Rising Stars: Meet Matthew Duncan

Today we’d like to introduce you to Matthew Duncan.

Hi Matthew, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstories with our readers.
I studied Theater at NAU with a focus on Directing and Playwriting. I even had the opportunity to intern twice at Walt Disney World in Florida, hoping to start my career with the Disney Company.

But it didn’t work out, and I came back to Phoenix and worked in local theaters in the ’90s. As life went on, I married, started a family, and left the theater in favor of a more stable income in business management. As the years went by, I continued to write plays and even a screenplay, But I didn’t sell anything, and eventually, I gave up on it altogether. In 2011 things had gotten difficult. I got laid off and was working part-time jobs just to make ends meet. It was hard to keep positive, but you have to put on a strong front for your family. Yet my wonderful wife knew how much it was all getting to me.

So, on my birthday she bought me a special gift. The Writer’s Market. A book that would come out every year listing all the publishers, magazines, and contests to which you can submit your writing. When she gave it to me, she said, “No matter how bad things get, I never want you to give up on your dreams.” Inspiration hit me right then. I had been thinking about an idea for a screenplay, but knowing that my love wanted me to write lit a fire under me. At that moment, I didn’t care if I wrote something that would ever be seen or published. I just wanted to write something that she would love.

Since I only had a rough idea of the screenplay I wanted to write, I needed to outline it first. So, I started by writing out a short story. Within a week, I had over 40 pages and wasn’t past what would be act-one. I was writing a novel and loving it. Each day I would work on it during lunch hours and after work, eager to see what I would come up with next. Three months later, I had a completed first draft. I gave it to my wife to read. She said that she loved it and then gave it back to me with so many notes you would have thought it was a failed term paper, the difference between playwrighting and novel writing is like the difference between a sailboat and a jet ski. They are both the same type of thing but require very different skills. I rewrote the manuscript and gave it back to my wife for more editing. While she worked on that, I spent my time reading and listening to best-selling books from the library. I consumed them with a focus on understanding what made them best sellers. I quickly learned that if I got the first and last books in a series, I could see how the writer improved over time and what kinds of mistakes to avoid.

We did this for the next two years. She would review my book and all the changes I made and then give it back to me with her notes. After about 14 drafts, we finally had a book that I was proud to show the world, and I went about the task of getting it published. But that was easier said than done. I couldn’t get any publisher to even look at my book or even a chapter. All the legitimate publishers would only consider new fiction books that were represented by an agent. So I tried to get an agent, but everyone that I contacted said that they were either not taking on any new clients, or that they were not working in sci-fi, or that they wouldn’t work with an author who didn’t have an established audience. As I did this search, I got to know a number of authors like myself on social media. Many recommended self-publishing. So that is what I did.

In 2014, I self-published my first book, The Warrior’s Stone. It got great reviews but very few sales. That didn’t deter me. I was already inspired to write two more stories. In 2016 I published my second book, and a year later, my third.

I followed up with a spin-off book called Lt. Reilly 2321. This is when my writing career took off. I moved my books over to Amazon from another self-publishing platform that wasn’t working for me and took classes on how to market my books. My book sales took off, especially the spin-off. I wrote a follow-up to Lt. Reilly that was even more successful. Writing two more books and a spin-off of that series turned my dream into a real career. I now have nine books in print, ebooks, and audiobooks, with more on the way.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
As a kid, I was told I had a learning disability that made it hard for me to read, write and spell. In 5th grade, I was on a 2nd-grade reading level, a 1st-grade spelling level, and yet tested at a 9th-grade vocabulary. The approach at the time by the schools was to separate me from the “on-track” students and have me work one-on-one with a special teacher to get me to the standards for the grades. By the time I got to Jr. High, I was on grade level, mostly, but I still was a horrible speller and a very slow reader. The school remained a struggle for my entire academic career. But what made me want to be a writer was the theater. Plays were something I could read, understand and even create.

There is something about finding your passion that makes anything possible.

Today I am still a poor speller and listen to books more than I read them. But I love to write because it is the creation of characters, stories, and worlds that I love. This is why computers with spell check and employing editors and proofreaders for my books are very necessary.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
The genres I write in are Sci-fi and Fantasy. I’ve been in love with all kinds of future drama since I was 8 years old and watched Star Wars for the first time in a packed movie house with my little brother by my side. We were in the front row, and when the music boomed, the lasers flew overhead, and the spaceship rolled onto the screen like it was flying over us; I was sold for life. As I got older and my taste became more refined, I got frustrated that great sci-fi and fantasy were considered by many to be “for kids,” and in books, it was not considered “real literature.” I wasn’t alone. Many people from my generation strived to bring an adult and serious approach to fantasy worlds, like the reboot of Battle Star Galactica and many of the Star Wars shows like The Mandalorian and Endor. Sci-fi and Fantasy books are now seeing a resurgence in popularity, and many writers like myself are striving to meet the standards of our audience.

In addition to my print books, they are all in audiobook format as well. I’ve been very fortunate to find a great voice artist and producer, Dave Cruse, who has done most of my books. It wasn’t long ago that books on tape or CD were limited to the top best sellers and were marketed to the blind and truck drivers. The standards in the industry were very low, and the quality, or lack of it, was evident. But with audio streaming services like Audible, audiobooks are growing in popularity at an incredible rate. With extreme competition for listeners, the standards of quality have become very high, and the listeners will tell you in very negative terms if they don’t like the book, the narrator, or anything else about the product. Finding such a talented voice artist who works well with me as a business partner has helped make the audiobook part of my career such a great success.

Do you have any advice for those looking to network or find a mentor?
Social media is great for finding people with similar interests, but you have to be careful. I can’t tell you how often I have met people who try to pass themselves off as experts and offer advice, only to learn that they couldn’t be more off track.

For me, my mentors are people I have never met. They are the people who write books that I love, and I follow their work. They probably have no idea who I am, but I hope to one day be as popular with my work as they are.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://matthewoduncanbooks.com/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/moduncan1