Writers and Readers discussion

Please welcome author Gregory J. Downs to our Q & A discussions. Gregory is a young author whose standalone novel 'Mordred' was an ABNA Quarterfinalist. Currently he is working on an epic fantasy series titled 'The Song of the Aura', and has completed the first three books in the series.

His blog: http://www.epicbloggjd.blogspot.com/
His Goodreads profile: Gregory J. Downs

Hi Gregory,

Nice covers - do you do them yourself? (I'm interested as I make my own in Adobe Photoshop 7.0.) If so would you be willing to share details of your thought processes and methods, and if not, how do you get the best out of your designer?

Hi Gregory, congratulations on your achievement! 4 books represents a lot of hard work. Great covers too :) How do you manage your time, i think i read you are also a student?
And when and why did you decide you wanted to be a writer?

Congratulations on your books. Quite the achievement! Do you like to incorporate legends into your work? I noticed one uses King Arthur.

I'm curious about your use of the King Arthur legends myself (being somewhat of a King Arthur fanatic). Have you always had an interest in the King Arthur mythology?

It helps that 3 out of 4 are on the shorter end, but that can sometimes be more of a challenge... squeezing more story out of less words is a concept I'm obsessed with
Hi Gregory, it's the reading experience that counts, if the readers like the length, then it works. Good luck with squeezing in the stories and well done topping the amazon chart.
One more question: What writers have influenced you the most?

I'm wondering, as a self-published author how much money have you been willing to invest in your books? I plan on self-publishing my first book soon and I've chatted with some people on devian art about designing the cover for me. So far that's the only thing I plan on spending any money on. The cheapest quote I've gotten is $50 and that seems reasonable to me...I know you made your own covers but besides that have you spent money on anything else? I've also heard from many self-published authors that hiring a freelance editor is vital. Did you ever work with one? I've had my manuscript peer reviewed by other writers in my Creative Writing classes, by some reader friends, and also by my Creative Writing professor. I'm hoping their feedback will be enough to get my manuscript in good enough shape but I wonder if hiring an editor would be a smart idea. I'm curious about your thoughts on this. Thanks and congrats on all of your success!!

Gregory, are you interested in writing in genres other than fantasy?