This bi-week I’m talking with Mike Underwood, multi-talented author of (urban fantasy) Geekomancy, (epic fantasy) Shield and Crocus, and (well, you’ll see) Genrenauts. He’s also one of the hosts of the Hugo-nominated Skiffy and Fanty Show, and he works for Angry Robot as their North American Sales and Marketing Manager. It’s that sales and marketing we’re going to talk about today, along with…
Ferret Steinmetz and Flex (hear him here on the Kingdoms of Evil!)
Watkin’s Media and Penguin Random House
The rest of the Angry Robot team: Marc Gascoigne, Phil Jourdan, and Caroline Lambe
We want them to go “ooh what’s that?” and open up the book. And then we’ve got them.
The Mirror Empire (“Game of Thrones meets Fringe”)
“This book is like James S. A. Corey’s The Expanse”
Even books that are really weird and out there, we find some kind of touchstone for them.
The Mirror Empire’s amazing cover
What’s inside the book belongs to the author, but the outside belongs to the publisher.
The Robot Army and the Robot Legion
The Buried Life by Carrie Patel
The Ark by Patric S. Tomlinson
The Hammer and the Blade by Paul S. Kemp
Genrenauts are geeky books about storytelling, for people who love stories
Mike’s website and twitter, and don’t forget the Skiffy and Fanty Show
Now I’m kind of jealous of the authors Angry Robot publishes. It seems they take their role seriously, and have spent some time thinking about what value a publisher can add to a book.
Because let’s face it, I could go indie and pay someone with the right machinery to print, bind, and distribute my book. If I’m going to a publisher, I am looking for someone who will actually increase the odds that other people will read my book. So how can modern publishers justify their existence?
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