Science Fiction & Fantasy Marketing Podcast – Page 3 – Interviewing and Learning from Successful Authors

SFFMP 203: Staying Motivated, Advertising, and How to Market a Stand-Alone Novel

October 16, 2018 SFFpodcast Group Discussion, Podcast

This week, the guys answered a couple of questions about staying motivated and finishing projects, even when your oh-so-appealing sink full of dishes is distracting you. They talked a bit about their adventures with Amazon advertising and what’s actually working for them now in 2018. They also discussed marketing a stand-alone novel, since Lindsay recently released Fractured Stars, a new space adventure story unrelated to her other series. She shared her numbers and what she did for the launch.

Here are a few of the specifics from their discussion:

Difficulties with piracy and copyright issues.
Using CoverVault.com to create your own 3D boxed set covers.
Getting personalized video shoutouts from celebrities through Cameo.com.
Jo’s jump into Patreon and what he’s offering for subscribers.
Getting the reviews from old editions of books on Amazon when republishing all-new versions.
Tips for keeping yourself from getting distracted when you work from home.
Write or Die software and writing sprints.
What to do when the story seems boring or bad or just isn’t coming together.
The challenges of making Amazon advertising work.
Scaling AMS ads once you do get them to work.
Why the guys are still big fans of running promos on free Book 1s in long series.
How to price a stand-alone novel and whether to try KDP Select/Kindle Unlimited or start out wide.
Deciding on cover art when your book wasn’t written to any particular market so there aren’t a lot of examples.
Writing a free tie-in short story or novella and publishing it at the same time as your stand-alone novel.
When and how the guys use boosted posts on Facebook.
Using newsletter bonuses to encourage sign-ups at the end of your novel (even a stand-alone novel) so you’re not starting from scratch with the next book.
Why the mailing list trumps all when it comes to advertising and marketing and is the most valuable asset you can build.

If you want to support Jo on Patreon, you can find his page here.

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ads, amazon advertising, marketing a stand alone novel, patreon, permafree

SFFMP 202: Lessons Learned from Putting Together Anthologies and Donating to Charity

October 10, 2018 SFFpodcast Author Interview, Podcast

This week’s show should be of interest to those authors who have considered putting aside the author hat temporarily to don the publisher/editor hat for a project or two.

Our guests were science fiction romance authors Veronica Scott and Pauline B. Jones, who also happen to be the editors and publishers of the Pets in Space series of scifi romance stories (with a pet theme, naturally). They just released their third one (Embrace the Passion: Pets in Space 3) and talked to us about recruiting authors for anthologies, publishing and marketing them, and what’s involved in donating a portion of the proceeds to charity.

Here are some more of the specifics that we covered:

How they got involved in this series of anthologies.
How they go out and recruit authors (some newer voices and some well-known authors with large followings).
Why they only accept original fiction rather than reprints.
What’s involved with giving part of the proceeds to charity (and why you need to check with a charity before using them in your marketing material).
Why it’s a good idea to sign a contract with a charity.
How they determine the order of stories in their anthologies.
If there are any stigmas from readers who are suspicious of authors/publishers who “use” a charity for marketing.
Their experience with hiring a PR person and why it’s been useful and worth the money.
Balancing earnings with their marketing spend to make sure there’s money for the charity and also that the authors get paid for their stories.
Why they’re releasing the stories wide instead of focusing on Amazon and KDP Select (Kindle Unlimited) for now.
Some of the challenges of marketing science fiction romance outside of the Kindle Unlimited ecosphere where romance of all kinds seems to thrive.

You can visit Veronica on her website, Pauline on hers, and check out the Pets in Space website. Or just pick up a copy here.

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anthologies, charities, donating to charity, publishing anthologies, science fiction romance

SFFMP 201: Bookbub Ads Update and Cultivating a Successful Author Mindset

October 2, 2018 SFFpodcast Author Interview, Podcast

This week, we had return guest, crime-fiction author Adam Croft, on the show. We asked him about changes to Bookbub ads that have come about in the last year (he joined us in 2017 for Episode 151 All About Bookbub CPM Ads and Becoming a #1 Bestseller on Amazon), what he’s been up to, and why he’s written a book on author mindset.

Here’s some of what we covered in the show:

Adam’s latest releases and what he’s working on now.
How Bookbub ads have changed in the last year and why he still likes them, especially for advertising to the Apple iTunes store.
How he’s found some great success using Facebook ads on some of his novels but hasn’t gotten them to work well on others.
Why he’s a fan of thinking long-term and not going exclusive with Amazon.
The challenges of selling non-fiction as well as fiction and building platforms to draw in both types of readers.
How well non-fiction audiobooks can do.
The different things authors should be focusing on to turn writing from a hobby to a business.
Some of the struggles authors have when it comes to mindset.
How to decide who you’re going to listen to in the indie author space when it comes to taking advice.
How flexibility when it comes to pricing, packaging, and marketing a book can help you.
Striving to get multiple income streams coming in, even from a single book.

