Does Gay Romance Sell? Breaking The Boundaries Of Fiction – Interview With Krystofer Spyrou, Author Of Brave Hart
Some people on this earth are born with creativity flowing through their veins like blood. Kristofer Spyrou is one of those people. At only 22 years of age, Kristofer has already had his debut novel Brave Hart translated into two languages, has two novels due to come out by the end of 2013, and one set for release in 2014.
I met Kristofer at a recent book signing and instantly I felt myself open up and relax in his company. His unassuming and relaxed exterior embodies beneath it a passionate torrent of emotions and an understanding of the human psyche that he directs towards his writing artfully, with a skill for conveying the nuances, idiosyncrasies and laugh out loud humour that make all of his characters realistic and intriguing.
His main inspiration comes from real life; his own and the people who surround him, which is why men and women alike; gay, straight, young and old can enjoy his novels. Brave Hart is a unique and hilarious portrayal of love gone wrong, and the journey of self discovery someone has to take in order to get over a love. Glamorous, hilarious and gripping, it was a pleasure to read and I am sure anyone who has ever been through a break up can relate to the main character Stella, who stalks her ex across the world encountering many mishaps along the way which will have you in stitches! I loved it and it gets a full five stars from me; I can’t wait to read more from Kristofer.
Originally Brave Hart was a gay romance but was rejected by traditional publishers for the same reason; “gay doesn’t sell.” So, after much soul searching Kristofer adapted the book and secured a publishing deal. To date he has sold over 15,000 copies since the books publication in April 2013; an absolutely staggering amount for a previously unknown author. In this interview Kristofer talks about his experiences as a published author, how he feels the publishing industry is changing, and why Gay Romance is on the verge of becoming a huge market which I have no doubt he will become a major innovator of; because, irrespective of the category it fits into, at the end of the day, whether it’s gay or straight, what else has the power to unite people from all walks of life and beliefs than love?
Tell us about yourself.
My name is Kristofer Spyrou, I’m 22 years old. I was born in Nicosia-Cyprus. (Greek Cypriot). I’ve studied Musical Theatre in London and Prague, and have lived in the Czech Republic for 3,5 years, teaching and doing theatre. With other friends we would create shows and perform them for the local American, English and Australian Expats in Prague. After Drama School I decided to study Economics as a back up plan. Due to financial reasons I left Prague and moved back to London where I continued my Economics degree and started getting involved with the acting scene here.
Tell Us About The Books You Have Published / Due For Release?
Published: Brave Hart: One Woman’s Search for the Most Elusive of Things; A Happy Ending
To Be:
Roses on a Monday – 2014.
Angel in the Dark – September 2013.
Send in the Clown – WORKING
Nashirah – dec 2013
SORAM – Scifi Trilogy – Working on it
Your book Braveheart was originally a romance novel about two men. Why did you change the main character to a woman?
I had experience in writing, from drama school and writing shows – cabaret shows for the local acting scene in prague. I wrote my first show at age 16 entitled Eurostory, as a schoolplay which was a hit.
After a breakup last year, I went to Cyprus to be alone. Alone in a summer house where I spend most of my time with my thoughts. Suddenly my personal diary became bigger. My beloved grandmother had suddenly passed away and my pain got bigger. The diary as well. I had the idea to write a book about family and death and I sat down with my mother sometimes until very late and early in the morning, writing down ideas and transforming them into book material. The book took 2 months to finish and it was submitted to Entipis Publishing house, which were more than happy to accept the book. The book is due to be published in Greek soon. The title is, ‘’Roses on a Monday.’’
After getting accepted, I was happy to continue writing.
I was over the ‘’jerk’’ who messed up my life emotionally, and decided to add some humour in my diary. I began writing my story wanting to turn it into a book. Gay literature. It was a story about a boy who gets a little crazy after he broke up with his boyfriend. The story is real and anyone, gay or straight can relate to it, because we all stalk our partners after we break up, and we all try to get their attention and go a bit paranoid. But in the end you know if it was worth it or not and then you realize how brave you are when you stand back on your feet with more positivity about the future. I submitted the story and got several rejection letters and two of them said to me that ‘’Gay doesn’t Sell’’. I was offended but, I went by their rules because I thought they probably know better than I do. I changed the character into a woman, transforming the book into a chick lit. I added charaacters based on my real life friends (sometimes a character is based on two friends or more). I did more research and tried to put myself in a woman’s shoes and understand a woman’s psychology and way of thinking, so I can translate that onto my book’s pages. At some point, it was clear to me how the protagonist ‘’Stella Hart’’ looked. I knew what she liked and what she was wearing. I knew her attitude and even how her hair looks in the morning. It was much easier for me to write about her after that. I got an offer by a small publishing house, who was working with me for a long time until we started disagreeing in contracts. Then one of my friends – known chick lit author – suggested a team of people who worked for several publishing companies and libraries and bookstores, who helped me make a book and get it out there. The book slowly started making sales and I realized women in their 20-40s loved it. Because it’s not HIGH QUALITY. IT’s supposed to sound real, like a woman is talking to you at night, while you are sitting by the fireplace holding a glass of wine, listening to her talking to you about life and men. The book was out in April 2013 and my sales are about 15K so far. Most of them from Kindle.
