Andre Gress | Discovering Your Why Through Creativity

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And now your host, Joel Mark Harris.

Joel: Hello and welcome to the publishing for profit podcast. This is your host, Joel Mark Harris. Today we interview Andre Gress who is the author of a book called boon and Jack or Jack. If you’re a French, it is written under the pen name. A J Fletcher. so we talk about the launch of his new book. We talk about his inspiration, creativity and how he became a writer in the first place.

It’s a very wide ranging conversation. We talk a lot about different subjects and you will definitely enjoy this one. So without further ado here is Andre. Hi Andre. Welcome to the show.

Andre: Hi.

Joel: So I want to start off at your newest release Boone and Jack, can you tell us a little bit about the premise of that novel and what inspired it?

Andre: The premise is actually only for the first installment of an urban fantasy series. Jack in secret is the first volume. And, essentially it’s about two boys and a small urban town that uncover a hidden part of the debt town’s history. And when they do, it starts to unravel. Old history, so repeats itself.

And when it does slowly, but surely there’s a lot of fighting going on in between, old nemeses that wanted power as well. And the mayor of the town wants power too. So he cuts a deal with them and the children are caught in the middle of that, that battle. So it has, this series goes on, the children are always in the middle of this, absolute power corrupts, absolutely kind of threshold.

But for the first book, it only focuses on essentially introducing the readers to the world. There’s a lot of time to kind of, sit and get to know the characters. They just have to kind of go through this whole, you know, kind of controlled chaos.

Joel: Gotcha. And so what inspired that novel?

Andre: Honestly, Stephen King novels, especially it, when I read him and I had to read that for one of my last creative writing courses for my bachelor degree.

And I read that in seven weeks. And people were thought I was insane to read 1100 pages in that short amount of time. But what Stephen King does that has always inspired, or we could be a writer is the way he used, this is tedious detail to really engage the audience. It doesn’t really bore you, you know, not a lot of writers can do that, where.

If you write that many pages, usually you for the first 300 pages, you might get bored, but he has a way of making everything count. And that’s what I tried to do with my writing. Cool.

Joel: And for this novel you wrote under a pen name. Can you tell us why you, why you chose that route?

Andre: Honestly it’s because when I did my first two novels under my legal name, I felt like I was so.

Getting to know the craft and it’s not that I’m ashamed of my work or anything, or, put myself down all the time. But because I hadn’t really studied writing closely at that time, I felt that I needed a fresh start. So when it came up with the pen name, it wasn’t me disguising myself. It was me saying, I need a fresh start.

I want to start with this book as if it was my first one. So that people understand that I’ve gone through trial and error to feel like I’m confident enough to say I’m a writer where when I first started, I was so new to it and still transitioning from film to. To novel that my writing came off as very literal and it was kind of boring to readers that it was very like this happens and this happened.

It’s like, well, what about the characters? What are their feelings and stuff? So that’s why I felt that I don’t want readers to see me as untrained. So that’s why when it was a pending.

Joel: Gotcha. Have you always had a calling to be a writer?

Andre: No. when I was in high school, I was really confused on what I wanted.

I wanted to be a chef and then I wanted to be a journalist and then I want to be a director. but when all of those had in common and that I realized over time is that they all had to do with creativity in order to really make something of yourself in any of those domains, you have to be able to stand out.

And to me, storytelling is what allows you to do that, especially now with the, the media system being so broken and fragmented, you can’t really make a, make it to the 1%. Of writers that can really sell themselves without really trying. And in order to achieve that, you have to already establish yourself in terms of retarded audience, no traditional publisher.

Isn’t going to make a contract with you if you have no, Marketable presence, you know, it’s they see you as an empty face. If you’re an empty face, they’ll just blow by you. Like you don’t exist. That’s what I’m trying to do here. That’s why, when I took my business of writing class and we learned about all the different, Lanes, you can start with self publishing, made the most sense to me because it’s a lot of work, which means that you get to control how you come off to people.

What is your target audience? So what kind of writer do you want to be? What is your why as a, as an artist. So with all of that work that I’m doing, I’m telling traditional publishers, this is the kind of writer I am. This is the kind of audience that I have does this. Makes sense to you. Is this something you would buy into?

Because in the end they want to make money, you know, and I’ll obviously I’ll get like a small percentage of whatever they make in sales. So I have to really be able to have high numbers and I can’t do that if I don’t, you know, establish some kind of clarity.

Joel: You mentioned, having a, why, what’s your why?

