Interview with Dan Gallagher

Author of THE SECRETS OF SUCCESSFUL FINANCIAL PLANNING (SSFP) (fall, 2018) and ANCIENT OF GENES (spring 2020)

Where are you from originally and where do you reside now?

Born: Providence, RI. Live in Charlotte, NC.

If you currently reside somewhere besides where you were born, what’s the story that lead from there to here?

I lived in Providence, RI until my large family moved to Alexandria, VA because of the Department of the Navy promoting my father to an aircraft logistics job there. My mother sometimes taught sewing but usually worked as a stay-at-home mom. When I graduated from High School, I attended Virginia Military Institute in Lexington, VA. I became a Ranger & Mechanized Infantry Officer Ft. Benning, GA; then was assigned to the First Infantry Division’s Ranger Battalion (combo unit) at Ft. Riley, KS. My wife says I’m still not grown up, however. We met at a church Young Adults Group breakfast, where she arrived with her boyfriends. I had to punt this guy, as Laura fascinated me with her wit, sophistication and beauty. She still does. I have no idea what happened to her old boyfriend, but he was history by the time we finished breakfast. We were engaged in eight weeks; married six months after that. We moved our three kids to Charlotte, NC in 1999 to be nearer to Laura’s mother and soon had our fourth child. Laura and I remain in love as we approach our 32nd anniversary. Home is where we are together.

What made you decide to write and publish your first book?

My first book was THE PLEISTOCENE REDEMPTION (TPR), which had been rolling around in my head ever since the Army had me support a covert mission into the then Soviet Union.

How would you describe your books to first time readers?

My prose is intense, action-packed and thought-provoking. It penetrates scientific, mystical and social issues as well as phenomena. I write adventure fiction and humor, as well as business nonfiction.

Who do you feel is most likely to connect with the topics you write about?

Deep thinkers and thrill seekers…especially folks intrigued by the ONLY prophecy held in common (in one form or another) among nearly all religions and myth traditions and the real-world potential for genetic weapons of mass destruction.

What unexpected or surprising thing did you learn during the process of writing and publishing?

In 1996 I had no idea that self-publishing had such a stigma, enforced by rudeness and shunning by agents, publishers, bookshop owners and media. This has abated to some degree, but I have resolved after 2001 not to self published again! I learned also never to take a project away from a well-known agent (Frank Weimann) and publisher (Tor, Bob Gleason) to self-publish (1997)! At least I have improved TPR over the years–it badly needed that despite selling over 4,000 copies. TPR will be released soon–royalty published–as ANCIENT OF GENES.

If you could, what advice would you give to your past self before embarking on this journey?

As implied above, don’t self-publish fiction. I have learned from a NFAA study, that non-fiction self-publishing projects succeed as well as royalty published ones, provided the author has strong credentials or is well known in his/her field. In fact, because royalties and support was so poor for me at Skyhorse for THE SECRETS OF SUCCESSFUL FINANCIAL PLANNING (SSFP), that I should have self-published it. Long ago, when I added business brokerage and Real Estate teaching to my financial planning practice, I self published a study program that earned several times the royalties I earned with a similar project that was royalty published!

How many people would you ideally like to reach with your books?

Everyone above the age of twelve who can read.

What has been the biggest challenge and frustration during the process to date?

See description of self-publishing above.

What’s your biggest strengths when it comes to book a) writing, b) publishing and c) marketing?

In writing, my strength is my imagination and ability to synthesize research and experience into an outline that becomes a set of writing assignments. This identifies logical errors, facilitates structure and almost eliminates writer’s block.

Publishing is less under my control because I must convince other professionals to buy-in. But, combining a) salesmanship, b) a never-say-die attitude with c) paying attention to expert advice regarding this process (queries, networking, etc.), I do make progress.

As to marketing, publishers will not do everything for you, unless you are already a big name. So, I learned website building and SEO, contributed a modest budget for bookmarks and the like, and applied networking skills to try to enlist others in promoting my work to their friends. There are inexpensive checklists and books to help (such as from Writers’ Digest); use these whether you can afford a professional marketing help or not.

What’s your biggest weakness when it comes to book a) writing, b) publishing and c) marketing?

As to writing, I am often weighed down by cool imaginings of scenes and ideas that get into the prose…but must later be removed to my “writer’s notebook” because they fail to contribute two or more benefits (they MUST move the plot along meaningfully and they must also contribute to some other important element of fiction, such as character development).

A weakness in publishing is my tendency to cut corners by using form letter queries and the like, not customizing & personalizing enough. There really is a ton of work to get done and events at which to network (sigh).

Marketing has been weak and slow for me because learning the web-related skills and being diligent in social media is so time consuming. I am making progress, but it is a very steep and long climb.

When do you think you will write your next book?

In 2020 I am required to write a sequel to ANCIENT OF GENES. I might also write a financial planning book for business entities (SSFP was for personal planning). I also have an anthology of AOG spin-off short stories to finish.

Are you self published or did you use a hybrid publisher, or a traditional publisher?

Traditional for SSFP, AOG and most short story spin-offs of AOG. However, I am likely to self-publish the business financial planning book unless I get a good offer (Skyhorse has first right of refusal for 30 days).