This week, Lindsay, Jo, and Jeff geared the show toward newer authors getting ready to publish their first books or with a few titles out. They answered some questions and tried to offer advice based on what’s working for folks getting started now.
Here are some of the specifics that were touched on:
More options for photoshop fantasy and science fiction covers with models from NeoStock and Period Images.
Google Play coming on strong as a contender.
Profiting from AMS advertising.
Moving from CreateSpace to KDP Print.
What to do to gain traction when you move from KDP Select and out into the other stores.
What to do when your first book is cross-genre and doesn’t fit well into the current categories on Amazon and other stores.
How do you find a good editor?
Should you try to save up three or more books for rapid release when you’re a new author?
The importance of having realistic expectations.
What you can do to start building up a list of buyers before you launch your first novel.
What are some low-cost advertising options.
What can you do for marketing if you’re shy?
If you’ve written three books in a series and haven’t had much success, should you pull the plug?
What are some of the best marketing services for space opera/SF?
This week, we chatted with YA science fiction author Jessica Pierce who launched her first book, Atlas Fallen, in April of this year. She didn’t spend a lot of money on her launch, relying instead on the fan base and contacts she’d accumulated on Instagram. We talked to her about how to acquire a following and build book buzz on the platform and also about some creative things she’s done with swag and launch boxes.
Here are some more specifics and links from the show:
What it’s like starting out as a new author in the YA market right now.
Overcoming the challenges of selling books to a young adult audience.
Common tropes that might be addressed in YA science fiction (or YA in general)
An introduction to book boxes.
All the kinds of swag you can make as an author for contests or to help with a book launch.
Doing magnetic bookmarks, custom book sleeves, and swag that goes beyond the typical book plates and bookmarks.
Hanging out where your target audience is.
How Instagram is a huge place to reach teenage/young adult readers.
The importance of using the hashtags on Instagram including the popular #bookstagram tag.
What to post on Instagram as an author to build buzz.
Why Jessica hired artists to do character art for her who happened to also have large Instagram followings.
If every author should be on Instagram or if it’s more ideal for those targeting younger readers.
Making sure your cover and your blurb are tailored to your target audience.
On this week’s show, Jeff, Jo, and Lindsay discussed the information on Data Guy’s slides from his 2018 SFWA presentation in May. The slides are up here if you want to take a look. They also discussed some of the news in the indie world this summer and how the Amazon hammer has been coming down on those partaking in Kindle Unlimited shenanigans. Here are Lindsay’s notes (but you’ll get more out of just looking at the slides!). Also, the tool Jo mentions partway through the episode is KDP Rocket.
Notes from the SFWA 2018 slides:
Adult SF/F sales peaked around 2009 and then, according to Nielson/NPD Bookscan, have been on the decline since.
Result? The SF/F sections in bookstores shrank and author advances did too.
It’s true that after 2009, print sales dropped twice as far as in most other book genres, but digital sales have taken up the slack. While only 25% of overall sales for traditional publishers are ebooks, it’s different with SF/F. Ebooks make up 37% of traditionally published purchases. Add in SF/F audiobook sales, and things seem to be even or even slightly on the rise.
And on the indie/small press side…
SF&F sales by traditional publishers have become the minority. Big Five takes 21% of the pie, Amazon publishing imprints 7%, other small/med/large publishers 9%, and then indie self-pub w/o imprint, with their own imprints, or in indie self-pub collectives make up more 52% (the rest uncategorized stuff).
This is units sold. He looks at dollars earned too.
The average purchase price for a trad published SF/F ebook was $8.04 (May 2017 – April 2018)
For self-pub and Amazon imprints: $3.20 (sweet spot of $4 the highest with $5 right behind it).
Put them together and the average purchase price is $4.43.
How does KU factor in?
$30 million a year in US subscription revenue is from KU which accounts for 25% of non-traditional SF/F ebook dollar sales.
When it comes to money, self-pub SF/F authors are now earning a much larger share of the royalty dollars generated by SF&F books than traditionally published SF&F authors. SF/F sales are disproportionately ebook and audio now – digital. This may explain why incomes of traditionally published and self-published authors appear to be moving in opposite directions.
