Doug Hewitt was born and raised near Detroit, Michigan and now lives in North Carolina. Along the way, he did a four-year stint in the Marine Corps and earned a Bachelor of Science degree in mathematics. He has been writing short stories for over 20 years and has been getting them published for most of that time, with over 80 stories in print. His stories have appeared in anthologies such as The Dead Inn and 100 Wicked Little Witch Stories. He has appeared in the premier issue of Apex Digest and has seen his chapbook, Slipstream, published by Scrybe Press.

He turned his attention to longer works and had his first novel SPEAR published in 2002. The Midwest Book Review calls SPEAR “a thrilling and deftly crafted novel.” After being remarried in 2004, he and his wife, Robin, founded HewittsBooks.com. In addition to authoring a non-fiction parenting book, The Practical Guide To Weekend Parenting, Doug and Robin teamed up to write The Joyous Gift of Grandparenting.

Doug returned to his original passion, writing fiction, and wrote The Dead Guy, which St. Martins author Lynn Chandler-Willis calls a “high-octane, pedal-to-the-metal ride through the criminal underbelly of the automotive world.” You can visit Doug Hewitt and read a free PDF chapter of The Dead Guy at www.HewittsBooks.com.

Welcome to Beyond the Books, Doug. 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 Dead Guy is my first mystery novel, but I’ve been getting published for nearly 20 years. I have over 100 short stories published, and my first novel was published a few years back. I also have a couple of non-fiction books out about parenting, The Practical Guide to Weekend Parenting and The Joyous Gift of Grandparenting.

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

My first novel was a suspense thriller titled SPEAR. It went out of print, but there’s an electronic version available at www.fictionwise.com. Actually, SPEAR was the fourth novel I wrote. The first three are dutifully shelved. Actually the first one was dreadful, but the second and third ones are good. The problem is, they’re horror novels, and the horror market has dried up.

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?

SPEAR was published by a small press publisher. They have me an advance on sales, so I think that’s better than most small presses. As for rejections, I’d have to go back and count. I tried to get an agent first, before submitting directly to publishers. I’d say the rejections numbered in the hundreds if you include agents. The Dead Guy was published by Aberdeen Bay, another small press. Although they didn’t give me an advance, I didn’t have to pay anything. And I think they did a wonderful job with the cover art.

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

Rejections still sting. I’ve come to understand, though, that if you have a good novel, the main reason for rejection is usually that the manuscript doesn’t fit in with a publisher’s imprint. That is, I’ve gotten many rejections that stated the editor thought my novel was great, but that they couldn’t publish it because it wasn’t quite right for them. To overcome the blows, I submitted the manuscript again as quickly as possible.

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

My first book was published by Sands Publishing. I’d gone to all of the big publishers first, and I was working my way down the publishing pecking order. I only chose publishers that didn’t require the author to pay any money. I believe I should get paid for writing, and I like to think my novels are worth the purchase price!

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

I danced the Dance of Joy! I went out for dinner with my wife, and we bought a bottle of champagne. We did this for The Dead Guy, too.

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

The very first thing I did was to get a website up and running. I’d suggest any new authors to have a good website. This is your way to reach your audience, and there’s no go-between. It’s a direct connection.

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

Well, I tried all of the others, and I tried all of the agents I could find, so I suppose I didn’t have much choice. I have considered self-publishing, and that might be an option down the road if I write something I really believe in but can’t find a publisher. No, it’s been a great ride as an author, and I wouldn’t have changed anything.

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

Sure, The Dead Guy just came out. It’s a wonderful murder mystery about Jack Thigpen. Jack works in Detroit, nicknamed The Motor City, the perfect place for a fraud investigator who specializes in car insurance scams. He is on a case he believes is a typical, low-level crime, but it quickly turns into a situation with ominous international consequences. Ironically, as he is targeted for death because of his investigation, Jack is diagnosed with a fatal disease that is untreatable, a disease that will end his life within months. And instead of killing Jack, the hit man shoots Jack’s best friend. Struggling to come to terms with his impending death, Jack vows to track down his friend’s killer.

Jack plunges into the world of corrupt car dealerships, chop shops, and fraudulent auto repair shops. He is soon swept into the darkness of Detroit’s criminal underbelly to uncover the truth about power struggles within organized crime rings. Death is staring him in the face, but Jack doesn’t back down. He pushes ahead, plowing through perilous roadblocks planted by his enemies, propelling himself toward the finish line and a teeth-gritting, heart-pounding conclusion.

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?

New authors have to strike a balance with their writing. I like to write novels that are very different from anything on the bookstore shelves. The problem is, publishers like to find titles that fit in with existing imprints. That’s one reason I wrote The Dead Guy, a straight-up mystery novel. I might have tried to write something earlier in my career that fits in with existing publisher imprints.

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

I don’t know if it’s a big accomplishment, but there are some reviews out there on The Dead Guy that are absolutely glowing. And one reviewer in particular described how she could see the movie being made from it. To me, that felt like a great accomplishment.

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

I really enjoy painting on canvas. We’ve got a couple of my paintings up on the living room wall. It’s very relaxing, but I think painters make even less than writers.

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

I’d never give up on writing. I start getting the “shakes” if I go a few days without writing creatively.

How do you see yourself in ten years?

I’d love to have a few more mystery novels out, maybe even a series or two. But I’m also pursuing writing a series of eBooks on how to find college scholarship money at www.FreeFundsForCollege.com, and with the economy as bad as it is, I figure there might be a large market for these kind of eBooks. So I picture myself helping kids (and adults) pay their ways through higher education.

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

First, I would like to thank you for having me.

Second, I would like to finish with talking a bit about the balance between being “different” as a writer and fitting in to publisher’s categories. I’m not only an author, I’m a reader. And I love to read novels that break new ground. Yes, I do like a category mystery now and then, but I love to come across a book that breaks new ground. Before Aberdeen Bay published The Dead Guy, the manuscript reached the top level editorial teams of some major New York publishers. The reason they didn’t go ahead with publication? It didn’t fit in with their established lines. It was different. Too different. So I want to thank Aberdeen Bay for having the vision to recognize a good novel and publish it without regard to fitting in to an established imprint storylines. And I would like to invite anyone who wants to read a groundbreaking mystery novel to read The Dead Guy!

And for new authors, make sure you tell people where they can find your books and more information about you. So, I’ll include some links.
Buy The Dead Guy at Amazon.
I have a great video trailer (two Mr. Potato Head reenact a crime scene!) at You Tube.
I have a blog at: http://twohewitts.blogspot.com.
And my home website is: www.HewittsBooks.com. Download a free chapter of The Dead Guy at HewittsBooks.com!