Andre: When I say, what is your, why? That’s a question that my, my teachers always asked me or I’ll ask all students. And what’s really important about that question for any beginning writer is understanding your purpose as a writer, understanding why you want to do this. What is it you want to say to people?

Not as a writer, but as a person in the end, you’re human being. You’re not just some, you know, Some book reader, you’re not reading a story to people you’re telling part of who you are and part of your world. So my, why is that? I want to. Inspire hope to people to understand how to test the human spirit.

And it’s not about going through chaos all the time. It’s about being able to take a, a back seat and look at your life, as a big painting and understand how did, how did each brushstroke come into play? What is this moment in your life for that moment? Or what is your life really? And, you know, when people are what I call shoulders Ruckers, which means that they’re very kind of complacent about their life and they say they’re fine.

But to me they’re not. And because he never really went after anything. And I always not to be mean, but I don’t like toxic energy in my life. So if I have that kind of energy around me of uncertain and yeah,  I can’t have that. So when I, when I write, write, think about what is my, why I think about. How did I respond to certain things in my life?

How did I, who did it listen to? That’s really the big thing is who are you going to listen to yourself for other people? And, these two characters, Boone, and Jack that’s basically what they’re doing for the whole series is that they have all these adults surround them, but the not really giving them any guidance.

So they had to figure everything for themselves. And to me, That’s where you get the true answer to whatever hurdle you’re going through. You know, you can ask Google for advice, whether it’s a parent or friend or a loved one, but in the end, you’re the one that’s going to answer that question. So that’s what, what my story is really tell is how do you answer it, to a situation.

So, yeah, that’s my, why.

Joel: I think that’s super powerful, especially in the times that we’re going. Through right now with, with COVID and it’s very easy to fall in and listen to all those that toxic, messages out there. And, and yeah, I feel like people are more divided now than they ever have been, you know, at least in my lifetime.

And so I think that’s a, that’s a super powerful message. I don’t know if you want to comment on that at all.

Andre: Well I’d like to yeah. For every, every book that I write, I have to do research and it’s not to get some kind of like something, I don’t know. Correct. every author does that, like, let’s say you don’t know anything about politics, but you have a politician in your, in your book and you research that and talk to people.

Me, it’s more, I researched people. So for the first book I read researched, foster children cause, Jack or Jack, cause it’s spelled the French way. he’s a kid that was fostered into a rich, British family. So I interviewed, Two people that were foster children and asked them about their experience and what it was, what was it like being in the system and being in the family.

And sometimes it was positive and sometimes it wasn’t like a negative. So you’re asking about the COVID right? Well for COVID, but, but this book really does in terms of the world we’re in now, it really comes down to. How much free time do you have and what happens to your brain during their free time?

Because for me, I think it was two years ago. I was off of off work for a year and a half because of an ankle injury. And because of that, I had a lot of time to think I couldn’t go anywhere. I was literally on the couch. I’m like, what am I supposed to do? I don’t have any money. So because of that, Kind of like cornered feeling and feeling like you can’t do anything.

It really forced me to rewire my brain. What do I, what do I want to do with my life? What have I been doing? If I have I been staying in one spot, is this what this. Is this what I’ve been doing by if I put myself in a bubble that just couldn’t see. And that’s what it feels like for a lot of people that aren’t working is, you know, you’re stuck in your house all day and you’re kind of just going in the same, cause you’re used to keeping yourself busy.

So your brain has now so much time to think that it kind of drives itself insane when this is there’s going to be a bit dark. But when I’ve heard about people taking their own lives because of COVID because he just couldn’t handle it. It really hurt because it shows that people are so used to being preoccupied mentally, whether it’s through filling your head with garbage shows on television or Netflix, or, just your lifestyle or whatever, to have a break from that, and really do some self reflection.

It really forces you to evaluate yourself. But I hear that every day, whether it is COVID or not. So that’s the why. No, not to brag, but I have a level head. I’m always confronting myself. Not because I doubt myself, but because I don’t like to be stuck in an emotional, static situation where I can’t get myself out of a funk and that’s always a pain.

If you go as if it goes on for days, and then you kind of just slowly disintegrate after that. But if you ask yourself, why do I feel this way? What am I missing in my life? That’s causing me to, Stay in this state of mind. So what this book really teaches you in terms of feeling stuck, because these kids feel stuck.

Boonefield stuck because you live in this middle class home where, his father is a drunk and his mother is neglectful. So he kind of is by himself, aside from having his best friend, Jack wear jackets, even worse because he’s in a home where nothing belongs to him. Everything is given to him. It may sound nice, you know, do you have to pay for anything, but it’s nothing he wants you and go, well, he’s living with a rich family.

