Comments on: Why MIRRORED HEAVENS isn’t a bestseller (yet)

By: David Williams

David Williams — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 14:59:35 +0000

hey Mike- great to hear from you, sorry that Rescued by Nerds is no more; that’s too bad, as it was a pretty fantastic site. . . I’ll drop you a note offline as well.. .

By: Mike Collins

Mike Collins — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 16:12:23 +0000

I got to do an interview with Dave(hi Dave!) for my now defunct blog site(rescuedbynerds) which I managed to talk io9.com into running a story on it before they went and got super popular.

I think marketing these days for things that aren’t really mainstream is a tough nut to crack. Part of it I guess is placing ads where people who should like this sort of thing will see it like video game magazines or maybe comic books.

I found out about the book from an advance review on a fantasy book review blog which honestly is how I find out about a lot of books I never would have heard of on my own, cause there’s not really a place where cool things like Mirrored Heavens are discussed.

How about the publisher Dave? Don’t they have some sort of master plan or market based research to help out with this?

I think the net is the best place to try to get the word out Dave. I should be writing for a site again by the point Burning Skies hits so I’m happy to help get the word out if I can.

By: Joni

Joni — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 20:37:50 +0000

Not a best seller? Wot?

I think that the problem lies in the fact that this kind of stuff is very niche. Think of it this way. Compare normal fiction to fantasy/scifi, how much of the latter books there are compared to other genres? Yes, pretty low.

Then drill down a bit and see how SciFi is doing compared to fantasy, ditto again. Add some weird twists like military action AND espionage with a complex plot.

Now, paradoxically you happen to have incredients of many good books but the problem is that it is a SciFi setting instead of more modern setting.

Just like John said, it was a page turner. There was always something happening. Either it was a turn in plot or a hair rising action scene.

The simpliest way to market is to make sure that there is a lot to offer to very varying readers…

By: John C

John C — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 17:29:17 +0000

Just my 2 cents and I may be off base but speaking as someone who is;
A- A hardcore scifi reader fan
B- Loved the book

I am frustrated that I have no place to kick the book around and discuss the plot, possibilities, what if’s and to try and figure out what happens next.

There’s plenty of subject matter to discuss in book 1, but where? I can’t do that openly because it involves spoilers. In my opinion Mirrored Heavens needs a spot for detail discussion.

As for “there’s no clear line between good guys and bad guys” this is the HEART of the book. That’s what makes it so good. In the Warhammer 40,000 universe there are no clear good guys………and it has a great following.

As for “unfolding conspiracies” what do u think made me want to turn the page and read on? Who the hell was who here? What side is anyone on? WTF is going on?
That’s what makes good reading.
John