Author Interview – Science Fiction & Fantasy Marketing Podcast

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

February 19, 2019 SFFpodcast 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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Facebook, fantasy romance, jeffe kennedy, rwa, science fiction romance, sfwa, social media

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

February 12, 2019 SFFpodcast 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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author conferences, gail carriger, hybrid author, pen names, self publishing, traditional publishing, travel podcasts

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

February 5, 2019 SFFpodcast 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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audible, chris philbrook, marketing audiobooks, pen names, zombies

SFFMP 218: Taking Advantage of an Underserved Niche, from Blue Collar to No Collar, and Is NINC Right for You?

January 29, 2019 SFFpodcast Author Interview, Podcast

This week, we chatted with sea-adventure author and current president of Novelists, Inc. (NINC), Wayne Stinnett. He’s been a full-time independent author for years, has written a non-fiction title (From Blue Collar to No Collar), and has been a frequent poster at Kboards where he shares a lot of wisdom with the writing community. We asked him about his niche on Amazon, how he keeps his books selling when he does about three releases a year, and what NINC can do for authors.

Here are some of the specifics that we covered:

Getting started in a less competitive category (on Amazon).
How to keeps book selling when that category gets more crowded.
When it makes sense to keep writing in one long series (Wayne is about to publish his 14th novel in his Caribbean Adventure series) versus starting a new one.
Wayne’s plans to shift from a solo writer to running a publishing company and taking on other authors.
The changes that Wayne has seen in the 5+ years since he published his first novel on Amazon.
Why he’s stuck with KDP Select (Amazon exclusivity) during that time (and why he’s thinking of going wide soon).
Whether Amazon advertising is as effective for him as it used to be.
Running ads on local TV and radio stations since he lives in the area where his stories are set.
How important budgeting is when you’re publishing two or three books a year — having great months around releases but then watching things wane until the next release.
How he keeps newsletter subscribers interested in between releases.
How he often launches into the Top 100 on Amazon with a new novel.
What Novelists, Inc. (NINC) is and why authors might want to join the organization.
The annual NINC conference and why it’s more advanced than the majority of publishing conferences.

Make sure to visit Wayne on his website, check out his books on Amazon, and see what Pyrate Radio is all about.

You can find out more about Novelists, Inc. and their annual conference on their website: https://ninc.com/

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kindle unlimited, ninc, ninc conference, radio advertising, sea adventure, tv advertising, wayne stinnett

SFFMP 216: Reaching $100K+ in Income from Writing Science Fiction with Gerald M. Kilby

January 15, 2019 SFFpodcast Author Interview, Podcast

This week, we chatted writing, publishing, and marketing hard science fiction with Gerald M. Kilby. He’s not the fastest writer, putting out around two novels a year these days, but he manages to keep his books selling well between releases, and he earned more than $100K last year. We asked him all about that, Amazon and Facebook advertising, and what he’s doing for newsletters, social media, and the like.

Here are some of the specifics that we covered:

How the ever-shrinking science fiction section in the physical bookstores helped Gerald decide to start writing his own stories.
Bypassing traditional publishing, since agents weren’t looking for hard sci-fi, and going straight to self-publishing.
Whether or not hard sci-fi readers are more nitpicky in insisting that the science be right.
Some of the mistakes he made with his first novel, a techno-thriller.
How the science fiction genre appeared to have much more potential to him.
How the popularity of The Martian seemed to help with Mars-related fiction when Gerald was starting out.
What he’s done to keep the ball rolling.
Realizing he couldn’t rely on Amazon’s algorithms to keep his books selling, especially when he had many months between releases.
Getting involved in Facebook and Amazon ads and which he likes better for what.
Having luck with letting Amazon choose automatic keywords in their ad system, instead of going in and picking them all by hand.
The challenges of maintaining a positive return-on-investment with Facebook and Amazon ads when you don’t have a huge series and can’t afford to spend as much to get a sale of a Book 1.
Changes to the Amazon advertising system of late and what authors need to watch out for with the higher suggested bids.
How he uses his mailing list and what a book launch looks for him these days.

Make sure to visit Gerald on his website and check out his science fiction on Amazon.

