Tag: science fiction

SFFMP 216: Reaching $100K+ in Income from Writing Science Fiction with Gerald M. Kilby

Author Interview, Podcast

This week, we chatted writing, publishing, and marketing hard science fiction with Gerald M. Kilby. He’s not the fastest writer, putting out around two novels a year these days, but he manages to keep his books selling well between releases, and he earned more than $100K last year. We asked him all about that, Amazon and Facebook advertising, and what he’s doing for newsletters, social media, and the like.

Here are some of the specifics that we covered:

  • How the ever-shrinking science fiction section in the physical bookstores helped Gerald decide to start writing his own stories.
  • Bypassing traditional publishing, since agents weren’t looking for hard sci-fi, and going straight to self-publishing.
  • Whether or not hard sci-fi readers are more nitpicky in insisting that the science be right.
  • Some of the mistakes he made with his first novel, a techno-thriller.
  • How the science fiction genre appeared to have much more potential to him.
  • How the popularity of The Martian seemed to help with Mars-related fiction when Gerald was starting out.
  • What he’s done to keep the ball rolling.
  • Realizing he couldn’t rely on Amazon’s algorithms to keep his books selling, especially when he had many months between releases.
  • Getting involved in Facebook and Amazon ads and which he likes better for what.
  • Having luck with letting Amazon choose automatic keywords in their ad system, instead of going in and picking them all by hand.
  • The challenges of maintaining a positive return-on-investment with Facebook and Amazon ads when you don’t have a huge series and can’t afford to spend as much to get a sale of a Book 1.
  • Changes to the Amazon advertising system of late and what authors need to watch out for with the higher suggested bids.
  • How he uses his mailing list and what a book launch looks for him these days.

Make sure to visit Gerald on his website and check out his science fiction on Amazon.

 

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SFFMP 209: Beyond the Basics with Facebooks Ads, Pinterest Ads, and Amazon Ads with Michael Cooper

Author Interview, Podcast

On this week’s show, return guest Michael Cooper (author of HELP! My Facebook Ads Suck under his name and more than fifty novels in his science-fiction Aeon 14 universe as MD Cooper) gave us a lot of great information on what’s working and what’s not right now when it comes to ads for books. He first joined us on Episode 147 where we extensively covered Facebook ads. This time, Michael branched out and gave us information on Amazon ads, Bookbub ads, YouTube ads, and Pinterest ads, as well as updating us on Facebook stuff.

Here are some of the specifics that we covered:

  • How Michael started taking on collaboration partners to help him tell all the stories he wants to tell in his universe (and put out books more frequently).
  • Some of the challenges of collaboration and writing multiple series that jump around in a timeline while sharing the same universe.
  • Why Michael has a lot of his stuff in KU but made one series available in all of the stores.
  • The idea that there’s no “algorithm” on Amazon and that our fate as authors shouldn’t live and die based on whether Amazon decides to promote our stuff.
  • Using BookTrackR to monitor sales, rankings, reviews, etc. across all the major store sites.
  • When running Amazon ads, targeting authors (as keywords) who aren’t in KU to potentially attract readers who pay more for books.
  • Dealing with “peak author” and saturation of the ebook market going forward.
  • Learning to be more creative about marketing as there are more and more books out there for the same number of readers to choose from.
  • Advertising in print genre magazines.
  • Gauging sell-through for a series and determining how much you can afford to spend on advertising.
  • Doing Facebook video ads for cheaper clicks than regular ads.
  • Video Hive as a place where you can buy stock footage to use in video ads.
  • Using Etsy to ship paperbacks and other swag (they’ll generate shipping labels to help make it easier).
  • Making an art book of your covers.
  • How to get into advertising on Pinterest and if the ads are useful for science fiction and fantasy authors.
  • Choosing the right tagline for your ads and book description pages.
  • How Michael uses his KDP Select free days and countdown deals.

Remember to pick up Michael’s HELP! My Facebook Ads Suck book if you haven’t already, and if you’re curious about the courses he mentioned at the end of the show, you can join his Facebook group: Michael Cooper’s Ads & Marketing FTW.

