The Second Apocalypse
Miscellaneous Chatter => General Misc. => Topic started by: mrganondorf on July 01, 2014, 04:15:18 am
-
For MG, mobile Twitter header. Again, let me know if it needs adjustment.
THANK YOU!!!
-
Gave away my last copy of TDTCB. Going to need to buy some more. Probably should print a couple of those bookmarks too, just in case I give out a copy ;)
I wonder if amazon will restock if I buy out all their remaining copies of TDTCB...
-
Ive tried to tell my 'book lover' friends about Bakkers work but none have ever really been interested enough to care. Most are just bandwagon idiot lemmings who jump from flavor of the week to flavor of the week. I remember when the Hunger Games was getting big and they all thought it was such a deep philosophical book... no lol. At least the current flavor is GRRM who actually writes a decent story (up until book 4 anyways). Still, it hasn't helped in my relentless proselytizing for Bakker, but Ill never give up!
It also doesn't help that most of them are early 20s young males in the army. Young, dumb and full of cum... I cant speak for the last one but the first two are definitely spot on ::)
-
Hey now, I'm in my early 20's, and while I might be aptly described by that turn of phrase, I do still enjoy a good book :P
I used to have more prejudice with who I did and did not recommend the books too. Now if the person is >20 years old and likes fantasy, I tell them to give it a try and, if possible, give them a copy of TDTCB.
I am having much success with this method. It at least gets a book into their hands and starts them on the path towards enlightenment.
-
What with Christmas just around the corner I think I'll order 100 cheap copies of The Darkness that Comes Before and 100 cheap copies of A Game of Thrones, bind them up with ribbon with Martin in the front and hand 'em out. Or leave a "free holiday gift" box outside my office.
I think Martin is the biggest, easiest way to make Bakker converts. Although, I almost want to put the Judging Eye in with it. I know it sounds like blasphemy, but I think a lot of readers might benefit from starting there.
-
You can't start in the middle!
Other than that blasphemy, that is a really great idea.
-
It's just that TDTCB felt so awkwardly constructed. I picked it up and put it down at least 2 times before actually reading it through. I think he really hit his stride in the next book and The Judging Eye is so much more straight forward than TDTCB. Plus! The new readers would get to his latest book sooner, thus aiding the Unholy Consult fervor?
-
One must begin at the beginning. TSA must be followed sequentially or you lose everything that makes it great. Everything has been meticulously crafted, and if you start in the middle you might as well not have started at all... imo.
-
This lady knows how to spread the word about her favorite author:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uv7LwFPp3SY
-
Must be a joke.
-
Thought I'd leave these here. Contact information for the last two publicity managers at Overlook. Got it from a printouts inside of ARC's of TTT and TWLW. Attachments are cropped due to size limitations
From TWLW new release:
Kate Gales
212.673.2305
kgales@overlookny.com
-
From TTT. Attachment is cropped due to size limitations
From TTT news release:
John Mark Boling
Publicity Manager
212-673-2534
jmboling@overlookny.com
-
One must begin at the beginning. TSA must be followed sequentially or you lose everything that makes it great. Everything has been meticulously crafted, and if you start in the middle you might as well not have started at all... imo.
I have to agree. If you read just a few chapters in TSA, there are sooo many spoilers that the entire first trilogy will be severely weakened.
I also do agree that book 1 is hard to get into because it starts you off with so many different things happening at once, and a casual reader might not be interested/invested enough yet to care and might just give up. All we can do about that is promise them its like Game of Thrones and to be patient.
-
All we can do about that is promise them its like Game of Thrones and to be patient.
I cringe when I hear that, but really its true. I know plenty of people will disagree with me, and that fine, but to me, GoT is TSA's less talented but far more successful step-brother :P.
-
All we can do about that is promise them its like Game of Thrones and to be patient.
I cringe when I hear that, but really its true. I know plenty of people will disagree with me, and that fine, but to me, GoT is TSA's less talented but far more successful step-brother :P.