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amazon ads, facebook ads, gerald M Kilby, hard science fiction, marketing, science fiction

SFFMP 215: Working Hard, Ignoring Naysayers, and Becoming a Full-Time Author

January 8, 2019 SFFpodcast Author Interview, Podcast

For this week’s show, we talked to return guest Jeffery H. Haskell, who first joined us in December of 2017 for the show “Successfully Launching as a New Author and Is Kindle Worlds Worth It?” (Yes, Kindle Worlds was still a thing back then!)

Jeffery is a superhero fiction author and also has a new non-fiction title out, Writing for Life: Living the Impossible Dream. We talked about superheroes and how the fantasy subgenre is doing, and we also talked about some of the mindset issues that beginning authors face and that may be holding them back from publishing and becoming successful.

Here are some of the specifics that we covered:

Keeping a series selling past six installments.
Launching a new series in the same universe.
The state of the superhero subgenre as of January 2019.
Whether traditional publishers and authors are in the superhero genre or it’s more dominated by indies.
The earnings potential in the superhero genre.
Overcoming negative feedback and challenges to pursue your writing dream.
Making smart decisions, working hard, and not relying on luck to succeed.
Whether you have to be born with what it takes to become a writer or if anyone can learn.
When it makes sense to bank novels and rapid release and when you should publish right away to test the waters.
How long an author should give a series before accepting that maybe it’s time to try something else.
Setting realistic expectations for your first books and series.
What marketing Jeff has found works well for him in the superhero genre.
Increasing productivity to publish more books as one shifts to full-time.

Find Jeff on his website or Facebook or check out his books on Amazon.

For inspiration, take a look at Writing for Life: Living the Impossible Dream.

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author mindset, fantasy, jeffery h haskell, jeffrey h haskell, marketing, superheroes

SFFMP 212: How to Find Success in Urban Fantasy with Ramy Vance

December 18, 2018 SFFpodcast Author Interview, Podcast

Lindsay got to meet lots of cool authors at the 20Books conference in Las Vegas this fall, and today’s guest was one of those people. Urban fantasy author Ramy Vance was involved in the traditional publishing world for years, but when it came time to publish his fiction, he decided to go indie. He’s written a number of novels and started a new series this past summer, Mortality Bites, where he’s had some of his best success yet. We asked him about it and what he did right and wrong to start selling a significant number of books in the urban fantasy genre.

Here are a few of the specifics that we talked about:

How Ramy was first involved in the traditional publishing world and what it taught him about the business.
The logistics of getting into libraries and how subsidiary rights trading works.
Tools you can use to do your own public relations if you’re hoping for attention from the traditional world (he mentioned SimilarWeb as a resource for analyzing those business’s websites but also said it’s expensive and that our time, as indie authors, may be better invested in writing the next book).
Whether it’s worth jumping into urban fantasy as a newer author or if it’s tough to gain traction since it’s so competitive.
Making use of some of the popular tropes to attract regular genre readers but then doing fun and creative stuff on the side.
Ramy’s experience with going exclusive with Amazon for this series and how advertising and tactics can be different whether one is only selling books or whether selling is secondary to getting borrows and page reads in Kindle Unlimited.
How he experimented with adding a sample chapter at the end of his books and found that sales/borrows of the subsequent books were better when he took that out.
How different advertising platforms sent different types of traffic (i.e. he got more sales from Facebook and more Kindle Unlimited borrows from AMS ads).
His mailing list versus his Facebook group and what he’s prioritizing right now.
Experimenting with Instagram.
How writing six books before releasing the first one helped him to rapid release and get a leg up.
How he approached more than a dozen big-name authors in the genre and found many willing to support him at launch time.
Plans for audiobooks through Podium Publishing.
Whether to invest in advertising to direct people to your back-list books or to focus on selling the new stuff.

If you’re an urban fantasy fan, make sure to check out the first book in Ramy’s Mortality Bites series on Amazon. You can also see what he’s up to on his website and check out his reader Facebook group: Ramy Vance’s House of the GoneGod Dead.

