Tribulation
Jaydeep Shah
(Cops Planet #1)
Publication date: June 15th 2020
Genres: Adult, Suspense, Thriller

When a couple celebrates their eleventh marriage anniversary at their old mansion far from the city of Naples, Florida, they begin experiencing paranormal events. While trying to find out the truth of what’s happening, they encounter a girl wandering in the mansion.

She is the girl whom the couple never wanted to see again in their life.

Surrounded by their sinful past and the girl’s deathly traps, the couple tries hard to escape the mansion. But they are stuck. There is no way out of the mansion. Every second, they approach their end.

There are many secrets buried in the mansion—about the girl, about the couple, and about their past.

Tribulation is a masterpiece of suspense, a thriller with some mild elements of horror from the imagination of Jaydeep Shah.

Interview With Author Jaydeep Shah

• Where did the idea for Tribulation come from?

I have watched many haunted house movies and read some horror mansion stories. I always wanted to create a world of crime, in which I can include almost all elements: horror, suspense, romance, thriller, and so on. But the idea didn’t hit me unless I began researching for the setting.

• What other genre(s) do you write in? How many books do you have out? Titles? What kind of research did you need to do for Tribulation?

I write horror, romance, and thriller stories. So far, I’ve published an anthology series, one novella, one short story collection, and one non-fiction book. However, I unpublished some of them to edit and proofread, because I never focused on editing the stories. Even after I publish those books again, you may find some plot holes, but they will be reader friendly and free of grammar errors. However, my upcoming books will not have any of those issues since I’ve begun working professional editors of bestselling books. So currently, the available books are:

1. The Revenge (Horror Stories #1)
2. Evils Are on the Hunt (Collection of Short Stories)
3. Voice (Essays)
4. Tribulation (Cops Planet #1)
5. My first romance story, True Love, is coming next year on February 8, which is available for pre-order on Amazon.

The story takes place in Naples, Florida; however, I haven’t been there. So, I needed to research several places not only in Naples but the entire Florida, to grasp knowledge about the city and other places. Also, I had to research the police codes since the story is a short introduction to a big police-procedural novel. And I hope my research helps readers feel they’re experiencing the events in the real world.

• What about an outline? Do you map your way through a story or go by the seat of your pants?

For my previously published books, I was going by the seat of my pants. However, that way, I failed to write the gripping stories, the one reader may want to read again and again. Therefore, for all my upcoming books, I’ve created an outline. Not only that, I spend enough time to create a fictional world that could look like the real one, characters with motives, and the obstacles to make the characters struggle to achieve their goals. However, I usually write stories that go back and forth in time, because of which the readers who doesn’t like non-linear fiction may find it difficult to enjoy the story and understand the characters’ motives.

• What was the most important thing you learned while writing Tribulation? What have you learned in general about writing?

The most important thing I learned while writing is that outline is a must to write the book, and the outline must change as needed as you write the story, especially if the story doesn’t sound entertaining enough and characters have no goal(s).

In general, I’ve learned about writing is that writing is just not enough. Once you write the story, you must edit and proofread it multiple times. If needed, work with editors and use beta reading service, because you cannot spot your own errors.

• What was the hardest part about writing Tribulation?

The hardest thing about writing Tribulation was prologue, because my goal was not to introduce only protagonist and antagonist but depicted a picture where readers could have a glimpse of the world of crime.

• Is anything in your story based on real life experiences or purely all imagination?

Besides movies and books, real life experiences always have inspired me to write the stories. However, the stories are based on purely my imagination. 

• Did you try traditional publishing before self-publishing? What happened? What made you decide to self-publish?

As an aspiring author and even a fresh self-published author, I created many errors. As an aspiring author, I submitted my stories to some literary agents and publishing houses; however, I failed to gran their attention because I was sending proposals of my unfinished stories. Consequently, I couldn’t present my brief properly for that particular story to them.

By the way, when I have learned many things from my errors and other learning materials, I plan to start submitting proposals to agents and publishers soon, only for completed stories though.

• There is a rumor going around that all self-published books are poorly written and ill put together. What do you say to that?

I’d say that not all self-published books are poorly written. There are many self-published authors who take care of readers’ needs. It’s possible to find some self-published books written without much effort, just like I self-published my first few books without focusing on editing. Now, myself, when I’ve learned about writing and publishing, I even think why I wrote those stories.

I also said in one of the recent questions, I wasn’t focusing on editing the books when I began self-publishing the books. However, I do focus on editing from now on, and I pass each story through various number of drafts, approximate between five to fifteen self-editing, and a few more with an editor, the total number of drafts comes up to thirty, sometimes more.

Concluding, many self-published authors are sincere toward their stories. I haven’t read many self-published books, but I’m going to dive into those fictional worlds soon because I have found the sincerity in their writings through the excerpts, interviews, and other texts.

• Has it been worth it to go down the self-publishing route? (in terms of sales and other less tangible reasons)

If you’ve an excellent story, you should never worry about generating the sales. You will sell the copies automatically. Plus point if you already have established yourself on Instagram as a book blogger or an author writing short stories.