You can visit Adam on his website and check out The Indie Author Mindset at your favorite store.

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adam croft, author mindset, bookbub ads, itunes store

SFFMP 200: Marketing and Selling Audiobooks, Plus Producing and Distributing them through Findaway Voices

September 25, 2018 SFFpodcast Author Interview, Podcast

This week, Will Dages from Findaway Voices joined us to talk about producing, marketing, and selling audiobooks and some of the new options out there for indie authors. Findaway handles both production of audiobooks (by connecting you with narrators and producers) and distribution to many stores where you wouldn’t be able to upload direct.

Here are some of the specifics that we discussed:

Where Findaway distributes audiobooks.
Some large players such as Kobo, Google Play, and Walmart that are getting into audiobooks.
Selling to libraries.
How you can distribute audiobooks both through them and with ACX/Audible (by choosing the non-exclusive option on Audible).
Taking advantage of their option to set your own price — 99 cents and free are allowed for short stories, series starters, etc.
How launching everything together (ebook, audiobook, and paperback) tends to help you sell a lot more audiobooks.
Setting up a launch even if you published your ebook and print edition long ago.
The drop-and-drip method for putting out a series of older books that you’re turning into audiobooks.
How Findaway helps set you up with potential narrators if you want to produce your audiobooks through them.
Uploading audiobooks that you produced elsewhere.
How often authors get paid and the $100 minimum threshold before payout.
Some of the challenges of promoting your audiobooks and what works to move the dial.
Subscription and credit-based purchase systems.
Creating audiobook bundles of your series to entice people with more hours.
Audiobook Boom as a promo site where you can basically trade audiobooks for reviews.
Findaway’s new Authors Direct platform where authors will be able to sell their audiobooks for a 70% royalty and direct listeners who want to redeem free books with codes.

If you’re interested, you can find out more at the Findaway Voices website or check them out on Twitter.

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audible, audiobooks, findaway voices, google play, marketing audiobooks

SFFMP 199: Rapid Release, Marketing Serials, and Going Non-Exclusive with Audiobooks

September 18, 2018 SFFpodcast Group Discussion, Podcast

Today, the guys took on a batch of listener questions that ran the gamut from what’s the best schedule for a rapid release of a trilogy to what kind of markets we’ve targeted with Facebook advertising to what to do (and not to do) when choosing a book title.

And in case you missed it last week, we have a 30% off coupon code for Brian Meek’s Amazon Ads course. For those interested in signing up, you can use the code of SFFMP30: Mastering Amazon Ads: An Author’s Course

Here’s a look at the questions the guys answered:

What’s the best lag time between books in a trilogy rapid release? Is it best to dump all at once? 1/week, 1/2-weeks, or longer in between.

In your ideal rapid release schedule, how many days/weeks/months apart would you release each new novel in a science fiction series?

Any tips for marketing epic fantasy novellas/novella serials?

How do you decide when a series and it’s spin-offs should end?

How does (Lindsay) keep romance from overtaking an adventure story?

For Facebook marketing, do you find one demographic marker more useful than it’s counter-parts? Ie: is it effective to target age, income, etc, or are your best results from targeting by interest? Do you still boost posts?

Are you planning your calendar for 2019? will you be at any conferences this year? I missed you at the Sell More Books Show summit this year, but I can go next year. 🙂 Do Jo and Jeff attend anything?

Promos: is there a deeper marketing reason to choose to run them only on selected markets, or does a world-wide one mean a world-wide bucket of headaches? (See: yours and Jo’s Bookbub books being at the same time discounted on .com and full price on .it)

Lindsay, I’d love to hear about how the blog-novel went. Did it impact the launch much? How about blog traffic? Was there a bump in your other books via affiliate blog links?

Which writing craft books help/have helped you?

What does your outlining process look like?

What’s your best advice for picking a novel’s title?

How do you decide what genre to list as if it’s a bit of everything?

How do you guys get a universal link for one of your Amazon books (Amazon only), or did you not bother? Specifically a link that will send UK readers to the UK store, US readers to the US store, etc. Or did you provide links for all the separate countries?

I would love to hear an updated list of which promo sites you use.

A lot of Book Funnel/Instafreebie group promos I see all have the same group of books, even if there is a “theme” to the promo. Have you seen anyone having success doing a more targeted and small group promo?

I’d like to hear how Patreon is going. Any tips or anything you’d do differently? (I’ve just set up Patreon with early release books + other rewards like personalized copies via Ingram.)