 

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SFFMP 208: Improving Visibility, Launching New Pen Names, and the “Trifecta of Indie Success”

Author Interview, Podcast

This week, we’re joined by fantasy and science fiction author Nicholas Erik, who also writes and experiments under the pen name D.N. Erikson. He’s an analytical guy who’s always observing what’s working and what’s not, both for his own work and for others. Before we jump into the details of the show, here are links to his site where he’s got some great foundational material up:

http://nicholaserik.com/start/

And here’s the guest post on advertising that he did on David Gaughran’s blog:

How to Advertise and Sell More Books

Now, here are some of the details we discussed in the show:

  • Reasons for launching a pen name and whether it should be secret or not.
  • Trying a new series and new genre when you’re not getting the results you hoped for from your first effort.
  • Nick’s “trifecta of indie success” — marketing, craft, and productivity.
  • Tips for increasing productivity and getting more novels written.
  • Linking writing with a certain time of day (i.e. when you get home from work or when you first get up in the morning), so it’s easier to turn it into a daily habit. Here’s a guest post Nick wrote with more details on the habit linking: https://thewritepractice.com/daily-routines
  • Timed writing sprints to help get the words down.
  • Why so many people’s marketing efforts end up failing, because the craft wasn’t there and readers didn’t continue past Book 1.
  • Whether you should wait to start marketing until you’ve finished your first novel or start “building a platform” while you’re still working on it.
  • Some of the basics of setting up a mailing list and where to find cross-promotional opportunities to start gaining subscribers.
  • Using Prolific Works (formerly InstaFreebie) to find promo opportunities and give away free stories for sign-ups.
  • Another give-away site he’s found useful is Ryan Zee’s Book Sweeps (this was down at the time of recording, but we’re including the link in the hope that it’s up again soon).
  • If there’s a number to aim for when it comes to acquiring email subscribers.
  • Whether you should have multiple lists if you write in different genres and/or under different pen names.
  • Nick likes Convert Kit for managing his lists.
  • Whether there’s truth to Kevin Kelly’s “1,000 true fans” essay — is that all you need to become a full time author, and what’s a true fan, anyway?
  • If promo sites are still worth it in this age of Facebook/Amazon/Bookbub PPC ads.
  • Nick’s big list of promo sites and his rankings for how effective they are (updated a couple of months ago): http://nicholaserik.com/promo-sites/
  • Some of the fundamentals of advertising and at what point it has the potential to become profitable (it’s tough these days to even break even on a stand-alone book), assuming you do enough things right.
  • Debating the ideal length of a series.
  • The advertising advantage people in Kindle Unlimited have, from KU reads even on free books to making things appealing through Countdown Deals. (Nick mentions that there’s a lot more information on using the Kindle Countdown Deals effectively in David Guaghran’s free book, Amazon Decoded, which is a bonus when you sign up for his newsletter (sign up over at his site: https://davidgaughran.com/).
  • Some of Nick’s tips when it comes to Facebook ads.

It was a jam-packed show, so hopefully you got something out of it. Make sure to check out Nick’s site, and you can also take a peek at some of his books under his name and others under his pen name on Amazon.

 

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SFFMP 207: Podcasting Fiction to Gain an Audience for Your Books

Author Interview, Podcast

This week, humorous science fiction author James R. Tramontana joined the guys on the show. He’s podcasting his Ace Tucker Space Trucker novels, and we asked him all about how he’s gaining fans that way, people who go on to buy the books.

Here are some of the specifics from the show:

  • What’s involved with podcasting your novel or podcasting original audio fiction (and why you might want to).
  • Getting set-up (equipment and software) for recording and editing.
  • Adding music, sound effects, etc. and creating more of a production than a simple narration of a book.
  • The challenges of selling niche stuff like humorous science fiction.
  • How James uses social media, conventions, and other methods to get the word out about his podcast.
  • The challenges of being found when you upload fiction podcasts, since the searches aren’t always great when you’re not using typical keywords.
  • Going for a comic-book vibe with humorous fiction.
  • Monetizing your fiction when you’re doing something more than just the written word.
  • Why James likes “sitcom length” podcast episodes of less than 30 minutes.

If you’re interested in checking out James’ work, you can visit his website, say hi to him on Twitter or Facebook, and find his books on Amazon. If you want to subscribe to his podcast, the links and episodes are on www.acetuckerspacetrucker.com.

