La Toya McCray

Pre-Interview:

Let me introduce myself. I am a author and CEO of L. Love Publications. Descriptively, I am also a publisher where I own the rights to all my books and I finish all marketing efforts with my company. I am based from North Carolina and I am passionate to being an author. Among other things, I love the business as well. I am excited to be writing to you. I always love to meet new people in the business. It is a pleasure. I hope to hear from you soon. 

1.What inspires you most to write?

I am inspired by the movies I watch that give me inspiration to write. Movies give you ways to be imaginative when creating a plot for a book. Not only that, but I can imagine a great novel based on what I read. I read urban fiction, street lit, and romance. My most favorite genre is romance. What I read helps me write better and reading helps explain how to develop a story. Even social media sometimes gives you stories to know about that influence me to write especially stories about real life such as about people in general. That makes me write realistically too. 2. What is your favorite genre?

My favorite genre is romance because I write romance on a daily basis. Romance makes real life so beautiful and interesting. I always dream of a relationship based on a romance book. I hope that my next relationship is just compared to a romance book at times. I can be adventurous when I write romance. 3. Who is one author you admire if any and why?

I admire Eric Jerome Dickey because he was the only author that influenced me to write. Once I read "Chasing Destiny" like ten years ago, that book influenced me to write my first book "Hood Riches When Vengeance Served." That is my first urban fictional book. I like how Eric Jerome Dickey writing is more visual. 4. How do you overcome blank writing spells?

I always listen to music, do yoga, or brainstorm an outline before I write a book. I write an outline so I won't forget what I write in the future. I can be more creative whenever I write an outline. 5. What legal publishing advice can you give?

My publishing advice will be when you are having trouble earning income or you don't think you're well known enough just be consistent because being an author is a business and you never can fail. There is no failure in promoting a business. Marketing opportunities are limitless. 6. How many books have you written, are any a bestseller yet?

I had written seven books and no I am not a bestseller yet, but being a bestselling author is the goal. My main routine is to think positively and find ways to move forward as a business owner. There are so many ways to succeed as an author. Being an author is a business.

7. If you had the opportunity to rewrite one movie script which would it be, why?

I think I can re-write "I Can Do Bad All By Myself" by Tyler Perry because the movie would be better if it wasn't so raw because life isn't like that. For instance, her adopted daughter wouldn't be molested and the main character who was a singer didn't live in a rural community. The movie would have been better if the singer that was played by Taraji P. Henson would be rich and had a good attitude. It could have been a contemporary, romance movie because Taraji fell in love at the end. Plus, she needed to have a good attitude. She was so spiteful in this movie. With all of these factors, this movie would be very appealing to watch. We need more romance movies and the main character would have a flaw of trying to find her soulmate because there are many singles out there that need inspiration just like me.

8. What are some difficulties you've experienced in your writing career; how do you handle book critiques/criticism?

There are so many readers that are very particular about reading books. Plus, there is competition in this industry. The way that I handle the competition is to think differently from the next author and to continue branding to set apart from the next author. By the way, I consider criticism along with my work as constructive criticism that helps me improve as an author, which involves making the right choices with my business and building writing skills. 9. What are your best experiences in your writing career?

My best experiences are when I network and promote. I just love meeting new people and meeting other authors. Plus, publishing books has been a rewarding experience. I love going through promoting content as if it's a therapeutic experience.

10. Do you prefer to write in silence and or have some sort of sound in the background?

I adore writing while I have music in the background especially I love listening to R&B while I write. I do that on a daily basis to finish work. It is very therapeutic and I have a good work flow. When I listen to music I can finish work a lot quicker than most. 11. What are some encouraging words you'd give to another author/writer?

Make sure you think positive with everything you do in life. If you don't think positive, then you can't move forward. Why do we think negative and over think sometimes? Everyone has a special gift. Just use it!

12. How did you decide the pricing of your material; how did you go about promotion/advertising and distribution of your work?

I go pricing of my work because I have experience with reading all the time. Mostly e-books are at least two dollars while paperbacks are at least thirteen dollars or more.

With promotion/advertising I always start small because I am a new author and I am a new publisher in the industry. I always use online tools to help me promote. I think you can have more opportunities when I have an online business as an author. I am more flexible with promoting online. There are book platforms I use, social media to network (I grow as an author on my platform), I am promoted on blogs, and more. I don't know any promoters around North Carolina. 13. Why should anyone read your book?

I think my books are in my favorite genres that are popular at this time. My genres that I write in are romance thriller, romance, urban romance, street lit, and urban fiction. 14. Did you have a book coach?

No. 15. What was your favorite subject in school?

My favorite subject in school was English. I grew to adore English. At first in school I hated writing essays. As I wrote more in high school and college, English became my favorite subject when I utilized my writing skills more. 16. Are you self-published or have an established publishing contract elsewhere?

I am a self-published author at this time because working with a publisher makes you limited in your creativity and a publisher takes a long time to publish a book. I would have so many ideas for books that a publisher prevents me from excelling. Being a self-published author has changed my life for the better.