I really wanted to find the right balance that didn’t condemn tech people as “evil” but also acknowledged the moral traps they can fall into. 

Mike Trigg – 16 August 2022

The Back Flap

Combining the corporate intrigue of Joseph Finder, the satirical cultural critique of Dave Eggers, and the domestic drama of Laura Dave, Bit Flip is a fast-paced contemporary thriller that delivers an authentic insider’s view of the corrupting influences of greed, entitlement, and vanity in technology start-ups.

Tech executive Sam Hughes came to Silicon Valley to “make the world a better place.” He’s just not sure he’s doing that anymore. And when an onstage meltdown sends him into a professional tailspin, he suddenly sees the culture of the Bay Area’s tech bubble in a new light.

Just as Sam’s wondering if his start-up career and marriage might both be over at fortysomething, an inadvertent discovery pulls him back into his former company, where he begins to unravel the insidious schemes of the founder and venture investors.

Driven by his desire for redemption, Sam discovers a conspiracy of fraud, blackmail, and manipulation that leads to tragic outcomes—threatening to destroy not only the company but also his own moral compass. Entangled in a web of complicity, how far will Sam go to achieve his dreams of entrepreneurial success?

About the book

What is the book about?

Bit Flip is about an executive at a Silicon Valley technology start-up who gets caught up in a fraudulent scheme within the company. Ultimately, he is put into a moral dilemma between doing what’s right or making a fortune. The story offers a commentary on the pernicious aspects of the Bay Area’s tech culture told through a corporate thriller.

When did you start writing the book?

It’s hard to believe, but I first started writing the book at the end of 2018. Even before that, I had been collecting little vignettes of situations that occurred in my professional life, but I didn’t have a larger story to encapsulate those into a novel. Finally, I got inspired by the Hero’s Journey template and that provided a framework for the first draft.

How long did it take you to write it?

Writing it was relatively fast—I had a first draft within 4-5 months, while working full-time. Editing it was the hard part! My first draft was way too long (over 110,000 words) and very linear. I was lucky to find a fantastic developmental editor who helped me transform that first draft into a much more compelling revision. Just as I started working with him, COVID hit! The silver lining of the pandemic was I had more time to write, and I finally “finished” in late 2020. Then, of course, I went through copyediting and proofreading. But the bulk of the work took about 18 months.

Where did you get the idea from?

The idea simply came from my career in Silicon Valley. I got my MBA from UC-Berkeley in 1998 and dove straight into the dot-com bubble. I’ve been doing venture-backed technology start-ups ever since. My observation was that, while there is a preponderance of media coverage, narrative nonfiction, and business books written about Silicon Valley, there are relatively few works of fiction that I consider to be authentic. I wanted to write something from an insider’s point of view, that would resonate with tech people but also be accessible to anyone who sees both what is compelling and concerning about the tech industry.

Were there any parts of the book where you struggled?

The book was always intended as a social commentary on the downsides of tech start-ups, but I didn’t want it to come across as overly cynical or contemptuous. What is so nuanced about Silicon Valley tech culture is most people are well-intentioned and progressive in their social and political views, yet the environment and incentives sometimes spawn self-reinforcing cultures that can tip into toxic. I really wanted to find the right balance that didn’t condemn tech people as “evil” but also acknowledged the moral traps they can fall into.

What came easily?

The humorous aspects of the book probably came most easily for me. These are the eye-rolling moments that anyone living in Silicon Valley can relate to—parts of everyday life. These were some of the hardest scenes to cut from the book—observations or characters that were funny but just didn’t ultimately advance the storyline.

Are your characters entirely fictitious or have you borrowed from real world people you know?

I don’t see this as an either/or question. Although all the characters in the book are fictitious, I suspect almost every author would admit their characters are inspired by people they know or have met in real life. I would describe most of the characters in the books as amalgams—not based on a single person but a blending of personalities, characteristics, and behaviors to be more representative of a category of character, rather than an individual.

We all know how important it is for writers to read. Are there any particular authors that have influenced how you write and, if so, how have they influenced you?

Yes, definitely! Dave Eggers (in The Circle and The Every) and Rob Hart (in The Warehouse and The Paradox Hotel) both offered insightful critiques of the tech industry and the growing wealth disparities in our society. I really admire authors who are expanding the Thriller genre to offer commentary on family and social issues, like Laura Dave’s The Last Thing He Told Me, S.A. Cosby’s Blacktop Wasteland, and Wanda Morris’s All Her Little Secrets. I’m in awe of the literary mastery of Amor Towles, Anthony Doerr, and Joshua Ferris, all of whom had amazing new novels within the last year. And I absolutely love authors who nail the “unreliable narrator,” like Lisa Taddeo, Joshua Mohr, and Chuck Palahniuk

Do you have a target reader?

The primary target reader for Bit Flip is someone not unlike myself, who has pursued a career in the Silicon Valley tech industry. I feel this novel will resonate with them most. But the human story of the novel is really much broader and will, hopefully, find a larger audience. At its core, the novel is about someone striving to pursue their ambitions and achieve something great, but losing their moral compass in the process. It’s a human shortcoming that is particularly prevalent in the tech sector and has had negative consequences for our entire society.

