Book Promotion

 

 

Usually what catches my eye:

• How often do you spam promotions? If its every other post on your feed I eventually tune out. Make your social media a variety. Try to put recommendations on there that are closest to the type of wheelhouse you want to promote.
• If its romance primary: IE The MAIN DRAW WILL BE THE COUPLE IN AND OF ITSELF! Put "A Romantic Space Adventure" or "Romance then X genre." It will set the overall tone and tell me even if I want to pick it up. Its how I avoid most smutmance choices. You will get less readers who want to trash that wheelhouse if you do.

Because to be frank: Most romance isn't just the courtship or how they work as a couple. Its bed hopping and how many lovers in a port of call. It's why I gravitate towards older pulps. The endgame aspect had the main protag get together with the main romance interest. There wasn't Anita Blake X-rated BS going on.  

Clean Romances: 

Flying Sparks:  Here /// The Stars Wait Not: Here

My overall preferences:

Hero gets the happy ending, gets the mission done, gets the girl. That sorta thing. (Because the market is flooded with downer endings and "well that wasn't worth it!" adventures)

• I massively prefer upbeat endings. Even in Craptastic Worlds. 
• More sapient dogs/uplifted animals.
• The Science doesn't have to make actual sense. (IE Our World's Physics.)  It just has to be consistent with whatever systems you've made to the setting. 
• Likeable > Relatable because in this day and age relatable often means "Sad Sack Woke ID politics" protag to follow. Take Claire from CP 2077, she's trans, mentions it in passing during a mission, but she's likable. Not a walking billboard for whatever trans "issues of current year" I could give two shits about. I really don't want sermons from people in games or books or media. Make escapism happen. With whatever characters you like. Want representation that doesn't feel empty or forced? Aeon 14: Here 
• Heck, most of CP 2077s cast fits that bill. They are likable > relatable.

Guys are allowed to write women via visual description. Women do that to men in the fracking smutmances all the time. Male writers are just more honest about it. Help us readers find our wheelhouses or enough overlapping themes we enjoy. Love GRRM? Add his influence to your blurb. 

Want to attract readers like me? 

Mention Paragons of Virtue. Or OPTIMISTIC STORIES OF OLD! Or Superversive. Or "Do you hate sad sack protagonists? Navel gazing? MY book is the opposite of that!" Be very blunt. My kingdom for more Bright Futures and Genuine escapism!  

When you compare things to Firefly: Mention in what way. Are the characters cobbled together against an overwhelming foe? Is it a space western? Does it have the overall themes of Babylon 5: Ancient mysteries and old civilizations guiding the younger through ingrained manipulation? Is it a mix of that settings politics with face paced pew pew? 

How craptastic is your world? Mention the contrast. Does it have a paragon at the wheel trying to light the way to a better tomorrow? I have to get better with that in my own reviews. How is this related to X Y or Z for me. 

Galaxy Ascendant has characters built like B5s: Some have much brighter outcomes. They face insurmountable odds against a universe filled with ancient mysteries. The politics of the setting muck up everything. Go buy it: LIKABLE CHARACTERS EVERYWHERE! Here

 

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