Miguel De La Rocha - Interview

Posted on September 10, 2024
Miguel De La Rocha, a multi-award-winning author and disabled Army combat veteran, shares insights into his journey as an author and offers valuable advice for aspiring writers. With a diverse background as a published poet, former law enforcement officer, nature photographer, and international model/actor, Miguel’s experiences have shaped his unique perspective on storytelling and the evolving world of book publishing. In this interview, he discusses the various paths to getting published, shares tips for improving writing skills, and offers a glimpse into his own work, F.A.T.E. My Future After Traumatic Events.
1) Could you please provide an introduction about yourself?

Response:I'm Miguel De La Rocha, the multi-award-winning author of F.A.T.E. My Future After Traumatic Events.
I'm also a disabled Army combat veteran, published poet, former law enforcement officer, nature photographer, and international model/actor.

4) Could you explain the process through which books are published?

Response:That's a loaded question, as getting published has changed so much throughout the last ten years. Today, the traditional way of getting published is extremely rare and requires you to be famous for guaranteed sales. Another way to get published is to self-publish, meaning you do everything yourself. This often includes signing an exclusive deal with Amazon for them to host your book. A third option is a pay-to-publish, where you sign a contract with a publishing company for them to print and publish your book, which can be very expensive. The last option is a hybrid option where you and the publishing company share the expenses of publishing and promoting your book. In my honest opinion, the hybrid option gives more credibility to the author, and publishers that have that option do not automatically accept all manuscripts. Your story still needs to be good enough that they believe it is worthwhile for them to invest in it, believing they will make money. Pay-to-publish companies accept anyone for the right price as the money they make will be upfront from the contract.

5) Do you have any recommendations for improving my writing skills? If so, could you please elaborate on them?

Response:I always encourage writers to follow three rules. The first is that you must know what you are writing about. To be a successful writer, you must know about what you are writing. If you are writing a sci-fi novel but have never read or seen any sci-fi greats like Star Wars, Star Trek, Lost in Space, Aliens, 2001: A Space Odyssey, etc., you could be doomed before you begin. In this genre, there is still a science factor to it. Like writing a crime drama without knowing or experiencing anything in the criminal or law enforcement real-life policies and procedures, your book will be completely unbelievable and highly inaccurate. The second thing is that you need to make sure your story is believable. The more plausible the story, the more connection and impact your story will have with the reader. The only extremely successful sci-fi series I know of that completely breaks this rule and is still wildly popular is the Star Trek series and movies. Gene Roddenberry wholely violates realistic military policies and procedures, but it doesn’t matter as his characters and stories are so strong that his fans ignore its practicality and logic. My final piece of advice is to always be aware of your target audience. Understanding the kind of people you want to reach and knowing what appeals to them will help you shape and guide your story in a way that maintains their interest.

One last word: buy my book! Lol. My action-packed, inspirational, heart-wrenching autobiography is available on most retailer websites in e-book and paperback.

Author Bio:
Miguel De La Rocha is the author of F.A.T.E. My Future After Traumatic Events