Monica Valentinelli's Blog: booksofm.com, page 62

Presenting… Scion: Extras (Supplemental Yet Can Be Somewhat Useful On Occasion Scions)

While it is well-known that not every God is as potent as Zeus (and not every Goddess as brave as Isis), even the Gods themselves tend to“forget” their long-lost cousins and great-aunts twice-removed on the other side of the family. Among the immortals, the uber-powerful feel there are some deities best left off Junior’s wedding invitation, ignored at holidays, or obscured deep in a poorly updated Wikipedia page.

In Extras (Supplemental Yet Can Be Useful On Occasion Scions), a select number of these rare Gods, Goddesses, and their Scions have been thrown under the spotlight. From the oft-overlooked Queen of the Porcelain Throne to a brave-but-curious Scion who loves the outdoors, discover how the pantheons feel about these add-ons and their place in the War against the Titans.

This book is compatible with Scion: Hero. It includes:

10 playable Scion extras from 6 pantheons
Deadpan humor. Because RPGs are dead, ya know?
Song lyrics for Sci, Scion Style. We expect to see a fan video.
Easter eggs! Not the literal kind. That’d be too messy. The “Oooo…Fans might want to…” kind.
…and more!

HAPPY APRIL FOOL’S!

Games and Well… More Tabletop Games

Yesterday, my SO and I went over to Pegasus Games here in town and played a few card and board games in celebrating of Tabletop Day. We dove into Tsuro, Ascension, Cthulhu Fluxx, and Gloom before going home. For an online game, I’ve been having fun with Folds from Armor Games, which has an origami-theme.

I had fun, but I’m in “work mode,” which means that I’m fully immersed in productivity right now. Firefly is ramping up. I just finished scouring through page proofs and I have four other projects I’m wrapping up.

This is a good thing for me, because it means I have a fun job to do — and it’s time to make the most out of it. Very happy that portion of my business is healthy. Yay!

Mood: Blargh due to weather-related conditions.

Caffeinated Beverages Consumed: Well rested, so having half-caff.

Work-Out Minutes Logged Yesterday: Walkin’, walkin’, walkin’.

In My Ears: Nothing

Game Last Played: Eternal Sonata

Movie Last Viewed: Deadfall

Latest Artistic Project: Need to take pictures…

Latest Release: “The Button” We Are Dust anthology

Link Salad Tossed With Books, Interview, and More!

It’s a link salad today! Huzzah! No vegetables, sadly. But first? I haven’t talked about productivity or tips in that direction for a while, so I’ll share with you an insight into my process. Basically, I require math to figure out what I can/can’t do and weigh that against what else I have on my plate. I do the math for money and for word count. To get paid, work has to get done. To get the work done, you’ve got to put words down. To get the words down, you have to figure out how much time you have to write. # of Words Per Day x Rate Per Word (Actual or Ideal) = Writer’s Earnings Per Diem. That helps me figure out my daily goals.

Now, onto the salad o’ links!

Marketing, Sales, and Publicity–Part One: The Basics – In Part One of a two-parter, I dive into the 10,000 foot overview between marketing, sales, and publicity for the Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America. Special thanks to the infamous Nick Mamatas for his time providing a quote, and to Todd Vandermark for the opportunity to write again for the SFWA.

Monica Valentinelli on the difference between the Firefly RPG and the Serenity RPG – My first interview for the Firefly RPG line! Shortly after posting my initial article, the fine folks at Geek Native reached out to me with questions.

Extreme Zombies Give-A-Way! – The contest for a copy of EXTREME ZOMBIES ends on Tuesday, April 2nd. Got some good entries, but there’s still time!

FR Press Sale at DriveThruFiction – If you’re hoping to find a friendly, neighborhood fiction site, consider dropping by DriveThruFiction. They’re very author-friendly — in part because they’ve been dealing with publishers directly on the DriveThruRPG and DriveThruComics side for some time. A disclaimer, of course, is that I have a vested interest in seeing DriveThruFiction and DriveThruComics take off for many reasons; for starters, my own work would benefit and I have seen how effective the direct marketing tools can be. Many of the books I worked on through FR Press are on sale for a week!

