pr firm – Science Fiction & Fantasy Marketing Podcast

SFFMP 35: The Challenges of Selling Cross-Genre Fiction with Derek Siddoway

June 16, 2015 SFFpodcast Author Interview, Podcast

Tonight we chatted with “medieval western” fantasy author Derek Siddoway. We discussed the challenges of marketing cross-genre fiction and also grilled him for tips he could share based on his experience in his day job at a PR agency. Before we got into the interview, we talked a bit about the recent changes to Amazon’s Kindle Unlimited program and what we think about them. You can get a summary of the changes on Kboards (and hear a lot of other opinions too).

Here’s some of what we went over during the interview:

Writing in a tiny cross-genre niche versus trying to break into a bigger genre, such as epic fantasy
Choosing cover art when you’re straddling genres
Choosing an Amazon category for your book when nothing really fits?
Are there some genres that just shouldn’t be crossed?
Getting started with social media (and how not to do it)
Being aware of your reputation and being a positive part of the online community
Does hiring a PR agency ever make sense for an indie author?
Should indies try some of the marketing that traditionally published authors (with publishers paying their way) do? Such as book signings and book tours?
Blogging as a form of marketing
Using “subscriber perks” as part of newsletter marketing

You can find out more about Derek on his site and check out his first book online. Also, get self-publishing tips for authors who can’t quite quit their day jobs yet on his Everyday Author blog.