Q & A with International Bestseller M.J. Rose

Books on the House is thrilled to welcome M.J. Rose to our community of readers!  M.J. Rose, is the international bestselling author of 10 novels;Lip Service, In Fidelity, Flesh Tones, Sheet Music, Lying in Bed, The Halo Effect, The Delilah Complex, The Venus Fix,The Reincarnationist, and The Memorist.

Rose is also the co-author with Angela Adair Hoy of , and with Doug Clegg of .

She is a founding member and board member of International Thriller Writers and the founder of the first marketing company for authors: AuthorBuzz.com. She runs two popular blogs; Buzz, Balls & Hype and Backstory.

BotH:

I’m thrilled to welcome you as a featured author on Books on the House, MJ.  Thank you for being here.  Why don’t you start by telling us about your latest release and our featured book this week, The Memorist.

MJ:

Thanks. The Memorist was a People Magazine Pick of the Week  and the second book in my non-series series. By that I mean all these books are historical and modern day suspense novels that have something to do with the idea that there are a dozen lost ancient memory tools that reincarnationists want to find. The tools were aids in helping people enter deep states of meditation which is how those who believe in reincarnation, believe we can remember our past lives.

The Memorist is about an ancient flute that might be linked to Beethoven, a young woman who can’t forget music she can’t quite remember, an Israeli journalist who has lost everything and wants revenge and a kabbalistic scholar. All their lives – past and present meet and merge in Vienna in the present and in the early 1800s.

BotH:

It sounds fascinating!

You’re so great at highlighting and helping other authors showcase their books.  How did you get started as a writer?

MJ:

Getting published has been an adventure for me. I self-published Lip Service late in 1998 after several traditional publishers turned it down. My agent said the editors had loved it, but didn’t know how to position it or market it since it didn’t fit into any one genre.

Frustrated, but curious and convinced that there was a readership for my work, and against my agent’s advice, I set up a web site where readers could download my book for $9.95 and began to seriously market the novel on the Internet.

I was the creative director of a 150 million dollar ad agency – I knew how to do it.

After selling over 2500 copies (in both electronic and trade paper format) Lip Service became the first e-book and the first self-published novel chosen by the LiteraryGuild/Doubleday Book Club as well as being the first e-book to go on to be published by a mainstream New York publishing house. Pocket Books bought it 3 weeks later. They had been one of the publishers who’d given it one of those rave rejections.

BotH:

You have done quite a bit of freelancing/journalism, as well.  What do you like about writing nonfiction?

MJ:

I actually don’t- I did it to learn the publishing biz. I didn’t like being a small fish in a big pond and my background was advertising. I figured if I became a journalist specializing in publishing I could interview everyone and get to who was who fast. So that’s what I did. I like helping authors though – and pointing out the oddities, ironies and irrationality of business – so occasionally I still write some non-fiction.

BotH:

You had a lot of success with Lip Service as an e-book and self-published book.  Having experienced several publishing platforms, what are your thoughts on the changing industry, growth of books in digital format, and self-publishing?

That would take a few hours. But I find it very exciting and wish everyone would approach change as positive as not get hysterical. Change gives us a change to be innovative and create solutions we never would have gone in search of if not for the challenge.

BotH:

You’ve written 11 novels.  What’s next for you?

MJ:

The 12^th. I’m working on it now. My 11^th – The Hypnotist – which I’m very excited to say is my third Indie Next pick and starred PW review in a row – is out May 1. It’s in the world of reincarnation and historical suspense again and again is a stand alone in my non-series series. It’s about a 1500 year old piece of sculpture from ancient Greece of the God Hypnos and the battle to find out who its true owner is. It takes place in New York City – a lot of it at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Ancient Greece, Persia and Paris. It’s got everything in it that I like to read – adventure, culture, suspense and even a love story. It’s my favorite of all my books. (Except from reading old interviews I see I say that about which ever one is about to come out

BotH:

MJ, it’s been great chatting with you!  Best of luck with your upcoming projects and with AuthorBuzz.

MJ:

Thank you, and to you.

***

Learn more about MJ Rose by visiting her website and Author Buzz.