Month: February 2019

SFFMP 221: Whether Awards Are Worth Trying for, Marketing Fantasy Romance, and Being Active in SFWA and RWA

Author Interview, Podcast

This week, we chatted with RITA award-winning fantasy romance author Jeffe Kennedy. She started her career writing non-fiction, shifted to romance and fantasy romance with traditional publishing, and now does some self-publishing as well. We asked her about whether awards are worth trying for, her thoughts on the professional organizations SFWA and RWA, and what she’s tried and liked for marketing over the years.

Here are some of the specific topics we touched on:

  • Getting started in fantasy romance before it became a thing (we debated if it’s yet come into its own).
  • Whether fantasy romance (secondary world/epic fantasy rather than Earth-centric paranormal romance) is a growing market now.
  • Tropes romance readers will expect, even if a story is SF/F.
  • How much “romance” has to be in a story for it to be considered sci-fi or fantasy romance?
  • Jeffe’s thoughts on whether authors should get involved in RWA or SFWA, the professional organizations for the romance and SF/F genres.
  • Awards you can enter versus awards you have to be nominated for.
  • Jeffe’s experience entering the RITA awards each year and having a winner in 2017.
  • Whether awards are worth pursuing and if they can increase readership.
  • Jeffe’s thoughts on blogging and social media, and her preferred platforms.
  • Getting reviews from book bloggers.
  • Joining with other authors in your genre to put out anthologies of novellas.
  • Jeffe’s First Cup of Coffee podcast.
  • Putting out content each week for readers, whether blog posts or podcasts or social media updates.

You can visit Jeffe on her website and check out the award-winning The Pages of the Mind or the first book in her current series, Sorcerous Moons: Lonen’s War.

You can also check out her First Cup of Coffee podcast.

 

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SFFMP 220: Succeeding at Traditional Publishing as Well as Self-Publishing and When It’s Worth it to Travel for Conventions

Author Interview, Podcast

This week, traditionally and self-published fantasy author Gail Carriger joined us for the second time. She first visited two years ago to chat about all the marketing she does and also about how she was transitioning from traditional publishing to a hybrid career. Since then, she’s continued to self-publish, including a new pen name in a slightly steamier fantasy genre. We asked her all about that and also about conventions and whether they’re worth going to for a self-published author.

Here are the specific topics we covered during the show:

  • What Gail has been up to in the last two years.
  • Updates on the hybrid author lifestyle and why she self-publishes some of her works but prefers to stay with a traditional publisher for other books.
  • The launch of her new naughtier pen name (gay werewolves finding romance in San Francisco!) and how her regular readers responded.
  • The challenges of juggling multiple series and pen names.
  • Whether it’s better to go into a small niche and try to dominate it or jump into a big crowded market where there may be more potential upside.
  • Launching a series wide (Gail doesn’t do anything exclusive with Amazon).
  • Why Gail is a big fan of pre-orders.
  • Experimenting with Kobo’s in-house promotions (available through the Writing Life dashboard).
  • How much great data you can get by surveying your readers (Gail asked where people first found her).
  • Finding more success with library ebook sales as a self-published author.
  • Gail’s thoughts on permafree books and why she doesn’t have any freebies.
  • Gail’s 20 Minute Delay travel podcast with tips and tricks for authors (and others!) hopping on planes. (Search for it on your favorite podcast platform.)
  • When self-published authors (or authors looking to go trad) should consider hitting up some conventions.
  • Gail Carriger’s Master List of Convention Packing & Attending Tips (Important for Writers)
  • Why you should always have a goal when you go to a conference.

You can check out Gail’s website for more information, and you can follow her on the various social media sites such as Facebook.

 

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SFFMP 219: Launching a New Pen Name and Getting an Audiobook Deal with Audible

Author Interview, Podcast

For this week’s show, sci-fi/fantasy/horror author Chris Philbrook joined us to talk about the success he’s had with ebooks and audiobooks (he’s had several deals with Audible for production), as well as a new YA-writing pen name that he’s starting up.

Here are some of the specifics that we discussed:

  • Publishing fiction to your website and building a readership before starting to publish.
  • Some of the challenges with publishing series in several different sub-genres.
  • How Chris was originally picked up by Audible and how audiobooks have become a substantial part of his income.
  • His experiences with an audiobook publisher and also DIY-ing it through ACX.
  • What marketing he’s done to help his audiobooks sell.
  • Chris’s experience with paying for Kirkus reviews and if it’s worth it.
  • His experience with Amazon exclusivity and Kindle Unlimited versus taking some of his books wide.
  • Why he decided to start a pen name for his YA fiction even though he’s already written in numerous genres under his regular name.
  • Some of the challenges of starting again from scratch and creating a second internet presence.
  • Experimenting with Instagram to attract younger readers.
  • The advantage of a simultaneous release for the ebook, paperback, and audiobook.
  • When it makes sense for a newer author to invest in audiobook production.

You can find Chris on his website or check out his books on Amazon. You can also follow what he’s doing with his pen name by looking up W. J. Orion. The first book, The Phone, comes out in March.

 

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