If you need something to read this week, check out Jo Lallo’s The Adventures of Rustle and Eddy.

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blogging a novel, boosted posts, Facebook marketing, findaway voices, kdp select, kindle unlimited, picking titles, serials

SFFMP 198: Mastering Amazon Ads with Brian Meeks

September 11, 2018 SFFpodcast Author Interview, Podcast

Jo and Lindsay talked with the famous (not infamous!) Brian Meeks today, author of Mastering Amazon Ads, as well as thrillers, satire, and science fiction (under a pen name). He started tinkering with Amazon ads a couple of years ago when they first came on the scene, and they turned into a game-changer for him, allowing him to sell a lot more books and eventually quit the day job.

Now, he spends a lot of time in his Amazon ads Facebook group helping other authors, and he’s also got a course you can sign up for if you want more than is in his book. If you want to check it out, he’s offering our listeners 30% off — throw in the coupon code of SFFMP30.

Mastering Amazon Ads: An Author’s Course

Here are some specifics we covered in the show:

The basics of Amazon ads and how they work.
The difference between product display ads and sponsored product ads (and why Brian is a big fan of the former even though most people jump on the latter).
How long you should wait to see if an ad is going to catch and run well.
How recent changes to the ad system (August 2018) have got everyone bidding higher right now and authors may want to wait until things settle down again.
Why you should be patient and give everything time before raising the bid or selecting the new option to increase your bid up to 50%.
Whether it makes sense to advertise books that are wide and that can’t make money from page reads in Kindle Unlimited.
Whether it’s possible to pay for ads on a free ebook and come out ahead (i.e. when it’s a series starter).
How good copywriting is important, not just for the ads but for your book description.
Having an effective hook and drawing the reader to click more on Amazon.
How much time it really takes to get Amazon ads to move the dial for you — it’s not a quick fix or a set-it-and-forget-it method.
Once you get some success, scaling it.

Don’t forget to check out Brian’s Mastering Amazon Ads book, and you can also take a peek at his fiction. He’s written some scifi under Arthur Byrne starting with The Magellan Apocalypse.

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advertising, amazon ads, ams, book marketing, brian meeks

SFFMP 197: From Cosplayer to Full-time Fantasy Author with NM Howell

September 4, 2018 SFFpodcast Author Interview, Podcast

This week, fantasy author NM Howell (AKA Nikko) joined the guys to talk about her journey from semi-pro cosplayer (yes, that’s a thing!) and magazine creator to full-time fantasy author.

Here are some of the details that we covered:

Cosplaying and starting a magazine.
Getting into publishing fantasy under multiple names (NM Howell also writes as Nicole Marie).
Genre hopping with witch cozies, YA fantasy with dragons, and reverse harem fantasy mysteries.
The challenges of starting and maintaining multiple pen names.
Are there too many dragon fantasy novels out there now to jump in?
Starting out with Amazon exclusivity (KDP Select/Kindle Unlimited) and gradually making some series available everywhere.
How some advertising venues (Facebook, Amazon AMS, Bookbub, etc.) work better than others for different genres. Nikko likes Facebook for her fantasy romance and Bookbub for her cozies.
How she’s found success with rapid releasing the first two books in a new series.
Experimenting with permafree Book 1s.
Does marketing later books in a series work?
Whether big multi-author bundles are still worth it as far as getting readers to try more of your stuff.

You can find Nikko on Facebook, Twitter, and her author website, and check out her books on Amazon. Her first witch adventure Murder Any Witch Way is currently free, and her first Cats, Ghosts, and Avocado Toast novel is free with a Kindle Unlimited subscription.

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conventions, cosplaying, fantasy books, kindle unlimited, magazines, reverse harem, witch books, witch cozies

SFFMP 196: Writing Tips, Selling Short Fiction, and What SFWA Can Do for You with Cat Rambo

August 28, 2018 SFFpodcast Author Interview, Podcast

This week, fantasy author and SFWA president Cat Rambo joined us on the show, and we grilled her about writing and selling short fiction, her experience at the Clarion West Writers’ Workshop, what SFWA is doing for authors these days, and her latest novel, Hearts of Tabat. Among other things!

