My book We The People has been available for a month now. I have sold two copies and one download. Still, it is a rush to get it done.

I'm self-published and the marketing is beginning to fill my time and resources are low. It will be a challenge. However, I've donated the book to Cancer Research and am finding good welcome from local merchants. My book is on display in 4 places, not related to books, with a stack of cards beside it.

Maybe...

I've been writing short stories since grade school. I've had no luck publishing until I went the self-publishing route. I'm hoping this forum might pick up a bit - it would be nice to kick around some thoughts.

The self-publishing route seems to be picking up more serious consideration these days as traditional publishing seems to get more and more difficult to break into.

I think the biggest question on most new writers' minds is what avenues are there for marketing the newly published book. The self-publishing houses offer some packages but we can do as authors to promote and get known? Kicking around some of these ideas would be quite enlightening....

"Speaking as an outsider, what do you think of the human race?" That was in a birthday greeting card I received from my sister way back when I was knee high to a green-eyed alien. When writing became the avenue to release for a ballast tank of frustration plasma, I chose to write Sci-Fi—mainly because I could invent my own history and not have to research the setting before writing.

I've written and self-published three Sci-Fi stories and two mysteries. If your curious, check out JohnWolfBooks.com Anyway, what I wanted to say, and the reason I switched to writing mysteries, is the melting pot of Sci-Fi, Fantasy, and Horror into one sticky stew has caused a backlash with many readers. My stories are not filled with creatures bent on eating human flesh or demented madmen from planet X burning babies, but are about folks in the future and the interesting changes of our species and challenges that could face us. These stories are about people caught in dilemmas in the future.

I grew up with the stories by Arthur C. Clark and Ray Bradbury, and I write in a similar vein. By combining all these genres into one actually denigrates stories about people in the future. Readers disgusted by sticky monsters eating their way through New York City stereotype all Sci-Fi as having to have such a motif. I found potential buyers of my books giving me the once over and doubting that a cool story written about the future could avoid the brain eating fungus or the nail ripping tetra-people nine feet high from not being in the story somewhere. They didn’t like that razor across the face type of literature. Fine. I gave up trying to explain, yes you can tell a cool story about ordinary people set in the far flung future.

Now I write mysteries and have no trouble getting people interested in the books. Sad. I love the Sci-Fi without the sticky monsters though.

J.Wolf

John, believe it or not SF is not about aliens running rampant over Earth. ANY good story is about some personality (alien or human) stuck in a situation and the struggle to rectify personal and external problems.

Aliens can be window dressing or the main subject of the work. They don't even have to be there.

What makes a story "science fiction" is the use of technology that currently doesn't exist or a mis-step into times past, or a future setting. Heinlein put it beautifully when he described SF as "what if?". What if some new item were invented? How does it affect the POV? What if someone living 100 years from now has a problem to solve?

After you postulate a setting and the technology of the setting, you as a writer must now create the most important part of your novel -- THE STORY! And like ANY story/mystery/whatever it must have conflict, personalities, and all the other elements required of any genre.

Your fighter pilot may sit behind the controls of a space fighter, but s/he's still a fighter pilot. Your businessman may have stores on several planets, but s/he still has to deal with product, competition, bottom line, and investors. Your young couple in love/lust may live on the moon, but hormones will be pretty much the same and personal problems will still exist.

Add aliens only if you need them, but don't depend upon them to make the story interesting. You still MUST tell a good yarn and make the reader care about what's going on.

Hey everybody,

I like the posts in this group. I agree that sci-fi does not always have to be about aliens and whatnot. John Wolf hit the nail on the head- my wife HATES, i repeat HATES sci-fi because of that UNfortunate stereotype. Sadly though, the stereotype has a very real basis- there is a ton of crap labeled "sci-fi" that really should be labeled what it is- "Crap".

I have embarked on a venture to co-author a book with a close friend. We would appreciate anyone's feedback in reference to it. I am posting weekly short-stories on our website, in addition to polishing off the manuscript. You can find information about our book, and the short stories at:
www.DrokgarAnock.com

We would appreciate that feedback in our Forums section- simply create an account to comment (registration is not required to read anything on the site, just forum participation) and just chat away!

We have done extensive research over the past year on marketing, agents and publishing. It is looking like the self-publish route might be the way to go. I saw that some of you have self-published- what has your experiences been so far? Can you get your book into Barnes & Noble/Borders etc?

Thanks everyone,
D Klimut
www.DrokgarAnock.com

I wrote "The Portal to Forever" in 1992 and tried to find an agent and a traditional publisher without success. I learned as most authors do that you can't interest a traditional publisher unless you have an agent and you can't get an agent if you haven't been published. Most agents don't seem to want to do much work for a book and prefer to take on only books that are guaranteed success. If you're an unknown author, they probably won't give you the time of day especially if you write fiction. I finally gave up and the book sat until I had the chance to self-publish with Authorhouse this year.

I had control of the creative process from the start with their design team eager to implement my ideas for the cover and galley design of my book and making suggestions as needed. The quality of the finished book is excellent and the book is something of which I am very proud. As soon as the book went "Live" in March 2009, it was available on Amazon, Barnes and Noble and other online retailers. If you pay for the book to be returnable, it will be more attractive for local bookstores to carry the book but it isn't a gaurantee that they will carry the book. There are many options available for marketing a book but they are all expensive with differing degrees of success. I've emailed hundreds of libraries and bookstores and sent out postcards to announce the availability of my book and slowly the word is spreading.

My experience so far has been mostly positive. There have been some problems along the way but they have all worked out in the end. If I had the money to publish my other manuscript, I would probably stay with Authorhouse. They frequently offer discounted publishing packages that make the process more affordable. See my book at http://www.bonnie-raymond-books.com. Check out the publishing services at Authorhouse at http://www.authorhouse.com

I hope some of this answers your questions.
... Bonnie Raymond

Thanks for the reply. Have you had much success with internet sales? Also, do you attempt to get out to different stores for author signings/readings etc?

Another question- did you do your book, Portal to Forever, as "print on demand" or is it stocked by amazon/stores now?

I hope to get picked up by an agent/publisher, but as you stated it can be a long road. I try not to be judgmental, but it amazes me on some of the "mainstream" books that get published. The writing style is deplorable, but they sell millions of copies (10+ runs).

Thanks
D Klimut

BTW- I like the cover art on your book- I love anything sci-fi and fantasy. Dragons rock.

Most of the sales so far have been on the Internet. I won't get my next Royalty Statement until late October but that should reflect some bookstore sales as well.
Authorhouse is a print on demand publisher. Supposedly, if you order a book from them, they print it and ship it as needed but I suspect they might have a few ready to ship for each title because they ship out very quickly. Places like Amazon say they have the book "in stock". That might be because I have paid the fee for my book to be "returnable" through Authorhouse and Ingram their distributor. Other retailers claim to have the book in stock but so far I have not seen that reflected in my sales. This is all still new to me and I learn as I go along.
Authorhouse uses a Stock Photo site where authors can select the images for use on the custom cover of their book. I was able to select an image for the swirling portal and then a dragon to merge with that image. The dragon on the cover was a heavily edited version of the original image that I selected. I edited it myself and uploaded it to the design team. When they bought the images from the photo site, they edited my selected images to look the way I wanted and my cover was created.
One of the downsides to self-publishing is that you don't have an editor. You have to do it all yourself unless you want to pay someone a LOT of money to edit and proofread your work.
I have been invited to do a booksigning at a local bookstore sometime in the near future.
... Bonnie