they’ve published, led me to Chronicler.

How did it make you feel to become published for the first time and how did you celebrate?

Seeing the novel I’d toiled over for so many months in print, gave me a feeling of great accomplishment. It was a goal of mine for many years, going back to University, to become a writer of fiction. Holding a book authored by my own hands was a riveting moment. I’ve had few others that can match it.

How did I celebrate this momentous event in my life? As I recall, I rented a movie, bought a pizza and spent a quiet evening with my family; my new novel sitting at my work station like a trophy from a successful hockey tournament. That was celebration enough for me. Since then, each day I spend at my lap top writing, my novel is never far away and supplies all the encouragement and motivation I need to keep creating.

What was the first thing you did as far as promotion when you were published for the first time?

One word: Website. Once it was confirmed ‘The Originals’ was edited and in print, the pressure was on and anyone who had my ear, including my publisher, told me to start a website. I’m computer savvy and know my way around a key board and any Micro soft programming, but the internet? That’s another animal entirely. I found a web company; got to work and www.williamhay.net  became a reality.

Since working with my website I’ve used ‘Face book’ and ‘Google-ads’ to push the site and it seems to be working, although I’m always hoping for more activity. During a search for more ideas of promoting my novel, I came across Virtual Tours. A very enticing manner of promoting your novel during the internet age and for those of us who are unable to tour bookstores, this is a great alternative.

If you had to do it over again, would you have chosen another route to be published?

I enjoy writing, but I’m not much for marketing. As much as I know how important it is if a writer wants to get their work out into the public, it is the least-enjoyable aspect of the whole experience. I can’t speak for anyone else, but I’d rather write than sell.

With that in mind, I’ve given some thought that I should have gone the route of attempting to obtain an agent before I sent my submission out directly to a publisher. That way this all important, marketing scheme would have been handled by someone who already had connections and/or expertise in the process of getting my novel sold. Unlike the United States, Canada does not have many literary agents and obtaining one is very difficult. It seems most authors have chosen to go without the help of an agent north of the border.

Have you been published since then and how have you grown as an author?

I presently have several projects on the go; one has been submitted for possible publication. The experience of having ‘The Originals’ published and going through the polishing and editing process, has taught me how to prepare my novel for submission. I know my writing is better and much cleaner because of what I learned in having ‘The Originals’ published.

Looking back since the early days when you were trying to get published, what do you think you could have done differently to speed things up? What kind of mistakes could you have avoided?

The number one thing I lacked early on was persistence. I still have several projects which I failed to complete. If I had persisted and finished these early projects, and had confidence in my abilities; I might have published a novel years ago.

If you could have chosen another profession, what would that profession be?

Since being in high school I wanted to write, in fact, during my fathers move from our family home some years back, I came across several short stories I’d written. If I could do it all over again, I’d have become a journalist or continued further education in my favourite subject area: history.

Would you give up being an author for that profession or have you combined the best of both worlds?

What a great question! By publishing ‘The Originals’ and writing these stories, I have, in fact, combined the best of both worlds. I spend most of my spare time studying history, in particular military history. As I learn about real people and their achievements and/or failures, I often recognize the makings of a good story. Writing historical fiction has given me an outlet for all the knowledge I’ve retained over the years and I’m constantly coming up with ideas for new projects.

How do you see yourself in ten years?

I have several projects on the go as we speak and my goal is to deliver a novel for public purchase every one to two years. My hope is to be able to retire in ten years, and using the foundation I hope to lay with the string of novels I have in the works, my plan is to write full time. Being able to do what you love full time is everyone’s dream isn’t it? I love to write and am striving to get myself to that point. My mind is constantly running through plots and story lines I haven’t started writing yet; makes it hard to work at times! It will be a relief to be able to sit in my home office and let my imagination run wild!

Any final words for writers who dream of being published one day?

Stay at it. At times that means being tough on yourself. Most of us can write, certainly, but the work necessary to complete an entire novel goes well beyond just the ability of putting a sentence and a paragraph together.
Remain focused on your goal and dedicated to your purpose. Getting that first novel completed will be one of the most satisfying moments you’ll ever have.

Good luck and I look forward to seeing you in print!

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THE ORIGINALS VIRTUAL BOOK TOUR ‘08 will officially begin on March 1, 2008 and continue all month. If you would like to follow William’s tour, visit http://www.virtualbooktours.wordpress.com/  in March. Leave a comment on his blog stops and become eligible to win a free copy at the end of his tour! One lucky winner will be announced on this blog on March 31!

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William’s virtual book tour is brought to you by Pump Up Your Book Promotion Virtual Book Tours at http://www.pumpupyourbookpromotion.com/  and choreographed by Jean Lauzier.