Sigler-izing the Creative Queue
I once asked Scott Sigler, podcasting superstar and Crown Publishing author of Sci-Fi/Horror novels, what elements led to reaching his first contract with a large publishing house. He listed three things for me: Quality content, consistency and promotion. Quality and promotion are obvious. You can’t build an audience by giving them crap, and you can’t build an audience if you don’ t tell them about your content.
One of these things was not so obvious, and that was the idea of consistency. When he elaborated on the idea, he talked about how many novels he had put out via podcast before he landed that first contract. Sigler was busy podcasting his fifth podcast novel, Nocturnal, before he signed his contract with Crown. I have yet to see another author in the podcast fiction realm replicate this success.
* I’m talking about podcast audio books specifically, not authors like John Scalzi and Cory Doctorow, who have used other elements of giving away free fiction to build quality careers.
* * Yes, I know J.C. Hutchins landed a big publishing contract, but he hasn’t experienced the sustained success of Sigler, who is poised to release his third hardcover novel with Crown, Ancestor, on June 22.
I’ve talked about this before. Why am I bringing it up again? Because I’m taking Sigler’s advice.
I’m obviously currently working on the novella for Grail Quest Books based on Decipher’s WARS collectible card game. I am continuing to bring in cast recordings for my first podcast novel, The Last Guardians (I don’t know that I’m ever going to do a cast recording again with a novel, because if I had done a straight read the thing would be out right now. I digress). I’ve just begun plotting out its sequels. I’m roughly 1900 words into the first novel in a series tentatively titled The Raven and the Dove. I have two novels plotted out in a three-book arc entitled The Bladewielder series. Just last week over the span of two lunch hours at work I plotted out a novel called The Sword of Calagrim, undoubtedly the first in a three-book arc. I have a rough sketch for a four-book space opera arc sitting on my hard drive. I have the beginning of an idea for a fantasy pirate tale also gathering dust in there.
I’ve recently begun working again (as evidenced by my above “lunch hours at work” statement), and am crawling toward developing a consistent working schedule. I have my steno pad at the ready.
I’ve also learned recently that I’m the kind of person who needs to dip his feet in a few different pools at once to keep momentum going. If I lean too heavily into one property, I step back out into time-wasting hobbies all too easily and for far too long. If I step out of a property before I’m burned out on it and into another, I find its easier to keep going. I also find my time-wasting hobby breaks waste far less time.
Anyway another crazy idea Scott Sigler told me is, “don’t submit anything [to publishers or agents] for three years. Podcast consistently for three years, build an audience, then see where you are. Get to the point where you can say to a publisher, ‘I can sell books without you, but we can sell more together.’”
It was a bold statement. ”Don’t submit anything to agents or publishers? Where has this guy been?! Doesn’t he know that it’s a struggling author’s duty to submit themselves to death and pile up rejection slips? Who does Scott Sigler think he is, anyway?” Well I didn’t mention that he happened to have a contract with AOL/Time Warner publishing for his novel Earthcore, before the Dot-Com Bubble burst and they had to drop unestablished properties. He already did the serial submission thing. He already paid his “struggling author” dues to land the big deal. He also did it unconventionally.
Looking at my list of properties, it is conceivable that as I release The Last Guardians, I can finish Sword of Calagrim and record it, ready to release soon after. I can also be working on The Bladewielder series. I can also be working on The Raven and the Dove. In three years I could have four novels finished and podcasted. I could have four distinctly different Epic Fantasy properties for a publisher (or agent) to choose from, should they be interested.
I am Sigler-izing my creative queue, at last. And I like the possibilities.
Jim Perry is currently a writer, podcaster, voice actor and musician. In the past he has been a stage actor, singer, arranger, conductor, guitar player and band leader. He makes his home in Southern Indiana with his wife and three children.
This post just totally inspired me. I hope my interview tomorrow lands me a job so I can start revising my novel again.
I’m also going to miss you at ConCarolinas. I was looking forward to meeting you.
I have to admit, Scott is a bright spot, and someone to emulate. But I don’t see why it wouldn’t be possible to shop around one novel while an earlier one was running through the podcast. And if it didn’t sell, it goes into the queue. You can run them concurrently (says the guy who really REALLY should be writing like right the heck now).
It may take the three years, yes. But if the quality is there, you can sell the book AS you’re building the audience. Anyway, just my two cents.
Nice. I think it’s a plan that can work, I plan on doing the same thing. I have two novels written, but only the 1st drafts, so they need a lot of work. In the mean time, I’m forcing myself to write lots of short stories and hopefully learn the craft by doing so – by releasing one short story a month in podcast form. I can’t wait to hear more from you, I know it’s going to be awesome. I’ll stay tuned so I’ll know when I can snatch it up and give it a listen. By the way, thank you for finishing production on The Last Guardians before releasing it (I think that’s what you’re doing) so we won’t have to wait between episodes for extended lengths of time. I’m sure it’s hard not to start releasing as soon as you have a couple in the can, I plan on having my novels fully produced so I can release them consistently. Good on yah Indy!
I think Zach’s idea could only help someone’s quest towards publication, throwing it in the routine. It might only get you a stack of rejection slips, but at least your stuff will be out there in multiple ways. Personally I’m going to podcast my way through my first few novels.
Thanks for your comments, guys. Sigler’s approach and his opinion is not the only way to do it, it’s just the way HE did it. The fact that it happened this way for ONE GUY does not a pattern make. I’ve only seen one other person even come close to duplicating Sigler’s approach, and that’s Mur Lafferty. It hasn’t equated to a large book deal, and it could be that her stuff is harder to define than “Horror Thriller” or “Epic Fantasy.”
A lot of podcast novelists, without naming names and for one reason or another, their fault or not, haven’t had that steady stream of content.
Zach, while it’s certainly not only possible, but maybe a good idea to be submitting something while podcasting something else, there is a downside. Publishing has yet to embrace the new media method of doing things. Scott, because of his rabid and engaged fan base, was able to leverage that huge audience into a make-or-break clause in his contract. His signing with Crown was contingent upon them allowing him to continue podcasting his novels for free. He said if they didn’t let him he would have walked. For J.C. that wasn’t something he could effectively leverage, and maybe he didn’t want to press the issue.
Let’s say you’re podcasting your first novel and some major publisher picks up another property of yours. Well now you’re left with an either/or scenario, because you haven’t built a large enough audience with which to leverage the publisher. Do you say no to a big contract which you’ve been hoping and dreaming for? Or do you abandon the expectations of your audience for the money? I pray it never comes down to that for me. To prevent that, I think that’s why Sigler gave the advice he did.
If TOR comes to me and says they like it so much they’re going to promote the heck out of it and give a big push to it, and I’m carrying maybe 60% of the legwork? Then maybe I’m fine with that. But if Penguin comes to me and says they’ll sign me to a single book deal and see how it goes? And I still have to do 100% of the legwork and give up podcasting? I don’t think I’m making that deal.