Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’m a guy who lives at that intersection of too many circles on a Venn Diagram. I’ve published three professional books, one general interest book, a dozen short stories in literary journals, and my debut novel is expected to be available in November
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Painting by Numbers: How to Sharpen Your BS Detector and Smoke Out the Experts.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Not really.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
The books which influenced me the most for Painting by Numbers are Darrell Huff’s How to Lie with Statistics and Nate Silver’s The Signal and the Noise. Others are listed in the book or referenced. Many fiction authors are influences in my short stories and novels.
What are you working on now?
I’m always working on my own short stories. My professional book projects currently are a collection of short stories for Amphorae Publishing Group and my second novel is burbling in my head.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Get one hundred family, friends, and colleagues to buy 5-10 copies and plead with them to get them in the hands of those who can lead to bulk purchases. Promoting anything – a book, a business, a passion, and idea – is grunt work 24/7/365
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Don’t believe anyone who says, “If you build it (write it), they will come.” The really excruciating work begins after your work is finished. Other than that, write only what you passionately believe in, authenticates you as a human being. Ultimately, you want people to read what you write, right? Then you’re undertaking missionary work, convincing others. The odor of the inauthentic will be detected immediately.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
A vision without a plan is a dream; A plan without a vision is a nightmare.
What are you reading now?
I’m usually reading one fiction and one non-fiction book at the same time
The Story of the Lost Child, Elena Ferrante
The Meaning of Human Existence, Edward O Wilson
What’s next for you as a writer?
Framing up my second novel and starting to write it. I’m always careful about this because once I start, I am extremely goal oriented and I will keep at it until I’m done. So I have learned to be very careful about what I start!
What is your favorite book of all time?
An unfair question, but at this moment I’m thinking it is To Kill a Mockingbird.
Author Websites and Profiles
Jason Makansi Website
Jason Makansi Amazon Profile
Jason Makansi’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Ronald Gombach says
To Kill a Mockingbird? My first reaction was, ‘what?’ But then, thinking about the Jason I know, I thought, ‘I can see that.’