Bloggasm

You can find Jeff VanderMeer’s blog over here.

Simon Owens: You’ve had several books published by Prime Books, and one could argue that you’ve sold a lot more copies than the average POD author. What do you think you did differently than most POD writers?

Jeff VanderMeer: POD is a technology and that’s all. I’m not a POD writer. There is no such thing. I’ve worked with indie presses that use POD and ones that use offset. It’s just a method of printing that affects your business model. Why have I sold better than other indie press authors? I don’t know that I have, in the grand scheme of things. But what I did do is spend a lot of time doing PR for the books and exploiting the possibilities of the internet. City of Saints, for example, sold close to 8,000 copies in all editions with very little brick-and-mortar bookstore presence. This is why the majors became interested in publishing my work.

SO: You’ve worked in both the small press and with major publishers. As someone who is known for being really good at promoting your books, which do you prefer to work with?

JV: I prefer to work with whatever publisher is right for the project. I always thought City of Saints and Veniss and the disease guide would be respectable-to-good sellers for major presses. Now they’re put out by major presses. Other projects, like the Leviathan antho series, are tailor-made for the indie press. If I have a book out from a major publisher, I will focus on peripheral and secondary PR since the publisher will be focusing on the main stuff. If I have a book out from an indie publisher, I help out with the main stuff, too. Obviously, I want every project to come out from the publisher most able to get the most number of copies in front of the largest number of people who will appreciate the project.

SO: What do you hope to accomplish in the future as a writer?

JV: I try to push myself with my writing with every book. I don’t want to repeat myself. I don’t want to get stuck in a rut. I want to learn something new each time, hopefully while still entertaining the reader. Shriek: An Afterword is a 60-year fake biography set in my fantastical city of Ambergris and it’s coming out from Pan Macmillan in the UK in January, Tor Books in the US in August. It taught me a lot. The next Ambergris novel will be completely different from it. Basically, just keep learning and growing as a writer.

SO: What are the five blogs everyone should be reading (besides your own)?

JV: Five blogs for extended commentary, etc.
http://www.mumpsimus.blogspot.com
http://www.livejournal.com/users/14theditch/
http://brutalwomen.blogspot.com/
http://www.livejournal.com/users/nihilistic_kid/
http://www.livejournal.com/users/benpeek/

Six blogs for news and information
boingboing.net
bookslut.com/blog
www.emcit.com/wordpress/
http://maudnewton.com/blog/index.php
http://www.fpigraphics.co.uk/blogger/
http://bodhisattvafiction.blogspot.com/

And one non-blog to rule them all
http://www.locusmag.com/