USA Today Best-selling Author Russell Nohelty is in the midst of his latest Kickstarter: the “Wannabe Press Summer Fantasy/Science Fiction Novel Slate.” He took some time out of his schedule to answer some of our questions about reading, creativity and how he kickstarts the summer successfully with his latest Kickstarter campaign.

1. What advice do you have for people who want to run a Kickstarter?

God, that is a loaded question. There is so much advice I would give, but if I had to boil it down then:

A — Have an audience before you start. Don’t come to Kickstarter without ANYBODY. Kickstarter can help but you have to seed the audience, and get the excitement built.

B — Make sure your project is at least as good or better than the other stuff in your category.

C — Find other people in your category who are launching at the same time and collaborate on promotions.

But I have done just so much work on this subject at my blog, www.thecompletecreative.com

2. Why is it important for people to read new stories?

I love reading the same books again and again. There is great comfort in that, but new things make our minds expand, and it’s only in reading new things that we can find something that we absolutely love. You won’t find your NEXT favorite book reading the things you have already read.

Also, financially, authors make a living off selling new books and creating new worlds. Yes, the back catalog is massively important, but new books are what allow authors to be able to keep writing, so if you love an author, pick up their books when they come out because that’s how they know people actually care about what they write. If you don’t buy those new books, they might never write another book in that universe you love again because they won’t think there is any interest. It happens all the time. Worlds are killed by authors or publishers, but it is the audience that determines whether a world lives or dies nine times out of 10.

3. What’s the one thing that has most helped you in bringing more creativity to your stories, books and marketing?

Reading. Writing is like breathing out, and reading is like breathing in. So, reading both fiction and non-fiction has helped me more than anything to bring more creativity into my work, along with listening to podcasts and collaborating with other people who know more than me.

4. Anything else you feel is important for people to know.

There are a million things, I’m sure, but the one that keeps running through my head these days is how precious these books [at this Kickstarter] I’m launching are to me. Each of them helped me reach a new level, and I wouldn’t be the writer I am today without them. So, I hope people pick them up. I love popular series, but there is something about reading an author’s weird, out of the blue books that really allows me to get a sense of them as a person, and these books are those for me.

Nohelty’s Kickstarter runs through June 25^th and is already fully funded! Get involved and get some amazing stories to kickstart the summer of the right way. You can find out more about Nohelty at his website russellnohelty.com and wannabeepress.com.