E-mail: [email protected]
Author Notes
Hello, world! I go by J.H. Hutchins and in this section, I’d like to share with you the long, exhausting process behind the creation of Dhampir.
The basis behind everything stems from my desire to fight off depression and turn one of my passions into a “dream job.” Dhampir is my first real attempt at this dream — with a professional cover, decent blurb, interesting story, and grade A mentor (the infamous Michael Anderle!) — but it took a while to get to this point.
I started with the same dream most authors have — throw all my favorite story ideas into a brainstorm blender, outline them into interesting plots, draft them out, and then publish them to an audience that eats them up with hearty appreciation. With this type of audience, it would be possible to live off my writing.
I sought to do this the traditional way at first, but after two or so years of query failures (I’ve sent probably a thousand or so and only gotten back ten or twenty, “let’s see more,” and ZERO, “I’d like to represent you”s) I decided to look into another method that would be able to put my dreams into motion.
AMAZON!
My Amazon story began when I decided to write fourteen shorts under my
full name (Jonathan). Needless to say, the results were unsatisfactory. I thought that publishing long, chapter-length shorts every week would build an audience who would continue to come back for more. These shorts ranged between 5-15k words and most of them were released between late December of 2016 to mid-January of 2017. Though I learned a lot about keywords, Amazon promotional strategies, and how important it was to have great covers (mine were bad, completely unprofessional — but what did I expect when they were free?), I also learned that not many people want to pay .99c for only 50-100 pages of material when there are 300+ page books dominating the charts at the same price. Maybe it would work if I had an established fanbase like Stephen King, but as a nobody, I was barking up the wrong tree and wasting my time — and, frankly, everybody else’s who decided to take the chance and read it (I’m sorry!).
I had to take a step back and refresh. At first, with all the real-world obligations I had to fulfill (I’ll fill you in about my personal life over time, as that is its own long, depressing story), I was ready to give up. I took a break from writing, ignoring all the story ideas that were screaming to be released 24/7, and decided to work on my music. I thought, “Hey, maybe this could be a productive break. I’ll make the best music I can make, sell it, make it big, and then throw the funds into FB marketing or something that will help give me a platform for my writing ideas.”
When my work from four studio sessions failed to produce any fruit, I sunk even lower. I had nothing. No direction. No confidence. No success. No hope. The spark that I once had when I dreamed of releasing dozens of stories each year to an audience that loved my creations had nearly blown away entirely.
So, I was at my wit’s end. And what do you do at your wit’s end? Well, there’s plenty of options, but I decided to take the one where I said, “Screw it, what else could I possibly lose now?” Failure has a way of crushing your confidence, and after all the queries, books, songs, and real-life issues, my confidence was nonexistent.
But, for some reason, I rewrote a story idea of mine which starred a character named Minor Detective (a 111-year-old half-human, half-vampire detective living in the body of an 11-year-old boy — I intend to reintroduce this character btw). The few readers I did have liked this character the most, so I decided to give it another shot. Within hours it rose to #1 — albeit in the free section (I forget the subcategories it reached #1 in as well). It was still a .99c, 15k word story, but it rose my confidence like no other.
Oh, I should probably mention what I was doing during the month it took to write it. Basically, after having no other choice but to go big (as I refused to go home, just yet), I decided to study further about what it took to make it on Amazon. This led me to find many authors that have had success and were willing to share their stories with others. Hugh Howey, Mark Dawson, Michael Anderle, T.S. Paul — I’m looking at you! There were others too, but these authors struck me more than any. Not only did they strike Amazon success, but they did it on their own terms. Agents, publishers, and other traditional gatekeepers had no say with these indie cowboys — only their fans had the right to judge what they wanted to release, and when they chose to release it.
I reached out to a dozen authors looking to speak with them. To be honest, I had been so used to being ignored that I didn’t expect much. However, one of them contacted me back. Over a few messages in which I asked for advice, he basically accepted to be the mentor I never had. His name was Michael Anderle.
Michael is an amazing person. I don’t quite know exactly why he loves helping people climb their mountains, but he risks a lot to make it happen. I wasn’t the first, nor the last (as far as I know), person that he’s taken under his wing and provided invaluable guidance for. He did all of this while also running both a seven-figure Amazon series (The Kurtherian Gambit, for the uninitiated) AND his own indie company (LMBPN, co-owned by the phenomenal Steven Campbell) that publishes everything from TKG expansions to other authors he decided to take a chance to work with.
I was in the latter category when I reached out to him and was offered a deal to work with LMBPN. By that point, I had nothing. In my time of need, he decided to give me a shot to write books for money and hopefully, by the end of our contract, create the foundation for my own empire.
After finishing the Minor Detective bit and receiving my very first 5-star review from one of Michael’s beta readers, I moved on to create a brand new IP to signify the fresh chance I was given to accomplish my dream. From July of 2017 to January 2018, I had the chance to turn my life around.
Yet again, I failed.
