Author Genre: True Crime, Biographies & Memoir, Mystery & Thrillers, Literature & Fiction
Website: Zach Fortier - True Crime Author
Twitter: @zachfortier1
E-Mail: authorzachfortier@gmail.com
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Author Description:
Zach Fortier was a police officer for over 30 years, specializing in K-9, SWAT, gang, domestic violence and sex crimes as an investigator. He has written three books about Police work. "Curbchek" the first book is a case by case account of the streets as he worked them from the start of his 30 career. "Streetcreds" the second book details time Zach Spent in a Gang task force and the cases that happened. The third book is by far the most gritty: "Curbchek-Reload". In Reload Zach is damaged and dangerously so and suffering from PTSD and the day to day violence of working the street. If you like True Crime, take a look at Zach Fortier.
SPOTLIGHT Questions and Answers with the Author
First things first. What do you have on the drawing board next? Can you tell us the timeline for its release and give us a little tease?
The next book I have planned is the second book in The Director Series. It is a fictional account of what happens after Baroota: The Hunting Ground. The main characters Nick and Non are in search of The Director and the book details their quest and their difficulties with each other and the reality of what that search means to them. As a tease, just as in Baroota nothing is as it seems. Ever
You have a good following on twitter. Since you started before the social media buzz, what impact has social media relationships had on your current success? How did you build your following in your niche? How much has it changed your book launch process?
In my opinion social media is way over rated in book promotion. I worked twitter hard at first and saw no results. What works is book marketing to book readers. Simple as that.
Do you do any book signings, interviews, speaking and personal appearances? If so, when and where is the next place where your readers can see you? Where can they keep up with your personal contacts online?
I have tried nearly every avenue out there for promotion of the books I have written. I haven’t found any personal interview, media or speaking engagement that has had a tenth of the impact book marketing has had on sales.
You have great covers. How does your book cover creation process work? Do you hand over the basic theme or do you have more of a hands-on approach? Do you get your readers involved in its development?
I did paid a team at first to do my covers and I liked the results. However as the relationship went on they felt they had some say, or implied control over my writing and timelines. I would recommend caution there. Do your own work and let no one else control it.
Several of your novels have been converted into audio books. What has been the impact on your regular sales? Has the audio books gained a new audience for you?
Audio books are a completely different venue and have their own following of fans. I have done well there and I do recommend it. I use ACX.
I like the idea of bundling a series of novels. You have put together a set of your novels called The Curbchek Collection. What was the impact on your other sales? What was your main objective in bundling your novels?
I did not bundle my novels, Amazon decided they were a bundle. I did release the trilogy after that happened to give readers a break on price. It has been an interesting marketing experience I would probably do again.
Besides the Independent Author Network, what other writer support groups do you belong too? Do they help with the writing, marketing and the publishing process?
I recommend groups that are there to support you. But be careful, many say they are there to support you and then take all of your ideas and share none of their own. I also recommend cross genre contacts. Each genre is unique and has unique challenges. You can help each other be better writers and marketers and not compete.
What has been your experience in giving your books away free? Have you been involved in any other type of giveaways and how did that work out? What was your main goal in doing this? Did you run into any obstacles?
I do free promotions to get the word out about a book and hopefully secure reviews. I cannot afford the paid marketing prices and I am not in this to make money anyway. I enjoy the work. To constantly be checking the dollar signs is not why I write.
How do you manage your plots, characters and timelines to keep your stories going? Do you use any software to keep track of your books?
All my writing is worked out in my head beforehand. I don’t use software or outlines. I would not recommend them unless you want to be like every other book written in your genre. Be brave enough to do your own work.
Do you maintain a reader list? What are the methods you use to find your readers and create the list and the relationship? Do you use social media, forums, newsletters and/or support groups to build your list?
The only reader list I have is a group of people who have been there from the start and will give me honest feedback. I expect bad reviews and use them to my advantage. I want honest well written reviews. I have found they often times will generate more sales than a positive review. Occasionally I will offer a book to someone who has e mailed or messaged me privately.
Author's Book List
Baroota
- The Hunting Ground - The Director Series Book 1“Baroota” is a fictional tale of Nick Hudson a retired and aging cop attempting to get in one last mission to make a difference. He gets sucked in to an “off the books Black Ops mission” to rescue victims of Human Trafficking being sold into sexual slavery. He meets Nõnkos Zia or Nõn. A woman born in South Africa and herself a former victim of Muti-medicine, a type of medicine still practiced in South Africa that weaves the occult and human sacrifices into the locals belief system. She is also a victim of human trafficking, from which she barely escaped after taking revenge on her captors. They are outsiders in a dark twisted tale of deceit, lies and double crosses that take them to the “Darien Gap” of Panama, one of the most remote areas in the world to hunt human traffickers.
