We were lucky to catch up with Jon Wasik recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Jon, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.

For me, there’s two parts to this question – when did I know I wanted to be a writer, and when did I know I wanted to pursue self-publication?

I knew I wanted to be a writer when I was in fifth grade. I was always a storyteller, but fifth grade was when I realized I could write my stories down! I had become enamored by sci-fi and fantasy novels, particularly Star Trek and the Star Wars Expanded Universe. Back then, I wrote my first story, which today would be considered (badly written) fan fiction. The act of writing, of getting the story down, and then just as important, the act of seeing my classmates react to reading it was a life-changing experience for me. They reacted so passionately to the story, some loving it, some hating it, but I had an impact on them, and I knew what I would do with my life from then on!

On the other hand, deciding to self-publish was a far more difficult decision to make, and was a more recent choice that I made in 2014. In a way, part of my reason behind the decision was disillusionment. Anyone who’s a published author can tell you, breaking into the ‘traditional’ publication realm is hard. Even if you have what would eventually become a best seller, finding an agent, and then finding a publisher is like playing your favorite video game on the absolute hardest difficulty – chances are you’ll fail often, and sometimes that even means starting the game over from scratch, IE writing a different novel if your first one fails to find a home.

I also was fortunate (or unfortunate, depending on how you look at it) to have become a writer when I did. Self-publishing as we know it today, both eBook and Print on Demand pricing, was unheard of when I first started out. But back in the mid-2010’s, technology had changed and begun to mature, and suddenly it was possible.

Remember how I mentioned loving not just writing, but experiencing my first readers’ reactions back in school? I wanted to experience that again. But more than that, I wanted to start making real, substantial progress towards transitioning to writing full-time, and that meant getting my stories out there. So my first passion project, which I’d written various versions of over the course of 15 years, became my first self-published novel, and thus the Sword of Dragons series saw the light of day.

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

I’m a story-teller, and though I am capable of delivering stories through other media, the written word is my venue of choice! I love reading, I love writing, and nothing gives me greater satisfaction than to share my stories with the world!

Starting in 2015, I have self-published my novels, and as of now have six published novels, with two more coming before the end of 2022. The first series is on-going and is called the Sword of Dragons, and right now is still my most successful series! One of my favorite things to do, especially in high fantasy, is to take a common trope and give it my own spin. For instance, in book 1, Rise of the Forgotten, the first dragon encountered by the reader is a wise, intelligent dragon living beneath a mountain protecting the most powerful weapon in the Universe, rather than the typical evil dragon greedily hoarding gold in its lair. There are no helpless maidens in this world, either – women are fully capable of rescuing themselves!

My newest series is a trilogy of urban fantasy books called the Chronicles of the Sentinels, featuring Denver (at least in books 1 and 2,) and the resurgence of magic across the globe, heralding a renewed threat from a Babylonian god kept at bay for four thousand years…until the protagonist lets magic back into the world.

These are only the first stories to come – I have many more coming, including sci-fi and dystopian stories on the horizon, as well as more fantasy! These genres, more than any other, are the ones I love writing in the most, and I am excited to continue to share with the world! And if I’m very lucky, maybe I’ll make someone’s day a little better in the process.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

The thing about writing and publishing, whether you’re self-published or traditionally-published, is that things don’t happen fast. Ever. And there’s setbacks.

Sure, there are exceptions – you hear about writers going from nobodies to millionaires in a short period every couple of years. Or you hear about a certain famous author getting $25 million in pledges on kickstarter practically overnight. But those are rare. Those are unicorns.

For the rest, it’s a slog, and I’ve been no exception. Writing, and especially publishing is hard. Most recently, the first book in my Sentinels trilogy struggled to get off the ground, and when the first couple ratings came in on Amazon as 2-stars, I was devastated. I questioned everything I had ever written. I questioned my success on the Sword of Dragons. I questioned everything.

Since then, I’ve learned that this is part of being a writer. Every writer gets bad ratings or even scathing reviews, even on their best works. And sometimes, those negative reviews hit before the positive ones, and if you anxiously watch for those first ratings like I do with each new book release, hoping I made a good impression on readers, it can be…it WAS a terrible, heart-wrenching blow.

Bouncing back from that initial downfall, on a project I was more passionate about than any other, was hard. I’m still struggling with it. Since then, I’ve received more positive than negative ratings, but those initial low ratings struck deep.

Nevertheless, I keep going. Book 2 just came out, and book 3 will release on schedule – I won’t let it stop me, and I still believe in my stories. I’ll write the next book. Or to quote a Disney movie, when all else fails, I’ll do the next right thing.

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

To put it succinctly, support your local artists and creatives. What does that mean, exactly? Well, for writers, it’s ratings and reviews. Every time you read a novel, at the very least, leave a rating. Ratings are the bread and butter for authors these days. And I’m not talking about the next Brandon Sanderson or Stephen King novel, I mean support ALL authors, even those who aren’t world-famous.

It isn’t just about giving an author a feel-good moment, it literally is vital to the business. Especially in this day and age of Amazon algorithms. Especially when there are literally hundreds of thousands of authors out there. We depend on ratings to reach more readers. Mind you, I’m not talking about “reaching more readers to make millions of dollars.” No, for most of us, it’s about getting out of the red, it’s about just trying to make a living, or at least make progress towards that. For some authors, it really IS about making a living, any author that has been brave enough to transition to writing full time.

You will literally be a hero to every single author you leave a rating for, let alone a review, especially for a book you enjoyed even a little bit.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://jonwasik.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kataar2002/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authorjonwasik
• Other: https://www.amazon.com/Jon-Wasik/e/B00X4Y6116

Image Credits
Personal photo by Wayne Adams of Death’s House Productions – https://www.facebook.com/DeathsHouseProductions Book promo photos by Beck Wasik of New Moon Crafts – https://www.facebook.com/NewMoonCrafts