Publishing Rodeo: The Good, The Bad, and the Bloody Ugly

After submitting his debut self-pub novel to the annual SPFBO (self published fantasy blog-off) competition and reaching the semi-finals, Alex Darwin landed himself with a "trad deal" and agent. In the months leading up to his trad re-launch, Alex applied his self-pub experience to his upcoming book launch, trying a number of different angles. Reflecting back, he shares what kind of tactics worked best to give his book the best possible chance.

Topics covered:

• Being a hybrid author
• How SPFBO works and can benefit indie authors
• Paying for publicity (via Black Crow) in the UK specifically
• Collaborative efforts with Orbit on marketing/publicity in the USA
• Book Tours (an assessment and reflection)
• Finding an angle for pubs to use
• Thinking about longterm goals
• LitRPGs and why they remain indie
• Theories about the goal of OrbitWorks (digital only imprints)
• Chatter about jujitsu and other nonsense

Just an outtakes edit from Alex Darwin's episode 38, in which Scott shares a hunting misadventure. Absolutely no industry content whatsoever, simply a short bit of chat. Also featuring: Alex Darwin and Sunyi Dean.

CONTENT WARNING: Animal hunting (elk) is discussed in detail, which may be upsetting to some listeners.

After solid sales for his first duology, David Wragg's next book series got caught in the infamous post-covid "midlist death spiral". After this current trilogy finishes, his future in trad is uncertain at best.But with his usual good-natured humor,

Wragg cheerfully dissects the past six years of his career, including advances, royalties (or negative royalties in this case), the reality of post-debut book deals, and the differences in production quality between tiers of books. Finally, he and Scott discuss the pressing question of how and why authors keep writing, despite it all. (Though this episode description may seem bleak, we promise it has a few laughs along the way.)

What's the deal with author book events? Are they useful, do they shift books, and why do they all follow the same format? This week, we speak with Sam Missingham, who spent many years working with the Bookseller, and later with Harper as an author events creator. We talk about what works and what doesn't, whether hiring publicists as a trad author is worth the time, the influence of class and connections in publishing, and the real reason so many publisher-run book events fall a little flat. If authors want a successful career, Sam stresses that this requires a long-term perspective and a focus on writing multiple books, as well as a creative and individual approach to self-marketing.

• 00:00 Introduction
• 01:00 Background and Experience in the Publishing Industry
• 04:11 The Role of Events in Book Marketing
• 07:05 The Challenges of Filling Book Events
• 09:00 The Value of Events for Debut Authors
• 10:26 The Influence of Class and Connections in Publishing
• 15:00 The Myth of the Slush Pile
• 18:39 The Need for Engaging and Fun Book Events
• 20:24 The Value of Indie Author Events
• 25:26 The Role of Marketing and Publicity for Authors
• 27:22 Working with Traditionally Published Authors
• 31:33 The Challenges of Hiring PR and Marketing Services
• 41:57 The Empowered Author and Building a Strong Author Platform

Steve Lead is a freelance cover artist and industry podcaster, with many years' experience working on book cover designs in the publishing industry. Today, he sits down to help demystify the complicated process that goes into creating a book cover. We discuss briefs, trends, industry pay (or lack of it), the impact of thumbnail images on print books--and finally, the elephant in the room: the burgeoning technology that is generative AI, and what it might mean for us all.

00:00 Introduction and Background

03:08 Interactions with Authors and the Design Process

07:03 The Design Brief and Constraints

09:02 Pay and Salaries in the Design Industry

12:04 The Impact of Thumbnails on Book Covers

32:31 The Role of AI in Writing and Design

34:00 Concerns and Fears about AI in the Creative Industry

35:06 Legal Ramifications of AI in Publishing

36:27 The Need for Accountability and Fair Compensation

37:21 Controversies and Criticisms of OpenAI

39:16 The Impact of AI on Artists and Creators

41:14 The Dark Side of AI and Social Media

44:34 The Use of AI in Social Media Platforms

46:18 The Potential Benefits and Limitations of AI

48:08 The Controversy of Cover Quotes on Book Jackets

53:43 The Frustration with Front Cover Quotes

In addition to writing bestselling novels and cofounding a viral podcast (THE BESTSELLER EXPERIMENT), Mark Stay also spent many years working with bookstores and publishers, gaining great insight to all sides of the industry. We chat to Mark about his varied experiences, and reflect back on the seven years he spent recording his groundbreaking podcast. This one is fun and quite eye-opening for behind-the-scenes stuff.

