{"id":7068,"date":"2016-06-30T22:15:15","date_gmt":"2016-06-30T12:45:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ezramagazine.com\/?p=7068"},"modified":"2016-06-30T22:15:15","modified_gmt":"2016-06-30T12:45:15","slug":"dr-jarrad-b-elson-interview","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ezramagazine.com\/?p=7068","title":{"rendered":"Dr. Jarrad B. Elson | Interview"},"content":{"rendered":"

Currently working as a dentist in South Australia, Dr. Jarrad B. Elson is going against the norm and is self-publishing his first children\u2019s book, \u2018Cheetah the Cheater\u2019. Through persistence, hard work, research and hours upon hours of writing, Dr Elson has finished his part in the <\/span>publishing process<\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Now, illustrator Erica Tcogoeva <\/span>and<\/span> book designer Bruno <\/span>Herfst, with Dr Elson\u2019s input, <\/span>are in the process <\/span>of creating the final product<\/span>; ready for publication in several months time. In our interview with Dr Elson, we explore how self-publishing can be a difficult yet rewarding task and how persistence and determination <\/span>can ultimately<\/span> pay off.<\/span><\/p>\n

With any project that creators invest their time in, there will always be mental, physical and emotional barriers that <\/span>need to be overcome<\/span>. As for the challenges of writing Cheetah the Cheater, Dr Elson said <\/span>one of the hardest <\/span>was <\/span>getting<\/span> the first few words <\/span>written down <\/span>on paper.<\/span><\/p>\n

“I actually gave up straight away the first time I sat down to write it, because I couldn\u2019t think what style or rhythm I would use, or even if it was going to rhyme,” Dr Elson said.<\/span><\/p>\n

“B<\/span>ut once I started and had an initial rhythm, writing the first \u2013 albeit terrible \u2013 draft, flowed reasonably easily.”<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Erica<\/a>
Erica Tcogoeva’s concept illustrations for Cheetah the Cheater<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In regards to self publishing, Dr Elson said there has been a \u201chuge step forward\u201d for self publishers with the advent of affordable print-on-demand services such as <\/span>Lightning Source<\/span> and Createspace. Dr Elson also said the<\/span> \u2018publishing\u2019<\/span> part of self-publishing is easy; it is the marketing <\/span>and selling<\/span> that is <\/span>difficult<\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n

“Without a quality product, and without implementing\u00a0<\/span>marketing and distribution, you will end up with a pile of books in your house that you cannot even give away,” he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

“Even if you were able to somehow get your book into stores, your book is up against literally tens of thousands of other books, all produced by professional companies to very high standards.<\/span><\/p>\n

“So without putting in the time, effort and resources to create a top quality book, you can be sure that it\u2019s not going to be able to compete.<\/span><\/p>\n

“You have to know how to market yourself; you have to be business savvy, tech-savvy and you have be able to co-ordinate people.<\/p>\n

“You have to make connections\u00a0and essentially, you have to become an \u2018authorpreneur\u2019 – and many people are simply not cut out for this.”<\/p>\n

\"Illustration<\/a>
Illustration by Erica Tcogoeva.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

But self-publishing was not the first path idealised by Dr Elson, as originally he set his mind on gaining a publishing contract. However, as he soon learned, gaining a traditional publishing deal as an unknown children\u2019s author is <\/span>so rare that it is<\/span> \u201clike winning the lottery.\u201d Furthermore, if Dr Elson had managed to gain a publishing deal, it would have been a double-edged sword.<\/span><\/p>\n

Although there are positives in publishing with a large <\/span>publishing<\/span> house <\/span>–<\/span> an upfront payment, a professional editing and illustration team, and royalties from future sales –<\/span> the downfalls seemed to outweigh the positives for Dr Elson. The traditional publishing method requires most authors to sign <\/span>over the<\/span> rights to the story to the publishing company, <\/span>which means that<\/span> the author is then not allowed any input into the production and sales of the book.\u00a0<\/span>Furthermore, the financial rewards for the typical book with average sales are not\u00a0enticing. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe royalties that you can expect to get paid on sales is almost next to nothing. Out of every book sold in a bookstore, the author can expect to receive about five percent.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

