Book Marketing Now: Valerie Valdes
Author, editor, and NaNoWriMo maven VALERIE VALDES on her new book WHERE PEACE IS LOST, pitching your novel's tone, the power of NaNoWriMo, and writing as marketing
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“If you’ve not been reading Valerie Valdes, you’ve been missing out. Valdes is queen of the bold, exciting space romp… Where Peace is Lost is a high-octane story that you will absolutely fly through because you’re simply having too much fun to stop.” —Tor.com
Valerie Valdes, co-editor of the sci-fi podcast Escape Pod, knows how to tell a compelling space story — her first novel, trilogy opener Chilling Effect (humor! space opera! psychic cats!), was a finalist for the Arthur C. Clarke award and winner of the 2020 International Latino Book Awards Best SFF Novel. With her new space fantasy, Where Peace is Lost, she takes a more serious look at the genre through a social justice lens (plus space battles and feelings!)
Valerie generously shares about how she’s pitched her space fantasy novels to publishers and readers; focused on marketing to an adult audience; the power of the National Novel Writing Month community; and fellow authors and resources that have helped her marketing process.
How did you initially pitch Where Peace Is Lost and was that different from your pitch for the Chilling Effect books? How have those strategies changed now that you’re marketing to readers?
My very first pitch was quite different from what I ended up writing in terms of the plot, but the comps remained the same: Star Wars meets Voltron: Legendary Defender. The quick elevator pitch: Where Peace Is Lost is about a refugee hiding from the empire that conquered her people, who must risk exposure—or all-out war—on a road trip to save her new home from a deadly machine that will destroy the planet. The longer pitch I provided to my editor was basically what ended up on the back of the book.
I tried to focus on character, problem and stakes, but I was also aiming for a relatively serious thematic core and an aesthetic that crossed the line between space opera and space fantasy. Typical science fiction tech exists alongside the kind that is not just indistinguishable from magic, but arguably is magic, even if the characters don’t label it as such. This was quite different from Chilling Effect, which was a pop culture-infused comedic space opera (say that five times fast!) with a Latina protagonist and, most importantly, psychic space cats. While I did deal with some heavy themes in the Chilling Effect trilogy, they were wrapped in jokes and zany shenanigans, and of course the cats pretty much sold themselves.
Now that I’m marketing to readers, I tend to use The Mandalorian as my comp instead of Star Wars in general, because that aligns with the tone and main character fairly well—my protagonist is a knight rather than a bounty hunter, but they’re both honor-driven loners, essentially exiles from their homeworlds, suddenly tasked with quests they’re equipped to handle but maybe would rather not. For Voltron, I talk up the paladins and alchemy and grappling with empire, as well as the team aspect.
Those are great comps — and partially answers my next question: who do you see as the audience for your work and what are the best ways you’ve found to reach them?
It depends on which of my books or stories I’m tossing into the breach at any given time. Chilling Effect is for adults who like space opera and romance, but it’s especially for people into cartoons and video games who are as terminally online as I was when I wrote the trilogy. Where Peace Is Lost is for adults who like space opera and space fantasy with swords and giant robots and evil empires, and that gets philosophical but still has action and romance. While I think teens can read my books—there’s violence and sexual situations, but nothing explicit—they’re not really my target demographic. My protagonists are women in their thirties, and none of the secondary characters is a teen, unless you count the cats! My short fiction also ranges from funny to wry to serious.
To this day, I have no clue what approach is best for reaching my audience. I’ve done my time in the social media mines, but I often feel like a failed prospector, right down to the dead bird in a cage. Mostly, I putter around in various Discords or on Twitch and cosplay as a human; I’m not usually marketing my work, though, I’m just existing in spaces with other people who have shared interests. If those interests might occasionally include my work, cool! But it’s not why I’m there.
What I’ve tried to do the most is keep writing. Prevailing wisdom suggests that each new book you write is marketing for your previous books. Each one is a new opportunity for someone to find you on a shelf or a list of upcoming releases or anywhere that people discuss what they’re reading, check out your work, then look to your backlist for more.
I know you’ve been very involved in National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) throughout the years. How has NaNoWriMo influenced your approach to writing and networking?
I’ve participated in NaNoWriMo since 2005 and been a Municipal Liaison since 2006, which means I’ve spent at least a month every year for 18 years, not only writing a novel, but also trying to help other people do the same. I’ve learned that I tend to write better with some sort of body-doubling—not a doppelganger, but a buddy or group of people who are also working, so we can all keep each other on task. NaNo was one of the first communities that helped me experience that, and it’s something I’ve sought out or tried to cultivate in various other places.
