Today we’d like to introduce you to Stephen Dorning.
Hi Stephen, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I guess I would have to take you back to late High school. I had this English teacher, Mrs. Betty Alexander. She used to assign us creative writing homework. I loved to write, but she would always read my stories out loud in class. It embarrassed me, She tried to encourage me to write more, but I didn’t get the message back then. I became a father in 1991, and most of my time was spent trying to provide for a family. Three more children followed the first, and that left me very little time for writing. Fast forward to 2007 when my good friend Kathryn Lang asked me to Beta read her newest manuscript. I agreed even though it wasn’t my normal genre to read in. As I read the story, I couldn’t help but ask myself why I wasn’t doing this. So I started writing a story that had been developing in my head. It took me the better part of 2008. During that time, I had been keeping an eye out for writing competitions, as well as open story calls. Anything to help me get my foot in the door for getting my stories out. One day I saw a competition flyer at my local library. The Grand Prize was having your story published, but the deadline was too close, and I didn’t have anything ready to submit. In the hopes of preparing my children for life, we enrolled them in martial arts. My wife would take them to practice while I was at work. She started talking to the instructor. His name was Joseph Lumpkin, and it turned out that he was an author as well. When my wife mentioned I had written a book, he was very interested in it and asked if he could read a bit of it. She asked me and then took him the first two chapters I had written.
Mr. Lumpkin really liked what he read and told me that I should enter it into this contest that was going on. It was the same one I had thought about entering, but the deadline was too close! That’s when I found out that they had extended the deadline and the area, because they did not get enough of a response. I submitted, and won.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It has not been a smooth road. The first few months, I sold over 1000 copies of my first book, “Stars of the Kanri” (Kahn-ree) overall. My first book signing was held at a used bookstore in Cullman, AL. I guess I really oversold myself to the owner. She purchased the books for the signing. She bought 200 copies because the distributor had a return policy. What she didn’t know was the returned books were destroyed at the publisher’s expense. The cost of the books would end up coming out of my royalty checks, which had fallen off steeply. That along with the fact that getting your name out to the public is extremely difficult. If you don’t have an advertising budget it can be rough. Most of the book companies have an algorithm set up so that the more interactions your product gets, the more it gets included in their advertising. Its really hard to get people to review and interact with your work. Even when they like it. People are busy and find it hard to take time to do that.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I love to create. It doesn’t matter the media. I have written stories, created art in traditional as well as 2D and 3D using a lot of different programs. I like to help people to. I wish I had known someone who could have pointed me in the right direction with my work. I learned how to do a lot of stuff for free, using free programs, like GIMP and Blender. I used GIMP for years before finally taking the plunge and purchasing Clip Studio Paint, which I love.
We love surprises, fun facts and unexpected stories. Is there something you can share that might surprise us?
Most people don’t realize how discouraged a person can get about their work. If it goes unrecognized or doesn’t stir any comments or acknowledgement from the community where it is submitted, it can be a really crushing weight on a creative person. Sometimes I would even question why I even bothered. Regardless of all the positive responses you get in person, you wonder if your work is good enough. Does it have worth in and of itself? There is always that little voice in the back of your head saying “they’re just saying that so they won’t upset you.” You question yourself, you question your work. It can drag you down into some very deep feelings of depression.
Pricing:
- I try to keep the cost low, because I want everyone to be able to enjoy my work as much as I enjoy doing it.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.heavymetalcowboy.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dorningbooks/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@dreamtankproductions2546
Image Credits
All images are owned and copyrighted by S.P.Dorning.