Most traditionally published SF/F ebooks purchased in the last 12 months were deep backlist titles published prior to 2015. Nontraditional SF/F ebook purchases were mostly frontlist and recent backlist (since 2015).
“What happens when the non-trad “deep backlist” fills in?”
Science Fiction Top subgenres by ebook sales:
Military SF – over 4 million
Adventure SF – just shy of 4 million
Post-Apocalyptic – about 3.5 million
Dystopian – about 3 million
Space Opera – shy of 3 million
Toward the bottom: steampunk, alternative history, LGBT, Humorous
“Traditional publishers outperform in some SF categories but underperform in many of the highest selling ones.”
Fantasy Top subgenres by ebook sales:
Paranormal & urban – over 11 million (PNR/romancy in there but top selling by almost a factor of 2)
Epic fantasy – close to 6.5 million
Sword & sorcery – 4 million
Coming of Age – 3.5 million
Romantic fantasy – 3 million
Toward the bottom: Alternate history, dragons & mythological creatures, humorous, Christian fantasy, Gaslamp
End stuff:
This means SF/F sales (print, ebook, audiobook) are actually significantly up overall from that supposed high point in 2009. A lot. They’ve doubled since 2010 with the majority of sales just going unreported right now and thus understating SF&F true popularity with readers.
Why? Speculation: new SF/F readers, old readers reading more, former used book readers now buying ebooks instead, or former library users brought in because ebooks are more affordably priced?
This week, we were joined by data cruncher Alex Newton who runs the K-Lytics (i.e. Kindle Analytics) service for authors and publishers. He’s been taking a look at trends in Science Fiction and Fantasy this summer, so we invited him on to talk about the findings of his latest report. He also gave us some great information on the Amazon store such as how keywords work (and don’t work) on the site and the differences between Amazon bestseller lists and what comes up in Amazon search results.
Here are some more of the specifics we covered:
Some SF/F sub-categories that are trending upward.
Finding categories where it’s easier to get a bestseller tag (and whether it can be useful to rank highly in a tiny niche few people browse).
Finding the intersection between writing what you love and writing books that can fit into hungry and less competitive sub-genres.
Using keywords to appear in searches related to your genre.
Why there’s no point to throwing keywords into your book’s description or into the book itself.
Whether books that shouldn’t be in genres (i.e. paranormal detective romance stuck in the Arthurian fantasy category) skew the data or matters in the long run.
Why you might not want to change your keywords and categories around willy nilly.
Amazon’s natural tendency to promote churn and whether it can be fighting an uphill battle with continuing to advertise the same books for months and year at a time.
Average price points for books in the Top 100 for various subgenres.
If you’re interested in checking out K-Lytics, their website is here, and they also have some free videos and posts up on their blog.
If you want to see the screenshots that Alex shared, make sure to check out the YouTube video this week:
For this week’s show, time travel and steampunk author Nathan Van Coops joined us to talk about his two series and what he’s doing to keep them selling. He’s a busy guy, releasing one novel a year, but still manages to bring in a good income from his books.
Here are some of the specifics that we discussed:
Tropes of the time travel genre and whether readers expect you to stick to them.
Some of perks of writing in a smaller niche where it’s easier to rank on Amazon, along with some of the challenges inherent in being in a less popular genre.
Finding and connecting with readers of your genre, especially if you’re writing in a smaller niche, on Goodreads.
Launching a series in a different sub-genre after you’ve built up a fan base.
When it’s time to call it quits if a series isn’t performing well.
Why Nathan is still a fan of having a free Book 1 even though he’s transitioned his books into Kindle Unlimited and Amazon exclusivity.
What a launch looks like for Nathan now that he’s five years into his author career and built a large fan base.
Why he still does Facebook “launch parties” and giveaways for his fans.
Lowering the price of all earlier books in a series for a launch of a later book.
The challenge of running Facebook ads when you’re in a smaller niche and there aren’t any big name authors like you to target.
What Nathan does to keep books selling between his annual releases.
Making use of Kindle Countdown Deals.
