Scott Sigler

Dark Øverlord Media

Who Needs You, Big Publishing?
22 minutes, 10.3mb, recorded 2010-02-24

By the end of Scott Sigler's 20-episode podcast series, EARTHCORE, he had gained 10,000 followers. From there, he engaged the small publisher, Dragon Moon Press, to issue ANCESTOR. Its success on Amazon got the attention of Crown Publishing, which signed him for a five-book deal.

Two books in, he wanted to do a sports-related project Crown didn't want. An exclusive contract meant it had to be kept out of bookstores -- but that didn't mean he couldn't sell on-line and ... in sports bars! So Sigler started Dark Øverlord Media. He kicked off a promotion for pre-orders on NFL Draft Day.

With some help, he arranged the printing, marketing, promotion, and distribution of THE ROOKIE. Fans who had sampled his free podcasts gave him a hand. Sigler gives hard numbers and talks about the sweat equity involved in releasing the book and surviving a 24-city tour of sports bars. Then he speculates on what other authors' book sales might mean, were they to leverage their on line fan bases and try his hands-on approach to publishing.


Scott Sigler is the author of ANCESTOR, INFECTED and CONTAGIOUS, hardcover thrillers from Crown Publishing. Before he was published, Scott built a large online following by giving away his self-recorded audiobooks as free, serialized podcasts. His loyal fans, who named themselves “Junkies,” have downloaded over eight million individual episodes of his stories.

Scott reinvented book publishing when he released EARTHCORE as the world’s first “podcast-only” novel. Released in twenty weekly episodes, EARTHCORE harkened back to the days of serialized radio fiction. His innovative use of technology puts him at the forefront of modern-day publishing and has garnered brand-name exposure among hundreds of thousands of fiction fans and technology buffs.

In 2009, Scott created Dark Øverlord Media to publish THE ROOKIE, a limited edition hardcover with a 16-page, full-color insert. Each copy is individually numbered and signed, and personalized on request.

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