I’ve also always tried to run groups that focus on process, on getting that sweet butt-in-chair time and making words happen, rather than on sharing what we’ve written or trading critiques. Getting feedback and validation is great, but it can become a hell of a drug, and it won’t sustain you through the dark times when all your critique partners are busy and no one is leaving reviews for your stuff (don’t read your reviews!) I think it’s essential to be able to derive some kind of satisfaction from just doing the writing, or you’ll burn out fast and struggle to recover.
In terms of networking, I think NaNo also has a lot to do with my standard approach: hanging out, sharing interests, and supporting each other on the writing journey. Some people have no desire to share what they write; some are happy to post it on their blog or a website like Wattpad or AO3; some want to self-publish; some are chasing that trad pub train. We all might come to the table with different goals, but we’re all writers, and I do my best to help people succeed by whatever metrics are important to them. Lifting each other up is free, and it’s something most of us can do. When one of us falls in the pit, others at the top can throw down a ladder. If we’re all in the pit, we can form a human pyramid, figuratively speaking, or we can take turns digging a tunnel to the surface together.
Find the methods you enjoy doing and do those. Be yourself. Write your next book.
Who are some experts whose knowledge has been helpful to your publishing journey?
Two people in particular come to mind: Michael R. Underwood and K. Tempest Bradford. Mike has given great talks, like this one on the Writing Excuses podcast, about marketing, hand-selling books, and how to figure out the best way to pitch to a particular crowd or individual based on the things they already like—comp titles, tropes, key words, all that good stuff. Tempest runs a class on social media that helped me a ton, even if I don’t always follow her very excellent tips!
What advice would you give to writers just starting out when it comes to marketing themselves?
I’d advise the same thing most people probably do: find the methods you enjoy doing and do those. Be yourself. Write your next book. Each new book is marketing for your previous ones.
With the collapse of certain social media sites and alternatives struggling to grow, I think another thing I’d say is try to have a way to reach your audience that doesn’t rely on a third party service, because you never know when those might go away. A self-hosted blog, a mailing list, even just your own website that you keep fairly updated—those things are more portable than social media, such that if one hosting provider or newsletter delivery service kicks the bucket, you can pivot fairly easily to another.
Your cats seem to be a huge influence on your writing and process! If they could give their fellow felines a tip for dealing with these oddball writing-humans, what do you think they’d say?
They would say: don’t be afraid to throw yourself on top of your human’s laptop when you want to nap! It doesn’t matter if they’re doing the tappy-tappy thing; you are more important.
Please share a tea recommendation, especially one that has helped you get through the marketing process!
My go-to tea is a simple Irish breakfast with a heaping spoonful of honey. Maybe a spice mix if I’m feeling daring! Cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, or go full Masala chai and make it on the stove with ginger and black pepper and milk.
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Follow Valerie Valdes:
Website | X (Twitter) | Facebook | Instagram | Mastadon | Twitch
To order Where Peace is Lost:
Harper Voyager | Barnes and Noble | Bookshop.org | Goodreads
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Valerie Valdes is co-editor of the award-winning Escape Pod science fiction podcast, as well as the author of the Chilling Effect trilogy and space fantasy novel Where Peace Is Lost. Her debut novel Chilling Effect was shortlisted for the 2021 Arthur C. Clarke Award. Her short fiction and poetry have appeared in Uncanny Magazine, Nightmare Magazine and several anthologies. She lives in an elaborate meme palace in Georgia with her husband, children and cats.
Support Valerie Valdes and other speculative fiction authors by following, reposting, sharing, reviewing, requesting, and/or reading their books (and buying when you can)!
Happy reading & writing!
~Allison
Writer & Marketing Coach
Keep Writing, Keep Connecting! Facebook | Newsletter | Website | BlueSky | Mastadon
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Allison Pottern Hoch has happily made books her life’s work. She spent four years marketing and publicizing academic titles at The MIT Press before she went to work for Wellesley Books as a children’s bookseller and event coordinator. She is now living her dream: putting her B.A. in Creative Writing to good use as a novelist and as a writing/marketing coach for authors. She is also a graduate of the 2023 Viable Paradise workshop. She enjoys science fiction, chocolate, and a hot cup of tea.