YES :) GoT is Hodor compared to Bakker :)
-
One must begin at the beginning. TSA must be followed sequentially or you lose everything that makes it great. Everything has been meticulously crafted, and if you start in the middle you might as well not have started at all... imo.
I have to agree. If you read just a few chapters in TSA, there are sooo many spoilers that the entire first trilogy will be severely weakened.
I also do agree that book 1 is hard to get into because it starts you off with so many different things happening at once, and a casual reader might not be interested/invested enough yet to care and might just give up. All we can do about that is promise them its like Game of Thrones and to be patient.
I can't make up my mind, but you and Wilshire seem so convinced about it, I'll defer. GoT + TDTCB
-
GREAT, now I can stare at the address and think: "I would like to request an ARC because...because...because PLEASE GIVE ME ONE!!!"
-
lol I would support this except it defaces a Bakker book :/.
-
What "Feminist Literature," Pendulus?
-
> hit the local library
> bring a copy of The Warrior-Prophet
> remove the epilogue's pages and slip them into feminist literature
> semantic apocalypse achieved
what poor soul is now missing an epilogue?!?
-
I've been spending a little time trolling general threads and rec requests on r/fantasy and r/books and extolling Bakker or upvoting where appropriate.
-
I've been spending a little time trolling general threads and rec requests on r/fantasy and r/books and extolling Bakker or upvoting where appropriate.
i wonder how many of us are talking to each other unbeknownst under different aliases on other forums
-
lol, creating a grand illusion of a growing crowd will draw others like there was an actual crowd ;). After all, nothing draws a crowd quite so well as a crowd.
-
i wonder how many of us are talking to each other unbeknownst under different aliases on other forums
For some reason this cracked me up.
-
i wonder how many of us are talking to each other unbeknownst under different aliases on other forums
For some reason this cracked me up.
i like that word, unbeknownst
-
to promote R. Scott do as i did...
make yourself a 'What Would Kellhus Do" key-chain. When your friends ask what WWKD means, play it off like it's something they'd never understand. They'll eventually crack under the weight of ignorance and read the books in order to save face. R. Scott will take it from there.
It's one way to go. You may want to drop into the probability trance to be sure it's the shortest path. Be carefull though. Makes sure you know what you're doing. Last Friday morning at Starbucks I used it to discover the shortest path to a free venti mocha. When I came out of it, the store was closed, it was 2:45 a.m. and my wallet was gone.
-
You need to work on that processing speed for you trance.
WWKD is a legit idea. I've tried this tactic once or twice, in different ways, and haven't had much success. Might get me a key chain though.
-
love it! i also want shirts with verses from the Tusk on them. then i'd like to go to the superbowl and hold up Book Of Scholars 3:16 sign
also i would like to go to the superbowl
QUINTHANE! i may be misrecollecting this, but do you guitar? can you write the first Earwan hit song for Terran airwaves?
mtv will be like we love your music but we dont understand it and youll be like yeah i do a lot of drugs and they will be like who is your inspiration and you will be like fuck off and that will further everyones curiosity and an investigative journalist for rolling stone will publish a piece asking if you are secretly of a canadian writer barker and youll respond by saying get the hell off my lawn where you stand in four thousand dollar bathrobe that hasnt been washed since your inevitable spiral into alcoholism and prostitutes named star
-
I mentioned in Quorum the other week that I was to make a topic wondering how to market a (supposedly) soon to be released book better than, say, not marketing it at all. Sparked by my dreams last night, and now having reread these threads in their entirety, I thought to resurrect this thread rather than create an entirely new one.
Gedankenexperiment:
You have a book to market. It's the sixth in an on-going SFF series, recalling the recent sprawling ambitions of Malazan Book of the Dead and A Song of Ice and Fire. Money is no obstacle. Every advantage in modern media reach is at your disposal. The author has agreed to attend events, speak, read, and sign books.
What do you do?
-
Cross-cultural celebrity endorsements (I'm only half-joking).
-
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.
-
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.