Andrew Gillsmith
Andrew Gillsmith asked Peter Cawdron:

Hey Peter, As a fellow sci fi writer, I'm a big fan of not only your work but how you have built your readership over the years. Can you share any insights on how you did it? When did your books really start taking off in terms of sales?

Peter Cawdron I wish I knew the answer. Marketing has been a flop for me. Sinking money into AMS ads or Facebook ads has never worked so I've given up on them. For me, they're a black hole. I have a very small email base of only about 2,000 and wish I'd focused on building that early in my career. I try to focus on good science and well-rounded characters. I focus a LOT on the quality of my writing and try to grow from one book to the next. I will NOT release a book that doesn't rate 4/5 or under on the Hemmingway App as I think there's a lot of unreadable science fiction out there and I don't want to be part of that. When I first wrote "Wherever Seeds May Fall" it came in with a rating of 11, so I rewrote it and got it down to 4. The result was that readers said they loved the way it was easily readable. I hope that helps :)

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