An Interview with Author Darin Pepple

Tell us about yourself

I’m originally from Lancaster, Pennsylvania. At 18 in 2000, I enlisted in the Army and served for fifteen years. In 2003, I got the opportunity to attend West Point  and I graduated in 2007 from there as a lieutenant. I served two tours in Iraq both times as a platoon leader leading combat patrols across all of Anbar Province. In 2015 I got out of the military and went to graduate school in Washington, DC at the George Washington University. After graduating with my MBA in 2017, I got a federal contracting job in the area. I now live just outside DC in Virginia with my girlfriend Michelle, our puppy Lincoln, and our cat Francois.

Tell us about your book

Dodgebomb is a book about a young Army lieutenant arriving in Iraq during the height of the Global War on Terrorism or Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) as military members know it. Thrown into combat as a casualty replacement, he must quickly earn the trust of his unit and overcome his naivety in order to survive. However, he soon realizes that fighting Al Qaeda is only one of his worries as his gets pulled into Arab tribal politics and Army officer rivalries.

Who is your target audience suited for this story?

Current military and veterans, action adventure readers, and Americans who just want to understand the experience of the Iraq War from common soldiers.

Do you have a favorite character in your story?

I do because he’s based on me. Many of the fictional characters in the book are partially derived from people I served with. Some are composites of a few different soldiers. My favorite character is a very minor character in the background in the book – LT Peppel.

Are you currently working on another book? Is it the same genre?

I have ideas but I’ve got to make this book a success before I move onto the next thing.

Do you find reviews helpful?  Or intimidating?

So far very helpful. Maybe if I get some horribly negative ones I’ll change my tune but so far so good.

Why did you decide to self-publish?

I chose it because it’s the only way to get published these days. Self-publishing is the way to go if you have a fresh idea and aren’t already famous. I think the old publishing industry is dying and isn’t with the times. I did my due diligence and reached out to many Literary Agents. Only two responded back with a no. I think the industry is fixated on the last popular book and not new ideas. They’ll only talk to you if you’re writing a new Harry Potter or something that’s already been done.

Did you use IngramSpark, Amazon KDP, or another company to handle the printing and distribution of your book?

I use Amazon KDP and will approach IngramSpark once I get a few more sales under my belt.

Now that your book is in print, do you have any regrets?

I do. It’s still not perfect. There’s a couple typos that bug me and some of the descriptions are repetitive. But you have to accept that your book will never be 100% and you have to publish it eventually.

What parts did you do on your own, and what did you hire out to have done? (Editing, book design, cover design, eBook, marketing, etc.)

You have to have help. I hired out the editing, book/cover design, and marketing to close friends who are professionals in their fields. As you know I also hired Jera to do the formatting which was phenomenal. You guys (i.e. Kimberly) really took my book to the next level.

What would you do it differently if you were to self-publish again?

Try to be quicker about it. This took me 7 years to do. But most of that was writing.

What is the most difficult part of writing this book?

Getting the details right. Making the combat scenes authentic. My editor made me redo a few sections until they were decent.

If you could tell yourself anything as a younger writer what would it be?

Write to express yourself but keep your day job until you make it. There’s no money in writing until you’re a bestseller and in Oprah’s book club.

What motivates you as a writer?

Being able to share military and war experiences that are closer to the truth than what is out there. Hearing from a friend that’s still in the military that I got it right describing something or that someone can understand their loved one better because they understand their war experience better makes my day.

Do you try to be original or to deliver to readers what they want?

I try to be original and I hope I was in the book. I deliberately outlined a few twists that I knew would surprise people. I hate it when you start reading or watching something and you can predict what’s gonna happen.

How old were you when you started writing?

The first stories I really wrote were in 5^th grade so I guess 11?

What marketing have you done for your book? What worked and what did not?

I hired a business school friend of mine to help me market it. We’ve mapped out an initial 30 day campaign of social media engagement, author endorsements, influencers, and paid advertisement. And we have a website too: www.darinmichaelpepple.com

Did you start marketing before your book was launched? If not, do you regret that decision?

We had the plan and the website up. I approached two authors I knew to get endorsements. So a little. I feel there’s only so much amateurs can do beforehand and the rest is self-discovery once you’re in it.

How do you use social media as an author? Has it worked well for you, or is it something you want to do more or less of?

I use it for promoting my book and informing my fans and military comrades of updates. It has worked well but there’s still so much more to do with it. I need figure out how to get influencers to showcase my book. And I need to get big on Goodreads.

Which platform do you use the most?

Facebook

Any advice you want to pass on to other authors looking to self-publish their book?

Look at KDP University and all its Webinars. There’s a lot of good info there and they make the process pretty easy. Also consider hiring an editor to get an outside perspective – you’re so close to your book after writing it that you can’t see all its flaws. Try to get an editor that understands your genre, I got a friend of mine who’s still in the Army to be mine. The editing process wouldn’t work well if I had to explain to her what a battle is or everything in the military. She already knows.

Anything else?

I really hope my book can redefine our society’s view on the Iraq/Afghanistan Wars. I find that Hollywood and popular culture always have an imperfect take on things and I feel they’ve inappropriately stereotyped the Iraq/Afghanistan Wars as just guys with PTSD or Special Forces snipers. Anyone who’s ever served knows that’s not the case and that there’s so much more. It took about ten years after Vietnam for movies and books to appear that gave a more accurate account and I hope I’m part of a similar trend with my generation’s wars. I hope to improve the narrative.

Thanks for letting me do this and thanks for reading. -Darin