Do you have any plans to write another gay romance novel?
Now I do. My book ‘’Send in the Clown’’ talks about a gay man’s life and somehow he questions relationships and commitment. I don’t regret changing The character into a woman in Brave Hart, but I now know that Gay Does sell and there should be more books with gay protagonists.
Can you see gay romance becoming a big market in the future?
Absolutely. It’s people like me, who dare to write gay romance books especially if it is based on themselves, who will somehow transform the industry. Gay romance shouldn’t be neglected and left out, especially in a country where there’s not much of discrimination against LGBT people. It should be more advertised and better acknowledged from the publishers, because a Gay book can also be hilarious, dramatic, painful and suspenseful as well, like other books. I don’t see it happening now, but I definitely can see it happening in the next 5 years. Especially with the New Self publishing platforms, where people can easily put their novels out there and people can read them. The audience can judge. People will love it or hate it. Same way they will love or hate a book about a straight couple, written by a straight author.
Do you think that the publishing industry is still quite behind in its values and beliefs and do publishers try to play it safe too often?
Definitely. You see, sometimes publishers are afraid to risk. But So many of them know that if they don’t risk they will lose. The same way the publisher who rejected JK Rowling, now regrets it like he/she has never regretted anything before. Same way the person who rejected Amanda Hocking, now regrets not taking a leap of faith in the first place. Amanda became a self-publishing Queen and earned her title, when initially she was told she would never make it.
There are several genres out there. Sometimes, a person comes who will make a difference in that genre. Publishers need to risk and invest in that because it can turn out to be a very successful thing. JK rowling was told that childrens’ books barely make any money. Who is to say that a funny gay romance won’t sell thousands or millions even?
Some publishers, maybe because of their political views, won’t publish any gay-related books and even if they do, they will not advertise or promote it whatsoever. Unless you are open-minded in your own business, don’t expect success just by promoting one specific genre, leaving the rest behind. You become your own liability if you don’t. And frankly, if they start believing in Gay literature more in the UK, people will respect them more.
You have been published traditionally and you are also in the process of self-publishing one of your novels. What have been the main differences of these two methods in your experience?
I will be published traditionally next year. Self publishing was a last minute thing that didn’t go through ym mind in the first place. When I was about to give up on Brave Hart, after I rejected the deal, I was told by a friend who is an incredible writer, about kindle platform. I learned more about it and then asked the team who was helping me, to help me publish it on Kindle store.
What I regret is that, the book has many errors in it, yet the story is clear. People don’t care about my errors because they understand the story and they concentrate on it. It is quite visual and funny and that is what matters to them. But people who understand more about writing structure, can get a bit annoyed. A friend of mine, is doing the editing now (second edition) because she knows more about structure really. If I had continued with that publishing house, I wouldn’t have had a problem with that. The first editor did a great job, but left it half way through unfinished. Publishing without a publishing house, definitely takes more of your time, because you need to become your own publisher, editor, promoter etc. Thankfully I’ve had help from people who I owe Brave Hart’s tiny success to them.
Now, what is fascinating about my book deal in Cyprus is that, I don’t
have to worry about editing, covers, advertising. And my publisher said she will find me another publisher in the UK because she believes the story will sound great in English. No doubt my book will become known in Cyprus and Greece when it’s out, because it is a small country and people can trust young authors, especially when they hear about my UK experience.
Self Publishing is a hard task, but I do suggest people follow me on twitter and my blog, because I give out great tips about how to properly write and market your book. Soon I will start a YouTube series with tutorials so definitely follow on twitter to get in touch and to know about it when it’s out.
How do you think self publishing has affected popular fiction today and do you think it has broadened people’s taste in books?
People say that self-publishing is the death of traditional publishing. I disagree because there are so many stories published each day. There aren’t any books that go unchecked. If I publish a book today on Amazon kindle, 200 people will know about it. If they like it they will start commenting, writing reviews, advertising it by sharing and the story will be successful. Same way if a book is traditionally published, it doesn’t guarantee success unless it’s good!
