Discover Science Fiction and Fantasy Week at Goodreads!

Read a lot of sci-fi from 60s and 70s. Still the best imho. Time to re-read the greats.

Elise wrote: "Hey guys, I'm reading a lot of comments from writer's/self published books on this thread and that makes me sad as I'm thinking about possibly starting a group or something to help author's get the..."

Hey, Elise, how about like-minded people getting together to do just that? Also, I run Fiction Fix Online, an open-mic-style event that provides a platform for self- and independently-published authors, and those with unpublished and even unfinished work, to read a 10-minute extract from their work in a live-stream to Facebook which is also posted as a Zoom video to my You-Tube channel, and from thence back to Facebook, LinkedIn, Goodreads and so on. Indie forever! <3 <3 <3

Reading "All Systems Red" by Martha Wells which has got off to a flying start.
"Rivers of London" just finished (I'm late to the party I know) and very enjoyable.

Read “Die by the Code” by Christoph Brueck yesterday. Just came out. Great read, a bit overlooked.

Uhm...Hi.

I somehow doubt if anyone here is going to respect me enough to answer the questions I have, but here goes.

1: I am a self-published Indie author. Can someone like me become notable enough to be featured by Goodreads on a page like the one I mention above?
2: Is it even possible for someone like me to become a notable author at all? If so, how does one accomplish this?
3: On this note, can any almost virtually unknown author or any self-published author become a best-selling author?

Someone please, please tell me now: Is there something I don't know about all this? (Please pardon the song-pun, okay?) Any websites, resources, links, or opportunities for interviews, podcasts, and the link would be greatly appreciated.

When there's a LGBT category, but most fantasy releases these days whether adult or YA are full of LGBT MC and content. It's no longer diversity but a push for a specific lifestyle and viewpoint which doesn't even reflect reality. Diversity is represent the FULL sprectrum of society and giving the opportunity to those that are different to be heard, but it isn't reversing what is and pretending that the minority is the majority. Literature and the publishing industry has gone downhill since 2016. Social justice does not make a great book.

Ross I doubt it is lack of respect that will lead to people not answering your questions but rather not knowing the answers. To be honest I am going to say "I don't know". For one thing most authors who are well-known are published by a major publisher. These companies have divisions that exist for the sole purpose of publicizing the books and authors the company publishes. I suspect those of you who self-publish don't have that advantage. As well those authors tend to have their books end up both in bookstores and libraries. This means that they can possibly grab the attention for the casual browser/reader. I hope I have at least to a certain extent answered your questions, though probably not very well.

Ross wrote: "
1: I am a self-published Indie author. Can someone like me become notable enough to be featured by Goodreads on a page like the one I mention above?"

Sure. And the proof is right there on the list (see the "Explore 60 New Sci-Fi and Fantasy Stories by Subgenres" page).

Andy Weir started out by publishing his first book, The Martian, as a serial on his own website. You may have heard of that book? ;-)

Sarah wrote: "It's no longer diversity but a push for a specific lifestyle and viewpoint which doesn't even reflect reality. Diversity is represent the FULL sprectrum of society and giving the opportunity to those that are different to be heard, but it isn't reversing what is and pretending that the minority is the majority."

It's called FICTION for a reason.

Fiction writing has never perfectly reflected reality. There have never been as many British Dukes as Regency romances would have us believe; there have never been as many Chicago PIs as mysteries would have us believe; and so on.

That said -- roughly 5-10% of the actual human population is LGBTQ, so any book that really wanted to accurately reflect reality would include at least 1 or 2 LGBTQ characters for every 20 characters mentioned. If we counted characters even in recent releases, I bet most books would still be falling short of that count. And even when they don't, that's natural -- popular literature has always concerned itself with current politics, and right now the politics of civil rights (including racial, religious, and sexual rights) are especially important in the popular zeitgeist. So it's no surprise to see a lot of authors writing about them.

Making my way through the Supernatural tie-in novels. Just finished Sacrifice and moving on to Unholy Cause.

Just finished Recursion, by Blake Crouch. It was actually my book club book, but fit right in with this theme! My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I read The Firebird by Nerine Dorman, which I would never have heard of if not for one of these articles, and I really enjoyed it!

Jane wrote: "Suggestions for comedy fantasy satire please."

Terry Pratchett's DiscWorld. Start with Mort; if you like it, you will love getting to know the rest of the characters in DiscWorld.

James White's Sector General reread? I love these books even though I'm not that much into sci-fi. Too bad it doesn't get more love in popular media. But read it if you want some generally positive role models, multi-racial inclusivity and Terry Pratchett's levels of philosophizing on war/conflict, race and peace.

