Month: March 2015

SFFMP 24: Why Reviews Are So Important, Getting Them Early On, and Dealing with Bad Reviews

Group Discussion, Podcast

Today Lindsay had some laggy internet going on, so naturally we did a show with just the three of us, where we all needed to talk a lot! With a few more pauses than usual, we discussed all aspects of book reviews: why you need them, how to get them, and how to deal with those pesky 1-stars. Here are a few more specifics of what we covered:

  • Why it’s so important to get reviews (social proof, proof for advertisers, and also possibly getting a bump from the Amazon algorithms for lots of reviews right after a release)
  • Things we did to get reviews of our early books and whether give aways and blog tours are worth it
  • What we’re doing now, as more established authors, to get reviews, especially for new series and new genres we may be exploring
  • Looking beyond Amazon to Goodreads and getting reviews in the other stores
  • How we deal with bad reviews
  • Whether we think you should ever respond to reviews
  • Ways to possibly make a bad review work in your favor

 

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SFFMP 23: Marketing Dark Fantasy, Writing in a Series, and Selling Novellas

Author Interview, Podcast

Tonight we had dark fantasy author Becca Andre on the show. She’s a relatively new author with three novels and two novellas out so far in her Final Formula series (the first ebook is free at Amazon, Smashwords, and other retailers if you want to check it out), but she’s gotten off to a great start.

Here’s some of what we talked about with her:

  • Writing and publishing while working a full time job and being a mom
  • The usefulness of writing workshops when you’re getting started
  • Branding the covers in a series and choosing an Amazon category (and even cover design) based on what’s less competitive (assuming a couple of options would work)
  • Novellas related to one’s main series and whether they’re worth doing or if readers are mainly interested in novels in the SF/F genre
  • Pricing for novellas versus novels
  • Effective ways of marketing a series, such as whether to focus on advertising the first book all the time or whether to spend money on plugging new releases too
  • Writing to a “key demographic” versus just writing what you want
  • Launching your very first novel at 99 cents so there’s less of a barrier to entry for potential readers
  • What to do as an author on Twitter and Facebook (i.e. posting snippets, updates, book news, etc.)
  • Using a Goodreads Giveaway (of a physical paperback) to get people to add the book and leave reviews there
  • Trying giveaways at times other than during a book launch, such as between books to generate interest and keep your name out there
  • Giving away a free “alternate PoV scene” to entice people to sign up for your newsletter

 

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SFFMP 22: Book Bundles, Marketing Successes and Failures, and Creating Author Swag

Group Discussion, Podcast

We’re late getting a show up this week, but we are here! Tonight Jeff, Lindsay, and Jo chatted amongst themselves, covering a number of topics such as…

  • How Jeffrey had good luck boosting his sales by tinkering with keywords on Amazon.
  • How Jo making his first book temporarily free helped boosted sales of his Book 2 preorder.
  • How Lindsay increased sales on her omnibus by redoing the cover and blurb.
  • A few marketing/publishing things that ended up being a waste of time, or at least not very profitable for the time invested.
  • Our experiences with multi-author book bundles of which we’ve been a part.
  • Can too many authors make a multi-author bundle less effective? Can too few sabotage the potential? What’s the right number?
  • How Lindsay got a lot more interest in one of her series by putting together a bundle of the first three books.
  • Why the guys decided to put together a permafree epic fantasy book bundle with a few other authors
  • Jo’s experiments with creating 3D book swag on Shapeways.com and ordering blook plates for signings from Bookplate Ink.

 

 

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SFFMP 21: Marketing and Publishing Comedic Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Co-Writing, and Rocking It with Twitter

Author Interview, Podcast

In today’s episode, we talked to John P. Logdson and Chris Young, a comedic fantasy and science fiction writing duo. We covered a lot of ground. Here are some of the highlights:

  • Any special challenges with writing humor/comedy?
  • Dealing with one-star reviews from people who don’t “get” the humor
  • Collaboration — who does what and how do you manage to put out cohesive novels?
  • Does collaboration offer any advantages over titles written by a single author?
  • Can any writers collaborate well, or does it take a special personality and/or a certain skill set?
  • Writing to target less competitive categories on Amazon
  • Tricks for producing books more quickly
  • Should you mention that the books are humorous or comedic in the blurb or on the cover? So people looking for serious fiction won’t accidentally grab them?
  • Are there any marketing advantages to writing fantasy/science fiction comedy?
  • How to set up your tweets to market successfully on Twitter (effective hashtag use and Hashtagify for seeing what’s popular or trending + BookLinker to send readers from different countries to the right store)
  • Twitter groups and networking with other authors in a smart way
  • Marketing/advertising on Facebook, Goodreads, and using giveaways
  • The types of marketing John and Chris have tried and that hasn’t done well + what has worked
  • What they do to encourage newsletter signups
  • A new site for crowdfunding/getting pre-orders specifically for authors: Publishizer.

Tools they use for collaboration: Scrivener, Trelby (screenwriting program), and Dropbox.

Want to check out their work?

For more character-driven stories, try Starliner or the Land of Ononokin books. For more humor, check out Platoon-F. They’ve got a new project coming soon as well, a book called Queen Aurthur, a different (very different) take on the King Aurthur story. You can get in touch with them or find out more at their site, Crimson Myth.

 

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SFFMP 20: SFWA for Indie Authors and Making Money from Patreon and Kickstarter with MCA Hogarth

Author Interview, Podcast

You may have heard that the SFWA (Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers Association) is now allowing small press and indie authors in, so long as they’ve made the earnings requirements. We invited MCA Hogarth onto the show to talk about some of the changes and what they mean for indies, as well as why you might want to join.

After that, we talked a little about marketing, but Lindsay was curious about some of the extra ways MCA is making money from her work, so we also jumped into Patreon, Kickstarter, Paypal tip jars, and coloring books!

Here’s a list of what we hit on:

  • The SFWA, which has been around for 50 years, is now accepting small press and indie authors.
  • What does the organization offer and why might authors want to join? (Networking, invitations to anthologies, legal help, and more.)
  • What are the requirements to join?
  • Can you join if your book had a successful Kickstarter campaign?
  • Social media for marketing — Twitter, LiveJournal are MCA’s preferred spots.
  • How she uses her mailing list and how often she sends newsletters
  • How she’s making money with Patreon
  • How she’s making money with Kickstarter — she’s run 8 campaigns and even written a book: From Spark to Finish: Running Your Kickstarter Campaign.

If you would like to learn more about MCA Hogarth, you can follow her on Twitter or Livejournal, and be sure to check out one of her more popular novels, Mindtouch.

You can also check out this article about her in Publishers Weekly: Blazing the Self-Publishing Path.

 

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