hybrid author – Science Fiction & Fantasy Marketing Podcast

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 173: From Indie to Hybrid, Six Figure Audiobook Advances, and an $80,000 Kickstarter for a Novel

March 20, 2018 SFFpodcast Author Interview, Podcast

On today’s show, we had the honor of chatting with Michael J. Sullivan and his wife and business partner Robin Sullivan. These folks were self-publishing right at the beginning of the movement (before the kindle even became a thing), and have seen and tried a lot over the years. After finding indie author success, they accepted a deal with Orbit, and Michael is now a hybrid author, taking the best from both worlds.

Here are some of the specifics that we discussed:

- Finding success as a self-published author in the early days of the Kindle.
- Whether it was a hard decision to switch to a traditional publisher and if giving up some money up front was worth it in terms of reaching a larger audience and growing the fan base.
- What indie authors signing traditional contracts should watch out for, especially if they want to keep self-publishing on the side.
- Understanding non-compete, indemnification, and limbo clauses.
- Why it’s hard (but not impossible) to get a Big 5 publishing deal that doesn’t give up ebook, print, and audiobook rights right now.
- Why they’ve done three Kickstarters and how they’ve had such tremendous success with them.
- How Kickstarter can be a form of advertising and potentially bringing in new readers who weren’t already in the fan base.
- Whether there are any drawbacks to having a super successful Kickstarter.
- What Michael and Robin do for marketing and how that’s changed over the years.
- Why Michael is a big fan of Goodreads.
- Doing AMAs on Reddit.
- Why they say you shouldn’t feel you’re going to relinquish all your marketing to your publisher if you take a trad deal.
- How audiobooks have become a big source of income for them and what kinds of advances are potentially achievable out there right now.
- Why they believe audiobooks are becoming what ebooks were in 2010 and that there’s lots of room for growth.