1. What can you tell me about your experience as a writer?

It’s both the BEST thing in the world and the WORST idea ever. It’s the best because I get to exorcise all the ghosts in my head. All the ideas that I’ve had jumbled up in my conscience for years and years, and I can give them life… It’s like I HAD to write them down to get them to stop… but with the added bonus of the fact that there were people out there who wanted to read them, and who enjoyed them… That totally shocked me. 

So that’s the best thing… the worst thing is now it has totally taken over my life. I go out for a walk with the dog, and Lauren, and I’m always thinking about tales. Lauren will be talking about what she wants to do with the house, or what holiday we should do next… and I will blurt out ‘THE THINGS HE STOLE FROM HER WERE CURSED’… She will be like, ‘What the HELL are you talking about?’ LOL

I also can’t do anything like gaming anymore… If I’m gaming, I feel like I am wasting my time, as I should be writing… It also has ruined some of my enjoyment of watching TV shows and films, as I’m constantly like… ‘They shouldn’t have gone down that direction… that character would never do that… If I was in charge, I would have done this…’ LOL. It does my head in. It’s like it becomes all consuming. I can totally understand why King wrote a lot of books about writers.

2. What made you decide to write a book? 

Well… The tale I always tell is totally the truth. It was Christmas Eve. My daughter was about 4 and I was in bed with her reading THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS. When she was finally asleep (my voice is so boring, I could lull a 4-year-old to sleep on Christmas Eve LOL)… I got out of bed, and I thought… I could totally do that. So over the Christmas period, I developed this story I called THE OTHER NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS… but I thought that sounded too much like THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS, so I changed it to THE GOOD BEHAVIOUR ACT… I wrote it as a rhyming story. It started off nice, but because my brain is twisted, it changed a little. It’s a funny little children’s story about getting on Santa’s naughty list, and what happens to you if you are. I then continued to write these funny little rhyming stories… then someone said why not get them printed. I’ve always loved comics and graphic novels… so I developed them into short comic stories (I made them into INTERESTING TYMES and INTERESTING TYMES X2, both available on Kindle). Then I began to develop longer tales, darker tales, but still graphic novels and shorts, but more adult in nature. I released DOPPELGANGER and a few shorter comics… Then I wrote THE TWELVE as a graphic novel, I even got some pages drawn up (they are brilliant too). But the artist then told me, it would take a fortune to get the complexity of the story down as a graphic novel, and she said why not write a novel. I’d never even thought about it… so, as I’d taught myself to script comics (something I still love doing), I had to learn how to write a book. I had a little help from a local guy who knew all about it, but had never done it himself… so he helped me along the way. We developed THE TWELVE, and it went really well. I still get negative reviews about the editing in that book, but it was totally my first attempt. I’ve had it re-edited since, and I think it reads a lot better than it did… but as a debut novel, I couldn’t have been prouder of that book. I still love it today.

3. What circumstances brought you to the decision to self-publish your book?

This is probably the same reasons as a lot of other writers. I thought, with the limited success of THE TWELVE and the response I got from it, I thought agents and publishers would be lining up at my door with contracts and flowers, and chocolates and promises of money and women, and all sorts of stuff. LOL But it was nothing like that. Because I’d self-published, all the agents and publishers kind of looked down on me, or that’s how it felt anyway. How dare I publish something with such terrible editing! (It had NO editing at all, as I didn’t have the money, or the knowledge to understand that it did, I made a lot of mistakes on that first book, but I hope I have made up for them). I then looked into the industry and learned a lesson… I had to jump through all kinds of hoops in order to get an agent, just to jump through more hoops to get a publisher, only for them to do seven parts of NOTHING for me that I couldn’t do myself. I heard all kinds of horror stories about trad-published authors’ books being ignored, only having a limited shelf life, and being dropped. There was a girl I used to work with (we worked together on early drafts of the GLIMMER saga) who got lucky with an agent, and a publisher… she got her debut novel published, and it did really well. We kind of drifted apart (nothing unamicable), and I looked at her book on Amazon. She has not hit any of the charts, and it only has like 100 reviews. Now, that’s nothing to be sniffed at, but I bet if I asked her, she would tell me that SHE did all the work on the presentation and her own PR… but only got a low percentage of royalties… I’ve touched lucky with a couple of titles… ZOLA and THE BOYFRIEND have touched nerves, and people seem to enjoy them (thank you so much) … but for every semi-success, there are 3 or 4 books that are ignored. That’s the nature of the beast. I believe that if I trad-published THE BOYFRIEND, it would not have gotten the response it did from doing it self-publishing. It’s my bet they would have wanted me to cut a lot of the horrific SA scenes (I know it is long and horrible), but I needed it to be horrific so the ending would pay off like it did. I do feel like it’s a rounded book in that way, but I honestly don’t think any publisher would have touched it with a barge pole.

