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If you like [Title], you should try...
Oct. 9th, 2014 01:36 pmI wasn't sure I was going to fit in a Random Thursday blog today, but it turns out I have a spare hour or two in the endodontist's waiting room before they can fit in my emergency root canal. (Well, not "emergency" but definitely not something that had been on the schedule when I woke up.)
One of the tricky things to do when promoting a book is to identify "similar products". You know, as in, "If you liked Title you'll love My-Title." Actually identifying similar books isn't so much the hard part. Figuring out how to say it in a way that doesn't sound annoyingly self-important or presumptuous is harder. But hardest is figuring out what it is that readers might like about Other-Author's-Title and whether your book shares those specific features, as opposed to features that the reader considers incidental.
For example, Naomi Novik's Temeraire series shares a great many themes with C. S. Forester's Hornblower series, and the two make a great "If you like X try Y" pairing. But if one has very strong feelings about fantasy elements (pro or con) then the recommendation may not work. Similarly, if someone concluded on the basis of my fondness for Lois McMasters Bujold's Vorkosigan series that I'm a natural market for mil-sci-fi in general, they would have missed the essential fact that I love the books in spite of their military themes, not because of them.
In the realm of romance fiction (even more so in erotica, but I'm going to leave that aside), the ways in which a reader identifies with the characters, their desires, and the particular gaze used by the author often overwhelm the reader's preference for particular settings, themes, and plots. And this is where I have the most difficulty in positioning Daughter of Mystery relative to the books with which I, personally, feel it might share a natural readership.
For example, in terms of setting, themes, and overall plot shape, I'd say that the best current comparison would be with Mary Robinette Kowal's Glamourist series. (Regency-era setting, check. Fairly subtle/light magic as social and political tool, check. Romance as continuing theme but not sole plot, check. Well-intentioned people and generally positive outcomes rather than "gritty/dark", check. Strong female characters, check.) And if reviewers and sff taste-makers started promoting the Alpennian books to Glamourist fans, I'd be over the moon. (Conversely, I'd strongly recommend that anyone who liked Daughter of Mystery and hadn't read Kowal yet should definitely try her work!) But there's the one minor caveat that, given that both series have romance as a significant theme, a reader who strongly prefers to read about romances where the gender roles match their own preferences may consider such a recommendation misleading.
Another parallel I'd be overjoyed to see readers and reviewers making is to Ellen Kushner's Riverside stories, and particularly to The Privilege of the Sword. (I've made no particular secret of the fact that reading TPOTS was one of the final straws that drove me to write DoM, to fill the places where it still left me hungry.) But when you look at what Riverside fans get most excited about, it's the relationship between the male characters. And despite all the other thematic parallels with DoM, it's quite likely that those readers wouldn't make the same emotional connection with Margerit and Barbara. For how many people would a "If you liked X, try Y" recommendation here be successful? I don't know.
And the one thing I do know is that I, as an author, can't make those connections and recommendations and be taken seriously. Because people (quite reasonably) don't credit what an author says about their own books. But you can. What readerships do you think would be a natural for the Alpennian stories?
One of the tricky things to do when promoting a book is to identify "similar products". You know, as in, "If you liked Title you'll love My-Title." Actually identifying similar books isn't so much the hard part. Figuring out how to say it in a way that doesn't sound annoyingly self-important or presumptuous is harder. But hardest is figuring out what it is that readers might like about Other-Author's-Title and whether your book shares those specific features, as opposed to features that the reader considers incidental.
For example, Naomi Novik's Temeraire series shares a great many themes with C. S. Forester's Hornblower series, and the two make a great "If you like X try Y" pairing. But if one has very strong feelings about fantasy elements (pro or con) then the recommendation may not work. Similarly, if someone concluded on the basis of my fondness for Lois McMasters Bujold's Vorkosigan series that I'm a natural market for mil-sci-fi in general, they would have missed the essential fact that I love the books in spite of their military themes, not because of them.
In the realm of romance fiction (even more so in erotica, but I'm going to leave that aside), the ways in which a reader identifies with the characters, their desires, and the particular gaze used by the author often overwhelm the reader's preference for particular settings, themes, and plots. And this is where I have the most difficulty in positioning Daughter of Mystery relative to the books with which I, personally, feel it might share a natural readership.
For example, in terms of setting, themes, and overall plot shape, I'd say that the best current comparison would be with Mary Robinette Kowal's Glamourist series. (Regency-era setting, check. Fairly subtle/light magic as social and political tool, check. Romance as continuing theme but not sole plot, check. Well-intentioned people and generally positive outcomes rather than "gritty/dark", check. Strong female characters, check.) And if reviewers and sff taste-makers started promoting the Alpennian books to Glamourist fans, I'd be over the moon. (Conversely, I'd strongly recommend that anyone who liked Daughter of Mystery and hadn't read Kowal yet should definitely try her work!) But there's the one minor caveat that, given that both series have romance as a significant theme, a reader who strongly prefers to read about romances where the gender roles match their own preferences may consider such a recommendation misleading.
Another parallel I'd be overjoyed to see readers and reviewers making is to Ellen Kushner's Riverside stories, and particularly to The Privilege of the Sword. (I've made no particular secret of the fact that reading TPOTS was one of the final straws that drove me to write DoM, to fill the places where it still left me hungry.) But when you look at what Riverside fans get most excited about, it's the relationship between the male characters. And despite all the other thematic parallels with DoM, it's quite likely that those readers wouldn't make the same emotional connection with Margerit and Barbara. For how many people would a "If you liked X, try Y" recommendation here be successful? I don't know.
And the one thing I do know is that I, as an author, can't make those connections and recommendations and be taken seriously. Because people (quite reasonably) don't credit what an author says about their own books. But you can. What readerships do you think would be a natural for the Alpennian stories?
