Soleil
is lost in time, launched through history at the hands of the Old Ticker. Now
he is out of his element. He must adapt to his new home, hope it’s possible to
return to his original time, and pray for a chance to correct some mistakes
along the way. Tyrell knows Flarence killed Darren.
He wants revenge, though a mere human with limited resources has no chance of
harming a Genie. But Roy’s body is failing to the point that not even Genie
blood can sustain him. The cause of Roy’s slow death may give Tyrell the
opportunity he needs to make Flarence suffer. The Old
Ticker’s designs have been leaked. Now they rest in deadlier hands and more
mischievous minds. A pair of spell-casting revolvers were nothing compared with
the new weapons being developed in secret. The Genies may have met their match
when a scientist emerges armed with the most devastating firearm the world has
ever known. These three novellas are the
culmination of the Mystic Rampage series—historical fiction, contemporary
action, and near-future science fiction. Connecting them all is their shared
theme of overcoming regrettable decisions to forge a brighter future. Anomaly
Aftermath is available in print and as an ebook at Amazon. You
can add it to your GoodReads
reading list as well.
Advertising and Finding an Audience
It would be great to have a
billboard featuring my books set up along the highway, but that kind of
advertising is expensive and from what I can find paying monthly is common.
There are enough repeated expenses in my life as it is and the last thing I
need is another tacked on. Occasionally I’ll look into media outlets and reach
out to a few of them, such as my university’s newspaper or local radio
stations. So far none of them has expressed interest in advertising my books.
To land those kinds of opportunities, the hosts or columnists need to be
convinced that the topic has a good chance of attracting an audience and so far
I haven’t convinced anyone that a fantasy novel will serve as an attention
grabber. While public outlets have been slow to bring success, I’ve found my
moments in smaller gatherings.
Most of my advertising is done
on-site through word of mouth. The primary sales events are comic conventions.
I spend a lot of time making signs for my booth and some places are willing to
let me hang smaller ones around the convention center. The last one I went to
was a joint effort where three other authors and I split the cost and space of
a booth together. One of them made brochures which he passed around near the
entrance. That helped bring people to our booth and when someone stopped by
there was an inherent contest for which of us could pitch our book better. It
was fun to have that healthy contest between ourselves and if it happens again,
I believe I’ll have a better chance. My second book, Public Display of
Aggression recently won an award in The Book Fest. Marie Parks’ book, Unrelenting,
also won an award, and having that sticker on the cover seemed to help increase
her sales.
The lesson that’s come from these
small advertising efforts at events like comic conventions is that my book has
a niche audience. One piece of feedback I received when submitting this book to
agents was that it doesn’t follow the typical format of urban fantasy, which
has been verified while trying to pitch it to customers. Some potential
customers ask if there is romance in my books, and they lose interest when I tell
them “No.” The cover of my second novel looks like a superhero movie poster
which makes some people wonder if the format is anything like a Marvel movie,
so they ask me if there are any jokes in the novel. I have to be honest with
those people and explain to them that there are a few funny lines of dialogue,
but generally, the books are not intended to be comical. The customers who
stick around are the ones who are interested in non-stop action and revenge
stories. I constantly adjust my elevator pitch, but I’ve learned to bring up my
Inspector R.E.D. character as quickly as possible. He’s a zombie with
psychokinetic control of the bullets that killed him. When people perk up at
that description, chances are good that I can hook them and get a sale out of them.
In that way, my advertising methods are like fishing. I’ve spent hours at my
booth hearing everyone who stops by just say “Sorry, this isn’t what I’m
looking for,” and walk away. But occasionally someone will clearly be
interested and quickly become invested in the characters and plot. Even on a
bad sales day, if I just capture one person’s interest like that, it makes the
work feel worthwhile.
Hugh
Fritz is thrilled to have completed his Mystic Rampage trilogy, a project eight
years in the making. While writing the series he has outlined and written rough
drafts of other stories ranging from horror to romance. He is currently
bouncing between his works in progress, deciding which one should get his full
attention. Whatever comes next will assuredly be a step in a whole new direction. Author website: http://www.hughfritz.com/