Z.R. Southcombe's Blog, page 12
July 7, 2016
On choices, risk-taking, envy and not complaining
Heads up: this is a long, ranting post. I’ve found the posts that are hardest to hit ‘publish’ on are the ones that most need to be posted. It should be noted that it is not aimed at any one. It’s just my reaction to a build-up of people’s comments this year, and sort-of a lecture I need to hear myself. It’s also a bit rambly. Sorry about that. My overwhelming points are: a) Don’t envy me, please! The grass...
June 29, 2016
Passion, Persistence & Problem Solving – A pep talk from children’s author, Jo Carson-Barr
I met Jo Carson-Barr at a seminar by Joanna Penn at the end of 2014, just before my very first book release. As I’ve grown to know her, I’ve come to have a deep respect for her positive energy, kindness, and creative spirit. So much so, in fact, that she’s featured in the second edition of the (w0)manpower zine. We’re also working together on the NZ Book Festival committee, and Jo continues to inspire me with her can-do attitude. Here, she...
June 26, 2016
Business Blog: My three brand words (a work in progress)
Yesterday I blogged about using three words as a guide when you want to do ALL the things, and after writing that post I started pulling together ideas. I used book reviews, things people had said, and personality quizzes. But then this really cool thing happened at work. A customer came in saying her eight-year-old daughter had gone to the Tauranga Zinefest, and had come away inspired to not only make her own zines, but also make her own books....
June 25, 2016
Business Blog: How to have cohesive branding when you’re a Jill (or Jack) of all trades.
I like listening to podcasts on my walks. Sometimes I tune out from them as my own thoughts wander, but there’ll often be one or two points that I take out of them for my own practice. Last week I was listening to this podcast from Tiffany Han, interviewing Emily McDowell. Tiffany is a business coach who I first heard of when listening to another one of her podcasts, and Emily is a gifts, stationery and greeting card designer. They are...
June 13, 2016
In the Studio: New art & creativity book announcement
I’ve been wanting for a while to create a non-fiction book, and I knew it would have something to do with my own journey and something to do with creativity. What I’ve come up with is not quite what I expected. In fact, it’s quite unlike anything I could have expected, and I am incredibly excited about it. It will be titled Art Workshop. It’s about exploring the process of artmaking in a way that a ‘real artist’ might, keeping an...
June 9, 2016
Taking a break from fiction
So I’ve been working on the sequel to You Can’t Cure a Witch’s Curse, and a few chapters in decided I was going to switch tacks and do a wordless book. Then I came up with an art book idea which I was going to do alongside it, but I am SO much more excited and naturally curious by visual inspiration right now that I’ve realised it’s time to give fiction a break. This doesn’t mean I’ll stop writing, of...
June 2, 2016
In the Studio: DIY Zine Kit
I’m heading over to the Tauranga Zinefest this weekend, and since it’s strictly a zinefest I’m not allowed to exhibit my fiction books. So, I figured this is a great opportunity to stretch my brain and fill my table with something else. For a few weeks, I had a poetry and art zine in mind, but I barely made any progress and I know it sounds like a lame excuse, but I just wasn’t feeling inspired. And then I had...
May 31, 2016
Eastlife 2016
We look back on where The Caretaker Series has led to, discuss the ‘dark’ factor of books 2 & 3, and celebrate the Sir Julius Award shortlisting. Read the full interview here.
May 27, 2016
Guest Post: On the importance of good cover art
It’s been a while since I’ve had a guest post on my blog, but I’m making up for it with a few in the next month or so, kick-starting with Samantha Bryant, fellow member of the Writers Coffeehouse, and writer of women’s fiction. Judging My Books by Their Covers Writing a book is difficult, but selling one? That’s a whole second level of difficult. Most writers aren’t also marketing experts, graphic artists and social media mavens. Though writers who stay...
May 24, 2016
Booksellers NZ Conference 2016: Self Publishing & Validation
Last week I was honoured to receive an invitation to speak at the Booksellers NZ Conference. On a personal and an industry-wide level, this means a lot to me. PERSONAL Before deciding to ‘go indie’ and self publish, one of my concerns was validation. See, if you’re traditionally published, you have the publisher’s backing that your work is to a publishable standard. But if you are your own publisher, then you are declaring your own work as ‘good’. Surely that’s a...