After all the funding, advice, and connections Michael set me up with, I failed to produce a single story for LMBPN within the six months (and then three extra months I begged for and was thankfully given — so technically nine) we worked together. I had trouble balancing deadlines and perfectionism, and though I wrote nearly 500k+ words of drafts, I would throw them all away, swearing that nobody under his massive platform would want to read such “garbage.”
It was a nightmare. There wasn’t a single day where writing wasn’t on my mind, 24/7, but yet I had nothing to show for it. I had no friends. I barely spent time with my family, and whenever I did it never went well since all I could talk about was my writing failures. I couldn’t watch T.V. or Youtube without wanting to rip my eyes out due to my incompetence (since I always dreamed of one day having a series people cared about like Game of Thrones or the Marvel Cinematic Universe). I couldn’t speak to the other wonderful authors in the LMBPN circle since I felt unworthy of being in the presence of those who write for a living (and take deadlines seriously). They were perfect examples of the “Amazon Indie Success,” I dreamed of conquering, so I was very afraid of being called out as a fraud for not accomplishing anything in the entirety of my LMBPN saga. Even before that, I was afraid to say much to anyone besides Michael and a few others since I had nothing to show as a backlog besides a bunch of failed projects.
So, now you can better understand why it’s a relief for me to say that I’ve finished Dhampir. Not a successful query. Not a 15k word book. But a full-length, 80k word vampire romance novel with characters I actually care about.
Characters like Brenden and Rebecca where I try and find a million excuses to avoid the fate destiny forced me to sketch out for them. Characters like Lincoln and Natas with dark pasts, and even darker futures, that I can’t wait to explore should this series light a match in the hearts of my readers. Characters like Mallory and Jayce who I expect to fall into more power, steamier love scenes, and even more Gothic trouble should they reunite and follow the path of their desires.
This story has always been my abstract way of looking at a vampire romance — or the entire romance g
enre in general. I got the idea just after my contract with LMBPN was officially over, which was a rather inconvenient time, to say the least. Immediately afterward, I brainstormed, outlined, drafted, and now published my dream book with very little obstacles. Everything just fell into place this time, and I’m grateful for everything despite it not going the way I predicted at all. People have always told me to allow the universe to “work for you,” instead of trying to control everything, so it was refreshing to just write everything out so freely this go-around. I still have my doubts, but things are different now. For once on this journey, I feel grateful for each and every failure that led me to this point. And if Dhampir exceeds my expectations, then each and every one of those failures will transform into stepping stones that were crucial to achieving the characters, readers, and life I have been dreaming of since I can remember.
All of my “failures” led to this moment. Even if I am ridiculed, criticized, or relinquished from ever being considered a “serious author,” I will revel in the fact that I gave it my all and continued to persevere even when it made sense to give up and move on.
The most important thing I want to do here is thank you. I will strive to connect with each and every reader/fan/supporter that sacrifices their precious time to delve into my creations. YOU are the reason I would choose to continue with the series. Great feedback would be even more important than money in my eyes, and I would never forget to appreciate this gesture and treat you as one of the friends I desperately wanted throughout my life.
I’ll prove this as time goes on, but check below for my email and never forget that I am here for YOU. Whatever you want to talk to me about, I am all ears. I don’t care how strange, nerdy, or personal it is. I intend to build a strong relationship with my fans that someday evolves into its own network of artists that do what Mr. Anderle did for me. As our network grows, I will look into even more ways for us to connect beyond email (Website, Facebook, Reddit, Discord, etc.) that could be beneficial in aiding everybody’s dream. I know how desperately I wanted somebody to hear out all my crazy thoughts, and I hope I can do the same for countless others as time goes on. If nobody else has told you this today, then I will: I love you!
So, if you want to help a 24-year-old nobody become a prolific somebody, then spread the word about Dhampir. There’s so much more about my life, the future of where I want to take the series, etc. that I could go on and on about, but I’ll just end it here. I’ll leave a blurb to the second book below (I already have books two through six fully outlined). Hopefully, I get to writing it sooner, rather than later, but we’ll see how things play out in these first few weeks.
Thank you!
Leave A Review
Please leave an honest review of Dhampir before leaving. Reviews mean a lot to authors — especially new ones like myself. It’s a good system to assess the quality of products before spending your hard-earned money on them. The more reviews a book receives, the better fans can feel about knowing that their expectations will be met upon adding another book to their literary collection. Thank you very much, and I hope that my characters have left a lasting impression that you’ll never forget!
I Love You!
If you haven’t heard this in a while just know that I love and appreciate everything about you. You may do, or have done things, that you regret, but I forgive you and want to see you become the better you that we both know is possible within this short lifetime we’ve been blessed with. Pass down the love and tell somebody, anybody, that you love them, too. Multiple people would be great, but telling just one person would brighten up their day [even if they try and play it off like it doesn’t matter — trust me, it does(!), no matter what they say].
So, again, I love you! Thanks for everything!
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