Murder Mystery Author J.R. Hauptman Talks Writing, Publishing & Promoting

J.R. Hauptman has been a professional pilot for nearly a half century. Barely twenty years old, he began as a military pilot and for almost two years he flew combat support missions in the Viet Nam War. Upon leaving military service he was hired by a major airline and was initially based on the West Coast. His flying career was interrupted by the turmoil that racked the airline industry during the early days of deregulation. In the interim, he worked as a travel agent, a stockbroker and even trained dogs and horses. In the late nineteen-eighties, he returned to aviation, flying jet charters and air freight. He concluded his career flying corporate jets and now lives in Florida. He is completing his second work, a non-fictional social commentary and surfs every day, waves or not. His marketing website is www.caddispublishing.com.

Thank you for this interview, J.R. Can we start out by telling us whether you are published for the first time or are you multi-published?

The Target; Love, Death and Airline Deregulation is my first book and the first time I have been published in a major work.

For your first published book, how many rejections did you go through before you either found a mainstream publisher, self-published it, or paid a vanity press to publish it?

When I completed the first few chapters back then, I sent out about thirty query letters to the major publishers and agents. I received the customary twenty rejections, the most interesting being from two agents who were quite indignant that I would write about a disgruntled pilot who sets out to whack his boss. Hadn´t they heard of murder mysteries? By the time I finished the story, self-publishing was in full bloom and it seemed to be the best avenue for a first-time and unpublished author.

How did the rejections make you feel and what did you do to overcome the blows?

My disappointment was tempered by the fact that even then; I realized that rejection is part of the game. I had spent nearly six years in sales between airline jobs and you have to mentally buy into the concept that every rejection you receive brings you closer to the ultimate acceptance.

When your first book was published, who published it and why did you choose them?

I chose Xlibras to self-publish The Target and ironically, this came after I was rejected by another self-publishing company that had tentatively given their acceptance nearly two years past. Despite the fact that I wrote The Target as a novel and that all characters and situations were fictitious, they turned me down at the last minute, claiming they feared possible legal liability. Fortunately, Xlibras exhibited more literary fortitude and agreed to publish my book, stating unofficially that the notoriety might do us good.

How did it make you feel to become published for the first time and how did you celebrate?

As an author, I could not be too self-congratulatory for self-publishing, but I felt fortunate that I had found an avenue to bring my story to market. I celebrated by investing my own money into promoting The Target. I also engaged the marketing services of Caddis Publishing, LLC of Colorado Springs.

What was the first thing you did as for as promotion when you were published for the first time?

Through Caddis Publishing, we conducted test marketing to all of our personal and professional contacts among active and retired airline employees, military pilots and aviation professionals to ensure the story would resonate among the readers who actually lived through the tale. The feedback was very positive and reassured me that I had written a great story.

If you had to do it over again, would you have chosen another route to be published?

Absolutely! I would have gladly sold the story to Hollywood for say, a couple of million bucks and sat back and dedicated myself to managing my royalties. But, then I wouldn´t have gained the priceless experience necessary to become a professionally successful and respected author. Compared to those goals, money pales in importance.

Have you been published since then and how have you grown as an author?

At the present, all of my writing is dedicated to making The Target; Love, Death and Airline Deregulation a successful novel. Marketing skills are of the utmost importance to a self-published author and this book resonates directly with the current events of today where not only deregulation of the airlines but similar deregulation of the banking and securities industries has brought our country to the brink of economic disaster. There are at least five more stories, mostly non-fiction that are mentally fleshed out and awaiting the keyboard.

Looking back since the early days when you were trying to get published, what do you think you could have done differently to speed things up? What kind of mistakes could you have avoided?

I walked around for nearly five years with the complete story in my head fooling myself into thinking I could get done "someday." It wasn´t until I found my personal literary mode of discipline that makes me work myself into an absolute state of writing "fury" that allows me to be creatively attaining my goals.

What has been the biggest accomplishment you have achieved since becoming published?

It has been most gratifying for me that my fellow airline professionals: pilots, flight attendants and ground employees, tell me that I have told the story of a very important part of their lives.

If you could have chosen another profession, what would that profession be?

I was a professional military officer and served in combat; I was a professional airline pilot in the golden years of that industry; I survived as a professional in the financial industry for nearly six years; in fact, I have endeavored to work as a professional in every challenge I have faced. My goal is to become a successful literary professional in my remaining time on earth and make a positive impact on our culture.

Would you give up being an author for that profession or have you combined the best of both worlds?

Among my surfing friends in Florida, as well as my Olde Tymers hockey crew in Colorado; we joke about being "professional surfers" and the same for hockey. My resume tells me I can do it all

How do you see yourself in ten years?

My goal is to be doing it all as I approach the age of eighty. Doc Ball and Woodie Brown were still surfing as they approached ninety and Gordie Howe still plays hockey with the old timers in Florida at eighty! It all depends on how many days of good physical and mental health we are granted here on this earth and we are given those, only one day at a time. Accordingly we can only hope we have at least one tomorrow, to write and to share with those we love.

Any final words for writers who dream of being published one day?

I have been blessed to live a full and experientially rewarding life and to write a big story about it. To those who have not lived that Big Story to this point, start with the small stories of life that come to you, starting with today!