also-boughts – Science Fiction & Fantasy Marketing Podcast

SFFMP 223: Marketing Audiobooks, Pen Names, Differences in Distributors, and What to Do When You Just Have One Book

March 12, 2019 SFFpodcast Group Discussion, Podcast

The guys are taking a break from the podcast (if you have comments or suggestions for what you’d like to see if we bring it back in a couple of months, please leave them!), but we answered another pile of listener questions today amid a few doggie interruptions, ahem.

Here are the specific questions we addressed:

How do you approach marketing an audiobook? Advertising specifically to audiobook listeners? Or reliance on general traffic to your product page combined with having the audiobook simultaneously with ebook release?
Would any of you consider doing another “start from scratch” pen name experiment?
Let’s say an indie author has exactly one (1) book out. Let’s also say they didn’t do the rapid release thing at *all*, nor much in the way of ads. Is the best practice still “finish the series and build a backlist”? Or should they try some ads?
1. Is $2.99 too much to ask for a 60k urban fantasy as a new writer? 2. Do you guys have any tips on what you would do if you were starting out as a new author?
What is the difference between Draft to Digital and Publish Drive? (Joanna Penn’s episode with the founder of Publish Drive.)
Do any of you use photos of yourself in the “about the author” section of your books like trade pub does?
ISBNs – Should we get our own or just use the free ones provided by Amazon, etc? What’s the difference? Pros and cons of each?
Affiliate links – What do they do? Where do we get them? Proper usage?
Writing workshops – How can writers find them? Is there a way to see if they are good/worth the money? Are there online options?
Top 100 – What does it mean to be in the top 100? What can be learned by looking at the top 100 in genres we might be writing in?
What kind of checklist of things do each of you do when preparing to release a book? IE Reviewing editorial notes, getting a copyright…
You mentioned in the most recent episode that you thought Also Boughts on Amazon might be on the way out. Does that mean pen names aren’t important anymore? If they are, is it worth republishing books under pen names if they aren’t the same genres?

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affiliate links, also-boughts, amazon, distributors, draft 2 digital, isbns, marketing audiobooks, pen names, pricing, publish drive, urban fantasy

SFFMP 42: Selling More on iBooks, Boxed Set Strategies, and Using Pre-Orders to Hit Bestseller Lists

August 4, 2015 SFFpodcast Group Discussion, Podcast

Hey, everyone! We shared a lot of information today. We answered a few reader questions and then jumped into Lindsay’s notes from some of the panels at the RWA Con. The topics included selling more books on Apple’s iBooks, setting up multi-author boxed sets, using pre-orders to hit bestseller lists (such as USA Today and the NY Times), and a handful of mistakes to avoid as an author (these were different than some of the mistakes we’ve already shared in the past).

Here’s a closer look at the notes and the links we mentioned on the podcast:

Making the USA Today bestseller list with a multi-author boxed set
Getting bookmarks and other author swag made
John L. Monk‘s report on his experiences with Vellum for ebook formatting.
Getting started using a pen name and potential selling/legal complications
Starting up your own podcast as promo for your work (or just for schmoozing authors)
Short stories, selling them individually versus bundling them into a collection (an article on getting inexpensive covers for short stories/serials done on Fiverr)
Selling foreign rights as an indie (using an agent who specializes in foreign rights or finding a contract consultant that specializes in publishing for a one-time deal)
Paying for your own translations and the costs (upwards of $10,000 for a 80,000-word novel)
Where to consider looking for deals/rights sales — for example, Germany is popular with science fiction and fantasy authors.
Babelcube and other sites that connect authors with translators for royalty splits might not be quite there yet (tough to find experienced high-quality translators).
Respecting the tropes and giving people what they want/expect to sell more
Be “the author” on social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter — readers will follow, expecting to be entertained, so keep personal stuff to a minimum
Interested in Facebooks ads? Maybe check out Amy Porterfield’s site and podcast.
More on Lindsay’s experience with a boxed set and hitting the USA Today list.
Using different pen names for different series in different genres
How to appear in more popular authors’ also-boughts on Amazon
Apple affiliate program and adding specific iBooks links to the backs of your Apple ebooks
Requesting your 250 free promo codes on Apple to giveaway your iBooks to early reviewers/bloggers/etc.
The best day to release a book if you hope to make a best seller’s list (and how many sales it takes for the USA Today list versus the NYT list)
Using Thunderclap or Headtalker to help with a release
Setting up “asset-less” pre-orders up to a year in advance on Apple