The ADR Discord is full of a lot fun and Users/Authors/Readers/Writers/Artists who have been nominated by other users or noticed by team members for awesome and amazing accomplishments or behaviors are spotlighted in the server and through articles on our blog!
For example, you may be nominated by another user for always providing detailed and clear feedback. Or maybe you’ve been noticed by the AUDERTIST Team for awesome behavior like reporting people who are spamming the chats with promotions. Or maybe you’re an artist and a user just really likes your work. Maybe you’re a reader, and a writer always notices you comment and read so they nominate you.
Whatever it is, Users/Authors/Readers/Writers/Artists Spotlighted here have the chance to show what they’re made of. Users Spotlighted can promote their stories, talk about their writing accomplishments, talk about their favorite books or writers, or whatever they see fit for their time in the SPOTLIGHT.
SPOTLIGHT winners are added for every MONTH of the year. Previous Winners from the prior year are removed.
In the future, SPOTLIGHT winners may or may now have the opportunity to placed in a random draw for gift cards….đź’¸
~Bea ADR Blog Editor
1. Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and how you began writing? I am a software engineer by trade, but I started writing in August of 2021 (~9 months ago) out of inspiration. I watch anime so my inspiration was the original source material of anime (light novels/manga).
2. At what point did you consider yourself a writer? I started considering myself a writer once the first volume of my series was completed. Though I’m still learning all the time and love getting feedback from others.
3. How do you develop your plot and characters? I try to develop my plot all at once (as much as I can) so I can avoid plotholes. At least for the overarching storyline and progression of main events. However, I often find myself making up the fine details of arcs and major events on the spot. I keep the world (the politics, topography, relationships) in my head at all times to make sure what I just wrote makes sense and doesn’t introduce discrepancies in the story.
4. What was your favorite part about the self-publishing process? Then what was the least, if you have one? My favorite part of the self-publishing process was coordinating with my illustrators (one for the cover and another for the story illustrations). Seeing scenes come to life and characters looking how I imagined them in the story is the most fulfilling thing for me.
5. What part of your book was the hardest part to write? I’ve found different things hard across the 3 volumes of my story, but focusing on the one that’s published… I’d have to say fixing a whole arc that two of my beta readers found boring and a bit painful to get through. They said the villains should be cranked up a notch as they were too soft and the story was not impactful here. I made it my personal mission to rewrite and make it as interesting as I had planned it to be in the beginning. And I think my efforts were successful in the end.
6. Which of your characters do you relate to the most and why? I relate to the main character. I tried to make him as human as possible (keeping in mind his personality traits, his history, daily habits, and motivations) while also keeping open the potential for growth and discovery in the new world. The main character is a slobbish NEET who grew too comfortable in his daily routine of playing games and browsing memes after dropping ot out of school. I think that is something that can happen to anybody if they’re not careful. That makes him relatable to many people.
7. What would you want to tell other writers interested in Self-Publishing and those who have yet to write a full book? Go for it is the main thing. If you want to do it, then do it. Here are a few tips. Write the whole thing in Microsoft Word with chapter headings and automatically indented tabs with the Paragraph tool. Then use Kindle Create software and it will be almost perfectly formatted automatically. Another tip is: do not cheap out on the cover and make the first chapter as interesting as you can. On the Amazon page of your book, there is a “Look Inside” which will show your book cover and the first few pages of your book. That is when someone will decide to buy. But don’t take my word as fact because I’m only a 1-week-old author with 13 sales :P, so form your own opinions as well.
8.If you are planning a sequel, can you share with us a tiny bit about your plans for it? Yes, I am planning a sequel. I have one volume out but the next release of my series is scheduled for June 25 of this year. And the one after that will be a few months later. Thanks for reading. Best of luck to other authors and writers.