Tabletop Day – The famed Wil Wheaton launched a celebration of board, card, and role-playing games dubbed Tabletop Day. DriveThruRPG is offering a free bundle and heavily discounted games for the event, but this is well above and beyond just the internet. Many game stores will have events so folks around the world can do what games provide — have fun with friends and family!

Migrating from Feedburner – In sad news, Feedburner is slowly meandering off into the sunset. This means that, eventually, my feed address will change and how you access my website will, too. It’s not a change that’s coming right now, but we’re planning on what to do next.

Urban Homesteading – Keeping up with the salad theme… I stumbled across this site by way of crochet patterns for chickens (don’t ask) and really dig some of the articles there. We’ve had some trouble with plants in the past, but we’re going the terrarium route a.k.a. cat defense system. There’s a lovely lady across the way from South Africa who’s managed to turn her backyard into a green paradise, so we’re going to give it a shot this year.

That’s all for link salad this time. Hopefully not too heavy, not too light. I detect a hint of lemon and poppyseed.

Mood: Bwah?

Caffeinated Beverages Consumed: First cup. Good to the last drop.

Work-Out Minutes Logged Yesterday: A walk. OUTSIDE EVEN.

In My Ears: Nothing

Game Last Played: Eternal Sonata

Movie Last Viewed: Deadfall

Latest Artistic Project: Need to take pictures…

Latest Release: “The Button” We Are Dust anthology

Want A Signed Copy of EXTREME ZOMBIES?!?!?!

It’s too late! The living dead have already taken over the world. Your brains have been devoured. Nothing is left but spasms of ravenous need—an obscene hunger for even more zombie fiction.

Extreme Zombies is edited by Paula Guran and published by Prime Books. To celebrate this release, FlamesRising.com is hosting an EXTREME ZOMBIES GIVE-A-WAY for two signed copies in the U.S. I’ll be signing them with braaaaaaiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnnnsssssssssssss!

Just shamble on over to FlamesRising.com and comment on the EXTREME ZOMBIES Give-A-Way contest post! Contest ends in a week — so shamble fast!

Progress Report #2

February’s progress report kicked off this new series, so this month’s introduction talks a bit about a dry, boring subject: the internet. I do want to point out a couple of things in case you didn’t know already. First, be sure to check the front page of mlvwrites.com; I updated that with a few new books.

When I’m online or have chat open, I’m working. I can’t play games or socialize too much; if you see me on Twitter or Facebook it’s usually when I’m taking a quick break or have it on my phone. I wish I didn’t have to be on either network, but this is how I get my news and stay on top of what people are doing. Sometimes, though, I wish I could filter out the news, rants, and ridiculous negativity. It’s hard some days, because I’m a writer, and words resonate with me musically and literally. I suspect there’ll be a purge coming at some point, but regardless I have to use these networks wisely so I can keep creating. I guess that’s why I love my Tumblr account so much! It’s pure, unadulterated joy. Love, love, love logging in and seeing new art filter through every day. Yay!

Does this mean I work too hard? I do put in more than fifty hours a week when you factor in reading and research, but I also have a life and I would not be doing this much if I did not enjoy it immensely. I don’t mean to say that in a snarky way; I’m very intense (as others often point out) but that’s only because I try to make the best out of every possible moment. I don’t always succeed or I go into a mood, but the point is that I’m living. Doing. Writing. And very, very happy I can do this. It may not always be realistic, so I have to take advantage of the time I have now. Many pro writers aren’t making what you might on a salaried position. (GalleyCat has a great collection of three testimonials if you want to see some reports.)

Even when I’m not on a gig, though, I’m always working on something. I have to have a pen and paper and art materials close by or I’ll go crazy. I can tell when I haven’t been doing much of one thing or the other, because that’s when my mood really suffers. I guess you can call me the pragmatic writer? Holistic? Not sure… Either way, if you’re going to chase the rainbow, put your tennis shoes on first.