Using bundles as another “book” to market when you don’t have many series or other book 1s to alternate around the various sponsorship sites.
Making the decision to invest in audiobook production when you’ve got long books (lots of hours of narration to pay for).
On this week’s show, we chat with dark/epic fantasy author and podcaster Andy Peloquin. Andy got the rights back to his first series and did a big and very successful relaunch, revamping it to appeal to assassin-loving epic fantasy fans instead of the dark fantasy fans it previously targeted.
Here are some of the specifics that we covered:
Andy’s background as a freelance writer.
His first forays into publishing, including signing with a small publisher.
Why he decided to ask for the rights back to his first series and relaunch it himself.
How he redid his blurbs and covers to target a larger audience than previously.
Researching not just in his genre but in his specific niche (assassins, mercenaries, sellswords, etc.) and seeing what kinds of covers were selling.
Creating an effective epic fantasy cover with stock photos instead of paying a fortune for custom illustrations.
Changing the titles to hit on popular epic fantasy tropes.
How he contacted other authors in his niche and asked for them to plug his book when he was ready to release the new Book 1.
How he’s designed effective Facebook ads that don’t cost him much per click.
Whether his Fantasy Fiends podcast has been useful for networking with authors and making book sales to listeners.
How to know if it’s worth doing a relaunch for a flagging series.
This week, we chatted with fantasy author Jenna Moreci who was able to quit her day job after she published her first book in 2015. But that’s not all she did. A year earlier, she started a YouTube Channel for writers where she’s been consistently uploading weekly videos. She used her YouTube following to help launch that first book (Eve: The Awakening), start a Patreon campaign, and create CafePress merchandise that she sells to her followers/readers.
Here are some of the specifics that we talked about:
Why Jenna started a YouTube channel geared toward writers.
How having a following on YouTube helped her launch her first novel, Eve: The Awakening.
How she was able to quit the day job and replace her income after her first novel.
How long it takes to build up a following on YouTube and why you have to consistently post quality videos.
How much time Jenna spends on her YouTube videos each week.
Things authors should keep in mind if they’re thinking of starting their own YouTube channel.
The book marketing assistance business she mentioned (STORIAD).
Why Jenna started a Patreon campaign and how she’s earning over $1,000 a month with it.
Whether it’s worth it to start a Patreon campaign before you have a following.
Jenna’s attitude when she started out: “Assume the money’s not going to come for a long time.” And how that helped her keep her expectations realistic.
Why she started doing merchandise related to her books and YouTube channel and why she uses CafePress.
Why she’s pricing fairly high for an indie author (her most recent novel is priced at $6.49).
This week, one of our first guests ever on the show rejoined us after more than three years to talk about switching from contemporary fantasy to historical fantasy/steampunk. Becca Andre, author of the Final Formula series and her new Iron Souls series, publishes regularly while working full time and being a mom. We talked time management, the unique challenges of selling historical fantasy, and what it was like to use a big multi-author boxed set to launch a Book 1 in a new series.
Here are a few of the specifics we discussed:
Switching from urban/dark fantasy in a contemporary setting to a historical steampunk fantasy setting.
The challenges of researching and publishing historical fantasy.
Marketing a unique historical setting and story idea versus something that follows more popular tropes.
Using a multi-author boxed set to launch a brand new Book 1 in a new series.
Launching a Book 1 on its own after it already went out to your core fans in a boxed set.
Why Becca decided to try KDP Select/Kindle Unlimited for this series after having been wide in all the stores for years.
Fitting in time to write and market when you’ve got a day job and a family.
Choosing a cover design when you’re writing something unique and there aren’t many examples.
Amazon categories that can be used for historical fantasy and using a keyword to get into the new “gaslamp” fantasy category.
We’re usually joined by successful authors on the show, but today we invited on Jeffrey Bruner from the (successful) sponsorship site, The Fussy Librarian. He sees a lot of books in a lot of genres come through his gates, so we asked him a bit about trends and what’s selling right now, and also what it takes to start a sponsorship site (for those of you out there who have considered it!).
Here are a few of the specifics that we discussed:
Jeffrey’s own books and what made him decide to start an ebook sponsorship site.
