Self-made author Amanda Hocking visits Central Park

• Amanda Hocking

Amanda Hocking

Talk about it

Woodbury residents got a taste of the paranormal last week when best-selling paranormal-romance author Amanda Hocking made a stop at Central Park.

Hocking answered questions about her career as an author and spoke about her newest book “Wake,” which was released Aug. 7.

“Wake,” the first book in the “Watersong” series, is about two sisters who encounter sirens.

Hocking, who lives in Austin, Minn., said she has always been writing.

“I was always interested in writing, even when I was a little kid; before I could even write, I was telling stories,” she said at the Aug. 8 event in Woodbury. “I like just being able to make things up and spend time in my own world.”

Paranormal fiction was always something that Hocking was drawn to.

“I kind of just grew up with fantasy so I was naturally drawn to that,” she said. “It’s more fun than just writing about the day-to-day stuff – you get to write about unicorns or magic so it’s way more fun.”

For several years Hocking spent most of her free time writing, but she was having very little luck finding someone to publish her books.

So, Hocking took it upon herself. In 2011 she self-published her books in eBook format.

“If I wanted it to happen, I had to make it happen,” she said.

Hocking released nine books, comprised in three series, in eBooks and within a year she sold more than a million copies.

“It just really started taking off,” she said.

To date, Hocking has published 13 novels.

Despite the start in e-publishing, Hocking has since started working with a traditional publisher and moving away from e-publishing since it started to become very time consuming.

“With e-publishing you have to do everything yourself,” she said. “You’re the publisher and the writer and the marketer and the cover designer.

“Whereas with traditional publishing, you still do aspects of that, but you’re more focused on writing.

I’ve been enjoying traditional publishing more because I get to focus more on writing and I get to relax a bit more.”

Hocking’s Central Park appearance was part of a cross-country book tour to promote “Wake.”

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