2023-09-13 13:24:32
Daniel Sánchez Cantero He self-published his first novel Project Zero with Amazon in 2021. Thanks to the success it achieved, it goes on sale on October 5 from the publisher Suma. A thriller that tells the story of how the Nucleus, an elite secret organization, is about to change the world.
What challenges did you face when writing a story involving high-tech and scientific concepts?
The most difficult thing is to find quality scientific stories and articles on the Internet. Luckily, I have friends who are experts in areas such as neurosurgery. Thanks to them I was able to compare the information and write from a scientific but accessible point of view. In the phase before publishing the book, which is when zero readers review it, everyone stopped at the same chapter and going a little deeper, I realized that they lost concentration because there were very complex scientific terms. From identifying this, I did the work of simplifying all the language in the book so that anyone could understand it.
How did you develop the main characters of the novel?
I have a file for each character with their motivations, their physical or psychological traits, their personality, what internal and external conflicts they have, even their family background. As I write I get so involved in the character that they are the ones who make the decisions, because of their personality they decide things that I had not written.
What message were you hoping to convey to the readers of Project Zero?
There is a background of a moral dilemma, of what are the limits of science and of the human being himself. Are all scientific advances always for the best? The most important thing for me was that the plot was real, so real that it was scary to read it because you could think that this could really be happening. Based on the feedback they have given me when self-publishing the book, I think it has been achieved.
What have been the challenges you have had to overcome when self-publishing your novel?
When you self-publish you hire your own editor, illustrator, layout designer… The biggest challenge is that you feel much more alone, while in a publishing house you have a great team at your side. Amazon gives you that window to self-publish and make yourself known. It is true that millions of books are published on Amazon and it is difficult to stand out, but in my case I don’t know if I was lucky. I immediately began to have visibility in the rankings and that gives you more and more readers. It was an opportunity for publishers to notice me.
How do you combine your work as a marketing manager with your work as a writer?
The key is to write every day or every other day, because when you stop for weeks it is more difficult to get back into the plot, since you have to reread some of the things you have written and it is more difficult for it to flow. Writing is very unglamorous, it’s like any other job. You sit in front of the computer, write your stuff and the next day you sit down again. There are no ocean waves nor are there wine terraces. Well, there is some wine.
Did you expect this success for your first novel?
Before finishing the novel I felt that it had something that could attract me, because when I read it I liked it and I knew that it had a story that could fit. Even if you like the book, it is very difficult to be visible with so many works that are published each year. So, yes, it is very surprising. When I saw myself in the Amazon rankings, I felt something very special. But what really amazed me was when readers started writing to me to tell me what they liked about the book. I read many novels a year and I have never written to an author. From there I started doing it because it feels very good.
Do you think that the pandemic Did it influence you to continue writing?
I had the plot set up before the pandemic and when the quarantine arrived I had the freedom and time to carry it out. To write you need to take a little time each day. Maybe if I didn’t write all the first chapters during the state of alarm, I would never have continued.
Do you have future plans to expand the Project Zero universe with sequels or other related works?
Of course, Project Zero was never conceived as a single book, but was part of a more ambitious project. At least I would like to publish two more novels or projects that will be dark and gloomy, but at the same time exciting, new and current. It will also depend on the success of the publication with the Suma publishing house.
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