Without further adieu, here’s the updates!

Games

I announced that I’m the Brand Manager and one of the writers for the Firefly RPG line, which will be published via Margaret Weis Productions. I’m knee deep in outlines and scripts at the moment. More than that, I dare not say…

I’m wrapping up my work for the Mage 20th Anniversary Edition contribution and also working on a Vampire: the Masquerade supplement. Plus, there’s a few other things in the works that I’m not ready to announce just yet. My goal is to wind down work on other games so I can focus on the Firefly corebook and GenCon for this portion of my business over the summer.

Fiction…And COMICS!

I’m excited to say that my first comic will be published via Red Stylo Media! *throws confetti* “Last Man Zombie Standing” will be available in an anthology called Unfashioned Creatures, A Frankenstein Anthology late this Summer. If you want to check out some of this publisher’s comics, they do have some available at DriveThruComics.com.

I have also honed my new, original fiction projects down to two: a science fiction novella titled The Red Door and a massive project for the Violet War, which is the setting for The Queen of Crows. Remember, you can now get multiple versions of the original, full color edition from DriveThruFiction.com.

Consulting

John “The Muskrat” Kovalic went to the GAMA Trade Show this year and some new business initiatives that we’d been working on will spring from that. Ninth Level Games launched a Kobolds Ate My Baby Kickstarter that I’ve been behind-the-scenes on; that’ll end on April 3rd. The 50K mark combines Munchkin with Kobolds Ate My Baby!

Onyx Path is moving along; there’s a lot of questions right now, and Rich is taking the time to really think about what the company is doing and what he wants.

We’re focused on GenCon and a few, other foolish surprises…

Firefly RPG Update No. 1

I announced recently that I’m the new Brand Manager and one of the writers for the Firefly roleplaying game line. Yesterday, I published my first update on the Margaret Weis Productions website. If you’re a reader here on my blog, I’ll be linking to the updates and sticking them underneath my progress reports, since this’ll be one of my projects.

Here’s a quote from the post that clarifies one of the common questions:

Q: How does the Firefly RPG differ from Serenity RPG?

A: The new Firefly RPG, which is based on the hit Fox television series by Joss Whedon, is scheduled for a 2013 release; the system(s) are currently in development. Margaret Weis Productions did put out a game based on the Serenity movie produced by Universal Studios in 2005. The system for that game was a science fiction flavor of Cortex Classic.

If you’re interested, read: Ain’t No Better Place In The ‘Verse

Ah, Bloggendipity

Haven’t really blogged for a bit. So, today you get a potpourri of flowering thoughts. Spring is on my mind, though it’s still Winter here. Brrrrr…

There are still stigmas that exist about female writers who pen genre tales. (And no, not all of us write romance, though there is nothing wrong with any author who does or does not.) I feel we need to have a directory of female authors in science fiction, horror, and fantasy. Not only would this help with networking, but I also feel it would help readers, too. There are still a lot of writers who obscure their gender and sometimes it’s hard to find a comprehensive list that doesn’t include the usual suspects. (Not that there’s anything wrong with the usual suspects, either. Feh.) I have looked for one. I feel that either a site like iO9.com or SFWA and the HWA need to join forces on this in a very visible way OR we Kickstart this to pay for development time OR a con like WisCon takes up the charge. Mind you, I don’t have time to take this project on by myself. So, unless somebody else takes up the charge it likely wouldn’t get done.

In other news, I got a beautiful new ring for my milestone birthday that pretty much sums up my personality just by looking at it. Big, sparkly, and unusually-colored, watery stones. At the prompting of a friend, I’m entering a jewelry design contest this weekend. I like the contests where you get a component and you have to make magic out of it! Feeling the need to get back into art in a big way; there’s a summer project on the horizon that I’m really excited about, too. All around, a great birthday.

