Marketing and Finding the Market to Market To
Marketing is always an interesting challenge.
As we move inevitably toward the Fall, I’m in the process of preparing the first book of my next series for publishing. The Gentleman Space Pirate series is something I’ve been working on for about a year and a half now. I’ve finished writing books 1-4 and have begun book 5. While that’s the current end of the series plotted thus far, I have ideas for a potential book 6, too.
Here’s the blurb I created about the series:
Piracy is no different than business, except the part about being cutthroat is literal.
Sam Yeager was a high-level business executive, a rising star gaining wealth, power, and influence. Then, in the blink of an eye, it was gone when he was forcefully taken from everything he had ever known.
In the chaos of the life he was faced with, the best of the limited choices led him to one place: Piracy.
Applying the same tenacity he used in business, Sam survived and thrived. Now he finds himself in command of a pirate ship and a talented crew. But to hold onto this challenging life, they must face down brutal pirates, take on corrupt businesses, and navigate the tricky seas of interstellar politics.
Will the Gentleman Space Pirate and his crew go down in history—or infamy?
I’m very excited about this new series! As I complete the final steps, I need to consider how I’d like to market this new series.
Putting on the finishing touches
The Gentleman Space Pirate Book 1 (aka the First Log), Rise of The Captain, came back from the editor just before I left for my 10 days of medieval reenactment near the end of July. Now I’m in the middle of going over and making suggested edits, as well as recording the audiobook.
As of this writing, the plan is to publish Rise of The Captain on October 27th. With a planned trip in September, I should have more than enough time to get the editing and audiobook recording done.
My format is mostly laid out. I’ll just need to add the acknowledgements and dedication. Do I tease Book 2 – Pirates, Partners, Politics, and Profit – at the end of Book 1? Maybe. I finished my first round of edits on it, and it goes to the editor next week.
The series is sequential, BUT each book is technically a standalone. I thought it might be fun to have each stand both together and separately, inviting the reader in at any point.
Still, before I get to the end of this, I do need to consider marketing. And that’s where the questions come in. How do I do the marketing to find the market to market to?
The challenges of marketing
Marketing is the things you do to get attention for your work. Ultimately, the goal is buzz and sales. Make people interested, draw their eyes, get their interest, sell them the book!
This takes lots of different forms. The least expensive is organic marketing. This consists of blog posts such as this one, separate posts to social media sites about the book, word of mouth, and the like. It’s not just the least expensive; it’s generally the easiest to do. I have a story; I think you’ll like it- check it out!
Then there’s advertising. This takes lots of different forms because there are many, many, many places I can advertise. Because it’s 2026, nearly all of them are online and digital. Advertising via Meta covers Facebook and Instagram. I can also advertise on other social media, Amazon, BookBub, and any online place where I have a presence.
But wait, there’s more! What form of advertising do I use? Still images of the book cover, my current author photo, the angles of the ship my artist, Rose, made for me, or some combination therein? Or do I take a stab at a video, short, or book trailer?
While I think the story might have a wide appeal, it still has some given limitations. Anyone not a fan of pirates and related stories is right out. While I could get crossover fans of both sci-fi and fantasy, these are both relatively niche markets.
All of these present a range of challenges to marketing this book. And there are more things to consider.
Marketing to make more of an impression
I am one of many independent authors in the world. Hell, I’m on a Discord with a group of excellent indie-authors who also write and publish sci-fi. While ultimately, I’d love to be a bestseller and/or sell a story to Amazon/Netflix/AppleTV or some other streaming service, that’s a stretch goal rather than the primary measure of success.
Rise of The Captain will be the 22nd sci-fi or fantasy book I’ve self-published. It’s the first book of my 4th unique sci-fi series (I’m not counting the incomplete fantasy or Steampunk series I started to publish, or any of the nonfiction books I’ve put out). This has occurred over the course of 12 years. Not bad, right?
While I believe that this new series could seriously fly, I don’t want to disregard promoting my overall work. To that end, my website was redone to make it slicker and more eye-catching (and, arguably more importantly, better optimized on the back end).
Unfortunately, as of this writing, my books have moved at the average for indie-authored books. So, not zero, but not as sustainable a number as I’d like. Hence, in putting out Gentleman Space Pirate, I’d also like to draw attention to my other series and standalones.
I’m a storyteller first and foremost. Writing is my main medium, but not my only one. That’s part of why I record my own audiobooks. The challenge before me now is to work out how to make more of an impression on the world as a storyteller, to make the most of this, and level up my authorpreneur business in all the ways I can.
So, marketing to make an impression involves steps I’ve never taken before. And that’s a little scary.
Recognizing and rejecting my fear of failure
There are three ideas I’m going to pursue.
One: Get on some podcasts. There are lots of podcasts in the world. To help get more notice, I need to figure out a marketing approach to get interviewed and talk about this new series. Fortunately, I’m a decent speaker and can handle the challenge of a discussion that might range all over the place when it comes to being an authorpreneur.
Two: Get on some blogs. There are more popular blogs than either of mine that will take guest posts. I need to investigate this and see what I can do to put myself out there. Where do I go to offer myself up to be a guest blogger or get interviewed? I’ll investigate this.
Three: Pitch the streaming services. Longshot? Maybe. But I’ll never know if I don’t try. Or, more specifically, to quote my favorite Jedi master:
“Do or do not. There is no try.”
I have 2 series in mind that would make excellent TV shows. Forgotten Fodder has a lot of places it can go as a combination sci-fi/police procedural. And I think Gentleman Space Pirate also has tons of potential.
How do I do this? That’s just part of the challenge. But the primary thing I must push through is not letting my fear of failure stay my hand. I will likely get some rejections. But I also will hopefully get some yesses. But I’ll never know if I don’t put in the effort.
Marketing is a challenge on many levels. Marketing and finding the market to market to takes time and effort. I’ve set the stage; now it’s time to find an step into the spotlight on it.
Thanks for reading. As I share my creative journey, please consider this:
How are you inspired and empowered to be your own authentic creator, whatever form that takes?
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