Publishing Rodeo: The Good, The Bad, and the Bloody Ugly30 Kesä 2023

21 - Against All (g)Odds

After 25 years, 47 books, and at least 4 different genres, Miles Cameron (aka Christian Cameron) has seen and survived a lot in publishing. In addition to being an author, he is also a US Navy officer, trained historian, and martial artist. But when the thriller market changed and sky-high advances evaporated, Miles moved on to historical, fantasy, and even science fiction. Today, we talk about surviving the end of your writing career, and starting from scratch (but this time, on midlist hard-mode)--including specific, pragmatic advice from Miles for building brand, timing your marketing, and a few other things that under-supported authors can attempt on their own steam. And above all, the importance of loving what you do, however you do it. SHOW NOTES

Miles (Christian) Cameron, and his 25+ year journey through trad publishing
Started off co-writing thrillers with his father for a lot of money, until that genre changed almost overnight
Surviving the sudden death of a writing career, and starting over from scratch
Monetary differences between genres (historical, fantasy, scifi, thriller, litfic)
When to negotiate with publishers on ideas and when to pursue passion projects
Balancing personal artistic integrity against publishing’s commercial expectations
Surviving advance to advance, and slowly growing your readership as a midlist author
Advice given to Sunyi: Write what’s in your heart but with your practical hat on
Staying with your publishers for years, versus shopping around
Books “unflopping” later in life
Cameron’s specific social media strategy that does increase his sales, and which he uses consistently
“wrong” ways to approach self promotion, and finding the balance
Writing/Fighting and enjoying your “author persona”
Publishers think your midlist book is important for about a week after launch, but Miles believes it is important (in a sales sense) for 90 days
Thus: The 90/60/30 approach that Miles uses for self promotion, completely on his own and without publisher involvement—and how precisely to run it
An exact presales figure that Miles looks for in his own books (relevant to his books and where he is with his backlog/career)
Paid adverts and where/when Miles chooses to use them
The difference between SIZE of following, and ENGAGEMENT of following. Influencers versus book clubs, as an example
Authors are not competing with authors!
What IS a publisher’s cut on your books?!
Do publishers know exactly what they’re making? Miles suggests probably not
The importance of versatility for authors
Why you HAVE to love what you’re doing
Miles’ military experience – how it impacted and influenced his fiction
The most common combat writing tropes that drive Miles nuts
Some thoughts on how Miles writes historical, versus fantasy (not that different!)

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