4. What has your experience as a self-publisher been like?

In a word, EXHAUSTING. LOL Lauren comes home from work (she is a nurse), and she works really hard, and it is a thankless job that she loves… but what she doesn’t realise, or anyone else who hasn’t done the self-publishing thing for themselves… is that we don’t stop. If you want it to be a success you, NEVER stop. You are working ALL THE TIME.

My day is like this… I get up at 5am, I walk the dog while clearing my head. I get in half an hour later and have a coffee. Then I log on. I check FB, Insta, whatever platform… I answer messages, etc. Then I go to the train station to get into work. I then sit in the canteen till 8:30 (usually about an hour, maybe an hour and a half) and write. I then do my 9-5. I write in my dinner hour, and do socials through the day. I then finish, get the train home, walk the dog, and then I write (usually about an hour). I go to the gym, I cook and eat dinner, then it’s family time.

I repeat that 5 days a week.

Of a weekend, I get up at 5, walk the dog, do the socials, then write. (I usually get a good few hours in of a weekend.) Then it’s family time, gym time, walking the dog time.

If I have a drink, or a party… then the day after is lost, as I can’t write with alcohol in my system. (Some people do it better, I can’t concentrate) … so its NONSTOP. Add to that odd dreams, and constant self-doubt about if the story is going to work… it’s no wonder I’m not entirely grey yet. Although I am only 22 years old, I just look 51.  I get angry at my 9-5 job as it gets in the way of the life I want. But then I remember I don’t make enough on the books to live (YET). LOL

When I go on holiday… Lauren has to ban me from taking my laptop, but she doesn’t’ realise that I use my phone to flesh out the 0.5 drafts of stories (insert evil laugh here).

5. How do you respond to the negative stigma attached to self-publishing and self-published books?

BADLY… LOL. No, I'm joking. I don’t take any notice of negativity to be honest. If you will pardon my French… I say, FUCK them. There is too much negativity in this world, as it is. Humans are a strange breed. They just thrive on pulling people down. If they see anyone doing well for themselves, they HAVE to find something to pull them down for.  I used to respond badly, and when I first started, I was angry and upset, and demotivated that I couldn’t get a trad-published deal, but these days, as the industry has changed, I have found that the true readers, the real deal readers, are all moving over to indie authors anyway. I think the likes of Frieda McFadden and John Marrs are doing well, but their stories are heavily edited, and they probably can’t publish the book they really WANT to publish, as the companies they work for won’t let them. As an indie, I can do what I want. I can release a children’s book, and then do a splatter book right after. I can kill the dog in the book if I want, I can write a 20-page sexual assault page… It’s my book.

So I say, yes, I would take a trad-published deal if one was offered on certain books, just to experience what it is like, but I would still be indie publishing too.

A lot of the dynamism of publishing is shifting, and I enjoy riding that wave.

6. What is one very important lesson you have learned as a self-publisher so far?
The biggest and most important thing I’ve learned is TAKE THE HELP WHEN IT’S OFFERED. If someone offers to proofread, TAKE THE OFFER. If someone says they will do the cover for you for free, TAKE THE OFFER. But please, please, please do not skimp on the editing.

The editing is the most important thing you can do. Get someone you can trust, and for God’s sake, don’t take the editor’s criticism personally… It is literally their job. Take it on the chin, put on your grown-up undies, and listen to what they are saying. Nine times out of ten, they are right (if they are good), they will have been down this path before… they know the script.

Also… don’t listen to negative ninnies… There are going to be a lot of people out there who will see you as a threat. Watch out for them. They usually show themselves pretty early in the game. Remember, it is not a competition out there. It’s not a game to see who can get to 100 reviews first. I see it as a community. Yeah, I might piss some people off sometimes, and some people might piss me off sometimes, but I like to see it as a YOU SCRATCH MY BACK kind of community.

7. What do you know now about self-publishing that you wish you knew at the beginning?
That the work is NEVER finished. It literally never ends. Even when you go to bed, you are self-publishing. Sitting on the toilet? Self-publishing. In work? Self-publish… self-publish, self-publish…

But you need to know when NOT to self-publish…

I got some BOSS advice when I was firs starting off. It was from Matt Shaw (it wasn’t filthy, which is a shock, I know). He said to me, ‘You need to push your books, you need to post about them, and tell people about them, but don’t make people sick of seeing your book.’ He told me I needed to post every day, but post about my dog, my journey into work, what trousers I have (or don’t have) on… make the readers laugh. People don’t buy books, they buy into the author. If they like you as a person, if you make them laugh, and are a bit cheeky, then they will buy from you.

This is so important. Market your books till you are blue in the face… but know when to stop. Market another author, karma will come back around and they will help you out. If someone comes to you for help, or guidance… give them what you know. People buy people… it’s a good thing to remember.


