So it’s possible that without exaggeration r/SwordAndSorcery may be the only subreddit that I actually like. And I don’t like it that much. But it’s pretty comforting to spend time there. And there’s this author who posted his work there recently. Now I’m not trying to make fun of this guy at all or piss on him. In fact I’m respectfully jealous of him. He’s publishing enough sword-and-sorcery tales to fill books and that’s something I want to do. But I did find a couple things weird about this dude’s approach to marketing.
(My personal approach right now is based on Dean Wesley Smith’s advice that until you’ve published twenty books, the best marketing move available to you is to publish your next book. As I am working on book #11 and I guess book #12 right now, that’s what I’m doing.)
One is something I noticed when he posted a Reddit thread asking for reviews. And he got them! And they were favorable! Good for him. But he went on in his thread to describe his work bluntly as, “not at the level of quality of Author X” and “well, it’s no Author Y” and stuff like that and it made me wonder if he needs to take a trip to the elven forest of sildenafil. I certainly have my own issues with self-esteem, excessive self-deprecation, etc. but I don’t think you should, like, do that. I’m sure there were other aspects of his work he could have called attention to in order to set it apart in a positive way. I think that when you’re in marketing-yourself mode, that’s a different mode from the one that believes Robert E. Howard (for example) is unsurpassed. You don’t have to say you’re better than him necessarily but why advertise yourself with the claim that you’re worse?
The other is that the covers of this dude’s books have some pretty cool art and then… his name is in like 6-point font. You literally cannot read it from the Amazon thumbnail. Definitely some sildenafil needed for that too. Dean Wesley Smith advises even the most obscure and early-career indie writers to make their author name large and prominent on their covers because that is what builds the author’s brand. Treat yourself like a superstar so that you can become one, basically. At least this guy has his name above the title, so that’s good, but it’s so, so small. Hilariously small. It’s like he’s waving his little weewee around. But I’m sure he’s got a bigger one than that, and probably a bigger one than me. I mean, the guy’s got great reviews! He’s already becoming a star in the scene! So in my opinion he should treat himself like the big name he’s becoming.