marketing – Andrew Careaga

Friday Five: Q&A with speculative fiction author Angelique Fawns

‘Never self-reject. You never know who might buy what!’

Photo of Angelique Fawns, speculative fiction writer. — Angelique Fawns

Her background in journalism and television production no doubt has helped Angelique Fawns establish herself as a prolific writer of speculative fiction. And she’s one terrific and imaginative storyteller. The Canadian writer has published over 80 short stories since launching her short story writing career in 2018.

She’s also persistent, pushing aside those 500 rejections over her first three years to rack up an impressive catalog of publications.

And she’s generous. She’s turned her experience of researching the writing market of her chosen genre into a free collection of 13 of her sold stories and a look at the editors who bought them. She also has a guidebook for other writers listing a comprehensive guide to current speculative short story market. Think of it as a Writer’s Market for speculative fiction. (Subscribe to her paid Substack to obtain your copy.) She supplements that resource by posting the latest calls for submission, complete with details about each magazine, on her Substack and blog.

Friday Five: Q&A with Inventing Reality’s Rob Bignell

‘Allow yourself to write “poorly.” Later … you can edit out the junk.’

Photo of Rob Bignall, Inventing Reality Editing Services — Rob Bignall

What better way to start the new year than with some writing advice from a seasoned professional? Rob Bignell is the man behind Inventing Reality Editing Services and the author of over 80 books, including fiction, nonfiction, children’s books, and several guidebooks for writers.

Bignell’s company name, as he explains on his website, “is a play on British author J.G. Ballard’s quotation, ‘The writer’s task is to invent the reality.’ That is, writers must create a fictional dream and in doing so, show the truth via their art.” For writers wanting to increase sales, it also means “taking the fulfillment of your dreams into your own hands, that is, turning your dream into a reality through your own hard work.” Read on for more of Bignell’s thoughts about writing, self-publishing, and marketing your work.

Friday Five: Q&A with murder mystery writer K.T. Carlisle

‘I’ve always been drawn to the darker things in life.’

One of the more prolific indie writers I’ve discovered on social media is K.T. Carlisle, the pseudonym for a writer who has two murder mysteries to her credit (Reasonable and Forget-Me-Not) and two more in progress (Unhinged, which will be out this November, and I Know What I Saw, which comes out next January). The first three books are part of a series she calls, “What Happened to Mia Davis?” The fourth book is a young adult paranormal thriller.

*Reasonable*, published in 2023, was K.T. Carlisle’s first novel

K.T. also is active on X (Twitter), where she harnesses the power of that social media platform to promote her work, grow her audience, and connect with other writers.

Despite (or perhaps because of) her experience working in a literary agency, K.T. decided to self-publish her novels. In addition to writing murder mysteries, she offers copywriting, website development, and social media management services through a niche marketing agency she founded in 2018. Somehow, while juggling all these activities, she found time to share insights about her writing, her influences, and her use of social media as a marketing tool.

Friday Five: Q&A with ‘Mailed It!’ authors Ashley Budd and Dayana Kibilds

Two marketing pros share their wisdom for writers.

Today’s Friday Five deviates from our usual fare — Q&As with literary types — to introduce two outstanding marketers and recent co-authors who can help all of us who struggle to promote our writing. Their tool is nothing mysterious; it’s that workhorse of modern communication, email.

Ashley Budd and Dayana “Day” Kibilds are the authors of the new book Mailed It!: A Guide to Crafting Emails That Build Relationships and Get Results.

‘American Fiction’ and what stories get told

Who gets to decide which novels are made accessible to the broader public?

Among the Academy Award nominees for best picture that got trampled by the Oppenheimer juggernaut was “American Fiction,” a movie about writers, writing and the publishing business. The movie has a lot to say about the state of publishing and its gatekeeping function. Who gets to decide which novels are made accessible to the broader public? By extension, the movie’s message also applies to other art forms, and to the business of marketing and promoting books, films, music, and other works of art.

“American Fiction” trailer