5 Big Things Science Fiction Can Do To Improve Its Image

Okay, it’s time for the big things. These things aren’t going to be accomplished without investment of time and/or money. They may require reorganizations. Or new organizations. Or new investment. That’s why these are hard.

And now, a disclaimer. Especially in the light of the furore over the last post. I don’t know all the answers. This ain’t the be-all end-all definitive guide on how to make everything right for science fiction. This is one dood’s guess. If you have other ideas, please feel free to share!

Ready? Take a deep breath.

5. Define your messages. In marketing, we start establishing a brand by defining key messages. These are things that only you can say, and are most likely to interest someone. Science fiction publishers and organizations, by and large, have done a poor job with this– especially when seen from the eyes of a newb.

Let’s put ourselves in the position of, say, a kid who has a taste for Star Wars and The Matrix and other sci-fi films, and starts looking for other science fiction online. Assuming he finds a publisher or magazine at all (see #4), what’s going to keep him at the site?

One thing: Instant, clear communication as to why he wants to be there.

Content alone won’t do it, because (a) if whatever you’re highlighting at the moment ain’t in his taste spectrum, you’re toast, and (b) it takes a long, long time to stroll thru the archives. And this assumes that content is there in the first place.

But if he saw things like:

“Read ideas that are a decade in advance of what you see in movies.”

“Love new technology and ideas? Find out what the world will be like in a few years–or a thousand.”

“What if we had invented computing technology in the Victorian era? If cheap technology meant everyone was a mind-reader? If advances in biology meant you could grow your house? Explore what-ifs right here, right now.”

“Discover why scientists, internet visionaries, technology leaders, and other people who are changing the world read science fiction.”

“Join a group of people not just looking forward, but leading us forward.”

Not all of these at once, of course . . . but you get the idea.

Now, someone might say, “Well, hell, coming up with these key messages doesn’t seem so hard.” Now, sit in a room with 12 people and see if you can get them to agree. Then remember that you really should test multiple key messages with random display on your home page tied to analytics to determine which are the most effective. And then you need to be able to accept, really accept, that your favorite message may not be the best one for your organization. It ain’t easy.

4. Get visible–on all levels. SFWA appears in the first page of Google search results, but beyond that, it’s a wash. No publications or publishers show up until page 5. Where’s the SEO? How about PPC? How about doing your own page in Wikipedia? If people are looking for science fiction, we need to get in front of them.

But visibility can go well beyond keywords. Where are the science fiction widgets that announce new titles? Where are the widgets you could, say, share to unlock content? Hell, where are the wallpapers and ringtones? Where is the share-around media campaign raising awareness about the movers and shakers who read science fiction? With 6 of the top 10 global websites being social sites, we need to have an integrated social media strategy and presence that goes beyond our own captive social network (yes, there is a place for both).

Or how about defining your own social media liaisons–people who are available to talk about your authors’ works, but who do not push themselves on anyone?

And, just when you’ve thought I’ve gone way off the deep end, consider this wacky “visibility” idea. Why don’t we have an industry liaison to Hollywood, delivering our key messages like, “Hey guys, remember where you get your ideas–want to see some new ones?” Visibility can go as far as budgets allow.

And yes, visibility takes investment. But there are large publishers out there. Once they lose the stranglehold of their big ad agency (and the trap of their Comscore metrics box), there’s money to invest. And, beyond that, I’d suspect that there are more than a few closet science fiction fans in the Google/Facebook/Web 2.0 universe who might be interested in helping out. Remember, Google is sponsoring a Moon prize.

3. Create fans–and benefits. Remember that I called for a science fiction social network? Here’s why: it’s a path to real engagement. It may even be a path to monetization, if you provide relevant services. Here’s what you do:

Define fan levels. Let’s say, just for instance, we have a Silver Fan, a Gold Fan, and a Diamond Fan (choose your own fan levels, but don’t start with something embarrassing like “basic.”) These people are giving you their time and information. This is worth a lot.

Define some real benefits for your Silver fan. Even at the base level, remember: people are giving you their time and information. Make it worth their while. For publishers, maybe you give them a free ebook every year. Or, if you’re already giving out free ebooks, let them join a network where they get a free book for every 10 friends they invite. If you’re an organization, let them share in some of the info reserved for published authors.

