mycoltbug Posted September 8, 2011 Report Share Posted September 8, 2011 Hey all, So something that I've been working on is setting up a series of email interviews with some of the people who work with Brandon to make his books so successful. I've lined one up with his publicist! Do you have anything you would like to know about what he does, his job, or how helps Brandon? Reply to this thread by Sunday, September 11th and I will add your questions to my interview. FYI: I hope to keep this going once a month to give us all an insiders view of what the process looks like from start to finished book and beyond. Hopefully I have an interview lined up with his editor and the art director over there at Tor. Who knows maybe one day I'll get one with Tom Doherty, yeah so not happening, but we can wish right? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chaos he/him Posted September 8, 2011 Report Share Posted September 8, 2011 What sort of questions do you have in it now? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mycoltbug Posted September 8, 2011 Author Report Share Posted September 8, 2011 Here's my list so far: How long have you worked for Tor? What got you into working as a publicist for a publishing house? How many authors do you do publicist work for? Do you find that some authors have strange or weird habits when it comes to going on tour? How far into the writing process due you start planning your marketing strategy? Do you read all the books that you help publicize? What is your opinion of how Brandon published Warbreaker free of charge on his website? Do you think that has hurt his sales or helped them? Do you think that this type of marketing strategy could be used more often? SF/F readers tend to be a semi-reclusive group that pushes hard against the “hype machine”, how is it that you balance over hyping a book and not pushing it to hard? How close to a release date do you start pushing copies out to advanced readers? What dictates who gets these advanced reader copies? How or whom chooses what cities/states Brandon will visit while on tour? Is there something fans can do to “push” Tor to send him to a town near me? It seems that there are a select group of bookstores that always get authors to come visit them. Is there a reason why those stores get them while others don’t? Who are some of your favorite authors, meaning who do you run out and buy the day the book comes out? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darniil he/him Posted September 8, 2011 Report Share Posted September 8, 2011 The first few made me think of this: What's an average workday like in the life of a publicist? (Since, y'know, I don't know exactly what they do besides "publicize things". ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alliare she/her Posted September 9, 2011 Report Share Posted September 9, 2011 (edited) I'd add... What makes you think that a book is worth publiciting? Is it based on being a good book alone, or does it also have to do with current trends? Edited September 9, 2011 by Alliare Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrazyRioter she/her Posted September 9, 2011 Report Share Posted September 9, 2011 What's the best part of your job? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silus - Shard of Flame he/him Posted September 11, 2011 Report Share Posted September 11, 2011 Do you know what information is and is not RAFO'd? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chaos he/him Posted September 12, 2011 Report Share Posted September 12, 2011 Do you know what information is and is not RAFO'd? I really doubt he'd know this at all. These are great questions, Spencer. I'm excited to see the answers. PM me when you get the answers and I'll put them on the main page. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silus - Shard of Flame he/him Posted September 12, 2011 Report Share Posted September 12, 2011 I thought I heard something about his publicist telling him not to answer a particular question. I may or may not have dreamed that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mycoltbug Posted September 12, 2011 Author Report Share Posted September 12, 2011 The email has been sent off! Thanks for your great other questions. I think this will be fun to try and continue with other people in the business. If you have any requests for me of other people you would like to see interviewed please let me know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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