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amazon ads, facebook ads, Facebook groups, Facebook marketing, instagram, kindle unlimited, libraries, public relations, self publishing, subsidiary rights, traditional publishing, urban fantasy

SFFMP 211: How to Use Your Newsletter to Build Engagement and Fan Loyalty

December 11, 2018 SFFpodcast Author Interview, Podcast

Not only was this week’s episode jam-packed with newsletter tips for authors but it turned out to be our longest show ever! You may want to turn it into a two-parter or at least get a beverage so you stay hydrated while you listen.

Our guest was Tammi Labrecque, author of Newsletter Ninja, along with numerous books under various secret pen names. She’s published in romance, fantasy, urban fantasy, mystery, LitRPG, and horror, so she’s got a wide range of experience as an author, but she’s also super excited to talk newsletters.

We covered a ton of great information and answered Twitter questions. Here are some of the highlights (and continue to the end for a huge list of resources that Tammi sent along to share):

Whether having two (or more) pen names is twice the work.
How Tammi got so interested in newsletters.
Why newsletters are so important for authors and why you shouldn’t listen to those people who say they’re dead.
Setting up an autoresponder sequence to send a series of welcome emails to new subscribers.
How long of a sequence of emails authors should send out and what kinds of things to cover.
Adding a tip for readers about how to “white list” your email address to the top of each email.
Which mailing list providers Tammi recommends.
How to keep subscribers engaged and how to keep your emails from going into spam or promotions folders.
How often you should be sending out newsletters.
Whether you should send out plain text emails, use images, or mix it up.
Why your “email reputation” is important to the various email providers and how to boost it.
Three things authors should pay attention to when sending out newsletters: open rates, click rates, and responses.
What realistic numbers/percentages are for those.
The most effective method for getting subscribers to forward your emails to friends.
Whether to share short stories in emails, share snippets, or just provide a link to the story on your website.
What sets one newsletter apart from another and makes people look forward to receiving it?
Should you have separate newsletters and/or landing pages if you write in different genres?
How often should you cull your list?
How can you reactivate a list you haven’t used in a long time without getting a bunch of unsubscribes?
What are some examples of engaging questions you can ask to encourage readers to respond?

If you’ve found Tammi’s information useful, make sure to check out her book Newsletter Ninja for more tips and advice. You can also visit her online at https://newsletterninja.net/ and (for editing and formatting) http://larksandkatydids.com/.

Resources Tammi suggests:

Articles on avoiding SPAM filters:

https://www.yesware.com/blog/email-spam/

https://www.crazyegg.com/blog/avoid-email-spam-filter/

https://www.inc.com/geoffrey-james/how-to-avoid-a-spam-filter-5-rules.html

https://econsultancy.com/blog/64878-45-words-to-avoid-in-your-email-marketing-subject-lines (plus all the links in “Further reading” at the end of the article)

Just straight-up lists of SPAM words:

https://emailmarketing.comm100.com/email-marketing-ebook/spam-words.aspx

https://www.mannixmarketing.com/blog/spam-trigger-words/

https://www.simplycast.com/blog/100-top-email-spam-trigger-words-and-phrases-to-avoid/

https://prospect.io/blog/455-email-spam-trigger-words-avoid-2018/

http://blog.automational.com/2016/03/08/spam-trigger-words-to-avoid/

https://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/30684/the-ultimate-list-of-email-spam-trigger-words.aspx

Subject line articles:

https://sumo.com/stories/best-email-subject-lines

https://www.digitalmarketer.com/101-best-email-subject-lines-2014/

https://optinmonster.com/101-email-subject-lines-your-subscribers-cant-resist/

https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/best-email-subject-lines-list

https://www.wordstream.com/blog/ws/2014/03/31/email-subject-lines

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autoresponders, mailing lists, newsletters, newsletters for authors, pen names, tammi labrecque

SFFMP 210: Selling More at Kobo, Relying Less on Amazon, and What’s Coming for Authors in 2019

December 4, 2018 SFFpodcast Author Interview, Podcast

We talked to return guest Mark Leslie Lefebvre this week. You may remember him as the director of author relations at Kobo, but he’s moved over to the distributor Draft2Digital. We talked about some of the new features coming online there. Mark has recently published a couple of non-fiction books, Killing It on Kobo and The 7 P’s of Publishing Success, so we asked him some Kobo-specific questions as well as his thoughts on succeeding at the non-Amazon retailers and where the self-publishing industry is going in 2019.

