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

Alright, Dean thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Can you tell us about a time where you or your team really helped a customer get an amazing result?

After making a New Year’s resolution to make better use of my time (than watching television) I started drafting a mystery. I naively thought I’d complete it in a few months, then immediately see it in print. Five years, and about fifty rejection letters later, I found a publisher who liked the story but had five structural things he wanted corrected before he’d offer me a contract. At that point, I’d accepted that I hadn’t written “the great American novel) and started rewriting. A year later, after multiple rounds of editing, “Where Evil Hides” was released. It never made the New York Times best seller list, but it was uplifting just to see my name on a book cover, and to sell a few thousand copies. It did make the “Twin Cities Reader” bestseller list in April of the year after the release.
That was followed by 34 more books (including the award winner “Family Trees”) over the next 24 years.
I’m now writing three different series, “Pine County mysteries”, “Whistling Pines” cozy mysteries, and “Doug Fletcher” mysteries. Each have a different protagonist and different locations.
I still get feelings of pride and satisfaction when I touch the cover of the first new book. There’s really nothing like it.

Dean, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I’m very disciplined, usually spending hours each day either writing, promoting, or researching a new book. The things most people don’t realize is that “writing” a book is only about a quarter of a writer’s job. I spend nearly as many hours doing research as I do writing. Once I have the first rough draft completed, the whole re-writing, editing, and proofreading take just as much effort and time. Getting published is a much higher hurdle than anyone ever expects. Finally, with books coming, or on hand, I spend countless hours doing promotion. I use social media, library talks, and bookstore events to promote my books. Without that promotion, books simply don’t sell beyond, what a friend called “pity sales” to friends and relatives.
It takes a huge time, emotional, and physical effort to make a book successful.

Do you think there is something that non-creatives might struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can shed some light?

I’ve been told I’m very unusual. My education is primarily scientific, yet I’m pursuing a creative endeavor by writing mysteries. I encourage people not to categorize themselves in by what they “should be”. Instead, leverage your education and experiences into something you love to do.
I write mysteries. I love creating the characters, writing the dialogue, and developing plots. But I use a TON of my education and life experience to add texture to my stories. I don’t know all the scientific details of crime investigation, but I do know where to look for those details. I love letting my inner nerd run loose while throwing in juicy details from science, travel, and life experiences. And, my readers love those details too!
When asked how I tap into both sides of my brain, the creative and the scientific, I joke that I’m schizophrenic. In reality, that creative side runs just below the surface in all scientists. As does an inquisitive, detail-oriented side exist in creative people Allow yourself to slide back and forth between the two, Don’t box yourself in!

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

I’ve read that only 3% of people who think about writing a book ever complete a manuscript. Of those, only 0.6% ever get a book published. I’d add that the odds of becoming a best-selling author are worse than becoming a professional athlete.
To be published, you need the tenacity to stick with the drafting of a novel while dreaming of having it in print. Once you have that, a writer needs the resilience to welcome constructive criticism. Whatever you’ve written will be imperfect, and you’ll need the guidance of people who are willing to brutally honest with their critique.
It’s easy to focus on the “brutal” part of the criticism. It takes resilience to step past that and embrace the honestly helpful redirection offered by someone who is willing to help you make your writing the best it can be.
With that “pretty good” manuscript in hand, a writer faces the daunting prospect of finding someone who likes your work and is willing to publish it. The search for a publisher is not for the faint of heart. I faced a pile of rejection letters, from publishers and literary agents. A friend who is a retired magazine editor told me that she envied my tenacity because she knew many people who threw in the towel after a single rejection letter. I literally have a one-inch-thick pile of rejection letters. You just have to stick with it until you find that one editor or agent who connects with your writing.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://bookswelove.net/hovey-dean-doug-fletcher-series/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dean.hovey.94/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dean-hovey-146785276/

Image Credits

Dean Hovey photo by Michelle Riedel