Meet an Author Monday...Samantha Young!!

"Meet an Author Monday" is my way of showcasing up-and-coming authors (published and soon-to-be) to help get their names and books out there for others to see. It's a quick little interview just so you guys can get to know someone you may not have heard of before!

This week I'm pleased to welcome the talented Samantha Young to writers write, right?. Samantha is the author of The Tale of Lunarmorte series (I've reviewed the series on this blog) as well as many other works. Samantha has also been kind enough to offer a giveaway, so check out the details at the end of this post!

Hi Samantha, and welcome to my little blog. So great of you to stop by! I see on your website that you've written a lot of books! Tell me, do you have a writing ritual that you stick to no matter what, or do you simply write when the feeling strikes?

I used to write when the feeling struck but after finishing my first novel, Lunarmorte, I was like, "You can do this, put your back into" (wait...I think those might be hip hop lyrics...) and then started writing on a regular basis. At the moment I'm writing full-time so I write from 9am-5pm, just like a normal working day.

You get to write full-time? I'm jealous! I know that you self-published The Tale of Lunarmorte (which is a great series, by the way!). What has that experience been like? Do you think self-publishing is getting a much better name for itself since the successes it has seen lately (namely Amanda Hocking)?

Thanks Jamie :-) I'm really enjoying self-publishing. It's so much hard work and you really have to be dedicated to doing it if you want a chance at making a career out of your writing, but I love having the freedom and control over the whole process. I do think self-publishing is starting to get a much better name for itself, and yeah particularly recently due to Amanda Hocking's amazing success--I'm a big fan of Hocking; she's helped readers see that there are a lot of great novels out there in the indie universe.

I couldn't agree more, and I'm so happy for self-publishers! You release your self-published books both in print and ebook. Can you tell us where you've seen the most success between the two as far as sales? Do you think ebook is the future of publishing?

Ebook sales are definitely slaughtering my print sales thus far. There is a massive percentage between the two; my ebook sales are really starting to build momentum but the print sales have been slow. I don't know if that really means anything. My ebooks are cheap, but because of cost of production, my paperbacks are the price of an average paperback. People are far more willing to download a 99 cent ebook from a self-published author than pay out the $8.99 for a paperback.

Don't get me wrong, I think ebooks are here to stay; however (even though I love my kindle!), I think a lot of people are like me and enjoy having the actual print copy of their favorite novel too. Perhaps the gap between ebook publishing and print publishing will start to narrow in the future, but I don't think ebooks will ever take over print publishing.

I'm with you on enjoying print far more than ebook! So what's in store for the future for Samantha Young? Any projects you're working on now that you'd like to share with us?

Ooh I have a few I'm excited about. The first is my fantasy romance novel Slumber, a solo novel very loosely based on the Sleeping Beauty fairy tale (very loosely :-P). It's set in another world entirely and was so much fun to write because I could literally let my imagination dictate anything. Slumber is a quest-adventure-coming-of-age fairy tale, and I will be releasing it in June of this year.

I'm also working on another trilogy, The Warriors of Ankh. This one is a little different because the protagonist is a little darker than my other heroines. I'm hoping for a late Summer/early Fall release for the first novel, Blood Will Tell.

My other project, which is kind of in the background for the moment, is the Repercussions series, a spin-off from the Tale of Lunarmorte series--each book will join different characters in the Lunarmorte universe as they struggle to cope with the new world of the supernaturals. I'm hoping to start releasing this series early 2012.

Wow! Samantha, you are one busy writer! And because of that, I'm moving on to my last (and always favorite) question that I like to ask everyone. If you were stranded on a deserted island and could only have one book to read, which would it be and why?

Up until a few weeks ago I probably wouldn't have been able to choose, but then I read Patrick Ness' The Knife of Never Letting Go and he made the choice pretty easy. I love Ness' unique writing style and how he manages to exude so much feeling with such subtlety of writing. I could read about Todd and Viola over and over and over again...

Well I'll have to keep an eye out for that one! Thanks so much for stopping by and chatting with me Samantha, and good luck on your continued success!

And for all you lovely followers, Samantha has been kind enough to give away a signed copy of her newest work, Drip Drop Teardrop, a novella! How great is that?! All you need to do is make a comment on this post about the interview...that's it (you don't have to follow me but it's greatly appreciated)! Oh, and a huge thanks to Samantha for making this giveaway international! So comment away between now and midnight on Wednesday April 27th, and I'll announce the winner on Thursday! Good luck, and thanks for following!