This week we’re joined by Greg Seymour from Appalachian Trail Tales who quit his job to become intentionally unemployed and then relocated to Costa Rica and wrote two books about the experience.
He’s now on the move and intent on putting copious hiking miles under his soles and writing about the experience. Find out how he decided to self-publish his two Costa Rica guides and his plans for an writing and self-publishing a hiking guide series, using the do and then write method. He also provides a insightful glimpse at how he effectively uses social media to reach his audience. ~~ Jay
Author Interview: Greg Seymour
How would you describe the type of books/genre you write?
The books I have written, as well as those I have planned, all fit nicely in the travel-writing genre—with a side of memoir and humor thrown in for added flavoring.
What motivated you to start writing?
In 2013 my wife and I left corporate America (in our early 40’s) and moved to Costa Rica. We didn’t really have a strategy to earn money, we were just looking for an exit from the earn-more spend-more lifestyle that most people call the American Dream. After arriving in Costa Rica we each started a blog to recount our experiences being retirees in Central America.
What initially started as a way to keep family and friends apprised of our new life turned into something quite different. Our blogs gained an audience of like-minded people and the books were a natural extension of the blogs. Neither my wife nor I were writers in our previous life, but we both ended up enjoying stringing sentences together in a way that helped and entertained others.
Tell us the journey you went on to get your books published (e.g. direct on your website, self-published, assisted-publishing, traditional publisher)
We chose to self-publish. The reason was simple; we had built our own audience so why would we pay a publisher to find buyers for us? Our strategy worked well and we each have best sellers on Amazon for Central America travel. We found publishing on Kindle, for the eBooks, and through CreateSpace, for paperbacks, to be manageable for our tech-level. And after the first book it was quite easy to format and publish the next one.
What publishing elements do you most enjoy and most like to avoid, and why? (e.g. design, marketing, formatting etc.)
We are quite frugal, so it really doesn’t matter what we like or don’t like, if we have the capabilities to do something we do it. We design our own covers, format our eBooks and print books, and do our own marketing. We do have an incredible editor who is worth her weight in gold.
What tips or advice would you give an aspiring indie author who is looking to self-publish?
Do it … then find a good editor. Also, start a blog to gain an audience and build community before publishing. Think about it, people who read what you write on your blog clearly like your subject and how you approach it. Also, it is likely that you have communicated with them through the comment section and by email. Because of this, having your book on their shelf or on their e-reader is extra special.
Having a blog can also expose you to other bloggers in your field who can help you publicize your book after it is written via, guest posts, interviews, and profiles. Building relationships with others in your subject space seems harder than it is. It’s all about communication. Connecting through social media and on their blog, commenting, adding value, pumping them up and helping where you can, is often all it takes to turn a connection into a valuable resource.
Our blogging has not only let us make business connections, but many of these have become true friends. We share a common interest and can help each other win the game of life. In addition to helping with the marketing of our books our networking has allowed me to make a presentation to over 300 people, write for International Living Magazine, and even get a free dental cleaning and teeth whitening … funny, but true.
What marketing or promotional tools or techniques do you use to reach your readers?
In addition to the last answer about the benefits of blogging I would add utilizing social media to this list of marketing tools. Yes, there are other things I do, give away the book, etc, but nothing works as well as being in touch with youraudience. Not only will they buy from you, you can ask for and get a higher rate of reviews. You don’t need to be on five different social media platforms either, pick two of your favorites and manage them well.
When I first started building social media profiles I thought it was all about the numbers. I worked really hard and built my Twitter account to over 20,000 followers. But they weren’t followers, they were just numbers that had no impact, no engagement, they were worthless. The moral of the story, don’t build just to build. Build for engagement. And, by the way, I hate Twitter, so now my account just sits there (with about the same result as when I would Tweet).
Because there are two of us running our “brand” we actually have three social media platforms. YouTube, Instagram, and Facebook.
YouTube was a natural progression from our latest adventure. We wanted to document our thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail. We did and posted a video a day documenting our journey. We started the trail with 100 subscribers and six-months later had 2,200. Consistency breeds followers.
I don’t touch our Instagram account but my wife loves it. A side benefit (once again, building community) was on our hike, we got intel about the trail from those who we were following and were ahead of us, and visa versa. One time, we posted a photo of our campsite that was hidden but right next to a beautiful river. An Instagramer that was behind us messaged us and we were able to tell him how to get to the hidden campsite. We have since met and he is now a friend.
Finally, we have a Facebook page that recently hit 2,000 followers. During our trek the page was filled with updates about where we were and how we were doing. Now it is filled with photos from our trip, motivational quotes, our blog posts and those of other bloggers. Facebook and YouTube are the easiest, in my opinion, to develop a relationship with your followers. It does take effort to interact, but as the saying goes if you do what you love it isn’t work … or something like that.
What impact do you want your books to have on your readers?
All in all I am an average guy, but living an extraordinary life. I want others to know they too can have a life where experiences are valued over owning “stuff” if they want. That is the current that runs through each of my books—work to live, not live to work.
What is your latest book about?
Costa Rica Curious is about one couple’s exit from materialism (and the overworking necessary to fund it) to living an adventurous, simplified life in Central America. It’s a bit of a memoir, a bit of a travelogue, and a bit of a “get off your ass” motivational book.
In addition to the why’s and how’s of moving to a foreign country we determine, by the end of the book, that our new satisfaction with life is not location specific. Even though Costa Rica was the catalyst our life is fulfilling because we are choosing to experience life rather than slog through it.
What’s next on your writing journey?
We have since left Costa Rica (after 3.5 years) and from March 22 to September 16, 2017 we thru-hiked the Appalachian Trail: walking 2,189.8 miles, through 14 states, taking over 5 million steps in 179 days. Since our strategy of “do then write” has worked so well, my wife and I are co-writing a tip book about the Appalachian Trail for future thru-hikers. I will also be writing a book with stories, wisdom, and opinions, gleaned from our trek. In the fall of 2018 we will hike the Camino de Santiago (Frances) in Spain and will rinse and repeat the writing, marketing, and publishing process with that trip. The idea is to have adventures that can fund our fun. So far, so good.
Find out how #travelblogger Greg Seymour used his #CostaRica experience to do and then write. #selfpub Click To Tweet
Greg Seymour Author Bio
In 2013 Greg Seymour left a successful career to become, as he calls it, Intentionally Unemployed. He and his wife sold damn near everything they owned and moved to Costa Rica. After three and a half years in Puravidaville, the Seymours tackled a thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail. What’s next, who knows? The only thing for sure is that it will be an adventure (and there will probably be a book about it). Greg is the author of the Amazon best selling books: Living in and Visiting Costa Rica (a tip book for those wishing to spend time in Costa Rica) and Costa Rica Curious, a humorous account of the decision to move to Central America and life there.
You can find Greg here:
- Website: appalachiantrailtales.com
- Facebook: @AppalachianTrailTales
- YouTube: @AppalachianTrailTales
- Instagram: @AppalachianTrailTales
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Greg certainly has some great ideas when it comes to Marketing his books. What a great tip for Authors to start a blog before publishing. I also agree with the comment regarding the large following on Twitter. There is no point in having thousands of followers who are not interested in your offering or engaging with your content. It is much more beneficial to have less, more engaged, interested (potential customers) following you on Twitter.