Hatrack River Writers Workshop: Marketing of Fantasy & Science Fiction

This is topic Marketing of Fantasy & Science Fiction in forum Open Discussions About Writing at Hatrack River Writers Workshop.

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Posted by Kligson (Member # 1726) on :

What marketing techniques do publishers employ to peddle their SF wares? Some of the only advertisements I've seen for books have been for famous mystery writers (who somehow appear more reputable or legitimate to the general public.) Do you ever see adds for fantasy novels in the newspaper? Have you ever fun across a billboard for a new work of science fiction? Are such techniques effective?

Aside from shiny end-caps in the stacks at Borders, how are books from our favorite genres promoted?

For those who have been published: did you feel your publisher/agent/whoever did an adequate job promoting your book?

Posted by punahougirl84 (Member # 1731) on :

They market in genre magazines - Analog, Asimov's, SF/F, Realms of Fantasy... of course, those are most effective at reaching those of us already reading the genre, and not necessarily the general public. The book clubs will show off new books to advantage, especially those by established authors, but you only reach book club members.

From what I have read, the most effective marketing is often done by the actual author - doing tours, book signings - when BAMM put up posters for the latest Robert Jordan "Wheel of Time" book, and the date of a book signing, the lines were out the door. That might have attracted other passers by. The trick there is whether the publisher pays for the trip, or the author does. You can guess who pays first, and who pays once the author has been "proven!"

I've never seen a billboard or newspaper ad for such material. I know my way of finding books was by word of mouth recommendations, and nowadays of course via websites.

Posted by Marianne (Member # 1546) on :

From what I learned at the Maui Writer's Conference genre writer's(escpecially newly published writers) need to do their own marketing. The publishers are not going to spend any money on an unknown. Even Terry Brooks, with 70 million copies in print does a lot of his own marketing.

There is a great magazine called Locus that covers the publishing side of our field...what's new and who is publishing what...take a look at their website.

Posted by Kligson (Member # 1726) on :

Thanks, guys, for your replies. Perhaps I should tailor my question a tad:

What techniques do publishers AND writers use to promote their books? ^_~

(FYI, looks like the URL for Locus is http://www.locusmag.com/)

[This message has been edited by Kligson (edited September 10, 2003).]

Posted by Hildy9595 (Member # 1489) on :

Kligson, I've seen many writers and editors promoting their work at SF conventions, either live and in person, or with promotional brochures/postcards on display. Some authors will get themselves on panels at cons and subtly (or not so subtly) self-promote in between on-topic discussions. Or, if they're Darrell Schweitzer of Weird Tales fame, they'll openly go up to people with a bag full of books and magazines and ask, "So, what do can I sell you?"

Posted by srhowen (Member # 462) on :

Windshield flyers--in Austin they have a lot of writers talks etc--put flyers on cars.

Shawn

Posted by Heresy (Member # 1629) on :

Well, I work at a Canadian version of those big book stores (Chapters in my case) and I will tell you that one of the best ways to get at least your local book stores to push your work is to go in and meet the book sellers (aka employees) It's never ceased to amaze me the effect it has when you tell a customer you met the writer of a specific book. It makes them somehow more eager to buy the book. There are several authors who I can sell mostly on the strength that they're local authors (though they are also all good writers as well). Now, I know that this sounds like a very small market to reach, but remember that people recommend books to friends and family all of the time and said friends and family are likely spread over a larger area. I know that if a book store gets all sorts of people coming in asking for a book, they will try to order it, if they can.

At least, that's my experience of things, working on the end of selling books by other people while I work on my own writing.

Heresy

Posted by lindsay (Member # 1741) on :

You asked for sci/fi and fantasy, but I’ve only had some success in publishing historical romance novels with different publishers, so will tell you how the publishers have helped and what’s been expected of me.

In the past, I’ve filled out author bio sheets that the publisher’s PR dept. uses when they create their catalog that’s sent to book buyers. These catalogs highlighted all the different genres offered by this publisher during a certain time frame. (A buyer could order different groupings, say, X numbers of each – from the lead historical romances, to the sci/fi, to the westerns, whatever.) Beside each title in this catalog would be info about the book and its author (the author’s home state, what they’ve published in the past), how many pages are in the book, the ISBN of the book for ordering, and what types of promotion are available for the book – such as a “dump,” (these are the cardboard displays you see in bookstores). A store can decide to purchase a dump if it’s offered, but that means the store has to be pretty certain it will be able to sell however many copies come in the dump. And, they have to be willing to give up precious floor space to promote the author and their book. Also included can be info of print advertising plans for the book, say a full-page spread in whatever magazine.

