SFFMP 170: Keeping an Older Series Selling, Nebula Awards, and What SFWA Can Do for You
On this week’s show, military science fiction author and retired Marine colonel Jonathan Brazee joined us. We talked about the wisdom of sticking to one genre and writing a series and spinoff series all in the same universe, and how that can help with marketing. It doesn’t hurt to be prolific, either! We also talked about SFWA, where Jonathan is the Chairman of the Education Committee and doing a lot to help indie authors inside of the organization.
Here are some more specific details of what we covered:
- Jonathan’s road from his first published short story in 1978 to being a full-time indie author of more than thirty novels of (mostly) military science fiction.
- Why he recently decided to accept a traditional publishing contract.
- The wisdom of focusing on one genre, for the most part, and building a universe where multiple series intersect with each other and can each work to lead readers into the universe as a whole.
- Some tropes in the military SF genre that authors would be wise to pay attention to.
- Whether it’s harder now to break into military SF than it was a few years ago.
- How Jonathan got involved with SFWA and why authors may want to consider joining if they qualify.
- The networking benefits of going to conventions and getting involved as a panelist.
- Being nominated for the Nebula awards.
- What forms of advertising Jonathan is using now that are working for him.
- What he’s doing these days when he launches new books.
- The importance of setting realistic expectations and realizing it’s probably going to take more than two novels if you want to make a career of writing.
- The types of covers Jonathan likes for his military SF and why he’s thinking of redoing some of his early ones.
- How he keeps his older series selling years after he’s completed publishing them.
- Advertising older books in a series when it’s time to release a new installment.
- Keeping in touch with one’s fans and realizing how much your work can mean to some people.
As we mentioned in the show, Jonathan is one of the nebula award finalists in the novelette category with his story, “Weaponized Math.” If you’re interested in reading it, you can find it in the 99-cent Expanding Universe: Volume 3. You can also find the rest of his titles on Amazon.
If you’re a member of SFWA and want to vote for the nebulas this year (or if you just want to read the stories), you can find the list of the 2017 nebula award finalists here.
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.
Hi Lindsay and the Guys, I love your podcast every week and this was no exception. I met Jonathan at 20BooksLondon in February at Runnymede. He was very popular and gave a great talk on SFWA, although to my shame I didn’t get to speak to him. Fascinating stuff about Military Sci-Fi as I am currently on book 3 of my own Military Sci-Fi series. I am planning a once a month publication in May/June when all 3 are booted and spurred (edited and covered). I am ex military myself: corporal in the British Army, and after a degree, Lieutenant in the Royal Navy, so hopefully I will get some things right even though it’s Sci-Fi 🙂 . A question for Jonathan if he is able to answer it: I use a book by Surgeon Captain Rick Jolly (who I had the
privilege to meet when I served alongside the Royal Marines), called “Jackspeak” to help me with military slang. I know most of the military slang anyway (my dad was RAF as well) but it’s always good to have a reminder, especially of more obscure terms and their meanings and origins. Is there a US equivalent of this book? Keep up the great work. I’m going to check out Jonathan’s books now.
Hey, Christopher! Thanks for listening! I’ll send this to Jonathan and see if he can pop over to answer. 🙂
Hi Christopher,
You should have stopped by and said hi in London! You know what I said about networking. 🙂
I am familiar with Surgeon Captain Jolly of Falklands fame, and I was sorry to read that he passed. I think he was the only person to receive an award from both the UK and Argentina for actions during the war.
As to your question, there are quite a few books that discuss US military slang. The most comprehensive is probably S.F. Tomajczyk’s, but it is quite expensive and probably overkill. There are a host of others, but as free resources, there are also a host of websites that range from accurate to pretty good.
One thing so keep in mind, though, is that the pace of change is rapid now. What Korean War vets used was different from Vietnam vets and Desert Storm to Iraqi Freedom and Afghanistan. The phrases that I heard in Iraq in 2006 are far different from what the servicemen and women are using now in Syria and Afghanistan. So, if you have a specific timeline for a book you’re writing, try and make sure your reference covers that time period.
Good luck with your writing!