He’s being given things that you would find at a closing back. So. Feeling stuck is really what this book, kind of correlates with pandemic. And I I’ve actually got this book out to the UK. I actually had one of those people told me that it’s a really gripping book that kept her occupied during the pandemic.

And that’s what I want my books to be is something that engages you. In a good way. I used to, my first two novels were very dark because I was in a very dark place mentally because I, I didn’t change my mindset on life back then, but I realized, you know, when I read a book, if it’s nothing but negativity, nothing but darkness, I want to read this.

The holes are supposed to be balanced between dark and light. That’s what really happens to people. Or hopefully during COVID understanding what, what lights is is missing in your life, what happiness is and missing your new life. Is it your fault? Is it someone else’s fault? Are you pointing the finger at other people yourself?

And then maybe that’s just me, you know, I’m a very emotionally transparent person. So I think about this stuff all the time. And to me, that’s a healthy thing to, to be okay with having feelings and, and, and, this is a little bit sidetracking, but I kind of break the norm of male toxicity where these boys are.

Okay. With expressing themselves emotionally where typically a male writer will write boys as tough and kind of stupid in terms of emotions. I do the opposite here, right? From throw like what, 10, 11 years old. and they’re already kind of maturing because there’s no one there to stop them. He’s on there to, to judge them on how they express themselves.

And that’s what if I get re young readers for this? I want them to realize that that just because other boys, your age. Say you’re a sissy for crying doesn’t mean that you are one. So

Joel: I think, yeah, there’s so many good things there. And so many ways I can take it. But, you know, for me personally, I have a really hard time, especially expressing my emotions.

And it sounds like you have, you know, at least some tactics that you can help, you know, get out. Of those funks, as you say, can you describe, like if you’re in a funk, is there a way that you can surpass that or get out of that or, can alter your, your state of mind?

Andre: this is something I did only because no one could hear me because there’s so much, so much acreage, at the zoo, there are some hiding spots. So when I was first, trying to, Uncorked myself emotionally, I would go all the way in the back somewhere. And I would just scream my head off until it hurts. And then. I felt better, but it wasn’t like an end all be all, you know, it was just me holding onto something for too long and I had to just get it out.

And since then, slowly but surely I was able to be okay with, with, Anything that can, would be considered a sensitive where people will look at you. Like, can you calm down? It’s like, no, I have to get this out now so I can be calm later. And I think that’s really it. It’s when you feel low, don’t wait, don’t wait to ask someone for help.

But at the same time, don’t be afraid to ask for it. It’s okay to have to handle it yourself at first, when you have the chance. But if you feel that you can and do it on your own, then ask for help. It doesn’t have to be yeah. Therapist. It can just be your friend. You just, if you just need someone to listen to you, that’s enough because really that’s all we want.

We just want someone to listen to us. And honestly, it shouldn’t be a parent because the parents will tell you what to do or know. A friend, really, whether it’s a close friend or not, they’re just there. They’re just there to listen to you. If they have something to say, they’ll say it, but I’d rather be the one asking for, for them to say something because I don’t need advice.

And I think that was my problem is that whenever I would vent to someone, they would tell me what to do. And I am not asking you to tell me what to do. I’m I’m just, I just want you to listen. I’ve it might not resolve how I feel right away, but if I go home after I’ve talked to you, For an hour or however long I need to, then I feel better.

And that’s the kind of contrast you see between the characters where Jack is more sensitive and Boone is more of the stereotypical kind of kid, but it doesn’t stay that long. You know, they kind of feed off of each other in terms of energy and personality. And that’s really what it is. In terms of getting out of fungus, not talking to someone that’s just like, or going about your own issues, the same way it’s asking yourself.

Well, why do I still feel this way? My just going about it wrong or are they not trying enough ways? So that’s basically how I do it.

Joel: I think that’s some really good advice there. going back, so you mentioned that you weren’t sure about your path and you, whether you can be a director, a, cook, was there like a Rica moment where you’re like, I need to, to be a writer.

Andre: Yeah. after I think, I think a year after my associates degree in creative writing, I was a personal trainer for a year and I bet that didn’t work. I’m not, you have to be, you have to be a born salesman to be able to be a personal trader and be able to feed yourself. but after that, I almost completed a children’s book with a friend.

