Disseminating Bakker (II)

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Bolivar

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« Reply #30 on: February 04, 2016, 10:05:46 pm »
It's a tough sell on two fronts, being a middle book in an ongoing series: you're not only asking someone to read five books to get into this one but also to potentially wait another 4 years for the conclusion (and another decade for the overarching tale). Each sequel of a fantasy series will unavoidably reach fewer readers than the previous, so understandably, extracting maximum value from the existing audience is the key. While that involves casting as wide a net as possible to all the big SFF outlets and communities, I think you can also take targeting out of the equation and find readers naturally by using google adsense.

I think the marketing should begin with a killer press release to all the magazines and outlets, along with an offer of ARCs, ads, interviews, and excerpts. You need to create the perception that this is an "event," like a new James Cameron or Martin Scorcese movie.

You can't stop at sites and blogs though, as they have impossibly become the "old media" of today. Marketing firms have started leveraging "influencers" - Youtube and streaming personalities that review or discuss this kind of content by approaching them with a deal to make a promotional video giving their thoughts on a product. This can be incredibly cost effective as most will do it for very little money and it's OK for them to acknowledge during the video that the marketer reached out to them and sent a free copy of the material for purposes of the video.

With social media maturing, promotion is only limited by the time you put in, though I know it's been mentioned here that fan engagement is not exactly his strong suit. Still, it's insane the grassroots, viral, word of mouth buzz you can create with live Q&A sessions through Reddit AMA, Twitter Takeovers of your publisher's account, or hosting a live stream on Youtube. Occasionally sites will take something you said there and extrapolate it into an article, reaching even more people.

On the physical front, it would help to have a box set of the first five volumes. Makes it easier for both new and returning readers to track them down and get ready.

I know there's a number of things we can do for our part, namely leaving good ratings and reviews on Amazon and goodreads. It might make sense to have a stickied thread somewhere here, for those that might not enter threads like these (apologies if there already is one!) Now would be a great time for those of us who haven't yet to do so, with the book hopefully just a few months away.

Wilshire

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« Reply #31 on: February 07, 2016, 03:21:05 pm »
HBO and movie deals helped raise sales of everyone from Tolkien to Rowling, Martin to Weir.

Making a good book to screen adaption reaches audiences the books themselves just cant.
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