I've never attempted to sell a anthology or any other type of book so these could be horrible ideas!
Pre-Orders:
Since you'll be sending out ARC's as review copies it would be good to have the anthology available for pre-order so that when the early reviews come out people will be able to go right from their to order, and not have that delay until it is actually released. Anything that makes the readers wait to push that buy button is just one more reason to not do it.
This will be a certainty. As soon as the Amazon, B&N, etc. pages go up, there will be announcements for pre-orders.
Blog Tours:
I have seen several authors these days going around to different blogs that cover the genre their work falls in and setting it up so they have a quick post show up promoting the work in several place over a set amount of time to keep the momentum rolling.
This gets tricky with a reprint anthology series, plus several of these authors have their own blogs. But I am thinking about asking the authors chosen for BAF 4 to write a short post about their selected story that then would be posted on the BAF blog. 1-2 a week, starting two months or so before the release date ought to be doable.
Don't know, however, if I could manage the logistics of arranging this for several other blogs.
Project Wondeful advertisements:
I've seen on several sights that you can advertise on them using project wonderful. Some of these are as cheap as a few cents a day, and even pro-zines and the like use them. FlashFictionOnline, a professional market according to SFWA, has several areas available for cheap. Pats fantasy hotlist is another one that comes to mind.
This is highly unlikely. I use Adblock and I suspect several others do as well, so that would eliminate the Project Wonderful bit off the bat. If the publisher wants to do it, I could see the attraction, but I suspect there may be other avenues than just online paid advertising.
ARC give-aways:
Many forums, which I assume would include RAFO, enjoy doing give-away contests to promote themselves. This also helps promote the work by getting the word out. Sending them a few copies to give away is a win win for everyone!
This is a certainty. After I arrange for several online reviewers to get copies, there might be a couple left over for forum and/or blog giveaways.
Excerpts:
Make one of the stories, or even a portion of one, available for readers to check out so they can see if they would enjoy more. You can use this to draw more traffic to the book and the free part will at least get people looking. Then when the anthology comes out they'll be willing to pay for the whole thing. Hey, it works for drug dealers right?
That might be tricky, but I think it's doable. I'll have to look into it.
Interviews:
Having the editors of the anthology do interviews is a great way to let people know about the work. Another good thing to do is to ask the individual contributing authors to mention the anthology if they get a chance to when doing their own interviews. The more people you can get talking about it the better.
Well, I am available for interviews and I imagine there might be a few in the coming months (I know there'll be one taking place around the end of the month with a Brazilian blog). I don't know how much the individual authors will mention it.
Also, do hope to get some authors who may not have stories appearing in this particular anthology to read copies as well. Not just genre authors; several authors outside category SF markets will be appearing here.
Forums:
Many forums have an area where they allow people to post anouncements, which allows you to /nssp your work without coming off as spaming or being rude. Plus you can do more then just one post as long as you have a good reason and incentive to keep everyone interested. So an announcement for it being available for pre-order, released, high-profile interviews, and awards are all good reasons. Make sure to include a note about your free excerpt and a link to the site where it's found. Then make sure that pre-order/buy button is at the end of that excertp.
I think I can pull this off on three forums at least, since I know the owner and/or mods for those, plus I've been an active member at each of those for several years.
Reviews:
In my opinion there are two types of reviews. There are those reviews that a reader can use to tell if the work is similar to their past tastes in reading material. Then there are those reviews that are just out there to get the word out more, even if the average reader of that review probably won't buy it.
Both can be useful as they provided comments and endorsements that you can use, but making a list of the reviewers and then tracking the results is a good idea to know when enough is enough so you don't end up wasting time and money.
The idea purpose of getting a reviews in my eyes is making your work popular enough that reviewers will actively begin to seek out the work on their own and post their own reviews without prompting.
Those will hopefully be covered between Publishers Weekly, Kirkus, author blurbs, and distribution to online and print reviewers more likely to review the anthology (you mention Pat's site above. Pat and I generally get along personally, but I don't think he would be as likely to give this anthology the coverage as may a reviewer who covers more short fiction).
Writing websites:
For anthologies and short stories I've always found one of the largest target markets is writers. They have a vested interest in the form and usually will be more willing to give those less publicized works a try. Many novice writers will buy anthologies when first starting out just to examine different writing styles and methods.
I agree.
I hope some of this helps!
Quite a bit. Most of it jibes with my thoughts and the few that don't are more matters of money and personal preferences than anything unsound in the advice. Thanks for replying with serious suggestions!
Illusions fall like the husk of a fruit, one after another, and the fruit is experience. - Narrator, Sylvie
Je suis méchant.
Je suis méchant.
Fun, imaginative exercise on bookselling
11/06/2010 12:25:07 AM
- 606 Views
post it somewhere then get a lot of people to write really good reviews about it? *NM*
11/06/2010 12:30:54 AM
- 170 Views
Change the name to "Buy this Book or Die a Fiery Death in Forty Days" *NM*
11/06/2010 12:33:55 AM
- 179 Views
And then start a chain letter e-mail. But are the increased sales really worth selling your soul? *NM*
11/06/2010 01:06:13 AM
- 204 Views
Re: Depends. How much is your soul worth? One brother? One bestseller?
11/06/2010 11:39:58 AM
- 425 Views
Not likely
11/06/2010 01:07:28 AM
- 410 Views
"Best American Fantasy" sounds like "Regular Detergent"
11/06/2010 02:03:57 AM
- 423 Views
It's based on Best American Short Stories
11/06/2010 03:18:47 AM
- 456 Views
BASS? You mean THE BASS? Never heard of it. Sounds like "Potato Chips".
11/06/2010 05:49:37 PM
- 404 Views
A few (probably bad) ideas.
11/06/2010 05:32:31 PM
- 616 Views
Most of these jibe with my thoughts
12/06/2010 08:24:51 AM
- 539 Views
Tell everyone that this book will be what the book club is reading.
12/06/2010 02:33:51 PM
- 488 Views
Keep the authors in it a deathly secret, start an ARG for people to figure out who will be in it
12/06/2010 05:47:10 PM
- 408 Views
Put Ellen on the cover. Runs risk of suit, but probably gets you on her show either way. *NM*
15/06/2010 10:27:57 PM
- 196 Views