Work and convention planning is going swimmingly. My routine got thrown off due to an intense deadline, but I’m getting back in the swing again as the week progresses. I have a manageable writing schedule and I am anxious to get e-mail wrangled into submission — almost there! got through 250 today! — so I can focus on a summer of creativity. My schedule has to be very focused; after trial-and-error I know precisely how/what/why/where and when I work best.

Well, given that this post has been sitting on my screen since this morning, and I haven’t been able to get any more periphera extracted from my brain… I’m calling it at this point. Sorry this wasn’t more engaging; just very happy right now and super focused.

Mood: KERMIT FLAIL

Caffeinated Beverages Consumed: Dude. Not enough.

Work-Out Minutes Logged Yesterday: Blargh

In My Ears: Leave you far behind

Game Last Played: Eternal Sonata

Movie Last Viewed: Dredd

Latest Artistic Project: Contest design (In progress)

Latest Release: “The Button” We Are Dust anthology

My New Gig As Brand Manager, Writer for Firefly

Today, I am thrilled to announce that I am the Firefly brand manager for Margaret Weis Productions. I will also be writing for the line, too! Margaret Weis has been a joy to work with and I have a fantastic team filled with very, very talented people.

The Firefly license, which encompasses the hit Fox television series by Joss Whedon, will incorporate role-playing games and supplements so you can game in the ‘Verse.

More news to come!

When Cyber-Dreams Don’t Become You

It’s been a long week. In addition to work, we had another blizzard. The near-constant grey skies have infected me, dragging me down, pulling the clouds over me like a wet blanket. So I’m taking the weekend off. Some project planning, but mostly? Housework — which can be very therapeutic after deadlines — and art. I have a painting I want to start, and a contest entry I have to finish. Mostly though, I need to dump my hands in paint or soil or beads or something — and surround myself with color as evident by my hot pink nails. I knew I was getting stressed out, because I played lots of instrumental frou-frou music and watched animated movies as much as possible. Now, there’s been some studies on cartoons and how they’re bad for you, just like there has been studies about television and cigarettes, and too much of anything is obviously harmful. But, as someone who doesn’t watch TV, on occasion having happy, bouncy characters dance across the screen in the background is quite relaxing when your insides are churning.

Anyway… That’s been my week. Everything’s been delivered. Lots of wheels in motion. And I’m *thrilled* I can relax a bit, because business is healthy for me. Also on my mind has been my interaction with other writers and editors lately. Many people are heavily focused on promoting books (which is different from selling, mind you) so they tap into the latest and greatest marketing-related idea. This is a natural occurrence and something I tend to ignore until it gets in my face. Remember, I’ve spent many years learning everything I can about aspects of the business, working in many corners with volumes of data, primarily so I wouldn’t do that and make better decisions for myself about which publishers I want to work with.

This is why I’m not keen on taking up the call whenever somebody says YOU MUST DO THIS OR ELSE. As a consultant, my job isn’t to demand my clients to do anything, but to present options and ask questions. This is what I do for myself as well. A lot of it has to do with a very simple fact: in order to publicize, you need an audience to promote to, and you get audience through content, and connecting to the readers who are vested in what you create. I know where many of my readers are and how they connect with me. But (and this is the most important concept here) what works for Stephen King isn’t going to work for me. So, if King said: “Every author should…” because he did something amazing that worked for him either now or a decade ago? Sure, I’ll take a peek at what he said, but I’m not going to drop everything to go do that.

I’m seeing how the need to promote constantly is affecting people. Besides ruffling feathers, it comes across as desperation if all you do is say: “HEY I HAVE THIS CRAP OVER HERE YOU MUST PAY ATTENTION TO.” Now, this doesn’t happen all the time, because often this depends upon the strength of your existing audience and, sadly, how much time you spend online. The more you’re on the internet, the more stressed you’ll be — if you aren’t grounded in the real world. Somebody famous… Say… Like King… Can get away with that sort of PR thing. But, chances are you won’t if your readership is a fraction of his, because there’s less forgiveness among readers and, more importantly, peers. The flip side to that, of course, is temporary fame. And hey, if that works for you? Brilliant!