 

 

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SFFMP 192: Instagram, Swag, Book Boxes, and Launching Your First Book Without Spending any Money

Author Interview, Podcast

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.
  • Society6 for creating swag.
  • PackLane.com for creating custom shipping boxes.
  • UPrinting.com for other print-on-demand swag needs.

You can visit Jessica on her website or (of course!) on Instagram. She just enrolled Atlas Fallen in KDP Select/Kindle Unlimited, so you can find the ebook on Amazon.

 

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SFFMP 183: Succeeding on a Book a Year with CW Lamb

Author Interview, Podcast

This week, scifi and fantasy author CW Lamb joined us to talk about how he got his start in 2014, how KDP Select and Kindle Unlimited helped him launch his first book to great success, and why he’s sought out an agent and is also looking for a traditional deal.

Here are some of the specifics we discussed:

  • What it was like to start in 2014 and launch into KDP Select/Kindle Unlimited.
  • Having early success in the space adventure/military SF category.
  • Keeping books selling on a relatively modest release schedule.
  • Leveraging a solid sales history into getting an agent.
  • How controversial reviews might help sell books.
  • Why Charles feels pursuing a traditional route might help him reach a wider audience.
  • The price points he’s experimented with.
  • What he’s learned since his first launch and what a book launch looks like for him now.
  • Keeping multiple series going and selling in different genres.
  • His thoughts on doing pre-orders on Amazon.
  • Why he would launch into KDP Select again now if he was a new author starting out.

You can visit Charles (CW) on his website and check out his books on Amazon. ALICE starts of his scifi series, and The Lost Ranger is the first in his new fantasy series.

 

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SFFMP 170: Keeping an Older Series Selling, Nebula Awards, and What SFWA Can Do for You

Author Interview, Podcast

On this week’s show, military science fiction author and retired Marine colonel Jonathan Brazee joined us. We talked about the wisdom of sticking to one genre and writing a series and spinoff series all in the same universe, and how that can help with marketing. It doesn’t hurt to be prolific, either! We also talked about SFWA, where Jonathan is the Chairman of the Education Committee and doing a lot to help indie authors inside of the organization.

Here are some more specific details of what we covered:

  • Jonathan’s road from his first published short story in 1978 to being a full-time indie author of more than thirty novels of (mostly) military science fiction.
  • Why he recently decided to accept a traditional publishing contract.
  • The wisdom of focusing on one genre, for the most part, and building a universe where multiple series intersect with each other and can each work to lead readers into the universe as a whole.
  • Some tropes in the military SF genre that authors would be wise to pay attention to.
  • Whether it’s harder now to break into military SF than it was a few years ago.
  • How Jonathan got involved with SFWA and why authors may want to consider joining if they qualify.
  • The networking benefits of going to conventions and getting involved as a panelist.
  • Being nominated for the Nebula awards.
  • What forms of advertising Jonathan is using now that are working for him.
  • What he’s doing these days when he launches new books.
  • The importance of setting realistic expectations and realizing it’s probably going to take more than two novels if you want to make a career of writing.
  • The types of covers Jonathan likes for his military SF and why he’s thinking of redoing some of his early ones.
  • How he keeps his older series selling years after he’s completed publishing them.
  • Advertising older books in a series when it’s time to release a new installment.
  • Keeping in touch with one’s fans and realizing how much your work can mean to some people.

As we mentioned in the show, Jonathan is one of the nebula award finalists in the novelette category with his story, “Weaponized Math.” If you’re interested in reading it, you can find it in the 99-cent Expanding Universe: Volume 3. You can also find the rest of his titles on Amazon.

If you’re a member of SFWA and want to vote for the nebulas this year (or if you just want to read the stories), you can find the list of the 2017 nebula award finalists here.

 

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SFFMP 147: Mastering Facebook Advertising for Authors with Michael Cooper

Author Interview, Podcast

We had a great show tonight with Michael Cooper, the author of HELP! My Facebook Ads Suck and also a science fiction author writing under M.D. Cooper. He’s been experimenting constantly with Facebook ads and had some amazing advice, a lot of it different from what we’ve heard before (Lindsay, who hates Facebook ads, is tempted to give them another try!), and the proof is in the pudding. He went from very modest sales to having months where he made $25,000+ from his science fiction novels (and no, he didn’t spend $30,000 on Facebook to make that much — Lindsay asked).