Here are some of the specifics we covered:

How Cat got serious about writing when she quit her day job at Microsoft and attended the six-week Clarion West Workshop.
How workshops can help a writer grow.
Whether you have to worry about having your voice altered in the process.
Some of the workshops Cat recommends and what to watch out for if you’re considering a less well known one (especially an expensive one).
Her Rambo Academy for Wayward Writers where she helps new genre voices emerge via on-demand and live classes aimed at writers working in fantasy and science fiction (scholarships available for those short on funds).
Getting started with short fiction.
Tips for writers who tend to go long when they try to write short stories.
Mistakes writers make when submitting to magazines and anthologies.
How crowdfunding such as Kickstarter has made anthologies more doable.
How Cat ended up publishing her first two Tabat novels through Kevin J. Anderson’s Wordfire Press (which he talked about when he was on Episode 194 and Episode 138) and how marketing goes when working with a small press.
Some tips from her recent non-fiction publication Moving from Idea to Finished Draft.
What’s been going on at SFWA since we had MCA Hogarth on the show back on Episode 20 (more than three years ago!) and why both trad and self-published may find a membership useful.
What it takes to qualify for SFWA membership.
Benefits that come with SFWA membership and how the Nebula convention has changed over the years to have helpful panels for all.

If you enjoyed the show, you can follow Cat on her blog and check out her newest novel, Hearts of Tabat. You can also sample her short fiction in Near + Far and Neither Here Nor There.

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anthologies, cat rambo, fiction magazines, selling short stories, sfwa, short fiction, wordfire press

SFFMP 195: Kindle Unlimited, All-star Bonuses, YA Fantasy, and Reverse Harem Fantasy

August 21, 2018 SFFpodcast Author Interview, Podcast

Fantasy author Alex Lidell joined us on the show this week. She started her publishing journey with YA fantasy when her first novel, The Cadet of Tildor, was picked up by Penguin after being a finalist in Amazon’s Breakout Novel contest. After that, she turned to self-publishing with her YA fantasy TIDES series, and she recently jumped into reverse harem fantasy with her Power of Five series, where she’s had a lot of success on Amazon.

Here are some of the specifics we discussed and links to books and resources mentioned in the show:

Alex’s experience with the now-defunct Amazon Breakout Novel contest.
How she got picked up by Penguin for her first book and what the editing process was like.
Why she decided to switch to self-publishing and how you have to be willing to learn to think and act like a small-business owner when you do.
The states of YA fantasy and reverse harem and if there’s room for newcomers hoping to sell well.
Whether there are expected tropes in YA fantasy and what the ones are for reverse harem.
A recommendation for Orson Scott Card’s Characters and Viewpoints for authors looking to hone their craft for YA (or any genre/audience).
3D-character rendering as an alternative to illustrations for cover art.
Marketing in the traditional publishing world (and being an “ambassador for your brand”) versus marketing as an indie author.
Why Alex is in Kindle Unlimited and her brief flirtation with wide for a Bookbub ad.
What time of the month she launches her books to have a better shot at earning an All-Star Bonus in KU.
Getting the paperback version of a book up before the ebook so people can post reviews ahead of launch day.
Using ACX for audiobooks and her experiences with paying up front per finished hour versus doing a royalty split with a narrator.
Getting more exposure and reviews for audiobooks through Audiobook Boom.

You can find Alex on her website and on Facebook, and her novels are available on Amazon, including Air and Ash (Book 1 of her TIDES series for YA fantasy lovers) and The Power of Five (Book 1 of her reverse harem series).

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alex lidell, all-star bonuses, kindle unlimited, reverse harm, ya fantasy

SFFMP 194: Selling Books and Networking at Conventions and Finding the Balance Between Writing and Marketing with Kevin J. Anderson

August 14, 2018 SFFpodcast Author Interview, Podcast

This week, Kevin J. Anderson joined us from a remote cabin in Colorado where he’s sequestered to do some work (and talk to us, naturally). The internet connection wasn’t the best for the first few minutes, and we had some lag, but things get steadier about ten minutes in. Kevin talked to us about his experience as a new professor directing the Certificate in Publishing program at Western State Colorado University, about the 22 conventions he went to last year, and about why he’s taking more time just to write this year. We also discussed the marketing he does for his books and the other authors he publishes through Wordfire Press.

Here are some of the specifics of what we covered:

Teaching students about publishing in today’s quickly changing environment.
The challenges of working with the slower schedule of traditional publishing.
The challenges of all you have to learn to be successful as an indie author.
Tips for successfully selling at conventions.
Using conventions to meet other authors in your peer group.
Advice for first-time authors interested in going to conventions.
The challenges of keeping backlist titles selling while working on publishing new titles.
What kind of advertising Kevin is regularly doing and finding effective.
Advice to new indie authors on branding and how to find fans.
Books Kevin recommends for speculative fiction writers: Writing the Blockbuster Novel, David Farland’s Million Dollar Outlines, and his own World Building: From Small Towns to Entire Universes.

You can find Kevin on his website, on Facebook, and on Twitter, among other places. If you want to check out some of Kevin’s work, he just published a collection of his short stories called Selected Stories: Science Fiction. He also has a new novel out with Sarah A. Hoyt: Uncharted.