SPFBO Author Interview: James Dulin

What inspired you to write your SPFBO entry? Is there a particular story, personal experience, or idea that sparked this book?

I am a person who lives inside my head, and for years, I have expressed that inner voice/conversation/debate through writing. Originally, it started with poetry, but then I decided to try my hand at writing a story.

While I was playing around with another idea for a novel, I started thinking about the concept of sin eaters—beings who can literally consume another being’s sin. There is something so intriguing about this idea for me, which made my brain obsess about how to incorporate it into a story. That snowballed into a magic system in which some magic users could consume other people’s magic.

As that kicked around my head, I started to think about the type of story I would tell with a magic system in which one’s magic could be stolen. This concept made me think about how that mirrors the ways colonialism stole people’s culture, something so innately a part of them, much like I would imagine magic would be to a magic-user. These ideas bashed around in my head until they started to look something like a story.

How would you describe your writing process? How did it evolve during the creation of this book?

This was my first book, so my process was less of a process than a dash to get something on the page. I had tried to write a novel previously, but I got stuck in an endless loop of editing the few chapters I had written. So, I wrote whatever came to mind and drove the story towards the next plot point I had dreamed up. It was such a mess when I finished it, but it was a complete story.

In my first few attempts at editing, I started to incorporate elements of a bunch of books that I enjoy, which led to a mess of a different sort, complete with quippy footnotes.

However, as I studied the books that I loved and why I loved them, I started to chip away at the mess of a story I had constructed and find what I really wanted to say. I learned how to build out tension and construct character arcs with more intention.

By the time I published, I had 10 complete drafts of No Heart for a Thief. I would never suggest it was the most efficient way to come to my story, but I am proud of what I ended up with.

What challenges did you face during the writing or publishing process, and how did you overcome them?

The biggest challenge I faced in the publishing process was building a team. In self-publishing you need editors, cover artists, beta readers, and sensitivity readers. Some people have more or less elements in the teams they build out, but the idea is the same—you have to find people to work with to make your story shine.

The first time I tried to engage beta readers, I went out to people I knew. Then I listened to a random author on YouTube and overburdened them with feedback cycles and questionnaires. None of them got very far into the book with that approach.

In another set of missteps, one of the editors I hired ghosted me, and the first cover designer I hired used other people’s work in their “portfolio.” Luckily, I was able to get most of my money back, but these issues took time out of my schedule, made it difficult to trust people, and caused me a huge amount of stress.

When I connected with other authors who had been through the process and asked them for suggestions, I found some great people to be on my team.

Who are your biggest literary influences and how have they impacted your writing style?

My favorite genre to read outside of fantasy and scifi is literary fiction. I tend to gravitate to stories that focus on internalized or localized stakes, even in books in which the world is burning down around the main characters. Books like A Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini and Native Sun by Richard Wright have stayed in my mind so clearly through the years because they took a central character and allowed the reader to live through their experience.

Within fantasy, there are authors who do this extremely beautifully, like Robin Hobb in the Farseer Trilogy. In Farseer, Hobb takes this localized approach while giving the reader this expansive world with complex politics and magical consequences, which helps us see the world through a particular lens.

That is what I attempted to do with No Heart for a Thief. The series expands into the greater conflict as we move forward, but it will always have a locus in the experience of these characters who are not the political leaders of the world.

How do you approach world-building in your fantasy novel? What elements do you think are essential for a compelling fantasy setting?

World building should be necessity based as much as possible. As a reader, I love discovering the world as I read. I don’t need every detail about the world and how it works in every scene. I need just enough that the scene I am in is clear. Whatever questions I have should feel like a mystery rather than confusion. I try to create that experience for my readers because writing is as much about what you don’t include as it is about what you do.

Essential elements depend on what the story demands. In political fantasies, readers need to understand the goals of political factions, the potential consequences of different people gaining power, and what those people will be willing to do to gain power. In battle-centric fantasies, people need to understand the mechanics of your fighting and magic to follow the battle scenes. In a more insular fantasy like No Heart for a Thief, I think people need to understand how the characters interact with the world above all else. If magic, politics, history, or nature dramatically affect the character we are with, readers need to understand those elements as the character would.

If you could give a piece of advice to the main character in your book at the start of their journey, what would it be?

Kaylo, you are not the center of the world. Everything that has happened to you and to those you care for is not your fault. They need your love, compassion, and care more than they will ever need your shame and guilt.

As a self-published author, how do you navigate marketing and promoting your work?

Trial and error. There is an element of luck in finding an audience as a self-published author, but if you try enough things something will work. So I put myself out there on TikTok, I say yes to co-hosting a podcast, I try ads on different platforms, I reach out to do spotlight articles like this one. I try to take on what I can when I can and give it a shot.

The underlying truth that I approach my marketing with is that readers are more important than sales numbers as a debut author. That means I was very liberal with the advanced reader copies I gave out, I had a free ebook sale in which I gave out over 2500 books, and I sell my ebook for $0.99 on Amazon. I try to make it easy for readers to give my work a chance. That will lead to more reviews and hopefully more readers for my future books.

The last thing I do is I try to engage with everyone who reaches out or posts something positive about my book. While I stay on my side of the author/reviewer line, and I don’t creep into reviewer spaces as much as possible, I try to remain accessible. Sometimes marketing is simply thanking someone on twitter for kind words.

What made you decide to participate in the SPFBO competition? How do you think this experience will benefit you as an author?

There are a lot of ways to handle this question, but I am going to try to strip away all the gift wrapping and answer it directly. There are two main reasons I entered SPFBO.

SPFBO is a huge platform. I didn’t self-publish my book to make money. It would be nice and afford me more time to write, however, unless you are the right combination of lucky, good, and hardworking, this isn’t a good avenue to make money. Although I think I have talent and I work hard, the luck part isn’t up to me.

No, I got into self-publishing because I wanted to share stories with people. SPFBO is a great way to reach people and get your book in front of them, even if you don’t become a finalist.

Secondly, on a base level, I have a need for external validation. I think a lot of writers do, even if we wish we didn’t. Life would be much easier without this need, but having other people validate your work helps alleviate some doubts, which makes competitions very enticing.

There are lots of benefits to doing SPFBO. Connecting with other writers is amazing, and sharing this experience with them makes it worthwhile. That is why I have joined writing communities, but SPFBO was mainly about finding readers and hoping judges would tell me they liked my book. It sounds self-indulgent, but it’s true.

If you were to win SPFBO, what impact do you think this would have on your writing career?

It’s hard to say exactly. If I look at authors who have won it in the past, some of them have gone on to traditionally publish their books. Others have had huge boosts in their indie author profiles, with wildly successful Kickstarter campaigns for special editions. SPFBO has the ability to launch someone into a completely different level of writing career.

I don’t know if I would like to join traditional publishing or not, but I know that winning this competition would allow me to share Kaylo’s story and many others with a wider audience. It’s hard to be a storyteller without an audience.

What's next for you after SPFBO? Are there any upcoming projects you can share with us?

 This fall I will be publishing No Safe Haven, the sequel to No Heart for a Thief. Of course I am biased, but I think No Safe Haven goes above and beyond what I was able to do with No Heart for a Thief. It takes the world and characters from book one and gives them more depth while continuing to reveal the mysteries about Kaylo’s past.

 It is currently with my copy editor now, and my cover art just came through. Now all I have to do is work out the timeline and set a release date.

Readers can also expect Only a Grave Will Do, Malitu Book 3, by the end of 2024.