• 00:00 Introduction and Podcast Origins
• 01:09 Mark Stay's Background and Bestseller Experiment
• 02:45 The Impact and Pressure of Bestseller Experiment
• 03:10 The Success and Community of Bestseller Experiment
• 04:05 Lessons Learned from Bestseller Experiment
• 05:17 Disillusionment and Quitting While Ahead
• 06:12 Finding the Right Tone for Bestseller Experiment
• 07:31 Defeatism in Traditional Publishing
• 08:12 The Empathy and Doom Scrolling of Creatives
• 09:25 The Challenges of Self-Publishing
• 10:34 The Importance of Loving the Process
• 11:49 Mark Stay's Journey from Bookseller to Author
• 13:35 The Experience of Traditional Publishing
• 15:49 The Unconventional Paths in Publishing
• 19:00 Self-Publishing the Bestseller Experiment Book
• 20:33 The Challenges of Selling a Genre-Bending Book
• 22:44 Takeaways for Authors to Give Their Books a Good Shot
• 28:29 The Impact of the Podcast on Scott Drakeford's Publishing Journey
• 32:42 The Reception and Impact of the Podcast
• 35:16 Challenges Faced by Publishers
• 37:06 Focus on Brand Authors
• 38:04 Neglecting Growing Authors
• 39:03 Ineffective Advertising Campaigns
• 40:00 The Mistake of Becoming Bigger
• 42:21 Digital Publishers and Genre Preferences
• 43:18 Preference for Tangible Books
• 44:09 The Importance of Book Covers
• 45:37 Amazon's Dominance and Publishers' Reliance
• 46:31 Amazon's Control and Negotiations
• 47:02 Amazon's Focus on Other Ventures
• 48:31 Visibility and Impact of Amazon on Authors
• 49:28 The Influence of Nielsen BookScan
• 53:41 Diversity in Publishing
• 55:05 The Future of Publishing and Concerns
• 56:02 American Cultural Imperialism
• 01:03:19 Smallest Hill to Die On: Americanization of British English
• 01:09:06 Plugs: Bestseller Experiment, Witches of Woodville

As our one and only return guest, JT Greathouse joins us for the launch of Season 2, this time in his capacity as a true-hybrid author (with a bookseller's eye). JT sold his debut, HAND OF THE SUN KING, to a UK publisher, but didn't get a USA deal. With the support and help of his literary agency, he opted to self-publish the American version in the States.

This week, we talk about the process of getting your books into stores, the nitty gritty of distribution in relation to small presses, indie authors, and hybrid folks like JT, how to make smart choices, the ways in which books can build towards success, and the (psychologically) damaging myth of the "instant best seller" launch.

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• the advantages of splitting rights versus selling world rights
• Thinking about strategies for selling the rights of your book
• self pub USA, trad pub UK
• The importance of ingram
• Why are book royalties so low in trad? What does higher royalties mean in the context of smaller presses
• Good presale numbers--how to calculate this as a debut (jeremy's 'vibe check' formula)
• Debuts not making or breaking you
• how online discussions skew our perception of success
• how to make good decisions
• Jeremy and Scott bicker (good-naturedly) over the definition of "tiers"
• Bookseller mentality re hype and sales
• Small, achievable goals - not totally powerless!
• NEW PODCAST SECTION: The Smallest Hill You're Willing To Die On

Our final show of the season! This week, we talk frankly about author leverage--what it means, and how to use it. We also discuss when and how to pitch new books on proposal, the impact of past sales on that process, and why Scott is (probably) walking away from writing trad fantasy as a result.

Other topics: we reflect on regrets and highlights across the past year, do a quick summary of where we are, why we've slowed down, and what's going on, AND our plans for Season 2 (there will be one!) and how it will be different from Season 1.

Finally, Scott introduces a new shiny thing we've been working on: the Author Data Project, an adult-fiction version of the YA research that Dr. Kerry Pray conducted and discussed in an earlier episode.

Links to the other 2 podcasts we mentioned and recommended:

• The Failing Writers Podcast, featuring Jon Rand, Tom Turner, and Dave Baird: https://www.failingwriterspodcast.com/
• Great fun, honest conversations, fantastic guests!
• Cover Meeting, with Steve Leard: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/cover-meeting/id1706806306
• A side of the industry authors normally don't see!