We recently connected with Donna Schwartze and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Donna, thanks for joining us today. So, let’s imagine that you were advising someone who wanted to start something similar to you and they asked you what you would do differently in the startup-process knowing what you know now. How would you respond?

As an author, I’ve learned that a huge chunk of my sales comes from book read-through which is basically if a reader likes one of your books, they’re likely to read more of them. So you want to hook them in and if they like your style, have them read your entire backlist. This is a great way to sell more books without having to pay for advertising and promotion.

If I were starting over, I would write and “bank” at least three books before I released any of them. I released one book at a time and lost a lot of readers who maybe liked the first book, but moved to another author when they found out that I only had one book published so far. I missed out on a lot of sales by doing it that way.

Donna, 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 an author who writes romantic comedy and romantic suspense novels. I’m currently working on my eleventh book.

I’ve been a writer for most of my professional career, but mainly in corporate communications. I started writing fiction when we were all locked down for Covid. I needed a way to escape the depressing realities of the world at that time so I decided to finally put down on paper the stories that had been swirling around in my head forever. I published my first book in July 2020 and quickly realized that my readers were desperate to escape those same realities of life. I feel so connected to my readers that sometimes it feels like we’re all sitting around a campfire while I tell them the stories of my characters.

I’m most proud that I wrote ten quality books in under four years. I had so much fun doing it that sometimes I don’t give myself enough credit for what a huge accomplishment that is. I think what sets my books apart is that I have a unique writing style. I’m an extreme empath and I think that comes across in my writing. Also my delivery is a little different from the industry standard. I write dual POV (one chapter from the woman, then one chapter from the man, and repeat). I also write extremely heavy dialogue with light description. My readers comment all the time that my books read more like movie scripts than fiction novels, and I take that as a huge compliment.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative?

I’ve always thought of myself as about 60 percent right-brained (creative) and 40 percent left-brained (analytical). I can do both, but what I’ve realized, especially since I’ve started writing novels, is that it’s much harder for me to get in the right headspace to be creative than it is to get into the headspace to be analytical.

If I’m feeling any kind of stress or anxiety, I can still pop into the analytical side and schedule an ad campaign, work on my revenue forecasting, etc. But it’s almost impossible for me to write and create if I’m feeling that same stress or anxiety. For me, being truly creative requires peace, calm, quiet, and time. I know that’s not the same for everyone, but I’m guessing most creatives would welcome that kind of work environment.

We’d love to hear about how you keep in touch with clients.

The publishing industry is so competitive, especially in the romance sector where I write and publish. It’s vital to not only find new readers, but keep them interested while you’re working on new offerings. As I said earlier in this interview, my first goal is to get readers to consume my entire backlist of books. After every book ends, I include an introduction to my next suggested book in the back matter (the pages just after the book ends). If they liked that book, I want them to immediately click to buy or download the next one.

I also foster vibrant reader communities through my social media pages and a monthly newsletter. My favorite platform is a private group I created on Facebook (Donna Schwartze Reader Group). Any reader can be a part of it, but you have to request to be a member. I would say I personally know just about ten percent of the readers in this group, but I feel like I know 100 percent of them. Many of the members, who I’ve never met, have become friends and such amazing and inspirational supporters. I try to pop into that group at least two or three times a week and check in on them. Honestly, it doesn’t feel like work at all. It feels like I’m just chatting about books with my besties.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.donnaschwartze.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/donnaschwartzeauthor/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/326466412461839
• Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/donnaschwartze/
• Twitter: www.twitter.com/donnaschwartze
• Other: TikTok – www.tiktok.com/@donnaschwartzeauthor

Image Credits
Donna Schwartze