The 2011 Big Idea Open Call to Publicists, Editors and Authors
Posted on January 4, 2011 Posted by John Scalzi 1 Comment
As Lauren Beukes’ Big Idea piece earlier today suggests, The Big Idea feature is back for 2011, and is a fine way to share a little about your latest books. If you’re an author, editor or publicist wondering how you can get a book on the schedule, this informational FAQ from last year is still useful and accurate. And authors, here’s what you need to know on how to write a good Big Idea piece.
Typically speaking I run Big Idea pieces on Tuesdays and Thursdays, so that’s two slots for each week, and generally speaking I do first-come, first-serve with the scheduling, consistent with priorities I outline in the FAQ.
Also, and I can’t stress this enough, please do read that FAQ on how to query for a Big Idea slot before querying. I do it that way because it’s a system that works for me, and people who use the system that works for me make me happy, and I like being happy.
Also, regarding the immediate future: January slots are all booked but in February the slots on the 3rd, 10th and 24th are still open, so if you’re interested in those, go ahead and query. Priority will be given to books coming out in those weeks.
Thanks!
John, you have a pretty big readership of people who like SF and like to buy SF books, so naturally your Big Idea forum is probably desirable to a lot of SF authors out there. I know I have bought one book that I never heard of purely because of this forum, and I KNOW that I read a lot less than a lot of your readers.
Just out of complete curiosity, can you give us any idea of what percent of applications make it on to your page? And those that don’t, what are the typical reason that they are not? Just late applications (late compared to book release date)?
And on a second note, I know you love to check your website stats… how about sales stats on the books that have been featured in Big Idea? I could see a guy like you doing a little regression analysis comparing featured and unfeatured books to see what kind of bump they get in sales. If you confirmed a significant bump, then you could become like “Oprah’s Book Club”. Except, you know, for nerds.