Standing outside the crowd

[Rita]

I just read and reviewed Purple Cow by Seth Godin, an amazing marketing book that pushes you to think about marketing in a whole new way.

(You can read my review at my blog: http://afantasyfiction.blogspot.com/2... )

So what do you do as a writer to stand out? To be remarkable? Sometimes sci-fi or fantasy can be so uniform. The same plot lines over and over.

And what did you like about your favorite authors that made them different?

[T.]

Hi Rita. If you like fantasy, you might try Tor fantasy author Diana Marcellas. Her trilogy came out in hardcover, then paperback, to many positive reviews and reader reactions. You can find her books here on Goodreads. Her writing is, technically, science fantasy, but her writing tone is similar to LeGuin's in Earthsea. For myself, I enjoy hard SF and First Contact themes in my reading and writing. Just finished The Byworlder by recently passed on author Poul Anderson. An excellent read! And a novel take on First Contact that hasn't been repeated over and over by others.

Finally, what do I do to standout in scifi? Well, first I work at writing a well-done story with good to exotic characters and a plot that is real and understandable to most readers. More seriously, I show up online at various social websites, but have also attended scifi conventions, volunteered for my professional SFWA society, and was a judge on the Philip K. Dick Award committee. Plus, I keep in touch with fellow authors who I've known for 25 years. Oh, and I follow Robert Heinlein's dictum to fellow authors to "Pay It Forward" by helping newer authors where/when I can. Tom.