Amanda Bonilla's Blog, page 9
February 24, 2011
WIP Song of the Week
This song works perfectly for the early part of Shaedes 3. Enjoy!
February 23, 2011
Indie? Commericial? Both?
Okay, so I really wanted to post this the day after the Grammies, but since my blog schedule was already full, it's going up a bit late. Really, my brother-in-law is the inspiration for this post. You see, he's an Indie snob. He avoids all things mainstream like the plague. He posted this huge rant the day after the Grammies expressing his excitement over Arcade Fire's Album of the Year win and basically said main-stream, commercial artists could shove it...well, you get the picture. This got me to thinking, though. Isn't Indie really Pre-commercial?
Think about it, a few years ago, Green Day wasn't considered commercial or main stream. But after they won a Grammy, a mainstream audience took notice. Their popularity soared and their songs were being played along side other Top 40 artists. Then the detractors started wagging their tongues calling Green Day sell-outs and shouting to the heavens that the band no longer cared about their indie roots. Really? I mean, seriously?? I like Green Day. I liked them pre-commercial success (uh, Brain Stew...brilliant!) as well as after. And isn't it every artist's goal to reach the largest audience possible? Of course it is! We WANT millions of people to buy our CD's, books, DVD's.
Think of Arcade Fire as the Indie pubbed author. They've been around for a while, found their popularity in a smaller, yet no less valid audience. They've perfected their craft, played the venues, paid their dues. Then, one day, some mainstreamer somewhere happens to hear one of their songs, passes it on to someone else, and so on and so forth. Their peers in the music industry start paying more attention to them as well. And before you know it--BAM-O! Grammy. In the weeks that follow, mainstream music customers grow curious, they buy their albums, and so it goes. Arcade Fire is no longer "Indie" but "Commercial". A great literary example of an author going from indie to mainstream is Audrey Niffenegger. She sent The Time Traveler's Wife as an unsolicited submission to MacAdam/Cage, a successful indie publisher in California. The book has sold millions of copies and from I found on the interwebs, her second book sold for a seven-figure advance.
Same goes for commercial, or "traditionally" pubbed authors. Think of them as Rhianna. Agented, contracted, publicized, she's got a cameo in a dozen records this year, as well as her own successful album. Everyone knows who she is, they recognize that trademark red hair she's sporting lately, and there isn't an hour of the day when some radio station, somewhere isn't playing one of her songs. Yet where was she on Grammy night? Sharing the SAME stage as Arcade Fire. Singing to the SAME audience. Building a fan-base in the mainstream, television viewing world.
Indie? Commerical? No matter how you classify yourself, we all have the same goal, to put our books out into the world and have them read by the masses. Otherwise, we'd just print out our manuscripts, put them in a binder and circulate them to friends and family only. We're all on the same staircase, people. We're just on different steps. What do you think? Is Indie really Pre-commercial or will there always be a line separating two artistic sides of the street?
Think about it, a few years ago, Green Day wasn't considered commercial or main stream. But after they won a Grammy, a mainstream audience took notice. Their popularity soared and their songs were being played along side other Top 40 artists. Then the detractors started wagging their tongues calling Green Day sell-outs and shouting to the heavens that the band no longer cared about their indie roots. Really? I mean, seriously?? I like Green Day. I liked them pre-commercial success (uh, Brain Stew...brilliant!) as well as after. And isn't it every artist's goal to reach the largest audience possible? Of course it is! We WANT millions of people to buy our CD's, books, DVD's.
Think of Arcade Fire as the Indie pubbed author. They've been around for a while, found their popularity in a smaller, yet no less valid audience. They've perfected their craft, played the venues, paid their dues. Then, one day, some mainstreamer somewhere happens to hear one of their songs, passes it on to someone else, and so on and so forth. Their peers in the music industry start paying more attention to them as well. And before you know it--BAM-O! Grammy. In the weeks that follow, mainstream music customers grow curious, they buy their albums, and so it goes. Arcade Fire is no longer "Indie" but "Commercial". A great literary example of an author going from indie to mainstream is Audrey Niffenegger. She sent The Time Traveler's Wife as an unsolicited submission to MacAdam/Cage, a successful indie publisher in California. The book has sold millions of copies and from I found on the interwebs, her second book sold for a seven-figure advance.
Same goes for commercial, or "traditionally" pubbed authors. Think of them as Rhianna. Agented, contracted, publicized, she's got a cameo in a dozen records this year, as well as her own successful album. Everyone knows who she is, they recognize that trademark red hair she's sporting lately, and there isn't an hour of the day when some radio station, somewhere isn't playing one of her songs. Yet where was she on Grammy night? Sharing the SAME stage as Arcade Fire. Singing to the SAME audience. Building a fan-base in the mainstream, television viewing world.