• How do you market Tribulation? What avenues have you found to work best for your genre?

I use my social media platforms to advertise Tribulation. I distributed some ARC’s. I worked with Xpresso Book Tours to setup book blitz and blog tour. I submitted the book to reviewers at BestThrillers.com, San Francisco Book Review, and ILoveUniqueBooks.com. Also, the blog tour I set up with Xpresso Book Tours is from August 3-14. So far, I was publishing both ebook and paperback formats on the same date, but this time, I turned it into a marketing strategy to advertise the book for a little long time to grab the readers’ attention. That’s the reason the I published Tribulation on June 15, and set the release date of July 29 for the paperback. Moreover, I’m planning to publish Tribulation in audiobook somewhere around September; however, it also depends on the narrator’s availability, so I’m not sure, but the audiobook will arrive this year for sure between September to December, maybe early. I also used Amazon advertising, but it barely worked for me for Tribulation. Something best that has worked is Goodreads giveaway, because the winners are reading the book and leaving their reviews on Goodreads and Amazon, which also helps me to sell a few more books.

• Are there any other self-published authors that have grasped your interest or inspired you to self-publish?

As I said recently, I have a huge list of self-published authors for almost all these genres: horror, romance, and young adult fiction. It’s just some personal things that have stopped me for a reason from diving into more books. I wish I get over those things and get an opportunity to start reading self-published books from my list of self-published and hybrid authors.

• Would you take a publishing deal if you were offered one? Why?

I’d love to take a publishing deal. As an indie author, I do like to collaborate with cover designers and editors and sometimes handling all the aspects of self-publishing by myself; however, I always look for new opportunities. I love to build the network, help others while learning a few things from them as well, and especially work in a team. Moreover, a publishing deal could help me present myself to a wide audience where I can meet more people and help many other aspiring and struggling authors to build their writing career.

• What format do you prefer to read in, e-book, paperback, or hardcover?

I’m a physical copy lover. I do like to read e-book, but since I spend a lot of time in screen timing throughout the day, I tend to avoid reading an e-book most of the time.

I’d never read a novel in a digital copy. I’d read an e-book with a length of only about 150 pages.

• What new projects are you working on now?

Currently, I’m working on a horror novel, for which I’ve planned to go traditional. Beside that, I currently edit and proofread one of my previously published books. Also, I’m modifying an outline for my debut romance novel, True Love, coming on February 8, 2021.

• Is there anything about writing you find particularly challenging?

Writing an end is challenging because that is where you want to make sure readers are satisfied, not upset with the characters’ struggles.

• Who came up with the cover design and where did the art come from?

I came up with the cover design of Tribulation. The art also came from my imagination, only after I had imagined the mansion’s view.

• Did you hire anyone to help you edit? Why?

Yes. I have begun working with the professional editors for my books. The truth is I love to write stories back to back, because that keeps me sparky every day. When I tend to edit it myself, another idea hits my head, and I return to the writing area, leaving all the edits. So, to keep myself focused on editing, I’ve begun collaborating with editors.

However, I’d say all the authors must work with an editor, because no matter, how powerful your editing skill is, sometimes you leave a few things that you love the most, and end up upsetting the readers because the particular thing the author loved about the story/character left it there and it just didn’t work for the readers.

Hired editors will make sure the plot pacing is consistence, there are no plot holes and grammar errors, and the story is reader friendly.

• What has been the toughest criticism given to you as an author? Your best compliment?

My best compliment is that I write excellent stories, but the toughest criticism I received is that I must focus on editing to make the stories more entertaining. Thus, I focus on editing a lot now. However, I create cliff-hanger ends for the most of my stories. Even Tribulation is a cliff-hanger because of which I have upset some readers, so my new goal is to write full length novels.

• Do you have any advice for other writers?

I’d say never publish the book without editing it, especially if you want to grab more readers and build your reputation as a professional author to make your career in writing.

• Do you have anything specific that you want to say to your readers?

I’d like to apologize to my readers. I’m sorry for breaking your trust over five years when I kept publishing the book back to back leaving numerous errors in the books. But I promise you’ll have excellently edited stories from now onwards.

• How can fans that enjoyed Tribulation find out more about you and what you have coming out in the future?

Fans who enjoyed Tribulation can find out more about me and the upcoming projects on my website (www.jaydeepshah.com) and social media accounts @imjaydeepshah. They can also join the newsletter on my website at www.jaydeepshah.com/newsletter, where I also give two books directly into their mailbox.

 

Goodreads / Amazon

Author Bio:

Jaydeep Shah is the author of gripping romance, horror, and thriller stories. He also writes non-fiction pieces about inspirational topics related to social issues. He is the author of more than half a dozen books.

In addition to those books, Jaydeep releases young adult fiction stories under a pen name, JD Shah. The Shape-Shifting Serpents' Choice is his first young adult flash fiction written under that pseudo name and published online by Scarlet Leaf Review in their July 2019 issue.

When Shah is not writing, he wanders around Jersey City, spends quality time with friends and family, and cooks delicious food.

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