Interview with Diane Hatz | Part One

Diane talks creative self-expression, indie publishing, and Substack

Dear Reader,

I got to ask the incredibly knowledgeable Diane Hatz some interview questions. Since she provided a ton of useful information, I’ve decided to break it up into two parts to bracket the limited-time promotion for her novel, Rock Gods and Messy Monsters, happening now. I’ve got my copy!

Consider purchasing the ebook for only 99 cents between now and October 15th! And wish her a happy birthday, too!

---

---

Greetings, Diane. You’re a creative person with many credits under your name. Was creative self-expression fostered in your childhood, or was it a path of self-discovery?

Creativity and self-expression were unknown concepts in my household, so I was encouraged to be a mid-level manager in a large corporation. That, to me, was a fate worse than death. I don’t fault my parents, though. They were doing their best. They were from the post-World War generation, so security was important to them.

I loved rock music from an early age, so I compromised by eventually getting a job in a record company in New York City after finding a way to get a master’s in Creative Writing in London. But even working in a record company was too stifling and, well, corporate. My time in music ended up becoming the subject of my first novel. In my opinion, corporations are where souls go to die a slow, painful death.

Cover of Rock Gods and Messy Monsters by Robin V

What prompted you to start a Substack? How is it different from the way you were navigating the indie publishing world beforehand?

I started my Substack a couple of years ago to try to build an audience for my writing. I’d also hoped I could make a little income from it while I worked on my next book. I actually hadn’t been thinking about full-time fiction writing and publishing books when I started it. I thought it could potentially be a great way to get my work out to an audience rather than trying to get people to come to the blog on my website.

I’ve realized that to do a Substack properly, it takes time and effort - and a laser focus on a topic or two. I’m currently torn between getting my next book done, promoting the one that’s out now, and having an effective Substack. I find it extremely challenging to find the time to write compelling articles when I have so much work to do with my fiction writing. 

I think Substack is great for people with a large audience already and for people like you who’ve worked really hard to bring people in. Because I don’t have that kind of time right now, I’m putting less pressure on myself to build a huge audience here. Don’t get me wrong - I want to! And I’m posting here and there still, but I’m not doing weekly articles like I was. I think a lot of people underestimate how much time it takes to do a Substack effectively. 

To sum all that up, my Substack, Diane Discovers, is still a work in progress, and I’m still finding my voice. I’m giving myself until the end of the year to figure out how to be most effective with the newsletter.

Developments over the past two decades have increased the reach of indie authors to new readers without the need for a publishing house. Do you see traditional publishing evolving in the face of these changes?

Traditional publishing is going to fight tooth and nail to stay in business, so I don’t see the big houses going away anytime soon, if at all. But I do think they’ll need to modify how they operate in order to stay profitable.

Until I actually published my book and marketed it, I had no idea how much work went into the whole process of getting a book to market - and to get sales! It’s way more complicated than just uploading one’s manuscript to Amazon. 

I did everything myself before Rock Gods & Messy Monsters launched, and I’m not doing that for the relaunch. I’ve hired a company to do Amazon and Facebook Ads - I found ads extremely complicated, and life’s too short to cry over keywords. I’ve gotten help with my book description, genre identification, marketing materials, and other aspects of marketing I started to feel overwhelmed with. 

And, yes, this all costs money. I advise everyone to put a budget together before creating and marketing a book. And by that, I mean save up funds before you start marketing your book. That will help you determine how much you can do marketing-wise. 

I look at my publishing company as a startup company and myself as a creative entrepreneur. In order to make money, I’ve invested seed capital (i.e., my money) in writing, like any startup does.

I think it’s extremely important for every author to learn the publishing process and how to market their book because, today, even traditionally published authors are left to promote their work after the initial book launch. 

What I see happening are more boutique firms (former executives from large houses) offering particular services, so an author can pick and choose different companies to design their cover, format the manuscript, upload it, develop marketing campaigns, etc. 

And trust me, this can become an expensive process, so a writer needs to know what’s important and what they can skip. I’ve talked to quite a few indie authors who spent many thousands of dollars and gotten nothing in return, so you need to learn who you can trust.

