This podcast (get it here) presents the thoughts of Scott Sigler–media maven, NY Times Bestselling Author of INFECTED and CONTAGIOUS (both available free as podcasts), podiobook dynamo, and social networking mastermind–on none other than “how will people read books in the near future?”
In this repodcast of his keynote speech at this year’s Balticon conference, Scott talks about how he built a HUGE online fan base for his fiction, landed a major publishing deal with Crown Books, reached NY Times bestseller status, and why he insists that giving his fiction away for free is the best marketing around.
He presents his thoughts on Big Publishing, small publishing, smart-phones vs. the Kindle, and perhaps most importantly, lays out the methods by which he pre-sold 1,500 copies of his new, self-published novel THE ROOKIE this April via his own website, scottsigler.com. That’s right: Forget print-on-demand and its higher cost-per-book. Scott breaks down how he pre-sold enough books to pay for an entire print run before THE ROOKIE ever went to press! It’s a model so far ahead of everyone else that we’ve got to take notes!
If you’re a writer or aspiring author, you need to listen to this. And don’t let the intro scare you off.
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Seth Harwood, the author of JACK WAKES UP, will be teaching an online course (The Gripping Read) with Stanford Continuing Studies. And he’ll also be teaching an Author Bootcamp with Scott Sigler on Stanford’s campus on November 7 and 14. Each course only has a few slots still open.
Soliciting subscribers, or “pre-selling” as you call it, is hardly “a model so far ahead of everyone else”; it’s the way the publication of many books were funded in the late 17th and 18th century. What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun (Ecclesiastes 1:9).
Blake- Good point! But if we look at the landscape of publishing today, we largely see two models. The standard is to put up a big investment (risk) to print a large number of copies you’re hoping to sell, and Print On Demand, which reduces your risk, but raises your cost per book.
So compared to these, the solicitation of subscribers looks like a great new movement!
On the other hand, you’re totally right about nothing new under the sun.
To put it in a less French way than Dan did, I guess we’re going “Back to the Future!”