This week I am finishing Kazuo Ishiguro's acclaimed novel Never Let Me Go which has an interesting sci-fi element in it.

I'm all over Asimov 'The Foundation Trilogy'. Finished the original trilogy, then a few robots books 'The Caves of Steel', 'The Naked Sun', 'The Robots of Dawn', 'Robots and Empire', 'Pebble in the Sky', then 'Foundation's Edge', and now I'm to 'Foundation and Earth' ... this is an epic journey that I would recommend to every Sci-Fi reader out there. Isac Asimov is the one of the best if not the best writer of this genre!

Currently reading Finale (last book of the Caraval series) which is a magical and rich fantasy book. Loving it so far and recommend the series 100%

Lots of cool books on the lists!

For those with kids, may I recommend my sci-fi book? Wrote it with a wish to let kids fall in love with science and Nature! It is never too early to join the sci-fi fan club :) Teach their imagination to fly high. I have it in audio, ebook and paperback format. The paperback edition has all illustrations in black and white, so kids can color them to add personal touch to the story.

Cloud-Named-Chloe and Her Cat Louey: Science Fiction for Curious Kids

I just finished reading Bachelor Beast & am now reading Alien Protector. I am lucky in that my libraries recently got a bunch of new Sci Fi Romance eBooks added to their catalogs to be checked out.

I see these same books promoted all over the place. I'd like to see some readers faves promoted, not just the "big guns"

Red Queen is pretty good plot wise, there was that twist at the end I never saw coming! The writing isn't particularly bad but it isn't extremely good either. The book starts pretty slow but gets better once Mare is brought to the palace, so don't give up on it!

P.S. If anyone has read the sequel to the Red Queen, I'm interested in knowing what it's like.

Kay Dee wrote: "seriously wish there was a link in the top menu to just browse Goodreads articles. 😤 have been asking for it for years but Amazon really does not care about user requests. 🙄 the app and mobile site..." Yep! I double that idea.

Try News and Interviews under Browse.

As for recommendation of some indie fantasy, there's this short story series that I think should be more well known ( https://www.goodreads.com/series/3028... ) -- like if folks like poetic language and myths and stuff.

I am currently reading both "The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O." by Neal Stephenson & Nicole Gall and '"Lagoon" by Nnedi
Okorafor. The latter was chosen by my book club. D.O.D.O. is a book I have wanted to read for a couple of years - it includes all of my fantasy/sci-fi favorites - time travel, witchcraft, secret govt. agencies revealed, and strong women characters. It is just too long for my book club (500 page limit) so I am reading it for me.

Contrarius wrote: "Ross wrote: "
1: I am a self-published Indie author. Can someone like me become notable enough to be featured by Goodreads on a page like the one I mention above?"

Sure. And the proof is right the..."

Hi again, all! Thanks for the suggestions. No, I haven't heard of that book or the author who wrote it. I will check him and it out, however, once I have a little more free time to spare.

On this note, if there's anything else anyone here would like to add onto my comments, here are a few more questions for you all...1: To those of you who are authors like me, how many copies of your works have you managed to sell? 2: How long did you have to wait and work to accomplish those feats? I understand one man told me he sold over 1,000 units of his one and only novel. To me, even selling this many copies, I'd count this as a partial commercial success. 3: On the note of having audiobooks, I've already begun to stride on down this route. However, I'd like to know just what kind of resources and people-connections I'd have to have if I instead wanted to convert my series in to say...A graphic-novel series? 4: On the note of approaching elementary middle-school teachers with my series, most books I wrote aren't meant for being read by students in elementary/middle-school, since a lot of them (Especially the later works) contain strong language and fairly-gratuitous violence. Because of this, would you be able to instead recommend I seek out groups of high-school teachers and college professors to present samples of my works to? And if so, where do I find such groups, besides on Goodreads? And where should I find local book clubs?

Once again, I am terribly sorry for bombarding you all with more questions, like this. But since I am trying to take being a self-published Indie author more seriously, I consider this to be another learning experience for me.

Thanks again for the responses and such...Cheers! o/

Ross wrote: "Hi again, all! Thanks for the suggestions. No, I haven't heard of that book or the author who wrote it. I will check him and it out, however, once I have a little more free time to spare.
"

Gaaaaaah, seriously?? You haven't heard of the movie "The Martian", starring Matt Damon????

Okay, the first thing you need to do: if you are trying to write science fiction or fantasy, first you need to become familiar with the genre. That will help you to figure out what is popular, what has already been done to death, and new places that you might be able to take your audience. There are few things more annoying than an author who *thinks* they are doing something innovative when they are actually rehashing old tropes that have already been beaten like old rugs. (I'm not saying that you would be this way -- but if you haven't heard of a book as famous as The Martian, it's pretty obvious that you don't know as much about the genre as you need to.)