For anyone who wants to learn more about publishing, I’ve written articles about the publishing process, so you can always check out the “Indie Publishing and Writing” section in Diane Discovers. A few other reputable people to follow and learn from are Jane Friedman, Dave Chesson (Kindlepreneur), and David Gaughran.

(As a side note, if you check out Dave Chesson and decide you want to purchase his Publisher Rocket - which I think is amazing - please use this link. Yes, it’s an affiliate link, and I make a little from it, but you aren’t charged more. And I can pay bills.)

I could see large publishing houses selling services a la carte down the road. When I worked in the music industry in the 1990s, large corporate record companies started doing P&D (production and distribution) deals with indie bands. I can see this happening in traditional publishing also (if it isn’t already!). 

The writer might get something of an advance (which is becoming scarcer and scarcer) - or might end up paying to have the publisher put the book together, as happens with hybrid publishers now. The writer will give up most of their royalties for a publisher to produce and distribute their books. The author will still be left marketing their book.

Rock Gods in Rockefeller Center

You've worked in the music industry for many years. Other than direct life experiences, has the music industry informed your writing in a unique way that others might not realize? Are there parallels to the music and writing industries that aren't often discussed? 

Oh, don’t get me on my soapbox! I believe when any corporation gets to a certain size, especially in creative industries like writing and music, all the creativity is sucked out and replaced by ego, power, and money. 

If anyone is interested in this, they might want to read my book Rock Gods & Messy Monsters - it’s satire and has surrealistic elements - but it’s all true and based on my time working in corporate music. (Sorry, not trying to shamelessly plug myself here, just trying to spare everyone a couple hundred pages of me ranting….)

There were vice presidents in corner offices who didn’t even listen to music! They cared about their expense accounts and getting backstage and hanging out with artists so they could look cool - but they didn’t care about the music. I’m sure corporate publishing is the same. 

And don’t get me wrong, there are wonderful, talented people who work in publishing. But there are many who aren’t. 

The belief that bigger is better is absolutely wrong in a post-industrial, twenty-first-century world. 

Executives become afraid to make any creative decisions or to go against what’s already been done for fear of losing their jobs. Oh - the bad music I’ve listened to! The entire business comes down to quarterly profits - and money is the biggest destroyer of art and creativity, whether it be music or literature.

With projects such as TEDXMANHATTAN, The Meatrix, and now with your own fiction, how do you adapt your creative drive for different mediums? Are there creative projects that you prefer to work on over others?

I don’t know if I can find the words to explain this, but I don’t do anything different when working on the varied projects I’ve launched and been part of. My creative drive is expansive, spiritual, and a way for me to connect with something bigger than myself. It’s not a thing; it’s a state of being.

I tap into the same creative force whether I’m planning an event, educating consumers about factory farming, or writing a novel. All the work I do is based around trying to help educate and inform or by giving a platform to others to do the same.  

I find joy in whatever I do. I believe every event in our lives, even the painful ones, is full of awe, inspiration, and growth - as long as we’re mindful of what we’re doing. Life is a spiritual practice.

How do you define success? 

Success is understanding that you are loved, knowing that you matter, and having the courage to pursue your dreams and passions. Success is loving yourself as you are, flaws and all, and not giving up.

---

Thanks for reading. Part Two is coming Saturday, October 14th!

---

Check out more from Diane Hatz

• Rock Gods & Messy Monsters

• Amazon | Universal Book Link

• Goodreads - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/62304099-rock-gods-messy-monsters 

• BookBub - https://www.bookbub.com/books/rock-gods-messy-monsters-by-diane-hatz 

• Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/dianehatz.author 

• Facebook - https://fb.me/dianehatz.author 

• TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@dianehatz_author 

• YouTube - https://youtube.com/@DianeHatz 

• LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/dhatz 

• Diane Digs website blog - https://wholehealthygroup.com/blog/ 

• Patreon - https://patreon.com/DianeHatz

  ---