TM Jefferson is a writer born and raised in New Rochelle, New York and he’s currently making waves in the independent circuit with his publishing imprint TMJ Books. His most recent project, The Union, is a love story with a street edge. The beauty of independence is that we as readers are treated with these stories that come from authentic black voices. That’s what makes the prospect of TMJ Books exciting. It’s a fully independent imprint delivering, uncut, authentic stories from voices that have been shunned by bougie publishing standards for too long.
At the helm of TMJ Books, we have TM Jefferson, a writer who has lived an extraordinary life. He is a writer that’s is well-equipped to deliver a slew of page-turners to the urban drama genre.
When writers pop up on my radar, I’m always curious about what brought them to that first moment of creation. I want to learn all about their influences, their route toward publication, and the projects they’re working on. Those became my three focus areas when I approached TMJ for a conversation. This interview covers those three areas: Influences, Independence, and Projects.
An Interview with TM Jefferson, founder of TMJ Books
Inspirations
Gary Swaby: Can you tell us a little about your upbringing and any important moments that shaped who you became as an adult?
TM Jefferson: Peace. I was born and raised in New Rochelle, NY, which is in lower Westchester County, area code 914. I grew up in the Hartley projects, specifically 60 Horton Avenue. Horton & Brook St. The projects had five buildings and my family lived in three of those but I can only recall living in two as a kid. I can vividly remember us moving from one building to the next when I was about 7-8 years old. I lived in a single-parent household with three siblings. Two brothers and my sister. My father was out, running the streets, but my mother made sure I knew who he was even if they weren’t physically together. She never once spoke badly about him either. My father and I weren’t close, but we were good. He passed away in 1989. I was ten years old.
I went to New Rochelle High School for two years before I was kicked out for fighting. From there I went to an alternative school called St. Gabriel. At this time I was running around in the streets, getting in trouble, so I was sent to Morganfield, Kentucky to Earl C. Clements Job Corps. That was definitely an experience. While in Job Corps I took up automotive repair and had the chance to take my G.E.D exam. After about two months in job corps, there was a riot that popped off between some gangs that were there so. To ease the tension they sent all the New York people home.
Back in New Rochelle, I enrolled at Monroe College, taking up computer science. I stayed in Monroe for three semesters before I strayed to the streets.
GS: When did you first have aspirations to write?
TM Jefferson: I started writing as early as I can remember. It started with writing music and eventually evolved to me writing short stories. It wasn’t until 2006 when I went to prison that I actually sat down and wrote a complete piece. After sending my story to one of my friends, they suggested I self-publish. I had no knowledge of the publishing industry and how it worked but I did some research and was able to navigate my way to self-publishing my first novella in 2008.
Writing was my way of communicating my ideas.
TM JEFFERSON
GS: So you always knew you wanted to be a writer then? Even at an early age.
TM Jefferson: I always wanted to create. Writing was my way of communicating my ideas.
GS: Who were some of your literary inspirations when you went about self-publishing that first novella?
TM Jefferson: I was in prison reading a lot of books by different authors. Different genres of work. I was inspired by a few urban/street authors I was reading; specifically K’wan, Al Saddiq Banks, and Kwame Teague aka DUTCH. After reading their work, I wanted to put my own stories out.
Independence
GS: What kind of challenges did you face when publishing your first title?
TM Jefferson: I knew nothing about publishing. Nothing at all. When my friend told me about self-publishing it was the first time I had heard about it. Through my research, I came across a few authors who I reached out to but no one reached back. So, I went ahead and did it myself.
That first book was an experience. This was 2008. I had print copies and I published them to Amazon Kindle, which was fairly new at the time. I priced the book at $6.99 thinking I was doing it right. In total, I sold about 3-5 copies of that book on Kindle within a six-month period.
After that, I started to study Amazon and how it works. I came across a published author who was white. He had his book priced at .99 cents. His reviews were in the hundreds and his ranking was Bestseller status. I did some more studying and figured I was going to adapt his pricing method. I put that book at .99 cents and it took off.
After I saw what my first book was doing I just kept writing and releasing work.
When I’m writing a story and creating characters, I become those characters and I’m in that story.
TM Jefferson
GS: And now, you’ve had the experience of being an Amazon Bestseller of over nine different titles. Congrats on that one. Would you still consider traditional publishing as an option?
TM Jefferson: Yes. Definitely. I’m not looking or taking the steps to get traditionally published, but if the opportunity is there and the circumstances are in my favor, I would probably take the offer.
Projects
GS: What first inspired you to write The Union?
TM Jefferson: The Union is not a new book. It was originally published as a three-book series in 2012-2014 under another independent publishing company I was dealing with. I have recently re-released it as the full story as it was intended when I wrote it. I broke it into three parts for the company I was dealing with. The inspiration for The Union came from my wanting to pen a street love story.
The hardest part in creating The Union was probably coming up with the title. It had a different title before The Union.
GS: How long did it take you to start, finish and publish The Union?
TM Jefferson: I wrote The Union in less than sixty days. It was over one hundred thousand words so the company I was with suggested I break it up into three parts and create a series. And I did that. So, the book was published maybe 90-120 days after I wrote it.
GS: Is there a standout character from The Union that you enjoyed writing?
TM Jefferson: Yes. Mox Daniels. The lead character in The Union. After you read the book you’ll know why I say this.
GS: Do you have a regular writing routine that you follow to complete the objective?
TM Jefferson: No routine but when I sit down to create, I go in! When I’m writing a story and creating characters, I become those characters and I’m in that story. Day in day out. I like to immerse myself in my work.
GS: What can we expect from TM Jefferson in the future?
TM Jefferson: I’ve started a new imprint; TMJ BOOKS and I’ll be re-releasing some of my previous titles and also publishing new works.
At this time I have one author signed to TMJ BOOKS and her name is Poison Ivy. Keep an eye out for her first title: Single Wive’s Club coming summer 2022!
Please visit my website for all new releases, giveaways, and event dates.
Thank you! Peace.
Buy from TMJ Books Website / Buy on Amazon (US) / Buy on Amazon (UK)