About Writing

Do you have a writing process? If so can you please describe it?

I describe my writing process as “ride the wave.” Rather than having an overly structured schedule, I find my writing tends to come in bursts. Sometimes I’ll get an idea and just have to write it down immediately until it’s complete. Those waves of productivity can happen in the morning or late at night, lasting five minutes or five hours, but when they do I try to get the most out of them I can.

Do you outline? If so, do you do so extensively or just chapter headings and a couple of sentences?

Yes, I always keep a “living outline” for every novel I write. It starts with a basic framework of what I want the story to be, often borrowing creative inspiration from established literary templates or other stories. But then I look for ways to break my outline—interesting digressions or plot twists that I didn’t anticipate when I first embarked on the story. So, I don’t stick to my outline rigidly. Instead, I modify it as I go to keep it interesting, and I update my outline document as I do, so I stay organized.

Do you edit as you go or wait until you’ve finished?

I briefly edit what I write as I go, but I try not to get too bogged down in that first pass. I’ll write relatively quickly, with quick re-read edits to refine it. But I find it more efficient to blaze a trail and then come back later to do a more thorough edit. It’s not always clear what needs editing until you write more of the story.

Did you hire a professional editor?

Yes. I worked with three professional editors at different stages. First, I worked with a developmental editor to refine plot, timeline, characters, and other high-level elements of the story. Then, I worked with a copyeditor to iron out the language, grammar, consistency, and other details down to punctuation. Finally, once the interior of the book was designed, I worked with a professional proofreader to capture an amazing number of remaining details and typos that somehow crept into the manuscript. It’s a long process, but critically important to the final quality of the work.

Do you listen to music while you write? If yes, what gets the fingers tapping?

I love music, but I don’t usually listen to it while I write. I used to play instruments, and I just find myself too engrossed in listening to the music, which distracts me from writing. The exception is I sometimes use music to trigger an emotion. If a song is sad, inspiring, defiant, or another emotion I want to capture, I’ll listen to it right before writing that section to get in the zone.

About Publishing

Did you submit your work to Agents?

Yes, but my connections into the publishing world of agents, editors, and publishers was not very deep. Most of my professional network is tech industry people in Silicon Valley, not publishing people in New York. So, in almost every agent submission, I was going in cold.

What made you decide to go Indie, whether self-publishing or with an indie publisher? Was it a particular event or a gradual process?

I happened to talk with several other authors who worked with She Writes Press and had a great experience. As a male author, I didn’t think that was an option for me until I discovered their sibling imprint, SparkPress. Working with the SparkPress team has been fantastic—tapping into their expertise, relationships, and distribution network, while improving the quality of my book. They are very author friendly and are skilled at nurturing new authors.

Did you get your book cover professionally done or did you do it yourself?

Both the cover and interior design of Bit Flip were done by a professional designer, David Provolo, who did a great job capturing the essence of the story in the visual design.

Do you have a marketing plan for the book or are you just winging it?

Yes, I have an extensive marketing plan, including both a publicity push, event calendar, and promotional campaign. For much of my tech career, I was focused on marketing and sales. So, unlike a lot of authors who prefer writing over marketing their work, I really enjoy the go-to-market activities and have partnered closely with a publicity firm and promotional agency on the marketing plan.

Any advice that you would like to give to other newbies considering becoming Indie authors?

One of the misconceptions about landing a “big four” publisher is that they will do all the publicity, promotion, and marketing of the book for you. While that may be true of their biggest, blockbuster authors, increasingly even authors who receive an advance from a top imprint are largely responsible for their own marketing. I also quickly discovered that self-publishing involved a massive level of effort and steep learning curve! It was when I considered that there was no magic wand to a big four publisher, and how difficult it is to stand out as a self-published author, that the indie publishing path seemed like my best option.

About You

Where did you grow up?

I was born in Louisville, Kentucky because my dad was stationed at Fort Knox. But we moved to Wisconsin when I was two, and that is mostly where I grew up. Except for a few years in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, I spent kindergarten to high school in Appleton, Wisconsin—about 30 minutes south of Green Bay on the east side of the state.

Where do you live now?

My wife and I both went to UC-Berkeley for business school. She grew up in the Bay Area, and I was focused on getting into the tech industry, so we stayed out here after graduating—first in Palo Alto and now in Menlo Park, California.

What would you like readers to know about you?

The fact I grew up in the Midwest and moved to Silicon Valley to pursue a career in tech is core to who I am and what this book is about. So many people in the Bay Area self-selected to come out here for that same reason. The gradual disillusion I’ve gone through over that time is one I think many transplants to Silicon Valley feel, and indicative of a larger identity crisis the tech industry is going through—the spirit of which I describe in Bit Flip.

What are you working on now?

I have a second novel that I’m just about to start pitching. The working title is Burner, and it’s also a contemporary tech thriller based in the Bay Area. It’s about a poor kid from the Central Valley who becomes the anonymous leader of a massive populist online movement. When he meets a billionaire heiress and social media celebrity, the two become unexpected conspirators—unleashing an escalating series of events beyond their control. I’m also starting a third novel, again in the Silicon Valley thriller genre.

End of Interview:

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Get your copy of Bit Flip from Amazon US or Amazon UK.