Mike Martin was born in St. John’s, NL on the east coast of Canada and now lives and works in Ottawa, Ontario. He is a long-time freelance writer and his articles and essays have appeared in newspapers, magazines and online across Canada as well as in the United States and New Zealand.
He is the author of the award-winning Sgt. Windflower Mystery series set in beautiful Grand Bank. There are now 10 books in this light mystery series with the publication of Safe Harbour. A Tangled Web was shortlisted in 2017 for the best light mystery of the year, and Darkest Before the Dawn won the 2019 Bony Blithe Light Mystery Award. Mike has also published Christmas in Newfoundland: Memories and Mysteries, a Sgt. Windflower Book of Christmas past and present.
Mike is Past Chair of the Board of Crime Writers of Canada, a national organization promoting Canadian crime and mystery writers and a member of the Newfoundland Writing Guild and Ottawa Independent Writers.
WEBSITE & SOCIAL LINKS:
Website: www.sgtwindflowermysteries.com
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/mike54martin
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheWalkerOnTheCapeReviewsAndMore
Before you started writing your book, what kind of research
did you do to prepare yourself?
I do my research as I go along and when things come up I go searching for as much information as I can about that topic. In Safe Harbour there is some suspicion that someone was the victim of insulin poisoning. How does that work? Google knows…
Did you pursue publishers or did you opt to self-pub?
I’ve used bot models and now utilize a hybrid model where we share expenses and the publisher looks after distribution and I take care of most book promotion.
If self-published, did you hire someone to format the ebook
version for you or did you do it yourself?
Can you tell us what that was like?
I have always used experts to format all book versions. I don’t want to take any chances with that. My publisher looks after this right now.
If self-published, how did you determine the price?
That’s discussed with the publisher.
If published by a publisher, what was your deciding factor
in going with them?
The publisher I chose was local and could deliver books on the schedule that I wanted to write them. That’s not always the case.
If published by a publisher, are you happy with the price
they chose?
I’m fine. This time we decided to charge $3.99 for the ebook versus the usual $2.99. We’ll know soon if that makes any difference.
Did you purposefully choose a distinct month to release your
book? Why?
Yes. May and October are the best months, at least for me. May to capture the summer reading market and October to be on shelves for Christmas shoppers.
How did you choose your cover?
I work with the cover designer. Usually, I have a picture or photo in mind and she crafts it into a full book cover.
Did you write your book, then revise or revise as you went?
I write about 10 chapters and then revise. Repeat until the book is done the first major draft. Then a long review before I send it to the beta readers for their comments and input.
Did you come up with special swag for your book and how are
you using it to help get the word out about your book?
I have done this before, but did not because of covid. I don’t think they make a big difference unless you are at a conference or event.
Did you consider making or hiring someone to make a book
trailer for your book? If so, what’s the
link?
Nope
What’s your opinion on giving your book away to sell other
copies of your book?
I agree. With a series of 10 books I often give away the first and/or second in the hopes of gaining a long term reader who will read all the books in the series. It works, at least for me.
What are three of the most important things you believe an
author should do before their book is released?
Make it the best book possible in all ways. Have a promo plan ready before the book comes out, including a blog tour with PUYB. Get some early reviews so that other readers can be inspired to go but this book.
What are three of the most important things you believe an
author should do after their book is released?
Put your promo plan into action. Get even more reviews. Blog about the book and your experiences with the book and try to engage your readers.
What kind of pre-promotion did you do before the book came
out?
All of the above
Do you have a long term plan with your book?
Just to have the best possible book every single time. To make each book better than the rest. And to sell a million copies. lol
What would you like to say to your readers and fans about
your book?
Thank you for reading Safe Harbour. You have given me the gift
of your valuable time and I really appreciate it. It you like it, tell others.
Inside the Book
Title: SAFE HARBOUR
Author: Mike Martin
Publisher: Ottawa Press and Publishing
Pages: 264
Genre: Mystery
BOOK BLURB:
Sgt. Windflower is on a special assignment in St. John’s and adjusting to life in the big city. He is navigating traffic, a difficult boss at work and what seems like an epidemic of missing girls. He becomes more interested when he discovers that one of the girls is from Grand Bank. Then a girl approaches his RCMP van one night and he is pulled into the underlife of the capital city. But he still manages to enjoy all of the good things in life. His family, old and new friends, and the love of living so close to the Atlantic Ocean. Welcome back to St. Windflower Mysteries.
PRAISE
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