If you want to check out the other episodes Mark was on, try Kobo’s New Subscription Service and the State of the Industry (125) and International Sales Trends/Tips and Selling More Ebooks at Kobo with Mark Lefebvre (78).

Here are some of the specifics that we went over this week:

Author consulting and what some of the common problems are for newer authors.
How the industry is doing as of December 2018 and whether the ebook market is truly saturated.
Whether authors need to be smarter these days to succeed.
Why the digital ebook world can present some challenges for branding and keeping fans once people find one of your books or series and enjoy it.
How social media, if you’re comfortable learning one or more of the platforms, can help you connect more fully to readers and become an author they remember.
Some of the basic things you can do to sell more books at Kobo.
Using the Books2Read site to create links that will redirect readers to their preferred retailer.
Remembering that Kobo is bigger in other countries than in the US and paying attention to global pricing.
Kobo’s distribution deal with Walmart in the US.
Whether you can “make it” wide (in the non-Amazon stores) without getting Bookbub sponsorships or spending a lot on advertising.
Tips for making readers aware of subsequent books in a series.
Tips for succeeding in the non-Amazon bookstores.
Thoughts on Google Play and whether any authors are doing well there.
Some new features coming up at Draft2Digital including print formatting and D2D Universes (something of a replacement for the now defunct Kindle Worlds).

Make sure to visit Mark on his website (you can contact him there if you have any Draft2Digital-specific questions) and check out Killing It on Kobo for tips on selling more books there. You can also subscribe to Mark’s publishing-related podcast, Stark Reflections. And finally, if you’re a horror/ghost fan, Mark published some new stuff this year! Macabre Montreal: Ghostly Tales, Ghastly Events, and Gruesome True Stories (with Shayna Krishnasamy) and Nocturnal Screams.

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amazon, d2d, draft2digital, google play, kobo, mark lefebvre, mark leslie

SFFMP 209: Beyond the Basics with Facebooks Ads, Pinterest Ads, and Amazon Ads with Michael Cooper

November 27, 2018 SFFpodcast Author Interview, Podcast

On this week’s show, return guest Michael Cooper (author of HELP! My Facebook Ads Suck under his name and more than fifty novels in his science-fiction Aeon 14 universe as MD Cooper) gave us a lot of great information on what’s working and what’s not right now when it comes to ads for books. He first joined us on Episode 147 where we extensively covered Facebook ads. This time, Michael branched out and gave us information on Amazon ads, Bookbub ads, YouTube ads, and Pinterest ads, as well as updating us on Facebook stuff.

Here are some of the specifics that we covered:

How Michael started taking on collaboration partners to help him tell all the stories he wants to tell in his universe (and put out books more frequently).
Some of the challenges of collaboration and writing multiple series that jump around in a timeline while sharing the same universe.
Why Michael has a lot of his stuff in KU but made one series available in all of the stores.
The idea that there’s no “algorithm” on Amazon and that our fate as authors shouldn’t live and die based on whether Amazon decides to promote our stuff.
Using BookTrackR to monitor sales, rankings, reviews, etc. across all the major store sites.
When running Amazon ads, targeting authors (as keywords) who aren’t in KU to potentially attract readers who pay more for books.
Dealing with “peak author” and saturation of the ebook market going forward.
Learning to be more creative about marketing as there are more and more books out there for the same number of readers to choose from.
Advertising in print genre magazines.
Gauging sell-through for a series and determining how much you can afford to spend on advertising.
Doing Facebook video ads for cheaper clicks than regular ads.
Video Hive as a place where you can buy stock footage to use in video ads.
Using Etsy to ship paperbacks and other swag (they’ll generate shipping labels to help make it easier).
Making an art book of your covers.
How to get into advertising on Pinterest and if the ads are useful for science fiction and fantasy authors.
Choosing the right tagline for your ads and book description pages.
How Michael uses his KDP Select free days and countdown deals.

Remember to pick up Michael’s HELP! My Facebook Ads Suck book if you haven’t already, and if you’re curious about the courses he mentioned at the end of the show, you can join his Facebook group: Michael Cooper’s Ads & Marketing FTW.