Also, once the “galley” of the book is finished (this is the printed form of what the pages will look like once it’s bound in a book) the galleys are sent by the publishers for review to different reviewers. This is when the author should speak up and suggest places to send the galleys for review – and then follow up and make certain they were sent. Plus, if you get a good review, you’ll want it early enough so it can be added to the book once it’s printed. And you’ll want to use good quotes in any ads the publisher may buy on behalf of the book (or you buy yourself).

Publishers also send the author X number of free books, and the author should use these for promotion. The author can also buy extra books at a reduced rate to use in the same way (not to sell for profit).

I have author friends who tell me the best way to get their book promoted is to write a great book in the first place and get a very good advance. They tell me that when a publisher invests in a writer, they’ll then promote that writer. They also tell me that any promotion they do on their own is “only a drop in the bucket,” so instead they choose to spend their time writing a great book that will get a great advance that will get a good promotional push by their publisher…

That’s one line of thinking that’s been told to me. I also have author friends who promote their books and themselves like crazy. Everyone they meet is a potential customer. They carry business cards and bookmarks with them and pass them out all the time – to booksellers, book store owners, anyone they meet. They also make use of every inch of the business card/bookmark (i.e., never leave the backside blank. List your titles, your web site, list good review quotes). Some of these authors also wrangle to get promises of promotion during the contract stage – they have this added as a clause to their contract. I’ve known authors to meet the people who actually put the books on the bookshelves – they bring them coffee and doughnuts, and they come with an armload of bookmarks, and ask that these be dropped off at each of the stores this person will be going to. These authors also set aside X amount of their advances and use this money for self promotion – such as mailings to independent bookstores. They create “author packs” – a folder with their picture, bio, bookmarks, cover flats from their novels. They might include extra of these things and suggest to the independent bookstore owner that they offer these as freebies to customers. And, lastly, these authors make their rounds, doing book signings at malls – anywhere they can, plus they let radio and small, local TV stations know they’ll be in town beforehand and they offer to be available for an interview. Small newspapers and local TV stations shouldn’t be overlooked, they say.

And one last thing, (this is long-winded, I know!) one writer friend I know does all of his promotion in the wee hours of the night and early morning – he sits in his home office and does talk radio interviews all over the country (his publisher helps set them up - he asked this help and gets it). Granted, this guy’s a character and is witty and will talk about ANYTHING, so this kind of promotion definitely works for him. Does it sell his books? He thinks it does, plus he says it feeds his ego. Works for him…

OK, that’s it from me. Hope I’ve helped.

Posted by Kligson (Member # 1726) on :

Wow, thanks, lindsay! I've been wondering about a lot of the topics you mentioned.

So you've written some historical romance, eh? What are some of the titles? I'd be love to check for them at the bookstore. (It'd be cool to say, "Hey, I've talked to this author." ^_^.) Are you interested in writing SF now?

Posted by lindsay (Member # 1741) on :

Hi again. Am glad you found something of interest in my reply. I've written a few historicals. Have a website at www.lindsayrandall.com.(Thanks for the interest!) One of the books I wrote was set in a "mythical realm," but I know my world-building wasn't very strong. (Still isn't, but I'm trying!)

I'm definitely interested in writing fantasy, with romance involved. I just found this forum Friday night and it's really energized me. I'm amazed at how much everyone is willing to share their thoughts and knowledge about Sci/Fi and Fantasy. This is all great! I spent my weekend looking up authors who are new to me. I've got a lot to read - and to learn!

Posted by Jules (Member # 1658) on :

Lindsay, I don't know whether you designed that site yourself or had somebody do it for you, but as a pro web site designer myself, I think you might find these comments helpful:

The first thing that struck me about the site is that the buttons on the left don't contrast very well with the background, which makes the text kind of hard to read.

Also, when viewed with Mozilla (an alternative web browser to Internet Explorer) the left hand column is excessively wide, pushing all the text off the right hand side of the page.

Just a couple of problems that a few people might find annoying about the site, particularly if they don't have Internet Explorer...

Posted by lindsay (Member # 1741) on :

Hi, Jules. Thanks much for this! I didn't design it myself, but do update it myself. As for the buttons, the designer did what I asked, so I should have thought longer before asking for that type of button, yes? I've never heard of the browser you mentioned.

My site doesn't expand - or fit the frame - when I look at it on a computer other than my own. Is there a "default" I could set so that it will fill the frame? There's too much "empty real estate" to the right when I view it on other computers, though when viewed on my own it looks okay to me. I haven't figured that out yet. I also did something to the navigation buttons when I added my map to it on the one page. I update it with Front Page, though my dream for the moment is to create my own site with Macromedia Dreamweaver. Am just learning that program and have a looong way to go. Am curious if you have a Web site for your designs... Building sites for fantasy writers would be great fun, wouldn't it? A designer created a place for romance writers, and builds a lot of their sites: www.writerspace.com. A place like this just for fantasy writers would be neat - maybe there already is one? If not, I'd definitely log into one regularly.