Incentives for posting for many bloggists is to inform or teach or promote something they’ve created. In this case, I’m here to make connections, and write about my writing. I also post tips for other writers to help them improve their game. However, I just heard a mentor, who has been in the fiction industry for many years, confirm what I’d suspected for awhile.

Blogs about fiction work don’t work! (If you write non-fiction, your blog is likely to be successful, which is why there are thousands of pages devoted to promoting that authors need a blog. Yeah, only if it is NON-fiction!)

Obviously this makes a lot of sense. After all, the only reason to visit the blog of a fiction author is to find out when their next book is due out. So, I’ve decided that my ruminations are just taking up too much time and too many pixels, and will just post when I have a new book due.

Speaking of which, I’ve got The Robots of Atlantis: Stellar Flash Book Four available for preorder. You can check it out here:

I’ve been researching how better to promote my books. Since ‘Space Opera’ has now been claimed as a key phrase by the top publishing companies, it’s now almost impossible for Indie producers who create space opera to be found for that tag. Especially considering the top publishers use ‘space opera’ to mean something akin to a romance with a smattering of rockets.

So, I did some research, and found that there is a much better term to use that was coined in the 1950s and is even simpler. Well, it was space science fiction but I’m pretty sure it was changed quickly. The term is:

Space Fiction

Better yet, no one is using it. (If you’re in SEO, you’re probably having a heart attack that I would choose a low search tag, but hear me out!) Results for space fiction on Google suggest barely 200 references in the entire world. Google’s Adwords keyword finder also suggests it is searched only 10-100 times a month. Why would anyone want it?

The phrase ‘science fiction’ used to mean ‘space fiction’. Even in the 1950s ‘Space Science Fiction’ had begun to be used suggesting a change in meaning had begun for science fiction. Now, science fiction even applies to some forms of fantasy with a smidgeon of science. For years I’ve fought against this diluting of the nomenclature, but have now had to admit defeat. No more can science fiction apply to just space fiction. And so, the new tag of Space Fiction, referring to science fiction that is only set in space, has been reborn.

Here is my new definition for Space Fiction:

SPACE FICTION: (speɪs ˈfɪkʃən) noun A book, film, TV series, audio play, streaming series, podcast or other written or visual form that is set in deep space, far away from Earth, with humans and non-anthropomorphic aliens either fighting each other or working together or both. Most likely set in the far future with extrapolated hard science tech. “Wow! That space fiction book has completely blown my mind. Time travel, aliens, alternate realities, future tech, you name it. I’m not sure I can see reality quite the same way again!”

And so, I’ve bought the domain SpaceFictionBooks.com and have made it a division of Maldek House. Find out more here: Space Fiction Books The goal is to release fiction that only focuses on stories that are set in the far future and in deep space, with aliens, space ships and, of course, a bit of conflict.

So, if you’re looking for stories set in deep space, rather than use ‘space opera’, which suggests drama and romance, use ‘space fiction’ so that you’re more than likely to get something like Babylon 5, Blake’s 7, Star Trek, Doctor Who, and Farscape.

If we can now use ‘space fiction’ respectfully for a show like Battlestar Galactica, and movies like Solaris and 2001: A Space Odyssey, it will not only make it easier for authors to write space fiction more confidently, but also for our tribes to find the kind of stories they like.

Many thanks for reading my posts. It’s been fun!

Cheers

Neil

P.S. If you’re not sure how to apply the terms ‘space fiction’ and ‘space opera’ check this out:

Space Opera: The Fifth Element

Space Fiction: 2001: A Space Odyssey

Space Opera: Interstellar

Space Fiction: Alien

Space Opera: Wall-E

Space Fiction: Europa Report

Hope this helps!

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