Caroline Gerardo's Blog, page 46

SEO Poets

open the safety SEO poetry
Scapegoat Review published my flash fiction piece: Entropy. The Fall issue is out today.



poem



If you are one of the writers and poets included in this issue, I invite you to chat on twitter. I found two perhaps of the fellow creatives but a number are not using twitter. I hope you join me in a spirit of fun and experimentation. I see Jillian Mukavetz @blackglassmoon and Gregory Crosby @monostich and I am not certain Kiely Sweatt is @poetrybrotheles



Twitter is a medium that can be flash fiction at its finest. Tweet your best shorts. We will find something new. I am using the hashtag: #poetlines – ( credit to Al Boudreau ) this will help us find each other and invite others to join. Post your links to Scapegoat Review or other sites where your work or writing that you find is great.









caroline gerard



Poem Rose Caroline Gerardo
My name on the header is spelled Caroline Gerard, and those who know me realize my maiden name is Caroline Gerardo. I suffer from name confusion. I use my initials when spoken to ( C. G.) since I was a child. I was married to Barbeau and used the Barbeau name as C. G. Barbeau for eighteen or more years. I also have been misnamed Carolyn and Caroline Gerard. I used Gerard to sound less ethnic- a blonde girl with an ethnic name, I am no longer afraid. @cgbarbeau I'm calling this post Poets Search Engine Optimization ( SEO ) because it was so difficult to find the fifteen plus poets in this issue. Should poets make a million dollars on Twitter too?Copyright © Caroline Gerardo 2011

Contest Twitter Prizes Books Novels Fun

Just for fun in the next

thirty days or so

 I am running a contest.

 Not your usual contest.

  Lust Tweet Contest



































Lust Tweet Contest Prizes









Winner need not be present to win.

Winners will be drawn from the following terms and conditions:

My children randomly will pick the weekly winners.





 ENTER TO WIN One Of Two methods:



1. Tweet must include @cgbarbeau   and the amazon link (must be a 301 link if you don't know what a 301 link is you better ask me) to my short story LUST http://www.amazon.com/Lust-ebook/dp/B0057AD7US#_

or http://amzn.to/nSYFc3



2. Tweet to @cgbarbeau something about dating, or my actual short story Lust that you read.



RT allowed one person per customer per day. individual different tweets as many as your loving heart desires.

Lust Tweet Contest



Example Tweet:  -- @cgbarbeau my worst date was set up by my brother http://amzn.to/nSYFc3 --

Example Tweet:  -- I read your short story http://amzn.to/nSYFc3 and I am never dating again.







Winners will be drawn from the following terms and conditions

Tweet must include @cgbarbeau http://amzn.to/nSYFc3

Prizes:



$ 50.00 Gift certificate to Outback Steak house

$ 40.00 coupon to CVS or your local drug store (for whatever - Halloween candy or...)

pink rose plants

godiva chocolates

sushi knife

dating for dummies

$ 40 VISA Card to take out your date.









No, I'm not giving away a Kindle.

 

Have fun. Buy my short story.

 

 

 

 

Terms and conditions apply. Additional prizes will be added. By entering you accept my children's decisions as final and random. If you are nice and over 21 I might send you a great bottle of wine. Proof of age required. If you are really good maybe I'll make you dinner, but then after you read this story that might be scary.

 

 

 

 

Contract Law for Indie Authors

Ellis Island Boat Seems Right for Indie Authors Inventing New Modes in the New World copyright © Caroline Gerardo 2011

Contract law for indie authors:



I believe in understanding how things operate from the ground up.

I am working on two book projects that involve writing contracts.  Allow me to chat about each issue in vague terms as the parties have not all come to the table and finished their after dinner drinks, or poison potions - whatever the result may end.





One project is for an interactive poetry book. The publisher wants me to sign two clauses that I have struggled with for more than a month. First they want me to assume any and all legal liability in the event if or when I am sued. Second they want to serve notice to certain person(s) who have borrowed, profited from, stolen, and sold my copyrighted and trademarked work product. In the first stage of this process I attempted to get "model release" forms from some twenty persons in my life whom I may or may not have written fiction,  yes fiction, protected by the First Amendment, or fictional pieces similar to events in my past.



I have in hand eighteen of the nineteen release forms signed and witnessed. This may or may not cover me should I decide when I am a movie starfish to write a memoir. (I'm not writing a memoir - that is a joke.) The one release I do not have in hand is from the most contentious, litigious, and steal some party.



I have little faith in our legal system. No offense intended to my sister and brother who both practice law. My experience with attorneys is more cordial than my memory of dentists.

I looked into bonding around the issue, but the cost is HUGE. Weighing my possible profits of a poetry hardbound against the dollar amount of annual insurance makes the deal impossible.



Secondarily they want me to  sign an agreement to continue to keep the softwear, technical process and mastermind company name silent.  This is fine with me, but I countered for the E and O insurance to be paid by the publisher. No answer back to date.



