Market My Novel

It is no secret that I am a firm believer in social media as a tool to create successful writing careers.

This week, I'm pleased to present two authors - both met via Twitter - who used blogging, social networks and podcasting to net fans and, ultimately, book contracts.

It is through their stories that I hope authors everywhere can understand the true power and potential of the Internet for a successful writing career.

In Part II of my interviews with authors, James Melzer talks about how he netted a contract with Simon & Schuster by using the Internet.

Social media netted you a contract with Simon & Schuster. Tell us how it happened.

Actually, social media netted me a 3-book deal first with Permuted Press, a small indie publisher. After two months of podcasting my novel and spreading the word through various social media channels, they saw the success of it and sort of made me an offer I couldn't refuse to bring all 3 books in my trilogy to print. Then Simon & Schuster came along and approached Permuted Press about entering into a co-publishing venture. They wanted to republish seven of Permuted's biggest titles and re-release them mass market as trade paperbacks. Permuted really went to bat for me and basically said that Simon & Schuster should pick up mine as well, even though it has yet to be released and has no sales track record. Based on the success of the podcast version and the growing fan base, we all feel it's a book that has some legs to it and that it has the potential to do very, very well.

How does S&S plan to promote your work? Are there plans to work in tandem with the online promotions you are already doing?

As far as marketing goes, we have yet to discuss any of that. I do know that they are doing rather large print runs for the books so I would assume they will be doing some kind of marketing on their end. The first book in the co-publishing venture, Day By Day: Armageddon by J.L. Bourne, will be coming out this October and it has a print run of 50,000 copies. That's a huge investment! Of course, the book has already sold 25,000 copies under the Permuted Press banner, so it obviously has a great track record. As far as my novel, Escape, goes, I've been told it will be somewhere between 20-30,000 copies. Considering most first time authors have a print run of 7,500-10,000 copies, that's a massive number for everyone involved.

I fully expect to be doing a lot of the marketing myself and I'm fine with that. I'm used to coming up with ways to promote myself online so I'm looking forward to the challenge. If Simon & Schuster throws a few dollars into the marketing hat as well, I'll be happy.

Why did you start podcasting? Do you plan to stick with it now that you have a contract?

I started podcasting back in September of 2008 as a way of just getting my work out there. I never thought it would get to the point it's at now so quickly. I mean, I saw the success of other podcast novelists such as Scott Sigler, J.C. Hutchins and Seth Harwood, but I never imagined I would get a traditional publishing deal from the podcasts, especially considering I was podcasting the first draft of the book.
    
I completely plan to stick with podcast as a means of getting my work out there. Everyone is okay with that. It's just another way of marketing your work and getting it out there to the fans. It's been proven time and time again that by giving your work away for free, it allows people to connect with you and build a relationship and in the end, those are the people that are going to buy your books and help spread the word.

Did you write The Zombie Chronicles specifically for podiobooks, or was this one of the projects you had written before you started in 2008?

I got the idea for The Zombie Chronicles about 10 years ago and had tinkered with it on and off since then. While I didn't write the novel specifically for podcasting, the medium just sort of lit a fire under me to finish it and start putting it out there. I was very excited by the possibilities that podcasting could bring, but really, I was just hoping for a little feedback on my writing. I got that and a whole lot more.

What are key elements to a successful novel podcast? How difficult are they to make?

Well, I've said this many times to many people; if you're going to do a podcast novel, make sure you finish the book first! If I had to go back and do it over, I would do that with my first novel, Escape. Writing a book at the same time you're podcasting it is dangerous. You could run into writers block or lose your enthusiasm and never finish it. Once you start putting your work out there and people start enjoying it, they are depending on you for new content. If you sort of just forget about it and let things fizzle away, you've lost the trust of those listeners/readers and that may hurt you in the long run.
    
In terms of the podcast itself, you have to make sure that your voice comes across clear and that your reading style is not too fast or too slow. Most people hate the sound of their own voice so there are also trained voice professionals out there that will do it for you if you're willing to shell out a bit of money. I have a background in radio broadcasting so luckily I didn't have to do that.
    
And of course one of the keys to having a successful podcast novel is promotion. You have to do everything in your power to spread the word about it. There are so many podcast novelists out there that do nothing of the sort and it makes me wonder what they are doing it for? You're putting your work on the Internet for potentially millions of people to hear. Do they really think that those people are just going to come to them? It doesn't work that way.
 
Are podiobooks better for fans of certain genres over others, or can it successfully be used cross-genre?

It all depends of how those fans like to consume their books. Most podiobooks tend to fall under the sci-fi/horror/thriller genres but there are some great romance, fantasy and crime books out there as well being podcasted. A podcast novel, when complete, is nothing more than an audio book, so if fans of those genres like listening to books on CD or on their iPod, I see no reason for them to not give podiobooks a try. Most authors will give away free PDFs of their novel as well on their website, which is another added bonus. We're always looking for ways to help each other out through the sharing of audio promos and the like, it really is a great community to be in.

What social networks have worked best for you when it comes to networking with fans? How do you use these networks?

For me, the best social media site by far has been Twitter. It gives me a way to connect with my fans and other authors in real time. I love Twitter. I'm on there all the time talking about my work, my day job or just life in general. It allows people to feel a real connection to you. I'm also active in a few different forums and I'm on Facebook as well. Both with  a personal page and a fan page.
   
Does your knowledge of social media and podcasting give you an edge over other authors?

I don't know if it necessarily gives me an edge when it comes to selling books, that remains to be seen. In the end, what sells a book is a good story, not the way the author promotes it. You can shuck that thing all over the place but if no one is interested in the story, it isn't going to sell.

Social media just gives me a way to connect with people in a way that the old-school authors were not able to do. Everything changed when the Internet came along and there are still some authors who have yet to embrace it fully. That's a shame because at the end of the day, most of their fans are online and want to connect with them. It makes everything more personal. People know who I am, they know what I'm like and that all comes from social media and those are people who like my books and are going to help spread the word about them. What's so bad about that?

What type of equipment do authors need to get started with their own podcasts? What additional items will they need if they want to create podiobooks?
    
All you need to start podcasting is a computer, a microphone and some software. You don't have to go out and spend thousands of dollars. I started with a $20 Logitech mic and Audacity. Since then I've upgraded to a Blue Snowball microphone which cost me about $150 Canadian but I'm still using Audacity, which is free. If your story is good, people are willing to overlook some audio issues you might have in terms of sound quality.
    
In terms of creating a podiobook, there's not much to it. Spend a little time doing some research on ID3 tags and bit rates and you'll be fine. The folks over at Podiobooks.com were very helpful when I started podcasting. It's as simple as recording an episode and uploading it to the server.
   
What else can you add?
  
All I can add is that if you're going to get into podcasting, know what you're getting yourself into.

Are you hoping to get a publishing deal out of it? If that's the case, you're getting into it for the wrong reasons. There are only a handful of authors that have received traditional publishing deals from their podcasts.

If you want to have some fun, get your writing out there and connect with people, then go for it. Be prepared to work your butt off though if you want people to notice you. It's not as simple as throwing some audio on your website and sitting back and waiting. We're entrepreneurs, we have a product we want people to notice and the only way to do that is to sell ourselves and out work.