February 2015 – Science Fiction & Fantasy Marketing Podcast

SFFMP 19: Making Books Permafree, Where to Buy Sponsorships, and Tumblr with C. Gockel

February 25, 2015 SFFpodcast Author Interview, Podcast

We interviewed C. Gockel this week (don’t tell anyone, but we found out that C stands for Carolynn), urban fantasy author of the I Bring the Fire series (the first book is free, so go check it out!). She hasn’t quit her day job yet, but it sounds like she’s getting close to making “professional income.”

Here’s a summary of some of the questions we asked her:

How did writing fan fiction lead to a career as a successful indie author?
Are there any advantages to starting out with fan fiction? Any lessons a new author can learn?
When you start thinking about publishing (and making some money!), is it better to modify a successful fanfic to make it an original story, or are you better off starting something new?
How has having a permafree Book 1 affected the sales of later books in your series? Is it still effective, even though your first ebook has been free for quite a while now?
What do you do to promote your permafree title and keep the sales of subsequent books rolling in month after month?
Have you tried discounting other books in your series, or do you stick with the first?
Are any advertisers more worth it than others, or do some charge too much? (Carolynn wisely did not want to dis anyone, but she gave some tips for evaluating whether a sponsorship site is worth it.)
You use Tumblr for your blogging platform — does it offer any advantages over more traditional spots?
Do you ever get fans offering to help “edit” your books or offering other advice? How do you deal with that?

Looking for the free resource spreadsheets we mentioned in the show? Here are Carolynn’s links:

Sponsors Who Advertise FREE Ebooks
Sponsors Who Advertise 99 Cent Ebooks

| Open Player in New Window

Click to download the mp3.

Subscribe to the Science Fiction and Fantasy Marketing Podcast on iTunes.

Subscribe to the Science Fiction and Fantasy Marketing Podcast on YouTube.

Subscribe to the Science Fiction and Fantasy Marketing Podcast via RSS.

advertising, free advertising, making books permafree, marketing, permafree, sponsorships, tumblr, urban fantasy

SFFMP 18: Buying Advertising, Twitter, Conventions, Book Signings, and Swag

February 17, 2015 SFFpodcast Group Discussion, Podcast

Tonight, after Lindsay coughed her way through the introduction, we chatted amongst ourselves on a number of topics related to online marketing and offline marketing.

How do you measure your return on investment when it comes to online marketing? When is it time to pull the plug on a method? (We discussed social media, Wattpad, and guest posts/interviews.)
Does it ever make sense to abandon a series, if the sales/reviews/interest isn’t there?
What’s an online marketing tactic that you tried, didn’t expect much from, then were pleasantly surprised about because it was helpful?
What’s something everyone does and everyone recommends doing but just seems like a waste of time to you?
Do giveaways actually help sell books?
Twitter — what’s the point, guys?
When is it worth buying sponsored spots on book blogs/mailing lists for your books?
Have you done anything in your own hometown to try and sell books locally?
Is there any value in going to conventions or doing book signings? Investing in some author swag to give away?

Click to download the mp3.

| Open Player in New Window

Subscribe to the Science Fiction and Fantasy Marketing Podcast on iTunes.

Subscribe to the Science Fiction and Fantasy Marketing Podcast on YouTube.

Subscribe to the Science Fiction and Fantasy Marketing Podcast via RSS.

advertising books, bookbub, bookmarks, buying sponsorships, conventions, online marketing, swag

SFFMP 17: Kindle Unlimited, Pre-Orders, and Smashwords Formatting

February 11, 2015 SFFpodcast Group Discussion, Podcast

After a week off, we’re back, and we had a good long chat tonight, covering all sorts of useful topics (we hope they’re useful, anyway!). We didn’t have a guest, so we interviewed each other on marketing/publishing subjects that we’re experienced with. Jeff answered our questions on Smashwords formatting, Jo talked about his experience with pre-orders and whether they’re a good idea for increasing book sales, and Lindsay talked about her experience in KDP Select and Kindle Unlimited (with her pen name).

Here’s a list of some of the topics we hit upon:

In the opening news, Lindsay argued why it’s a good idea to bundle the early books in a series
The gang discussed the fact that the SFWA is now allowing in small press and indie authors
Pre-orders on Amazon, yea or nay?
Why pre-orders on Smashwords, Apple, and Kobo are a good idea
How far out you can list pre-orders and what happens if you fail to get your finished manuscript up in time
Lots of formatting tips for dealing with the Smashwords meatgrinder
How KDP Select and Kindle Unlimited can increase visibility and be useful for new authors
Whether the perks of KDP Select are worth the exclusivity requirement or whether it’s better to go wide