Dune is famous. If The Martian has the same pull decades from now it can be considered famous. Right now it is well-known. I have heard of it but haven't read it and have no interest in reading it. Dune I haven't read either but one day I shall give it a try.

C. John wrote: "Dune is famous. If The Martian has the same pull decades from now it can be considered famous. Right now it is well-known. I have heard of it but haven't read it and have no interest in reading it...."

It's okay if you haven't read it. At least you're familiar with it.

And in terms of relative fame, The Martian has more Goodreads ratings than Dune does.

To be honest I don't put much stock in the Goodreads ratings. Goodreads itself has said that newer books tend to get more ratings.
A lot of people will check a book as read, but don't either rate it or review it due to the fact they read it to long ago. I myself have a lot of books that are like that.

C. John wrote: "To be honest I don't put much stock in the Goodreads ratings. Goodreads itself has said that newer books tend to get more ratings.
A lot of people will check a book as read, but don't either rate it or review it due to the fact they read it to long ago. I myself have a lot of books that are like that. "

It's not actually a competition. I'm just pointing out that the evidence of fame is on The Martian's side at the moment.

Contrarius wrote: "C. John wrote: "To be honest I don't put much stock in the Goodreads ratings. Goodreads itself has said that newer books tend to get more ratings.
A lot of people will check a book as read, but don..."

Unless you are looking at one of the lists of best books in a certain genre and going by the comments from some readers it sure seems it is. I know it isn't a competition, just pointing out why some books seem to be lacking in those areas.

Where’s that eye-rolling emoji when I need it?

Oh yeah — 🙄

Carol wrote: ""The Search for WondLa" by Tony DiTerlizzi."

Good choice . I read it too . And the sequel .

Carla wrote: "I am re-reading The Silmarillion!"

Oh , you're going to enjoy that one ! Good story to make your 2021
summer reading memorable .

I absolutely adored 'Piranesi' by Suzanna Clarke! Pure escapism

Maricar wrote: "Hi! What books should I read if I love Ted Chiang? I want recommendations to read since I am really new to the sci-fi genre since reading his short story collections"

Some recommendations. A lot of these are short stories,novellas to give you a taste of the authors work.
All Systems Red
The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories
A Dead Djinn in Cairo
Made to Order: Robots and Revolution
The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet

Another place to check is https://www.tor.com/tag/original-fict... . Tor pushlishes a lot of SFF short stories so you can explore and find new authors you might like to read more from.

Anyone else complaining about the lack of exposure for Indie audiences, keep posting your book and authors recommendations, ideas, sites etc. You'll never beat the corporate overlords, but you can use their tools (like an underground rebellion!!)

You have a captive audience right here. We're your demographic audience and we're hungry for more.

Contrarius wrote: "Ross wrote: "Hi again, all! Thanks for the suggestions. No, I haven't heard of that book or the author who wrote it. I will check him and it out, however, once I have a little more free time to spa..."

I know it's been several days since my last message here, but I wanted to catch up, respond, and make a couple more points, which mostly everyone else here seems to have missed.

First and foremost, @Contrarius, don't be so surprised I've never heard of a book as famous as The Martian, let alone a movie of the same title and plot. I'm not even sure my Mom's ever heard of this book/film. Secondly, of all the actors and actresses I have heard of, Matt Damon is by far my LEAST favorite of all. If you ask me why, I'll sum it up in 3 words for you: Good Will Hunting.

On my closing thought, I notice nobody here mentioned anything about converting my series into a graphic-novel series. Does anyone have any idea how I can accomplish this? Please?

And how can I gain more friends and 'connections' on book and reading sites like Goodreads? I'd really like to be able to communicate more with anyone who has an interest in sci-fi, fantasy, and coming-of-age novels. I'd also appreciate it if more people would utilize my Ask The Author feature on my profile and ask me questions about me and/or my series.

I don't mean to sound like I'm begging for attention, but it almost feels as though I'm screaming into cyberspace over and over, and yet nobody's listening or they just don't notice me.

Ross wrote: "Contrarius wrote: "Ross wrote: "Hi again, all! Thanks for the suggestions. No, I haven't heard of that book or the author who wrote it. I will check him and it out, however, once I have a little mo..."

Getting more friends on Goodreads? Easiest way is to ask. There are people on my friends list that I have no idea who they are. They sent a request and I accepted. Mind you when I check it out I find that they are already following my reviews so they just want to go to the next level. If not following my reviews they are likely in one of the same groups I am in. Of course than are the accidental requests, where you are on someone's profile, probably wanting to use the compare books function, and you accidentally hit the friend request button and they accept.