If I had an agent who comes across agreements every single day, I would be in a better position to make my best practices choice. What did the Cowardly Lion say, "I do believe in agents?"



 I have read a number of Lexis Nexis cases now regarding First Amendment and have a good idea that if I was filed upon I would 99.9% likely win - but - the big bug on the pickle- legal fees are a terrible cost to pay.



There is another legal publishing question I have to pose to any writers who come upon this post. What klout can indie authors hold over the massive new numbers of torrent sites, stolen books of your copyrighted work? I am now on my third letter campaign with a new ( likely the same company owners) as the last one I found. What success have you had in getting the torrent site to 1. take it down 2. pay you for the loss and the profit they made from advertising and farming all those innocent souls who signed up giving private information to well, yes under the radar types.



I have good recommendations on the following attorneys :

I am thinking of setting up a website : We will help you for FREE to stop the book pirates.

Input PLEASE









Elaine P. English



Elaine@ElaineEnglish.com











Michael A. Kahn



mkahn@brickhouselaw.com







Alan J. Kaufman



alan@kaufmanpublaw.com











F. Robert Stein



rstein@pryorcashman.com











Daniel N. Steven



dsteven@dsattorney.com







David B. Wolf



david@davidwolflaw.com

Blood Sky Storm -- poem

Strange storms coming.

Sky speaks hemoglobin.

She manipulates hearts.

Too fragile for a man,

 girl's first menstrual period,

go pretend bravery captain sailor,

I hear the siren song.

I see the iris of your soul.

Storms of volcanoes, rust hurricanes

and sun spots erasing states and cities.

Keep names in alphabetical order to quell fears.

I'm thinking of building a storm cellar,

or a bomb shelter –

Would this keep evil fairies out?





What letter are we upon-

Irene has passed then Jose and Katia.

Soothsayer says use Jose and Katia as characters,

to keep fear at bay, but she's is an unreliable

narrator poking shanks in my side.

I had one of my nightmares where I can't speak,

I can't seem to wake up and this tree trunk sits upon my chest.

Or was I up in my nest?

Please call 911, no one can hear me.













Photographs and poetry copyright © Caroline Gerardo 8/5/ 2011 Blood Sky Storm

Dark Past - Poem

Photograph copyright Caroline Gerardo "Jane Brucker Reading" 2011


Dark matter is 22 percent of universe,

and dark energy seventy three-

we survive black constant cruelty.How do you speak Awijilah, Gaelic and Bengali?

Secrets in a ground wine cellar under the red gendge,

Berber, not the carpet from Home Depot you see.

The cells float this field from what ink did decree



Dropping etymological short vowels into open vineyards,

once corks came from Porto and foil was molten lead.

One more glass of Pinot will surely cloud my head.



My five foot tall frame deceives.

"Please get to the story C. G. -"

Dark matter is 22 percent of universe,

and dark energy seventy three-

we survive black constant cruelty.





Life more fragile than paper bags of water on concrete-

Wear a lead cape to bounce bullets of betrayal descrete

He points anger weapons in a back pack Hello Kitty

loaded and irresponsibly firing at the heart.

My five foot tall frame deceives.



copyright © caroline gerardo 2011











Buy My Book

Steve Nedelton asks me this morning how have I sold so many books... here is my public answer. from: Caroline Gerardo to: Steven Nedelton subject: re: Friends



I never pay for ads, submissions, or permission. Be yourself but be fearless - expect failure but be ready to get up and be better. I'm working on my craft as my number one goal. I write seven days a week - work full time and am sole provider for my family... all that aside I am going to give you some input here and please put your turtle shell on and ears open (I have a desert tortoise who is the dearest).



Focus on three silos at max- you need to budget your time for the number one (writing and family) above.



Pick three different internet tools and one live face to face one.



Buddy up with authors not necessarily same genre ( but you will find kindred make the most sense if they are smart and understand we are not competing with each other). You need to blog- you need to pour your writing practice warmups in the blog or do reviews of what you adore. Wordpress is fancier I use Blogger just because I'm a loyal Google brander.  Don't bother with writing things that bore you or are negative - people don't want that in short posts. Naysay will drag your heart down. You MUST change your photo on amazon -it is GREEN and you need a haircut and a relaxed look. The glasses are good you have a cute face but the picture is awful and readers (like everything in the world) judge a book - and the author by its cover. Be you. Its fine to be quirky, authors never dress fashionable.

Think branding - your writing, your presence, your posts, are your whole soul opened for ridicule. Be fearless, I repeat. Link up your silos but don't link all four - link two and two because readers will get bored with "buy my brand." I started using twitter 42 days ago, and just love the flash fiction aspect of writing without self editing, this may not be for you.

Go fill out Listorious with all the definitions and details. You can add- tags. What are your brand's five tags? USE them. Mine are: literary, poetry, fiction, contemporary, books. Yours I'm going to poke here are probably: thriller, spy, nerd, smart, books.