With Self Publishing, people have broadened their taste in books, because they get to read stuff that no publisher would ever dare publish before. And it’s fun and exciting to discover new genres and new stories and new talented writers who deserve every 5 star review they get.
How have your own experiences influenced the books you have written?
I always write based on something that has happened to me, or a friend, a family person etc. I am very creative and I can think of a plot in seconds. When something sad happens to me, I write it in my diary. When I need inspiration I go back and see what I’ve written and then come up with ideas for a new book. Brave Hart was based on a past relationship. In the book the protagonist was cheated and left heartbroken until she got over him and realized that the best is yet to come. And a while later, the most amazing person walked in her life. This happened to me, although I wasn’t stalking my partner around the world. I was stalking my partner on Facebook. I thought exaggerating about the stalking is a great funny point in the story, which will show how desperate I was to know where he was and what he was up to. In real life I realized he was a tosser and then an amazing person walked into my life.
My book Nashirah, is based on a friend of mine whose story is worth writing for. I got her approval and then we sat down and I interviewed her about her life. We changed characters and added a few incidents to make it not resemble hers, because we don’t want her family to know about it. But it is a story of pain, abuse, heartbreak and self-faith. A story full of Muslim culture and American Ambition.
I can write a fake plot that is not based on true life, like my book trilogy SORAM. But that is because it was a fun idea me and a friend had, that each had to write his own part and then put it together as a book. The initial idea came to me after a dream about a parallel universe. I don’t know if it will be good or successful or not, but It’s something I enjoy writing.
What are your favourite books?
I read a lot. I have hundreds of books scattered in 3 bookshelves in three countries I love chick lit books but I love suspense ones as well. I appreciate a good sci-fi book as well. I hate all these new autobiographies by new stars (Harry Styles, Justing Bieber etc). Why did JB write an autobiography? He is twelve.
Love T. Pratchett and Amand Hocking when it comes to imagination. I read Kinsella and Lindsey Kelk a lot, and my absolutely favourite new book is by SJ Watson ‘’ Before I go to sleep’’. It is the best debut novel I’ve ever read, and it is one of the few books that give me a literary orgasm when I read it. I read Julie Orringer, Tasmina Perry as well.
I love Alice In Wonderland and ALL of Harry Potter books. I used to hate them until I started writing professionally. I learned more about JK Rowling and her process and then she became my inspiration.
What are you working on now?
Now I’m working on a book ‘’Angel in the dark’’. It is the story of a woman named Elizabeth, who remembers a story 37 years ago. A story full of sexual abuse and pain. She was raped by her father and forced into a psychiatric clinic somewhere in Minesotta, where she spends so much time there wondering if she did something wrong and if she was indeed crazy or it was the other peoples’ fault. She understands life in there and discovers something exciting. When she escapes she is found by a old woman in the streets, who takes her in her house and becomes her family. She feels accepted and loved for the first time, until that woman – her angel in the dark – dies.. then something magical happens… I won’t spoil the rest
Meanwhile, I’m working on a theatre project. I decided to turn one of my books (autobiographical), into a show that is currently being developed. I have great help from the west end actor Ralph Boagard, who will be directing it, who is also a friend of mine. Hopefully this will work out fine because I miss the stage and I love telling my story to an audience. I am blessed to have met some people and to be able to work with them so that we create something exciting and fun.
Do you have any advice for people who have just written a book and are thinking about publishing and what route to take?
Keep in touch with my blog, you ll get advices: but also:
Make sure you read your work when it’s done 4-5 times before submitting it. But don’t regret lines which initially seemed magnificent to you.
Make a good introduction (first 2 pages are crucial because that is what the publisher will first read. If the story is amazing but your first pages suck, then say goodbye to the publishing deal.
Make sure your story is visual and has a point. Follow a structure: beginning- middle- ending.
Get honest friends to read it and give you honest opinions.
Send it to as many houses as possible and wait for them to reply. If you are rejected it’s not the end.
Find an editor, make it look pretty and nice, and pay a graphic designer for a great cover. And Self publish it. There is no way it will not work out! You can also send it to me for review or feedback and you’ll find information on my blog. I have a team of people who can help you.
BUY KRISOTFER’S HILARIOUS DEBUT NOVEL, BRAVE HART NOW!
AMAZON UK
AMAZON US
FIND OUT MORE ABOUT KRISTOFER SPYROU AND HIS FABULOUS NOVELS:
KRISTOFER’S BLOG http://www.kristoferspyrou.blogspot.co.uk
TWITTER http://www.twitter.com/kristoferspyrou
FACEBOOK http://www.facebook.com/bravehartbook
http://www.facebook.com/kristoferspyroureal
