Interview: Draculas' Authors

You've read the review. Now hear something of the story behind the story.

1. Draculas was written by four authors with some serious name recognition. What prompted you all to write a book together and e-publish instead of going a traditional route?

Joe had collaborated with Jeff, Paul, and Blake before, and Joe and Blake were looking for the next step up from “Serial.” A 4-way collaboration. E-publishing just seemed to make more sense for this type of project since existing contracts would have precluded us from all signing with a major publisher. And the logistics of having to wait 18 months for a final manuscript to come out really didn’t appeal to any of us. Also, the bonus content in this book really couldn’t have been done in a hardcover release. There’s as much bonus content as there is story.

2. From what little I've seen about the book, it's bucking the current trend of angsty, "nice," sparkly vampires. Any particular reason for going the dark route?

We grew up reading books where vampires were truly scary. We just wanted to bring the horror back.

3. Can you share any thoughts or ideas about the co-authoring process? For many writers, creation is a solitary process. How was the experience of working together?

We had very few disagreements. In fact, this was one of the easiest books any of us has ever written. For those interested, the last feature in the book is a collection of over 40,000 words worth of our emails back and forth to each other while we were writing the book, a kind of behind-the-scenes look at our collaboration process.

4. Any thoughts on the (seemingly) sudden explosion of e-books. They have been around for years, but it seems in just the past year to have finally reached a tipping point.

It seems like there’s finally the right technology (Kindle, Nook, iPad, etc.) and the platform (Amazon, B&N, Smashwords) to facilitate the uploading of original, digital work. We’re thrilled with it of course. This book most likely could never have happened in a world without a Kindle Store.

5. What are each of you most excited about this book or collaboration?

I think it’s safe to say we’re all mostly jazzed about the story itself (as it should be). We had a story, tone, and characters in mind when we started out, and it’s been pretty cool to see them all come to life in such horrific ways.

Thanks guys, both for the interview and for the great book!