But we had opposing, processes where she was backwards. She wanted to look at statistics and see a work in the book, go in terms of money. She’s like, well, I don’t want to do the book. If it doesn’t make a top 10 and Amazon, it’s like, you know, we haven’t done the artwork yet. We haven’t really gone through enough to be able to even know who’s going to read this.

So when I’m. I was talking about this with her. And I realized that, you know, I don’t know what I’m talking about. I’m not educated enough to really say that I know better than her. I just know that I think differently and that’s not enough. That’s not really credible, credible. I want it to be credible.

That’s why I went back to school. And the reason why I was inspired to go back to school was because I realized that, you know, when her and I were. We’re putting this together. We are coming up with a message. It wasn’t just some on kids’ book. We actually had a meaning behind it. And when I realized that we’re trying to say something, I wanted to say something for myself.

So that’s why I went back at a Kwantlen Polytechnic yeah. University. And I was really hoping they had a master’s program, but they don’t of not many universities have one. I did apply to the masters for a UBC, but when they told me that there was no guarantee of work after I was like, I don’t want to spend 30 grand of tuition money with no guarantee.

but that’s really what reignited my flame but it was, it’s been a tough time since then, because I think two years before that, Five years ago, my mom passed away. This is going to sound a bit rushed, but four days after she passed away, that’s when he went to do a fast track program to be a personnel PR a personal trainer, and maybe it was her passing, but since then I was always searching for some kind of incentive to get back into writing.

But when I realized that, you know, it doesn’t, it shouldn’t take a loved, one’s passing for you to do something with your life. That always drove me nuts. When, when I see these like inspirational stories of people that got their life together, after someone passed away, it’s like, well, why didn’t you do that before?

Why did it take a tragedy for you to do something? And it didn’t want that to be the reason why I became a writer or wanting to. Yeah. Does she mean that that’s not, how can I put this? It’s not concrete enough to be a reason. It has to be your reason, not because of something that happened to you, but what is it being a, an, an artist, not a writer.

What does that mean? Hardest mean to you? Because in the end, you’re not just being a storyteller, you’re using some kind of art form to see something about yourself, because it means something to you. It’s not just you hoping someone will like what you have to offer, but that through your work, You will have made a connection with someone.

And that’s the other part of my, why as a writer is I want to connect with people. I want people to feel like they can connect with something, even if it’s just one scene, if there like a, a B character that, is going through a situation that relates to someone that’s reading the book I want. And if they can’t relate to the main characters, that’s okay.

They don’t have to, you know, someone could be reading a Harry Potter novel and could connect with someone that’s not really the main focus and that’s good. You know, that means that the writer did their job. The whole point of writing is for a writer, a reader to be like, Oh, that’s awesome. I like that. So, yeah.

Joel: Can you tell us a little bit about the children’s story and what the message behind the story? What’s?

Andre: if I remember it’s about or loosely based on Amelia Earhart, she’s the first female, Airplane flyer, right?

Andre: Yeah. Yeah. it was, it was something like that. We took this, some, it was one of the, one of the creatures.

It was one of those. I wish I can remember it. It’s kind of embarrassing. is that what it was kind of like a flying squirrel? It was one of those webbed, creatures. Yeah. Anyway, it was, it was something like that where we took. There’s a kind of strong female character and then made it kind of kitty thing.

And we had these other characters that helped her along the way. So it’s kind of like a point a to point B of a doing all this research about this person in real life. And then kind of translating that into the book. And I think the message was, Not about the whole, the female female is, is a future.

I’m sorry for laughing. But I always found that kind of a, it shouldn’t be humans. It’s the future, you know, the whole equality thing, but that wasn’t the message. It was just the whole perseverance thing. That was really it. And I think that’s the main subject that really kind of really engaged me to keep writing.

Joel: Can you tell us a little bit about the, the research that you do for your, for your books?

Andre: So I never did research actually, before I did these, this series, I, it was just went by whatever came in to my head and that’s okay. I mean, that’s what I’m doing for the third installment, but I still focus on structure and everything.

But when it comes to research, it’s not just about textbook material, but people as well, because in the end, that’s who is going to be in your book. So, like I said, I researched basically the basic Canadian system of fostering, and then I interviewed, one of my friend’s father. And then, that’s I think that’s the only research I did.

Oh, sorry. I researched classism in England and Cockney slang. Yeah.

Joel: Do you have any good expressions that you can use now?

Andre: I mean, there’s the typical ones that everyone knows, there is, they have this way of saying anyway, instead of any way, they say any road up, even, even my editor’s like, what does this mean? I’m like, And then like, when you hear about like taking the piss, I thought that was funny too, but it was really me just making sure I’m not take care lightly.