There’s a lot of people who I adore for who they are, but I can’t stand them online or wouldn’t work with them. I take a pragmatic approach for the simple reason that I won’t ever focus solely on heavy amounts of promotion. It’s not a good long-term solution and a huge time sink. I care about working with great publishers, developing readership, and creating high-quality content that people will want to consume. That means I need to have a good relationship with a publisher (or retailer) who has a better reach than I might just through selling on my website, and I have to plan a release schedule either for myself or with someone else. It’s not the reach I have via traffic, it’s whether or not people will take action after responding to my work — like many did with The Queen of Crows, which is just a small taste of what’s to come.

All of this heavy attention to online marketing via social media is really sad to me, because it’s happening ad hoc and is not the only way to promote or sell books. Publicity is secondary to the work — especially if you don’t know who your audience is. PR feeds on itself and word will spread if you have people who care and don’t feel obligated to help. Believe me, I’ve seen the referrals that happen secondarily to when someone famous Tweets — it’s not as powerful as you might think. You still need people to care about your work, not just you. I know everybody’s talking about platform, but this is just one way to generate interest. It’s not the only way. What are you creating? Don’t you want readers who care about your art?

Word of mouth, because of the time and uncertainty involved, has traditionally been the last PR stand, not the go-to method. Worse, when it doesn’t work? Or you’re broke? Well, you resort to desperation because you think that over-sharing is how you get readers — because if Stephen King can do it, then you can, too. This will pass. It’s happening now because of the saturation of content, but it’ll become less effective the more changes we encounter online and, more importantly, the more people rely on this tactic, too.

For myself, I’m going to keep writing, keep making art, keep building relationships, keep doing my thing.

Mood: 80s synthesizer nostalgia

Caffeinated Beverages Consumed: Um… I need to get some. More. LOTS MORE.

Work-Out Minutes Logged Yesterday: Blargh

In My Ears: Livin’ On A Prayer

Game Last Played: Castle Panic with the Wizard’s Tower Expansion

Movie Last Viewed: Atlantis

Latest Artistic Project: Contest design (In progress)

Latest Release: “The Button” We Are Dust anthology

Let’s Dance

Went with a friend to dance last night, and I am super sore. Slept in, too, so it’ll be a late night tonight, but it’s that good kind of pain when you’re bumpin’ and groovin’ and shakin’ it. The thing is, the dance is “Zumba” but it wasn’t. Not really. This was extraordinarily organic, fluid, and incorporated hip-hop, too. And I loved it. The class instructor is named “Monica,” and she’s an inspiration. Dropped 77 pounds and cured herself of Type 2 Diabetes.

But what was really noticeable to me, were the people in this room. All colors. All shapes. All sizes. All ages. And it’s been a while since I’ve gotten that. My local gym, being a smaller room as opposed to a giant center, gets that, too. And it’s the way I want to groove and move, because when I’m not surrounded by super-fit hyper-marketers — then I have more fun. I guess there’s a ton of other women that agree with me, too, because that’s pretty much all I heard. Down with the super-fit hyper-marketing to make me feel bad about how my body is shaped now. Up with the positive reinforcement to move how I want to on my terms, and be motivated by somebody who’s enthusiastic without ramming sales pitches down my throat.

I suppose I could, once again, provide my lamentations that while I love, love, love fashion as art in all its forms — Size 12 should not be considered the XXL on the runway. But that’d just be silly. ‘Cause then I’d just be beyootching instead of doing something about it and I am, in my own way, by dressing the way I want to and incorporating fashion where it’s appropriate.

Just nice to be able to find a place to dance that way, too.

Mood: Wintermudgeon Squared

Caffeinated Beverages Consumed: NOT ENOUGH

Work-Out Minutes Logged Yesterday: 60. SERIOUSLY. SIXTY!

In My Ears: The snow plow

Game Last Played: War of the North

Movie Last Viewed: A Good Day To Die Hard

Latest Artistic Project: Contest design (In progress)

Latest Release: “The Button” We Are Dust anthology