Order the Book From:
Amazon
Barnes and Noble
Audible
I am Raymond Washington
- The only authorized biography of the original founder of the CripsI am Raymond Washington provides the reader with an unprecedented look into the life of the founder of the Crips. Forget everything you have been told about who started the Crips and why. Most of it is wrong, very wrong.
Welcome to the only authorized biography of the undisputed founder of the Crips. Filled with interviews of friends, family and acquaintances from people who knew and grew up with, Raymond Lee Washington. Don't look here for horrific stories of gang violence and crimes committed by gang members, that has been done before. If you are looking for a factual and intuitive look into what made Raymond Washington unique in the mean streets of Los Angeles, this book is for you. This book is filled with stories and eyewitness accounts of those that knew who the real founder of the Crips gang was, what he represented to the people that knew him, and hopefully explains why his name is still spoken on the streets of Los Angeles with hatred, fear, and awe and reverence. Entering the world of Raymond Washington with an open mind was difficult for me but eventually the story of who Raymond Washington was as a leader, warrior, tactician, and mentor became clear. Hopefully it will become clear to the reader why the gang was so successful and explain how an apparently unremarkable 15 year old kid in the fall of 1969 would sit down with his best friend and form what would become one of the single most successful and yet feared and hated gangs in the world, The Crips.
Order the Book From:
Amazon
Barnes and Noble
Audible
StreetCreds
StreetCreds is a look inside the world of street gangs and the cops that work them. I worked the street for many years before I entered the Gang Task Force, joining it with the idea that I could rise to the level of violence of any banger I encountered - a really stupid idea. I grew up in this city, and I worked its streets the best way I knew how, feeling that I had a firsthand understanding of what the citizens were experiencing. The increasing frustration at gang crimes, drive bys, robberies, never feeling safe with your kids in your own neighborhood - I wanted to do what I could to make that fear go away. Once I was inside the task force, though, the reality was a rude awakening. The task force was poorly managed and staffed by detectives mostly out for themselves, and the internal politics made success incredibly difficult and almost impossible - almost, but not quite. Witnessing bad cops, brutal crimes, and realizing the department had been compromised. I left the unit two years later, severely broken, edgy, and dangerously damaged.
StreetCreds is the story of how all that came to be. Hold on for a reality check.
Order the Book From:
Amazon
Barnes and Noble
Audible
Curbchek
- 2nd editionCurbchek is the story of a damaged cop, Zach Fortier. Fortier worked in the police department for the city where he grew up. One foot in the world of the cops, courts and legal system. The other in the world of gangs, drugs, thugs and street violence. Where the laws and rules are made by the strongest, the schemers and most brutal. Read about the transformation of Fortier from a green rookie to a damaged paranoid veteran seeing danger in every situation. Follow along as he walks this tight rope. Trying to make difference, breaking the laws he promised to enforce. This is a story of law and order uncensored.
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Amazon
Barnes and Noble
Audible
Hero To Zero
Zach Fortier is back with more true crime accounts from the streets. This time he deals with the subject of cops gone bad, including an account of one cop that made the FBI's ten most wanted list for a brutal, quadruple murder.
It's hard to believe--and read--about so many police officers that fall from grace and make every mistake possible: theft, murder, fraud, drug abuse, and more. Not to mention the cops sent to prison, proving that "anyone is capable of anything given the right circumstances."
Get a rare insider's look at what cops rarely talk about--true accounts of cops gone bad. It's a ride on the dark side of law enforcement you won't forget.
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Amazon
Barnes and Noble
Audible
Curbchek-Reload
Curbchek-Reload is the third True Crime account written by Zach Fortier. Like the two previous books, Curbchek and Streetcreds, it is based on real events that happened to Zach Fortier during a thirty year career in Law Enforcement. Curbchek-Reload is a dark account of the final years of Zach's time spent as a cop, He is damaged and paranoid. Having survived frequent life and death battles. He is taking dangerous risks and pushing himself to the limits.
Sprinkled with humorous events to lighten the razors edge descriptions of the daily shootings, stabbings and, rapes, Curbchek Reload has the highest rating of any of Zach Fortier's books. If you like your true crime edgy and dark take a look at Curbchek-Reload. You will not be disappointed.
Order the Book From:
Amazon
Barnes and Noble
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