Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Benjamin Weilert. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Benjamin, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. One of our favorite things to hear about is stories around the nicest thing someone has done for someone else – what’s the nicest thing someone has ever done for you?

A few years back, I had a vendor table at Colorado Springs Comic Con. The weekend hadn’t been going great, sales-wise, and it was a little discouraging. A few hours before the end of the show, an individual came by and I gave my standard opener of “What do you like to read?” She responded with, “Oh, a little of everything.” Because I write in multiple genres, I jokingly suggested that she buy one of every book I was selling. “Sure. How much?” After my brain rebooted, I scrambled to get the totals (and discounts) figured out so she could actually buy one of all of my books. This pseudo-angel investor helped me make the table and the weekend. Her ability to support independent authors like myself with big sales like that was a great encouragement.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

Coming from a family with a mechanical engineer father and a graphic designer mother, I’ve always tried to balance the logical and creative parts of my life. I’m a bit of a renaissance man and have dabbled in plenty of creative pursuits over the years, including lip synchs of Tom Lehrer songs on YouTube (my version of “New Math” is still my favorite) and nature stock photography. As for my writing, I’ve had stories to tell since the first grade. Wanting full control of my projects, I have taught myself how to self-publish paperbacks, hardcovers, eBooks, and audiobook versions of my stories. This includes cover art and design, interior formatting, and audio recording/mastering.

The thing that probably sets me apart from other writers is that I’m always willing to try new things with my writing. I pursue the topics that I find interesting, which pushes me into a multi-genre direction that might not be the standard for most authors who stick to only a single genre. Over the years, I’ve published a Young Adult science fantasy, a memoir about climbing Colorado’s 14,000-foot peaks with my father, the complete set of my blog posts about movies, a collection of my satire articles and short stories, a children’s picture book, a hard sci-fi survival story, and a homemade ice cream cookbook. And that’s just what I’ve published so far. There’s more on the horizon with at least 10 manuscripts in the various stages of being published.

While each of my books holds a special place in my heart, I am proud of my memoir (“Fourteener Father”) and of my homemade ice cream cookbook (“Stop Screaming!”)—the latter of which has won awards from the Best Indie Book Awards (BIBA) and Independent Press Award (IPA). The key I found with finding recognition for my work is to explore the niches out there that might not be well represented. If you’re halfway competent, your work will rise to the top in a field with not many competitors.

How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?

One simple thing has fueled the biggest creative movements of the past: affordable living. Think of the Bohemians in New York who used cheap apartments to ensure they could still live while they made their art. As AI and automation threaten to take more and more menial jobs, it’s becoming easier than ever for us to not need to work. At the structural level, if society could create a safety net for every one of its citizens, regardless of working status, then people could find the time and space to explore their creativity instead of merely struggling to survive. Universal benefits provided by the government (like healthcare and a basic income) could do a lot to supercharge the creative ecosystem into overdrive because more people than ever would feel like they could take a creative risk and not end up homeless because of it.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

In 2020, I was about ready to release my hard sci-fi survival novel “Buried Colony” when I got some severely critical feedback from some of my advanced readers. The book needed to be re-worked to address these reader concerns, but I didn’t have enough time to fix it and meet my self-imposed deadline. In fact, it ended up needing two years to get into the shape I needed it to be in. To remain relevant as an author, I try to publish at least one work a year—this delay required me to pivot hard into other projects.

Fortunately, I had (and continue to have) a long list of projects in various stages of completion. While “Buried Colony” needed extra time, I moved up my short story collection, “The Ascent of the Writer” to be published in 2020 to meet my goals. I also found children’s picture books to be a lot easier to create and pushed “This is Not a Drill” up to be published in 2021 to give me the extra time needed to get “Buried Colony” in the right place.

Ultimately, having multiple projects going at once allows me to pivot where needed to address delays and other unforeseen circumstances.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://author.benjamin-m-weilert.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bmwthephoto/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BMWtheAuthor/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/BMWtheCreative
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtbhVB5QpIaQUGhwH_uyKYA
• Other: Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/bmwtheauthor
  Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Benjamin-M-Weilert/e/B00JAFMPEA/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1462158704&sr=8-1
  Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/BMWtheCreative/
  IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/user/ur100116496/?ref_=nv_usr_prof_2
  Fine Art America: http://fineartamerica.com/profiles/benjamin-weilert.html
  Adobe Stock: https://stock.adobe.com/contributor/207466946/Benjamin%20M.%20Weilert
  Shutterstock: https://www.shutterstock.com/g/bmwthephoto?language=en
  Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/ronfarz3/