How much of a time and monetary commitment getting such a site going is.
TFB’s free list versus their bargain list and review requirements for each.
Whether authors are still finding it profitable to advertise a free book one when the rest of the series is full price.
Linking from TFB direct to bookstores or to sites like Instafreebie if you’re trying to build a list.
The marketing Jeffrey does to keep new subscribers coming onto the list so authors can come back again and get their books in front of new people.
Some genre trends for science fiction and fantasy — what he’s seeing a lot of submitted and clicked on.
Advertising Amazon exclusive titles versus ebooks that are available in all the stores.
Right now, you can book The Fussy Librarian for $14 for a bargain fantasy book, $17 for a bargain science fiction book, or $30 to promote a freebie. They also have a subscription service if you want to regularly promote Book X on a schedule. Check out the site for more details.
This week, Jo, Jeff, and Lindsay answered listener questions–a lot of them! We went for an hour and a half so brace yourselves!
Here’s the list of questions we addressed:
Benjamin: I’d love to hear opinions on where the stuffing stuff (see anything from @DavidGaughran lately) meets back-of-book sequel previews, ML magnet previews, and promises of free stories in return for ML signups. Seems murky to me, not sure if I should be worried.
Roland: What do authors worry about that are really a big ol’ waste of time when it comes to sales and marketing? Getting into stores? What else?
Jim: I often hear that the first book takes the longest. My first epic fantasy has taken me years. I’m doing revisions now, and I’ve been working on the book since 2015, making it firmly a loss leader. What did you learn that made you faster?
Kirsten: Pros and cons of a pen name? Especially if you plan to write sci fi and non-fiction (as a psychologist).
Finn:
I have a query/topic for discussion. As self-pub authors, should we be moving our websites over to https?
How crucial is a cover for the newsletter reader magnet? Fantasy covers cost a good chunk, I can’t really afford to get another novel quality cover for a freebie, but I worry that I need to.
I’m considering combining the first three novel covers in a graphic design stylistically pleasing way and having it be a three short story reader magnet. I’m probably over thinking this.
Holly:
Any advice for being successful while writing something a bit quirky and not quite to market would be interesting.
How to find your readers and keep them, rather than targeting more broadly would also be great.
Dale: For each of you, how much do you commit to a particular series before beginning it? In other words, do you plan for so many books in advance, or do you wait and see how the first few do first before writing more?
Devyn: Also, I think one of you said (pretty sure it was you) that it’s best not to name your series after the first book in the series. Can you shed more light on why it’s not a good idea? I feel like I’m missing something.
Devyn: Is it better to launch 2 books in a series on the same day or wait a week/10 days in between publication? I’m going to launch a new series in June & not sure which is best approach.
S Usher: Do you think email newsletters are hitting their saturation point?
Jon: What kind of content have you seen in author newsletters that was unique/interesting/worth implementing in your own newsletters?
Lon: Do you think that even a trilogy, as a starting point for a series launch, isn’t enough?
Stephan:
Are you purchasing your own ISBNs for ebooks? While obviously not required for Amazon, it’s needed for Overdrive and other platforms. If you get free ISBNs (from Smashwords, etc), did it happen that you got 2 ISBNs for the same ebook?
Amazon has suspended lots of accounts recently for fraudulent activity, like they seem to do every year. Were any of you affected by the substantial loss in page reads, reported on kboards and fb?
Joanne: Not sure if it was Jeff or Jo who pulled out of KU, but could we get an update on how it’s going?
Stephan: Have any of you thought about publishing “self publishing help books” like Joanna Penn or Mark Dawson?
Sky Gate Tale: Currently writing sci-fi, and my chapters are coming out longer than usual. At around 4K to 6k each. Longer or shorter chapters which is better?
Ayan: What’s in the bottles behind Jeff? Could be beer but on phone portrait mode they look like sauces or potions.
Felicity: I would love to hear each of your writing inspiration stories. When did you know that writing was the career for you?
Benjamin: My question is: what word will each of you now be trademarking?
William: What’s your perfect Sunday?
Cookie Brain: Tell the story of how you three got together and started the podcast, please.