sfr – Science Fiction & Fantasy Marketing Podcast

SFFMP 140: Publishing in an Underserved Genre and Helping to Build a Community with Veronica Scott

July 11, 2017 SFFpodcast Author Interview, Podcast

On today’s show, we talked about publishing in an underserved niche that’s too small to attract the attention of the Big 5 but that could potentially be lucrative to authors. Our guest was paranormal and science fiction romance author, Veronica Scott, and we also discussed some of the many things she’s doing to foster growth and awareness of the SFR genre among readers who might be interested. Even though we talked about scifi romance specifically, the interview might be of interest to other authors writing in smaller niches or doing cross-genre fiction. We discussed some of the challenges of marketing these types of books.

Here are some of the specifics that we covered:

The challenges of marketing books that don’t fall into the main categories on Bookbub and other promo sites.
The opportunities that indies have by writing in sub-genres or niches that are too small to interest traditional publishing.
Surfing through also-boughts on Amazon and also using the YASIV tool for finding related books and authors to target as keywords for ads.
How scifi romance has gotten more competitive over the last few years and whether it’s still possible for new authors to break in and reach the Top 100.
Some of the key reader expectations in SFR and differences between romances and scifi with “romantic elements.”
Common mistakes authors make with covers.
The blurb-writing service that Veronica uses: Cathryn Cade.
The cover designer that she uses: Fiona Jayde.
Why fostering a community can be useful, especially in a smaller niche, and how Veronica has gone about doing it.
Veronica Scott’s USA Today Happy Ever After blog column.
Her stance on newsletter swaps and newsletters in general.
Whether permafree series starters are viable in this genre.