8. A lot of authors of self-published books have reservations about promoting and marketing their book. Some even feel that it is a form of vanity or self-importance. What is your opinion about this?
100% it is a form of vanity, and self-importance. But so what? Be proud of the work you have done. Don’t let anyone bully you into thinking you shouldn’t be proud of your work. Shout it from the rooftops. Push it in people’s faces… just remember what I said above… don’t overkill it.

Jesus… you have just spent 2-3 years of your life, going through every emotion you can think of, from elation to anxiety… sweating and pushing yourself to get a book out. If you don’t tell anyone about it, no one is going to do it for you. You need to be loud, you need to be pushy, you just need to make sure you don’t piss anyone off. It’s a balance. It’s a Yin and a Yang.

9. How do you promote your books and what form of book promotion has worked the best for you?
I really have no clue. Something about THE BOYFRIEND touched a nerve and went ballistic, and the same happened with Zola (although that was a slow burn), but some of the others have been so hard to market. The groups now, most of them don’t allow self-promotion, and can be a bit funny about you posting about your own books. It’s a tough game out there, but there are a lot of authors vying for readers attentions. Some won’t be able to handle the rejection, the hard work, the constant battle to be noticed and relevant and they will fall by the wayside, so you need to have your tenacity… you need to dig in and realise that you are not going to hit the big time on your first book. That is so important to remember…


10. What are some other important things you have learned as a self-publisher?
Grow a thick skin, don’t be a drama queen, work double hard. Set time and be organised (I am the most unorganised person ever, except when it comes to writing). Understand that not everyone is going to enjoy your book. Be big and ugly enough to know this. If everyone liked the same thing, the world would be a boring place. Some people are going to troll you, they will do this to make themselves look smart, or better than you… be the bigger person. And one of the most important things… DO NOT, UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES, REPLY TO REVIEWS… I sometimes do, but do it in a funny way.

11. Do you feel that self-publishing is a viable choice for other authors?
Oh… 100%. I think self-publishing is going to push the boundaries of trad-published books soon. Trad-pub books are becoming so sterile. You can’t write about this and you can’t mention that… and you deffo can’t use that word. In self-publishing, we are our own editors (to a degree), and we can write about whatever we want. Will our books ever be on the shelves of the supermarkets? Probably not, but then I don’t think I have ever once seen anyone buy a book from a supermarket.

However, this being said, we do have to keep our standards up. Get the book to the best you can make it, THEN give it to an editor, use proofreaders, and Alpha and Beta readers, and right before you press that publish button, read it once over yourself… There are a lot of grammar nazis out there who are just too quick to jump on the back of indie-published books stating bad editing, etc.… so standards need to be kept.

12. How do you feel that self-publishing their books has helped many unknown authors finally get the recognition their books deserve?
Right… I have a friend from work a few years ago who got her first book trad-published. Bang, right out of the door, she was signed up. There was a whirlwind courtship and she did some book signings… I never read the book (I really should have), but apparently, it was great. It’s been out for 2 years now and it has 45 reviews on Goodreads, and I think it’s touching 100 on Amazon (might be the other way around). But then, look at some of my books. The Boyfriend is over 1k reviews, as is Zola. If we were still talking trad-publishing, no one would have touched Zola with a 39-and-a-half-foot pole. Yet it has over 1k reviews, and over a million page reads, and thousands of orders.

So there are some big names in the indie horror world. Duncan Ralston, Matt Shaw, Aron Beauregard. These guys probably wouldn’t have been able to get book deals with their extreme content.

So I am all in for indie publishing… But that doesn’t mean I don’t want a $50k advance on my next book… Please, and thank you!

ABOUT DAVE:

Born in Liverpool in the UK, Dave McCluskey left school and began working in a music shop, selling guitars and drums and playing in local bands around the Liverpool music scene. When he realised that fame and fortune, and rock god status, was proving rather elusive, he went to university leading to him wasting almost 30 years of his life messing around with computers. He became a novelist later on in life, having been an avid reader since he was a child. He writes as DE McCluskey, mostly in the genre of horror (mainstream, extreme, and comedy), although he has been known to dabble in thrillers, romance, science fiction, fantasy, and also children’s books (written as Dave McCluskey). He began his writing career creating comics and graphic novels, thinking they would be easier to write and sell than traditional novels (how wrong he was). He then made the switch into the media of novels and audiobooks and has not looked back since. His books include the highly regarded The Boyfriend, Reboot: A Cosmic Horror, The Twelve, Cravings, Zola, CRACK, and the historical thriller, In The Mood for Murder. Dave remains an avid football fan, although sometimes he wonders why, and he has been known to lurk around the stand-up comedy circuit in the North-West of England. He lives at home with his partner, their two children, and a sausage dog with his own future children’s book series, called Ted (Lord Teddington of Netherton).