Indie? Commerical? No matter how you classify yourself, we all have the same goal, to put our books out into the world and have them read by the masses. Otherwise, we'd just print out our manuscripts, put them in a binder and circulate them to friends and family only. We're all on the same staircase, people. We're just on different steps. What do you think? Is Indie really Pre-commercial or will there always be a line separating two artistic sides of the street?
February 22, 2011
Magic and Mayhem - Digital, Paper, or Both
Hey guys! A quick reminder that if you haven't entered my contest to win either a $25 Barnes and Noble gift card or a synopsis critique, there's still time to enter! Just check out the original post here. I'll be picking a winner at the end of the week.
In the meantime, I'm blogging at Magic and Mayhem today, talking a little about my love of paper books versus my new obsession with e-books. Check it out!
In the meantime, I'm blogging at Magic and Mayhem today, talking a little about my love of paper books versus my new obsession with e-books. Check it out!
February 21, 2011
Contest Time!!!
Okay, so I promised a contest a month until SHAEDES OF GRAY sees the light of day. Without further ado, here's contest numero uno! I'll pick a random winner at the end of the week and you'll get your choice of prize! That's right! Hurray for choices! You can have your pick of either a $25 Barnes and Noble gift card or a Synopsis Critique. According to one of my CPs, I write a pretty mean synop so this was her idea. ;) Synops are usually the bane of writerly existence. When an agent asks for one, I swear I can hear a collective groan in the universe. In the past year, I've written my fair share. For books I hadn't even written yet. So, ya, you could say I'm getting fairly good at it.
All you have to do to enter is leave a comment. If you mention this contest on your Twitter or FB, send me a link in the comments and you'll get another entry! Blog about it and link to in the comments and you'll get one more entry! YAY FOR CONTESTS! I can't believe the count-down to December has already begun!
All you have to do to enter is leave a comment. If you mention this contest on your Twitter or FB, send me a link in the comments and you'll get another entry! Blog about it and link to in the comments and you'll get one more entry! YAY FOR CONTESTS! I can't believe the count-down to December has already begun!
February 18, 2011
Snow, Snow, Go Away!
Winters are long in Idaho. Looooong. We won't see green grass until April. March if we're lucky. I want to see a view out of my window that isn't a blanket of white. I found these pics I took over the past couple of summers. Spring is right around the corner, right?
February 17, 2011
WIP Song of the Week
This song is from the first book in another urban fantasy series I'm working on. It's full of bad choices, secrets, and oh yeah, demon slaying! I'm a 90's music junkie, Bush being one of my all time fav's. Gavin Rossdale's voice is yummy! Enjoy!
February 16, 2011
Grandma, Howdy Doody, and Julia Child
My grandma passed away last week. She was 95 years old and it wasn't unexpected. I'm now officially grandma-less as my other grandma passed away a year and a half ago. I was thinking about what I loved the most about my grandma, Mary. Isn't that the perfect grandma name? She was a woman surrounded by books. She was progressive, she attended college, she believed that a woman should be educated and able to take care of herself. She also sort of reminded me of Julia Child. She even had my grandpa build custom counters in their cabin to accommodate her height. That's probably where the similarities end, but who can tell why kids perceive things the way they do.She used to read to my sister and I when we were little. Our all-time favorite book was one of those little Golden Books: Howdy Doody's Animal Friends. Whenever we went to her house to visit, my sister and I would run straight for the drawer where she kept it. We'd climb up into her lap and she'd read it. She had a the BEST voice for reading aloud. Mellow, soft, with just the right amount of inflection. It was magic when she read.
I never saw her without a book. She was a regular at her local libraries. The librarians knew her by name and would put aside books they thought she'd like. She loved Dick Francis. She didn't buy a lot of books, she was a very frugal and practical woman. But boy, her library card must have smoked from over-use. :) Even when she got older, and her eyesight wasn't as good, she looked for large-print books. Whatever she could get her hands on. Oh, and she was AMAZING at crossword puzzles. Seriously. She even had crossword dictionaries!
Thanks for reading to me, Grandma. Thanks for making me bowls of popcorn and for buying Honey Nut Cheerios. Thanks for putting a bay leaf in the chili and telling me and Niki that whoever got it in their bowl would have good luck. Thanks for sewing beach cover-ups for me out of big fluffy beach towels. Thanks for teaching me how to make the most kick-ass Thanksgiving turkey ever. Say hi to grandpa for me.
