B. Jay Gladwell is an active member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Having served in several leadership positions in the Church on the local level, he currently serves as the Gospel Doctrine teacher in his ward. He received and MFA from the University of Miami in screen writing and has taught various writing and cinema classes on the university level in South Florida.

He and his wife have four grown children and live in Miami, Florida.

You can visit his website at www.whatswrongwithmormons.com or his blog at www.whats-wrong-with-mormons.blogspot.com.

Welcome to Beyond the Books, B. Jay! Can we start out by telling us whether you are published for the first time or are you multi-published?

This is my first time.

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

What’s Wrong With Mormons?

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?

Actually, I didn’t go through any rejections. This first book is self-published.

How did the rejections make you feel and what did you do to overcome the blows?

As I said, with this first book being self-published, there were no rejection slips that I had to endure. That doesn’t mean I’ve not experienced the rejection process on previous projects. My writing background is actually in screenwriting. Consequently, there have been many, many scripts that have been sent out and many, many rejections slips received as a result.

The only way I know to deal with rejection is to face up to the fact going into it that you know it’s going to happen. That’s part of the process. Sure, they sting, but that’s the way it works. The surprise should not be getting rejection slips. The surprise should be getting the acceptance letter stating they’re interested in your book!

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

The first publisher I chose turned out to be a real nightmare (they shall remain nameless). You can do all the research online that is humanly possible, but until you actually get involved with the company you have no way of knowing how the people really work. As a consequence of sloppy work and poor communication on their part, I was forced to pull the book from the first publisher and go with another company–over three months work down the drain! The company I wound up going with was Cold Tree Press.

I chose Cold Tree Press on account of their philosophy. They were everything the first publisher wasn’t. They’re very author oriented and project centered. They don’t accept everything that comes through the door (I wasn’t sure they would accept my manuscript). As of June 1st, they’ve moved from self-publishing to traditional publishing, which is an excellent move for them, but for authors like me, it was quite unfortunate.

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

I know this may sound like kind of corny, but holding your first book, once it’s published, is not unlike holding your first child. Being a man, I’ve never experienced childbirth, but when it comes to bringing a book into the world I guarantee there are labor pains involved. The only thing that tops that is your first sale. To think that someone was actually willing to part with a portion of their hard-earned cash to buy your book and read it, that’s truly humbling!

There was no celebration per se. Just getting through the process itself and having a book to show for it was celebration enough.

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

The first thing I did was to secure a domain name in the form of the book’s title. Then I built a website for the book, www.whatswrongwithmormons.com, a home for it, so to speak. Next was buying a web hosting service for the site. That cost about 95 a year. So all total, my initial investment in the most basic form of promotion was less than 125.

Next I went online to find a list of the 100 largest cities in the United States. Using that list, I went to Craigslist and started posting a small blurb about the book with a web link in the books section of each city. It generates modest traffic to the site, considering the time and expense involved.

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

No, I don’t think so. According to recent statistics, the big publishing houses are publishing fewer and fewer books from year to year. The ones they do publish are by tried and proven authors–authors that have made money for the publishing company. So self-publishing offers the rest of us, what I believe to be, a reasonable alternative.

The main thing I like about self-publishing is the total control I have over my book. If the book fails, I have no one to blame but myself. Obviously, the reverse is true, too.

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?

I don’t know that there is, anything I could have done to speed up the process (outside of having gone to Cold Tree Press to begin with). Being the impatient person I am, I’ve learned that hurrying certain processes is not always advantageous to the final result. Indeed, “patience is a virtue.” Unfortunately, it’s not one of the virtues I’ve been able to successfully cultivate so far.

Ironically, most of the mistakes I’ve made throughout this process have come about as a consequence of my own impatience. So in an effort to avoid those kinds of mistakes, I wake up every morning with the determination to be more patient. Unfortunately, by the time the day’s half spent, so is my patience.

What has been the biggest accomplishment you have achieved since becoming published?

At this early stage of the game for my first book that “biggest accomplishment” has yet to be achieved. So that’s something I’m looking forward to.

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

I’ve been very fortunate in that I’ve been able to pursue professions I have found to be interesting. My undergraduate work was in commercial art, so I’ve been a graphic designer, a commercial photographer, a Web site designer, a videographer, a screenwriter, a college professor, and I’ve even dabbled in sales (finding that to be most disagreeable). Now here I am trying to sell a book. Go figure.

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

So far I’ve been able to combine the best of all those worlds. Now that doesn’t mean I’ve always been successful, if you measure success by the size of one’s bank account. The only way I’ve been able to do what I’m doing is on account of the support I get from my wife Churé (pronounced Shu-ray). My Mom told her, “Any other woman would have dumped him a long time ago.” Thanks for your loyalty, Mom!

How do you see yourself in ten years?

Wow, I’m not one of those long-distance planner types. I try to take each day as it comes (“try” being the operative word). I don’t mean to imply that I don’t have goals; sure I do, like getting this book promoted for instance. After all, ten years is a long time. Only Heaven knows where and what I’ll be ten years from now.

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

The old saying “honesty is the best policy” is spot on. I believe that’s especially true with artists, whatever the art form, and perhaps more so with writers. As a writer, you have to be honest with yourself. If you truly believe in what you’ve written, put your money where your mouth is, or in our case where your fingers are. If your book has the potential you believe it does then publish it yourself. Throughout the process, while your head’s in the clouds, just make sure your feet are firmly planted on the ground. Try to keep those unrealistic expectations tempered as best you can. That will minimize the potential disappointments.