Make at least two of the levels paid. Oh, here’s where the howling starts. But, with the right incentive, you can make the paid levels pay off–both for the fans and for you. Let’s say that, at the Gold level, there’s a standard quantified discount on every book you buy, you get a free book every year, and you get and you’ll get invited to events in your local area. And let’s say the Diamond level gets you into private meet-and-greets with the authors? Or, for organizations, why can’t the Gold or Diamond levels have access to events or functions, or even (gasp) be allowed to vote on a people’s choice award? No matter how many fans you invite in, there will still be a distinction between a published author and a fan.

Again, this ain’t the universal prescription. The details may be very different. But defining a loyalty program with some real teeth would pay off, big time, for publishers and organizations.

2. Create your own worlds. And yes, this is one I’ve yammered on about before, as well. But there’s no reason why science fiction should not own the alternate reality game (ARG).

An ARG is a way to let people keep coming back to your authors’ worlds, time and time again, to build interest in future releases. It’s a way to impress fiction on the real world. It could lead to additional sales of everything from picture books to t-shirts to comic books to short video and music. Really, it’s an art form in and of itself, and it is firmly grounded in the science fiction sphere.

And yes, building an ARG (or merely an alternate reality continuum, where we simply treat the places and people of our worlds as real) is not an inconsiderable amount of work. But what if developing and curating a tiny piece of the ARG was what bought your fan his Diamond status? Or a level above Diamond? ARGs do not have to be built by a single individual or organization. They can be crowdsourced.

Skeptical? Yeah, that’s cool. Just know that new variants of the ARG are emerging. Pretty soon, we will have people interacting with worlds and stories that never existed in real life as they surf the web (PMOG), or even as they walk around in the real world (MARG).

There is no reason science fiction should not own this space–and if we let it slip by, we have only ourselves to blame.

1. Fund a big idea or two. Did you know that Google is sponsoring a $30MM prize for the first privately funded team to send a robot to the moon? Did you know that Progressive Insurance is sponsoring a $10MM prize to inspire a new generation of super-efficient vehicles? Did you know that Archon is funding a $10MM prize for the first team to sequence 100 human genomes in 10 days? All of these are part of the X-Prize Foundation, an organization designed to spur innovation through, well, big fat cash prizes. You may remember them from the original X-Prize, which was won by Scaled Composites.

“Ohhh-kay, now we know Stoddard has gone off track, because, first, there ain’t nobody out there with a pile of cash like that, and, well, what the heck would we apply this to?” you may be asking.

Well, first, the pile of cash may be a lot smaller than you think. X-Prizes are funded by insurance companies. As in, the insurance companies bet against anyone winning the prize in a stated amount of time. This is what allows your local Lions club to have a $1MM hole-in-one competition–the chance of anyone winning the prize is relatively low. Your Lions probably paid $2000 to have that $1MM prize. So the investment is really a lot lower that you expect.

(And yes, I know–this sounds like something out of Heinlein’s The Man Who Sold the Moon. But, I assure you, this is real. We have run insurance-backed contests at my day job.)

Second, I can think of several things to apply this kind of prize to. Here are a couple.

Monetization. On a subject near and dear to every publisher’s heart, how about monetization? What is a working model for profitable monetization in a market where content can be distributed nearly free? Or, to take it up a notch, how do we ensure people receive a fair return on their intellectual property? (Note: “fair” may be well below what organizations like the RIAA and MPAA believe “fair” to be.) Heck, maybe do this in conjunction with the EFF. Throw a million-plus dollars at this challenge, and you’re going to have a lot of people devoting a lot of time to testing and proving real, workable solutions.

The current crisis. Worried about climate change or energy independence or another current crisis? Then let’s pick one and sponsor a prize for helping to figure out this problem. This will raise science fiction’s profile tremendously–and it may result in some real answers. Of course, this may be something so big that we tackle with other organizations, in order to provide a prize of the magnitude needed to spur real research and testing. But even if it’s done in conjunction with other entities, it sends a powerful message: we’re not just forward-looking, we’re actively trying to do something about it.

And, of course, there may be other prizes. And other things we can do. Like I said, this ain’t the definitive guide. This is speculation. Your results may vary. Not intended to be used as a personal grooming device. And all those other disclaimers.

But if it points a few people in the right direction, then I’m happy. And I’ll do what I can to help!

April 18th, 2008 /