Typically, putting out a new book gives my sales a bit of a boost thanks to the promotion I do on the boards. But Stranger seems to have depressed the heck out of my sales. I've had hardly any sales on any of my books since I promoted on the boards (and most of the sales I did get seem to be from one lovely fan who went on a buying rampage:-). In the Mood dropped off the contemporary bestseller list for the first time in quite some time, and all my other books are way down in the basement, too. Do people actively dislike sci fi romance? Are readers thrown off by seeing me release something that isn't contemporary romance? Did I inadvertently overpromote and irritate readers? Or do my limp and lagging sales for the day have nothing to do with Stranger at all?
I also found out there's a futuristic romance community on Amazon, but alas, it's pretty much dead. There have only been a couple of posts made since 2009. There is a very busy and active paranormal romance community, but they don't care for sci fi romance being promoted there (sci fi romance is often lumped into "paranormal romance," but that doesn't seem to be the case there) and will call authors on doing it, so I won't try it. All this seems to suggest that sci fi romance just isn't "in" any more, which may not bode well for Stranger, especially priced at twice what my other books cost.
Hey Ellen, have you heard of The Galaxy Express? The proprietor, Heather Massey, is a major supporter for sci-fi romance. Perhaps you could also have emailed sf romance writers like Susan Grant for advice on promotion, or even a cover quote? I have begun to learn that it never hurts to ask or put your name forward if you're writing something outside of the norm.
ReplyDeleteFunny, Evangeline, you're the second person to mention that site to me today. I went over and checked it out and will start following it. Thanks!
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