There are several reasons why a traditional publishing deal for a rhyming children\u2019s book is so difficult to obtain. Publishing houses will take on books that they believe have a high chance of turning a profit, which is much more difficult with picture books. Upfront costs are high, with book design and illustration, and full colour printing costs are high. Furthermore, the market size is generally much smaller, so there will likely be many less sales compared to novels aimed at older audiences.<\/span><\/p>\n

‘I think it\u2019s always worthwhile submitting your work to traditional publishers on the off-chance that they pick it up,” Dr Elson said.<\/p>\n

“But it\u2019s an insanely competitive field out there to get your story published and into bookstores.”<\/p>\n

\"gadgets<\/a><\/p>\n

As with any large project, homework, reading or writing a book, there will always be challenges and roadblocks in your path. But Dr Elson said the first thing to do, is “just do it.”<\/p>\n

“So many\u00a0people have ideas in their minds about something they would \u2018maybe\u2019 like to do \u2018one day\u2019, they never actually take that first step,” he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

“There are so many people that actually do take that first step and write their first page, but then lose interest and forget about it. <\/span><\/p>\n

“Writing a book is an endurance race. <\/span><\/p>\n

“It\u2019s going to take some constant, sustained effort to make anything happen.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Dr Elson says that the support from his friends and family for the project has been generally strong, but there are often times when people question his desire to \u2018do something different\u2019.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMost of my friends are very supportive when I tell them about my ideas, but there are always people that don\u2019t really see it as a good thing when people are doing things that \u2018go against <\/span>the grain\u2019<\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThese are the people that think people should go to uni, get a good job, get married, buy a house, have kids, work for forty years and then retire; <\/span>and <\/span>anyone who does any different is putting themselves at huge risk of failure.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Illustration<\/a>
Illustration by Erica Tcogoeva.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In regards to working as a dentist full time and working on a children\u2019s book concurrently, Dr Elson said he thoroughly enjoys working on something outside of his <\/span>\u2018normal\u2019 <\/span>career. <\/span>While<\/span> some people enjoy hobbies like surfing, golf, <\/span>or hiking<\/span>, Dr Elson <\/span>is all about<\/span> learning and improving himself as a person. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018Cheetah the Cheater\u2019 has evolved into something much bigger than he originally thought, and although working and wanting to self-publish the book may be seen as \u2018odd\u2019, Dr Elson said <\/span>that he has<\/span> an innate desire <\/span>to strive<\/span> for more than what is required and expected.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not satisfied by <\/span>just being<\/span> \u2018normal\u2019 \u2013 I\u2019ve always had the urge to do something different and achieve something \u2018special\u2019,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI really hope this book could be that something.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Watching the book grow from an idea into a reality has been a highlight for Dr Elson. The steep learning curve of writing, making connections, managing a team and understanding <\/span>the intricacies of<\/span> rhythm and rhyme <\/span>has been difficult but rewarding.<\/span> If he had the chance, Dr Elson said he would do it all over again.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve always enjoyed creative writing<\/span>, and I found that writing in rhythm and rhyme was incredibly difficult but a lot of good fun. Trying to<\/span> rearrange the words in each stanza to rhyme, and flow, and fit with each other was almost like a puzzle that I had to solve,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI think you have to be the right personality to do it; I enjoy problem solving and I\u2019m damned persistent, <\/span>so <\/span>for me it was actually an enjoyable process.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m really hoping that this book is going to be around for a long time, so I guess another exciting aspect is leaving a legacy that will be around for longer than <\/span>I am<\/span>!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

If you would like to follow Dr. Elson’s progress and read more about how he developed ‘Cheetah the Cheater’, you can visit his website and social media pages which are linked below.<\/p>\n

www.drjarradbelson.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Dr Jarrad B. Elson on Facebook<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Currently working as a dentist in South Australia, Dr. Jarrad B. Elson is going against the norm and is self-publishing his first children\u2019s book, \u2018Cheetah the Cheater\u2019. Through persistence, hard work, research and hours upon hours of writing, Dr Elson has finished his part in the publishing process. Now, illustrator Erica Tcogoeva and book designer Bruno Herfst, with Dr Elson\u2019s input, are in the process of creating the final product; ready for publication in several months time. 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