It’s not just saying, I know what this means. It’s me making sure it’s accurate so that if someone from mundane would read it, they would understand what that slang means. I didn’t want to just do some quick Google search and then just slap it in. I made that mistake with the, with, When the first two books were, I researched a Russian and one of my Russian friends is like, you know, this is wrong.

Right. I’m like, what? So that’s why research is important and making sure you understand the credibility of the source. And actually I really learned that, A year ago, I did one semester for a library information technology. And when I did that, they really taught me about like the importance of what’s in the catalog of that database.

Because if, if there’s nothing that’s peer reviewed or. Or, written by someone with credibility. There’s no understanding how credible is that source. Google is a one keyword search database. So it’s really random. There’s no, there’s no telling how credible that source is.

For the second book that I am, it’s going to be out in October. I researched, autism. I already had, an artist. I’m sorry. No one. They don’t like when you say autistic and then person and for a, sorry, it’s person first, then the disability. So a child with this, with autism in the first book. So when I did that, he was kind of a quiet character.

I didn’t do much research for the first one. He was just, of helping the characters along and their, their character arc. But in the second book, he becomes not the focus, but the kind of the end goal for the, for the characters to find him. So I researched autism, I even followed, groups on Facebook and I, I interviewed a parent that has a child, child, children, actually with autism.

And I just want to understand first off the. Physical limitation is the cognitive limitations. And she, what she essentially said is that it’s not about they’re different. Or that they have limitations is that they have a different operating system in their brain. It doesn’t mean that they’re limited in terms of social cues.

They just have a different way of, of processing things. For example, if they talk to you, they can’t make direct eye contact. And I actually, I learned that at work, there was this young girl who was working in the. The family farm. And when she was talking to you, especially when she was, when she was upset, she couldn’t look you in the eye and it’s not them being shy.

It’s just how their brain works. and when they get upset because they can’t express themselves like a neuro typical person is very hard for them. That’s why they get physical because they, they have a very hard time processing feelings. They still have them. You can tell when they’re upset. Very clear.

So I even went on YouTube and what I thought was interesting that I found that there was these autistic, sorry, children with autism that used the virtual reality software to show people what it’s like to have autism. So when I, when I saw that and I saw the show, atypical, it really struck me, you know, the, that, that feeling of knowing, knowing how you’re feeling and how you see the world.

And that’s why I felt connected to that. Cause I feel like no one understands how I see things and that when I show or tell people how I see things, they get really confused or just don’t understand. Well, I think that way. And so that’s why I wanted a character with autism because I wanted to show, you know, the difference, different ways of processing things.

Joel: And you are quite an accomplished poet as well. Can you tell us a little bit about your poetry? I didn’t

Andre: I didn’t know, I was that accomplished.

Joel: And maybe some where you get inspired for your poetry as well?

Andre: Poetry is all personal to me. I don’t really restrict for that. That’s kind of like something I do in the morning if I really need to, I took four classes in Indian university.

One was foreign poetry. Two were kind of like a workshop. So it was really all freestyle if I wanted to. And I don’t remember the fourth one, but essentially it was my choice. What I love about poetry is that it focuses you to work on what I call a minimalist writing. What’s really interesting about minimum.

Most writing is that it forces you to have not just a good flow, but good meaning within a short amount of space. So when I do that more often, it forces me to. Translate that into my novel writing so that when I write a sentence, it’s all about making each word, very kind of singing song kind of wane when you read a good book and this is why Harry Potter is so popular is that it’s so engaging and comfortable to read.

There may be some new words you might not know, especially if you’re a young kid. but there’s this very kind of. Ebb and flow kind too. And that’s what poetry is to me. And it’s about, well, all forms of writing is the truth within the lie. You know, it may not be happening in reality, but there is some truth to it.

So in terms of. What inspired me really? It’s just whatever I’m feeling at that moment. Some people think that my poetry is too dark. I’m like, Oh, you have dark days. Don’t you? I’m just okay with expressing it. I don’t care if everyone’s turned off light. I like it. there is a poem I wrote called a boil and people thought that was extreme.

Well, let’s just tell my head works. That’s the way Steve King books don’t scare me.

Joel: So you, you mentioned a little bit about, you know, your first two books, you came from a film background. can you tell us a little bit about that process and how, you went from, you know, writing for film to writing for novels?

Andre: I didn’t quite stop actually. I mean, I did for a while. but the main reason I transitioned from film to novel is it was just too competitive for me.