 I don't like Facebook but many authors just love it and sell books there, try it maybe you will be better there than I. I'm on Linkedin and dabble in some writers and filmmakers groups (I've produced before but not where I'm headed today). Linkedin has sold books for me to business people- most authors will tell you linkedin doesn't work for them. Goodreads doesn't sell books but is an easy place to display covers, find those buddies, and read other work to push yourself to grow. Amazon is where your links all need to point to. Amazon sells the largest percentage of paper and ebooks. Amazon slam dunk beats them all. Go look at the big boys Amazon pages Follet Baldessari Crais - they aren't even getting close to what indie authors have figured out: a slick book trailer does not sell your book- content does. The content is you - so be fearless, bleed content, the world is starved for new. God they are so tired of T.V. if you are true to your "brand" you will succeed.

Other methods: indie bookstores go to readings, go to your local library and leave fliers - try different things, figure out what works for you.

I haven't done blog tours- some swear by this and physical tours J A Konrath is a master at the dog and pony show from the back of his car and he blogs about it. He and Locke know how to package and market on a budget with great success.



Authors Den, Agent Query, Bookcountry, a million others find the ones that you like.



Russell Blake said to me yesterday, this is a long haul not a foot race 



Read. Be happy. Pay it forward. Be kind. Let the trolls and negatives roll off like a duck.



Start now.















buy steve's books here:



while you are at it buy Russell's

 better yet buy all my books....

Proud Mom

Photo 8-28-2011 copyright Caroline Gerardo





Family Prayer





It is almost Fall

My favorite season

School starts in a week

We will fly down to California

Summer locked down in the prairie ends

I will miss the skys in Wyoming at daybreak,

Long rides on Shorty into the National Park across the river,

and I'll give Big Rainbow tomatoes (heirloom) fireworks in a basket to the neighbor.

I look forward with great anticpation to the days ahead, when my middle child attends High School.

The games we play, "what 'cha thinkin of?" when we reveal our true hearts as a team family together bind.

I anticipate with amazement Carson's soul growing as a strong oak tree sharing his spirit with earth.

I thank God for my blessings, for three children who I treasure more than I can speak.

Will the barn owl be here when we return before Halloween?

It will be fun to surf again at Monarch Beach,

and catch sunlight dancing in the foam.

My great fortune is wherever

I am with my children

and God is home.

Solar Flares Poem

Copyright Caroline Gerardo © August 26 2011 photograph and poetry"Self Portrait Death Mask" (photo title)



Electric FlaresI'm not afraid of sunspots and solar flares.

A warrior soul faces phonies, valkyries, and queries.





You go hide behind polypropylene umbrellas,

eating second, third grace spread on the prairie.





Lawyers say fire the guns, win a gazillion pretties.

It is not that I hesitate to unleash the A bomb,

I lived in Los Alamos as a tot,

the dust is the source of my particulate cancer.



I'm not afraid of solar flares.

Playing solitaire you swallow easy dazzle cake,

a sweet gooey duck hanging in the window.

Open birdcage with moths of psychobabble.

Unleash the pennies of the furies.

I am not afraid.





Poet Lament To Scott Wannberg

Scott Wannberg, poet Lament  copyright © Caroline Gerardo August 22, 2011



Scott Wannberg said





You told me,

"Our measure is when we are dead."

"The amount of gold inside my teeth?"

A memory so pushcloudy:

"Tonight's reading, my house

next to Marilyn Monroe's

last pill on Sixth Helena Drive."

At the Bosendorfer piano

Charlie Haden misses his twins.

English Sheepdog, Byron 

guards the Dutch Door.

"You are too beautiful to be a poet or a painter."

In rage. I count Plath, Sexton-

today I tell you Lisa Zaran & Daisy Fried.

Wake up take a challenge,

though we have not spoken for centuries,

your shy intellect is in our hearts.

I am a cocoon of solitude,

cone of silence with prolific words,

never in the nick of time.

A passion vine overtakes my magnolia,

I planted it to feed the monarchs.

God knows I take care of my children but

to recall to feed the birds is a millet story.

Come scatter black seeds,

I have children to outlive me,

a geriatric pregnancy cancer miracle.

Pray I find the poems you wrote in my journals

I carried around like a Bible.

They are not lost in the fire,

or in the devastation choices for cheating men.

I am now Hephaestus, beauty is my creation

I am a living poet with work ahead.

Poem: Rear View Mirror

Rear View Mirror Caroline Gerardo © copyright 2011

Adam will feel shame again.

A fox's venetian red coat glows.

His heart desires raw chicken.

Breast not feathers, and entrails.

He steals the best parts.

counting his krugerrands

some lesser will clean after

You will feel shame again

motis operendi drives the vehicle.

Conquer tuck under secret wing

Search the fingernails

 bacterium destroying soul

Wash the container, recycle new love.

Don't use the rear view mirror.

Don't send an apology to absolve yourself.

In time you will feel shame again but never understand what you made to ash