Christine E. Schulze has been living in castles, exploring magical worlds, and creating fantastical adventures and romances since she was too young to even write of such stories. Her collection of young adult and children’s fantasy books, The Amielian Legacy, is comprised of series and stand-alone books that can all be read separately, but also weave together to create a single, amazing fantasy.
One of her main aspirations for The Amielian Legacy is to create fantasy stories with characters that connect with readers from many different backgrounds. Her current focus is to include racially diverse characters and those with disabilities. The latter is inspired by Schulze working with adults with autism and other developmental disabilities at Trinity Services in Southern Illinois.
Schulze draws much of her inspiration from favorite authors like Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, and Diana Wynne Jones, favorite games like The Legend of Zelda, and especially from the people in her life. Some of her exciting ventures include the publication of her award-winning Bloodmaiden, as well as The Gailean Quartet with Words Matter Publishing. Her books for younger readers include In the Land of Giants and The Amazing Captain K.
Christine currently lives in a cozy Hobbit hole, but you can visit her on her website: http://christineschulze.com.
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Before you started writing your book, what kind of research did you do to prepare yourself?
One of the things I love about writing fantasy is that overall, it doesn’t require a lot of research. I’m creating my own world, characters, races, magic, creatures, histories, and so on, allowing my imagination to be boundless. That said, when I do need research, such as how castle staff might operate or how certain weapons work or what kind of dragons I want to include, my research is always fun and filled with fascinating topics.
Did you pursue publishers or did you opt to self-pub?
I’ve mostly self-pubbed but have done a bit of both. For my self-published books, I’ve worked with an amazing editor, Kira Lerner, for years. She has truly helped me to train my mind to develop more complex and cohesive characters and stories. I’ve worked with other great editors too, to give my readers the best experience. Quality is exceptionally important to me in everything I do. I do also currently have a YA/NA fantasy series, The Gailean Quartet, published with a small press, so that’s been a newer experience for me.
If published by a publisher, what was your deciding factor in going with them?
I used to have a few ebooks published with Writers-Exchange E-publishing. It was a positive experience, but ultimately we parted ways and I have since re-published the books I had with them. Through that experience, I met Laura Shinn, whom I have since hired for many years now to format my ebooks. She taught me how to format print, which I can now easily do myself, but I’ve stuck with her for ebook formatting as that can be tricky and involve attention to many more little details. She does such a great job, doesn’t charge high fees, and it works for both of us.
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 used to have a few ebooks published with Writers-Exchange E-publishing. It was a positive experience, but ultimately we parted ways and I have since re-published the books I had with them. Through that experience, I met Laura Shinn, whom I have since hired for many years now to format my ebooks. She taught me how to format print, which I can now easily do myself, but I’ve stuck with her for ebook formatting as that can be tricky and involve attention to many more little details. She does such a great job, doesn’t charge high fees, and it works for both of us.
If self-published, how did you determine the price?
Many of my books are self-published. Most of them are in the $3.99 or $4.99 range, which is pretty standard. I do offer a short story for $.99, which seems fair considering the length, and Larimar: Gem of the Sea for $2.99 as the first in the series. I’m published through Amazon, and they charge a delivery fee for ebooks, and that fee increases with larger file sizes. So, if I do any books with a lot of illustrations, like One Starry Knight, I may have to charge a bit extra in order to make any profit. I try to keep things as fair as possible while also making a profit, as I would ultimately love to write full time. I don’t want my books to be unnecessarily expensive and inaccessible to readers. For print, I also try to be as fair as I can, though that’s a whole other beast. That said, printing costs have recently increased (yay, inflation!), so if you see the price of mine and other authors’ books go up by a dollar or two, know that’s likely why, not because we want to.
Did you purposefully choose a distinct month to release your book? Why?
For my most recent release, I did. The audiobook edition of Larimar: Gem of the Sea came out on April 20th, 2023, which is my birthday. I figured, why not? What a fun thing to do, to have a book release on my birthday. Readers have really been enjoying the audiobook edition. My narrator, Jocelyn Duford, brings each character uniquely to life, and she also sings the two little songs I wrote inside the book.
How did you choose your cover?
For Larimar and other books in the series, I’ve used multiple artists over the years with different styles. I love original art, a sort of painted, whimsical feel, as my books are quite whimsical and magical. It wasn’t until recently that I decided to combine all my stand-alone titles into a single collection for readers. Having done so, I used another artist who was able to create the borders and update the fonts so that, even with the unique art on each, they have a cohesive series look to them.
Did you write your book, then revise or revise as you went?
I don’t usually revise as I go, unless perhaps it has to do with the story itself needing to change. But I’m not one to line edit as I go along, as I think that would slow me down. Best for me to just get the story from my head to the page, then go back for several rounds of edits later. I don’t always write in order either. I may create an outline of what I want to happen start to finish, but if I’m inspired to write a scene from the end of the book before the beginning, then that’s what I’ll do.