I liked the idea of have I’m working with other artists. I mean, I worked with a director twice and it was awful. Essentially, it came down to him wanting his story. I’m like, I don’t mind rewriting it for you if there’s something you don’t like. But the whole idea is that you hired me to write a story and then you make your little tweaks here and there visually.

And that then is your, is your vision. That’s fine. I understand that. You know, it’s your project. I’m just here to help you. but he wanted me to keep rewriting it until it was something that he liked. He was like, well, if you don’t like where originally wrote, then why am I still here? So really it’s a patience thing.

That’s the thing about screenwriting or the film industry really is that if you don’t know anybody don’t bother or at least try to find social events that will, kind of encourage you to, to connect with other people, not to get work. But you understand the industry and how people think and how difficult it is for you to find work.

And what is it that’s actually selling? What can you sell? That is, is valuable. and honestly to me, if you don’t know. Storytelling before you learned the craft of screenwriting, then there was no point cause the whole point, especially now, cause the industry is getting real picky. you have to have something concrete and unique and in order to have that, you already, you have to have a lot of practice and spend your own money doing your own little projects and eventually build enough of a resume to show.

Whether it’s a small time director, a big time director that you have something to offer, because if you just have a piece of paper, that’s nothing to them. They probably get hundreds of those and do away with them. And that’s why I stopped because I’d rather have something that is set in stone that I can put out there.

And then maybe, but in time, a producer will see something in me and say, this guy is a. He’s got he’s got something and then it kind of happens from there. I mean, the writer for the Martian, He did that all by himself, by through blog, before he wrote the book, he actually  each chapter on a blog site.

And then these actual scientists and stuff would correct him on his, his, his scientific terminology. And then he would rewrite that chapter with that knowledge. And then they said, you know, I’m sick of reading your book on a blog site. Can you put it all into one you file. And when he did. They said, okay, that’s good.

But can you put it on, on a. On Amazon or something and he did, but for a dollar and then he started really picking it up. And then by chance, a film producer saw that and then it kind of just unraveled from there. So really it’s. It’s about taking your time and being okay with that. That’s the biggest lesson I got from school, especially in my business of writing his classwork.

He, he really, the teacher really bridged the gap between the academic and real world where it doesn’t matter how talented you are as a writer, or even as an artist. No one knows who you are and no one will know who you are for a few years. And that’s okay. You don’t know when you’re going to succeed or if you, if you will, and you have to be okay with that reality.

And to keep plugging away, regardless of what your future is going to be as an artist, because it’s not about making money or getting a validation from people it’s about self validation and what your art means to you. And hopefully what means to you will mean something to someone else, whether that’s an artist or a reader or a movie or whatever, you know, no one’s going.

We really value who you are as a person and as an artist, if you don’t do that yourself,

Joel: do you have a favourite book or a book that you like to gift a lot?

Andre: It’s this one I like to give the subtleties secret. The first one, for example, actually just before this, before we started talking, I saw for Indigo, there is one copy left, and I was excited about that. So I did a little contest for all my on my Facebook page and I said, whatever buys the last copy.

And show me a picture of you buying it in the store. I will give you a free copy of the next book and sign both. So to me, it’s one or two to me gifting one or two copies of a book is, you know, if you can’t just give your money away, but you have to give a little bit of incentive to get people excited.

You know, people like free stuff. So, I’ll do that. If I do a book launch. I don’t do free copies unless I really feel that it’s important to do, or if it’s a big crowd and it hasn’t happened, it hasn’t happened yet. But if I get a big crowd, maybe I’ll do like a raffle or something and there’ll be like a gift card or something like that.

Because when you do a book launch, it’s not just about you saying, here’s my book. It’s more like, this is who I am. Let’s have some fun. Right. Yes. You can’t be very literal about everything that’s boring. So you have to kind of create some excitement, right? So that’s, that’s my process.

Joel: Awesome. Well, let’s cap it off there. Andre, if, people want to reach out to you, where can they find you?

Andre: On Facebook, you can write AIG Fletcher, which is my pen name and Facebook page for author. you can also reach me on. Amazon, I think, yeah, I’m one of those on central for the author central page. if you do reach me on my Facebook page, you can ask me for my email.

If you had a personal question, I am also on Instagram. At Greek coffee equals focus or loves that one.

Joel: That’d be great. Yeah. Great handle.

Andre: And that’s it. That’s it for reaching.

Joel: Perfect. Well, Andre, thank you so much for being on the show and for taking the time to talk to me today. have a good day.