Sunday, November 8, 2015

Author Interview - (Chris Mason) (Entrepreneur in a Box A Guide to the Best Ways to Make Money on the Internet)

Book Description from ITunes.: Are you one of the millions having trouble making ends meet. If you are slowing nodding agreement on the inside then Entrepreneur in a Box: A Guide to the Best Ways to Make Money on the Internet may just be what you’re looking for. If you have a skill or clutter that needs to find a new home than this book can help you. The book has websites where people can sell their:
Cars and car parts
Graphic arts 
Homemade fabric
Inventions
Music
Produce
Unwanted clutter
Unwanted gift cards 
Writing
Plus much more
Entrepreneur in a Box a Guide to the Best Ways to Make Money on the Internet even has a section on crowdfunding because sometimes people need a little help achieving their goals. So pick up a copy of Entrepreneur in a Box: A Guide to the Best Ways to Make Money on the Internet and put that skill or unwanted clutter to work for you today


What inspired you to start writing, and when?

 Due to the fact that all my children went to an online charter school, I had to find ways to save money and found many free resources through the internet. In fact I still think it is funny when I first asked my daughter’s teachers for resources that could help her when she first entered the world of online schooling, I only received 3 websites. I thought 3 websites from 6 teachers was a sad state of affairs, so Tutor in a Box was born. That was years ago now. My eldest daughter was in sixth grade then, now she is a sophomore in college.

My other books were born out of two things that happened at the same time. First, my family had to give up cable to save money but my kids still wanted to see the then popular That’s so Raven. Second, my mother came up with Mason Day to teach my kids that they did not need a lot of money to give someone a nice gift. Mason Day was when a person was assigned a family member and had to make them something, spending only 20 dollars. My thought was “Oh my God”. I had no artistic skills like my daughters’ and could not build things like my son, but I did have impressive research skills. So the “In the Box” series of books was born.


What is your preferred genre? I like classic science fiction and romance.

How many books have you written?  If more than one, are any a series…or trilogy? All the “In the Box” books are reference guides to the best free stuff in a particular area. The series currently includes:
·                 Tutor in a Box - A guide to free educational resources.
·                Book Store in a Box - A guide to free print and audio books.
·                Arcade in a Box – A guide to free video games.
·                Video store in a Box – A guide to free Television and Movies.
·                Record Store – A guide to free music
·                           Production Studio in a Box: The Guide to make DVD, CD Websites and other Media at Low or No Cost
  •      App Store in a Box: A Guide to the Best Free Applications for Mobile Devices on the Internet
·                     Entrepreneur in a Box:  A Guide to the best Free Websites to Make Money


Tell us a little about your book. Entrepreneur in a Box came about because no one will hire me and I was trying to find ways to make money because I am broke with the big B. so I put all the free ways to make money together in an eBook.

Do you have plans for a new book? Yes but not for a while my next book is going to be a survival guide for truckers kind of like the What to Expect When Your Expecting but for new truckers.

1    Is there an Author that you would really like to meet? Jennifer Crusie

Was there an Author who inspired your writing?
My favorite authors are Jennifer Cruise, Janet Evanovich, Robert Heinlein, Isaac Asimov, Philip José Farmer and Steve Berry and no they have not influenced my writing.


Do you plot or write by the seat of your pants?
I set up an outline but make changes as needed.

Did you have an editor edit your books? No, Unfortunately.

Do you prefer eBooks, paperbacks or hardcover? At this time I prefer eBooks as they or cheaper to produce and go well with the nature of my books.

Where do you prefer to buy your books? I prefer to buy my books at actual book stores when possible.

Are you a self- published (Indie) Author? Yes I am. I publish through Smashwords.

What books would you like to read again? My two favorite books are Door Into Summer and Agnes and the Hitman.

Is there a particular movie that you preferred over the book version? Yes, To Kill a Mockingbird.

What book are you currently reading and in what format (eBook/paperback/hardcover)? I just finished Odds On by Michael Crichton and Indexing by Seanan Mcguire both via audiobook.

Who designed the cover of your book? All my covers for the In the Box books were designed by a man named Nat through Fiverr.com. He also does the formatting of my books to make them complaint for Smashwords.

Do you find yourself intrigued by the cover of a book enough to buy it? No

Do you have any advice for other writers starting out? This is a multipart answer.

A.        Write what you love and are passionate about, if you care about it others will because your passion will leap off the page.
B.        Don’t write about what’s popular on Amazon. Stand out and be different.
C.        Have your audience in mind as you write it helps keep you focused.
D.        Match your subject matter to your deliver system. Not every book is good for every format. For example the “In the Box” series would not be good for the audio format due to its online nature.
E.        Don’t be afraid to outsource parts of the writing process that are outside your skill set. For example I outsource my cover creation and formatting. This way I can just focus on the writing. This includes marketing as well.
F.         Lastly as corny as it sounds believe in yourself. In the immortal words of Ed Wood “just write, if it is bad it will get better and if it is good it will become great just keep writing

Do you write under a pen name? No but should I become famous maybe then.

Do you ever write in your PJ’s? It depends on the weather. I live on an 18 wheeler that goes cross country. So sometimes I just write in my birthday suit if say it is 115 in Nevada but mostly its sweatpants and T shirts.

What are your pet peeves? People who don’t answer the question asked but answer with something out of the blue or having to put up with a lack of the common sense people should have been born with.

You are trapped on a tropical island - who would you like to be stranded with?
A question I always ask that is similar is if you could invite any six people who ever lived throughout history to a dinner party who you would invite. My answer: Leonardo De Vinci, Mark Twain, Jesus, Buddha, Ben Franklin PT Barnum.

Pick one - Wine, Chocolate or shoes? None of those but an endless supply of excellent cold coffee would be great.

Cats or dogs? Dogs
What is your favorite food and beverage? Coffee and Chicken Parmesan

How many hours per day do you try to devote to research and writing? It depends on how bumpy the roads are, the weather, if there is internet and if I am in the mood.

What are 3 things you never leave home without (apart from keys, money and phone)? My wheelchair, a picture of my wife, my Access card.

Sleep in or get up early? Get up early

Laptop or desktop for writing? Laptop for writing.

Your favorite gadget? My laptop

Where and when do you prefer to do your writing? I prefer coffee shops but since I live on a big rig I write when and where I can.

Your thoughts on receiving book reviews - the good and the bad – I sometimes get mad when I get nailed by a reviewer for things I can’t control like how my book appeared on their device or if the review is negative or non-sense for a bad review I gave the reviewer. The good reviews are nice but for me they don’t increase sales and besides either way everyone is entitled to their opinion. Either way a review tells me people are reading what I write.

Do you have a bucket list? Yes but I will only tell you one thing on it. To get to the Monopoly championships held in Monte Carlo.

One of your favorite quotes – A classic is a book everyone praises but no one reads. Mark Twain.

List 3 of your favorite movies? Those would be What’s Up Doc, Now You See Me and Vanishing Act.

What is a movie or TV show that you watched just recently and really enjoyed? I liked Terminator Genisys.

Where can your readers stalk you? My readers may contact me via email found in my books.

Is your book in Print, eBook or both? As stated before all my books are available via eBook.

Do you give free eBooks away in exchange for honest reviews? No but Record Store in the Box is always free.

Book links:

 Video Store in a Box Book Links


Arcade in a Box Book Links



Book Store in   Box Book Links


App in a Box Book Links


Production Studio a Box Book Link

 


 

Entrepreneur in a Box Book Links



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