The show was so jam packed with information that we’re not going to attempt to touch on everything in the show notes here, but here’s a little of what Michael talked about:

  • Why you should never use your book cover (or any text at all) in the image of a Facebook ad.
  • Michael’s spreadsheet to help you figure out the read-through rate in your series, how much you’re earning per customer you get into your funnel, and how much you can afford to spend to acquire a reader.
  • The PDF file Michael mentioned: Facebook Ads for Fun and Profit v2.
  • Why you should start ads at $5 a day max and only increase the spend if they prove they’re doing well.
  • Creating a fan page to launch your advertising campaigns from instead of a business page.
  • Using Books2Read as a place to direct readers if you’re creating ads to appeal to readers on all platforms and not just sending them straight to Amazon.
  • Why Michael isn’t a fan of using Facebook ads to build a mailing list — he sends people straight to buy his books.
  • Doing long-form sales copy rather than simply creating a short snippet.
  • Why you should create different ads for different countries instead of just targeting all English-speaking countries.
  • Why Michael prefers to run ads on 99-cent or full-priced ebooks rather than permafree titles.
  • Creating character-based ad copy to appeal to female readers versus more plot-based copy for male readers.

You can find Michael on Facebook, on his science fiction author website Aeon 14, or he’s also active in the 20Booksto50K Facebook group.

Definitely pick up his book, HELP! My Facebook Ads Suck. And take notes while listening to the show. Thanks for listening!

 

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SFFMP 143: Writing Quickly, Sci-Fi Anthologies, and Networking with Other Authors with Craig Martelle

Author Interview, Podcast

Today, science fiction author Craig Martelle joined us to talk about how he’s gotten rolling so quickly, publishing 20 novels in two years, spearheading three anthologies, and becoming super involved in the popular 20Booksto50K Facebook group, where he’s helping to put together a couple of huge conferences for indie authors.

Here are some of the specifics on what we covered:

  • Jumping right in with a schedule to write and publish books quickly.
  • Target word counts and planning out series ahead of time.
  • Differences in post-apocalyptic and space opera genres.
  • Reasons for putting together anthologies and how to make them profitable.
  • Networking with other authors online and in person.
  • Whether marketing and business should play a role in how you choose the next books you’re going to write.
  • Creating a bundle of starter books once you’ve got multiple series out.
  • What Craig posts on his Facebook page to keep readers interested and sell more books.
  • Asking for reviews at the end of books (and linking back to the book’s page in the store to make it easier for readers).

If you’re interested in signing up for either of the conferences that Craig talked about, here are the links:

20Booksto50K Las Vegas (November 2017): http://20booksvegas.com/
20Booksto50K London (February 2018): http://20bookslondon.com/

Be sure to check out his website and his work on Amazon, such as the first book in his Terry Henry Walton Chronicles.

 

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SFFMP 122: Finding Success Self-Publishing Science Fiction After Years of Writing Children’s Books for Trad Publishers

Author Interview, Podcast

This week, we chatted with Barry Hutchison, a full-time author who started out writing children’s books for a traditional publishing house and who is now dabbling in self-publishing with adult science fiction. After a bumpy start with his first self-published project, a serial called The Bug, he learned the ropes and had a successful launch for his Space Team comedic SF series. With the release of the fourth in the series coming, he expects to hit his first five-figure month in June.

Here are a few more details of what we talked about:

  • Why Barry chose to self-publish his adult fiction after working with a traditional publisher for so many years.
  • Not being discouraged by a less-than-stellar launch with his first self-published project.
  • Why he went into the Space Team series bootstrapping it by doing his own cover art and handling his own editing.
  • Launching at 99 cents and into Kindle Unlimited.
  • Differences in marketing between traditional publishing and self-publishing.
  • Writing quickly and launching subsequent books in the Space Team series with only two months between releases.
  • What kinds of covers make sense for comedic science fiction.
  • The importance of a mailing list over social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter.
  • Whether holiday stories can make sense for writers of space opera.
  • How Barry used a preview of his first Space Team novel on Instafreebie to get people to sign up for his mailing list before the book launched.
  • How promoting other authors on Instafreebie ended up with him being featured by the company.

You can visit Barry on his site or check out his books on Amazon.

 

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