5 QUESTIONS FOR AUTHOR TREVOR SCOTT

Trevor Scott was an Eagle Scout, loaded weapons on Navy aircraft carriers, and spent seven years as an officer in the Air Force.  He's traveled to 60 different countries and lived in 15 different states.  I'm guessing a lot of his experiences show up in his writing, where he's published more than a dozen mystery, espionage and thriller novels worldwide.  His Jake Adams thrillers are consistently bestselling Kindle books.  His newest thriller is titled, "Way of the Sword."    

He was kind enough to take time out of his busy schedule to play 5 questions with me.

1- Tell us a little about your protagonist, Jake Adams, and how does he differ from other leading characters?

Jake Adams is a character I developed as a captain in the Air Force stationed in Germany. He's kind of a cross between James Bond and Clint Eastwood's Man With No Name character.

2- Your plots are so creative, how do you work—with a strict outline, or do you wing it?

I rarely use a full outline to develop one of my novels. It's too constraining. Also, there are times when I have no idea what might happen. I'll usually know how a book will start and end, but getting to the climax can be an adventure for me as well as the reader.

3- Do you feel your military service allows you more insight than the average writer about the politics of terrorism?

As an Air Force officer stationed overseas, we were constantly briefed on terrorism. Additionally, I studied international relations and geopolitics at the graduate level while stationed in Germany. During the INF treaty implementation, I escorted Soviet inspectors around our secure nuclear facility. I'm sure their handlers were KGB and GRU officers.

4- What is your current relationship like with your publishers and how can you afford to sell some of your ebooks at just .99 cents?

It became obvious early on in the eBook market that pricing would drive sales. I've been selling eBooks since 1998, having best sellers in a number of the old platforms like the Rocket eBook and others. While it's true we are selling books and trying to make a living, it's equally true that what we are selling is pixels and digital files. It doesn't take as much to produce an eBook, since no trees are dying and no books are being shipped to warehouses and bookstores. By selling at a buck a book, I'm hoping to work on building a larger readership. So far sales have been great with this new price.

5- Any idea what the publishing world will look like in 5 years?

I believe the large New York publishers have had their day in the sun. You should see major authors selling directly to their readers, cutting out agents and publishers. Authors like myself (what they used to call mid-list authors) are already doing this. We have been the leaders in the eBook revolution.