Scott Sigler is no stranger to the cult of personality. Part of Sigler’s attraction is his high energy level and his style of faux-insult humor for his Junkies. J.C.’s brand, if I may be so bold to say, has been centered around the thriller/intrigue mode thus far, with the 7th Son trilogy, a short-story anthology and Personal Effects: Dark Art. I’ve never thought of J.C. as simply selling a personality, but to each his own interpretation I suppose.

However, the blog post that announced my departure from podcasting Free fiction stated: “I dare not assign responsibility to anyone but myself for this.” I cannot think of a plainer way to phrase this conclusion, which in no way indicts my audience.

Regarding your observation that my “brand” (and the apparent audience motivation to monetarily support my work) was based on my personality and not the quality of my fiction: I cannot reasonably contest this, as it is your opinion.

Another is, I can sum up Sig briefly. “shock horror writer” That doesn’t mean he can’t do anything else, but what it does mean is that he’s an easily identified brand and proved it time and again over a half dozen novels. J.C’s character as a brand was his personality, and that’s something you experience, not something you can sell as easily.
Cheers,
J

I’ve always wondered how all the big names I’ve heard manage to do it. And the answer that occurred to me this week is… they can’t. Seems to me that JC may have gone wrong in at least one thing; he went into debt to promote his novels.

I’m not a business guy… it doesn’t come naturally to me. It’s something I have to work at. So maybe someone can correct me where I’m wrong, add details that flesh out the context, and help me figure out what exactly is going on. But it seems to me that if one wishes to make a living being an author, one shouldn’t spend all the money before one makes it.

The old adage for agent and publisher hunting is that money is supposed to flow to the author, not from the author. May I humbly suggest that any sound business plan takes this into account as well? And that’s what promotion should be to those who want to make a living writing books. The business guys call this ROI, or return on investment. And a good ROI shouldn’t put you into debt, it seems to me. Or at the very least, it should at least guarantee a zero balance and not a negative one, if the worst-case scenario occurs.

I don’t think anybody can afford to “throw everything at the wall to see what sticks” unless you are already rolling in cash. So in addition to the author’s thoughts on the article you mentioned, I think taking a budget into account is a smart way to limit bad risks while accessing which risks are smart.

Just two cents to keep in mind.

– c.