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 made some fancy bookmarks that match each book in The Amielian Legends. I haven’t used them just yet, but I’d eventually like to be able to offer autographed copies of my books on my website, which would each include a matching bookmark. That’s not a project likely in the near future, as I’ve got many other things on the horizon, but it’s on my radar to accomplish at some point.
What’s your opinion on giving your book away to sell other copies of your book?
I haven’t found this to work well, in my experience, though I’m still new to the world of marketing and still have loads to learn. That said, I do include a couple free short stories with my author newsletter, and I feel like that can be a valuable way to give readers a sample of my writing. I’ve asked readers, and some love receiving stories and excerpts, while others don’t and would prefer just learning the behind-the-scenes on how I create my books and characters. Different readers have different preferences, so I’ve been trying a bit of everything with my newsletter to find out what they like.
What are some of the most important things you believe an author should do before their book is released?
Have a plan! I’ve never had a plan before because of a lot of my currently published titles first happened when I was younger and didn’t know better. They’ve since been majorly revamped with professional editing and covers, but I never did a proper re-release. I have a few books planned, including two omnibuses of one of my series and a brand-new YA fantasy stand-alone. For those, I’m going to study, develop a plan, find my readers beforehand, and do my best to hype the books before they come out. And I’m going to set pre-orders, which I did for my audiobook edition of Larimar, and it worked out well.
What kind of pre-promotion did you do before the book came out?
For the Larimar audiobook, I talked about the book in my newsletter, made several videos on Tiktok, and posted to other social media. It was my first time doing a pre-order and also my first time making several sales the day a book released, so the proof is in the pudding. Reaching readers before a book comes out works. I just need to keep going and get better at it.
What would you like to say to your readers and fans about your book?
I’d love readers to know that if they love adventure, magic, diverse characters, romance without any on-screen spice that my books might be their perfect next read! Especially if they love stories along the lines of Lord of the Rings, Narnia, Legend of Zelda, or Howl’s Moving Castle. I’d also love to encourage readers to check out my newsletter, where you can learn more about my books and also pick up a couple of free stories. You can do that here: https://www.authorchristineschulze.com/newsletter. If you do sign up, feel free to reply to any of the emails I send out, or you can send me a message on my website. I love hearing from readers and do my best to reply to everyone who reaches out to me.
Inside the Book
Title: Larimar: Gem of the Sea
Author: Christine E. Schulze
Publisher: KDP Publishing
Pages: 140
Genre: YA | Fantasy
A Fearless captain and a mysterious girl who walks on water. An
underwater city and a destined deadly curse. What could possibly go
wrong?
Captain Jorah is renowned for being one of the youngest explorers to
ever sail Zephyrian waters. He’s also notorious for landing his crew in
situations they hadn’t counted on, involving man-eating mermaids and
other dangerous misadventures.
When Jorah decides to search for the legendary underwater City of
Larimar, he doesn’t account for the quest that follows. After being
rescued from shipwreck by a mysterious young woman who walks on water
and carries a singing seashell around her neck, he soon finds himself
reunited with an old friend once thought lost to him. Before he knows
it, he’s caught up in a race against time to save her yet again, this
time from a looming prophecy about a deadly serpent destined to consume
her entire race.
Can Jorah help her save her people before the dark prophecy completes itself?
The Amielian Legends is a collection of stand-alone young adult books, all set in the same fantastic universe, that can be read in any order. Read Larimar: Gem of the Sea today to discover new worlds filled with adventure, diverse characters, and whimsical magic.
Amazon: https://amzn.to/44u4tQY
Audible: https://www.audible.com/pd/Larimar-Gem-of-the-Sea-Audiobook/B0BZDYVKWY
Title: Larimar: Gem of the Sea
Author: Christine E. Schulze
Publisher: KDP Publishing
Pages: 140
Genre: YA | Fantasy
A Fearless captain and a mysterious girl who walks on water. An underwater city and a destined deadly curse. What could possibly go wrong?
Captain Jorah is renowned for being one of the youngest explorers to ever sail Zephyrian waters. He’s also notorious for landing his crew in situations they hadn’t counted on, involving man-eating mermaids and other dangerous misadventures.
When Jorah decides to search for the legendary underwater City of Larimar, he doesn’t account for the quest that follows. After being rescued from shipwreck by a mysterious young woman who walks on water and carries a singing seashell around her neck, he soon finds himself reunited with an old friend once thought lost to him. Before he knows it, he’s caught up in a race against time to save her yet again, this time from a looming prophecy about a deadly serpent destined to consume her entire race.
Can Jorah help her save her people before the dark prophecy completes itself?
The Amielian Legends is a collection of stand-alone young adult books, all set in the same fantastic universe, that can be read in any order. Read Larimar: Gem of the Sea today to discover new worlds filled with adventure, diverse characters, and whimsical magic.
Amazon: https://amzn.to/44u4tQY
Audible: https://www.audible.com/pd/Larimar-Gem-of-the-Sea-Audiobook/B0BZDYVKWY
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