Slyce: Brothers and Sistah’s, please welcome our Sistah AL Smith (Angela Smith) to “The Interrogation Room”!! Welcome my Sistah 🙂 Are you ready?…What inspired you to become an Author?
AS: Life and the observation of life. I kept hearing the same story from people concerning abuse and decided to write about it.
Slyce: Have you ever penned under another name?
AS: No, [Just] A.L. Smith.
Slyce: In what genre do you write?
AS: Urban fiction, women’s fic mostly. I’m currently working on a medical thriller.
Slyce: What is the name of your publishing company?
AS: Breaking the Line Books. Great company. Committed to quality…editing to industry standard and support.
Slyce: You wrote a book entitled, ” Behind Closed Doors” – what was this book about?
AS: The secrecy and long term effects of sexual childhood abuse…the lives of three ladies are chronicled.. One becomes a prostitute, the other is addicted to crack and the other an attorney, but she has relationship issues. The ending is beautiful.
Slyce: Is your book an e-book and/or a paperback?
AS: Both…finally! It’s hard to promote a virtual product. And while eBooks are very popular, some readers simply prefer paper.
Slyce: Where can our viewers purchase your book?
AS: Amazon, Kindle, Barnes&Noble, Books a million for paperbacks or on my website alsmithbooks.com
Slyce: Is there anything else cooking in the lab?
AS: Yesssss. A medical thriller with an urban twist. I’ll start working on it after the release of Behind Closed Doors 2. Behind Closed Doors 2 deals with this issue of human trafficking.
Slyce: How important are reviews?
AS: Extremely important. I pay attention to my own reviews and I read the reviews before purchasing books myself. I notice a lot of recurring comments regarding series lengths, grammar and editing etc…. Those issues should not be taken lightly.
Slyce: How receptive would you be to a bad review?
AS: Writers are like most artistic people. Sensitive about our work. But a critical review can actually have a positive impact if received with an open mind and provided with good intentions.
Slyce: What does the term “bulding a brand” mean?
AS: Urban fiction is a very competitive category. The readers are loyal, so as a new author I have to step outside the box in order to gain exposure/build my brand. Branding is simply building exposure…
Slyce: What steps are you taking to build your brand?
AS: Glad you asked…
AS: The book trailer is an excellent tool. The cinematic approach adds dramatic appeal/breathes life into the characters…the cinematic trailer for book one is being filmed this coming Monday. Here’s a little promotional for the actual trailer.
I actually fell in love with Lenny the pimp as I was writing the story.
Slyce: What tools have you found most useful in distributing your material?
AS: Social media has really opened the doors for creative promotions. Word of mouth is great too.
Slyce: Do you write for the passion or for the profit?
AS: Passion Marilyn. It’s therapy. If the profit comes I’m good with that. My job is extremely stressful so writing is an outlet.
Slyce: I’d lke to thank guest Author AL Smith (Angela Smith) for joining us tonight in “The Interrogation Room” !! Thank you my sistah 🙂 You were wonderful !!
Everyone please go purchase “Behind Closed Doors” by AL Smith. Also, please check out her page on Facebook at: 
.
BOOK:
[Click for details]
PUBLISHER:
[Click for details]
