Mat Nastos's Blog, page 16
May 11, 2012
Quick & Dirty Video Review of: The Adventures of Lazarus Gray by Barry Reese
Click here to view the embedded video.
My video review today is brought to you in glorious black and white as I take a look at the New Pulp short story collection, “The Adventures of Lazarus Gray” by Barry Reese.
The recap, for those of you who don’t watch video: Lazarus Gray is a new pulp novel in the vein of Doc Savage. Like the Savage in the Robeson novels, you’ve got a character in Lazarus who is perfect, fantastic in everything he does, is loved by everyone around (except bad guys, who hate him) and followed unquestioningly by a band of people he’s saved in the past. At any point in the various Lazarus Gray stories you could have swapped out the name “Clark Savage Jr” and I might not have noticed.
That’s not a bad thing, since a lot of the new pulp work is made up of “homages” to classic pulp characters and stories. You’re not really reading these things for originality, you’re reading them for the action, adventure and escape. And “The Adventures of Lazarus Gray” delivers those things in spades.
I had two small issues with the collection. First, the fact that Lazarus Gray is probably the least interesting person in the stories. He’s a bit too perfect and too distant, and isn’t all that likable…and that is one of the same criticisms I’d put on most of the Doc Savage stories. Luckily, the rest of the cast and crew make up for that failing.
The only other real issue with the stories is that I made the mistake of reading them all in one sitting, which turned out to be a bad idea. For some reason, Reese wrote the stories with a lot of repetition of text descriptions – some seemed to be cut and pasted copies from one story to the next. While this sort of thing was fine and acceptable for stories published separately – either in various magazines or as consecutive novels over time – it was a tad painful to see all together. I’m a bit baffled by the reasoning behind that particular choice, but it is a minor quibble.
With this release, Barry Reese continues to show why he’s one of the premiere voices in the new pulp movement. The work is excellent and enjoyable.
UPDATE: Barry Reese and his publisher, Tommy Hancock, let me know that some of the Lazarus Gray stories had appeared first in magazines from Pro Se Press. That definitely explains some of the duplication of text, but it doesn’t help as a reader. My suggestion to read the book in multiple sittings stands – trust me, it’ll help you enjoy the work more fully.
-Mat Nastos, Super Genius
www.MatNastos.nat
May 9, 2012
Social Cam Video Post: Prayer Marketing – Sweet, Jesus, Are People Still Doing This?
Click here to view the embedded video.
(Below is a loose transcript of what I talk about in the video – for those of you who prefer reading to watching.)
One of the most rampant problems with creators – in comics, prose publishing and even filmmaking – is the reliance on what I like to cally “prayer marketing.” The best way to explain what I mean by that phrase is to give you is to steal a Tweet my buddy Dwight MacPherson sent me today. Here’s what Dwight said in terms of his marketing plans:
“I’m hoping that if I generate enough quality work, readers will seek me out and find me.”
Now, before anyone jumps up and yells at me for picking on Dwight, I want to say I’m a huge fan of his work – I’ve paid money to buy it in the past and will continue to do so. He’s a fantastic writer and, by all accounts, a great editor…and a really nice guy.
With that out of the way, Dwight’s Tweet is pretty naive, especially nowadays. Producing great work is just the foundation for success and, as Stephanie Meyer has proven, it’s not even really all that essential!
With so much product coming out these days – thousands and thousands of prose releases each month because publishing has become so open and easy – there is now a glut of material available for potential readers. And even the most amazing novel ever written is going to have trouble breaking through that glut without a solid marketing plan – something more than hoping for the best. You need to put together a plan of attack for each and every piece you produce and, even more important, you need to market yourself above and beyond that. You need to build a platform for your work to stand on and for your potential audience to find you on and connect with you over.
That’s the key to succeeding in marketing and sales – finding a way to connect with people. A great product and word of mouth will help, but you need to do more than that. Social networking, when done correctly and efficiently, can be an amazing tool to help you do that.
Marketing can be a bit daunting for an author and it’s tough to find the time and energy to do that. Welcome to the world of the small business owner. It’s not a problem unique to authors, comic book creators or filmmakers. Unfortunately, you need to get out there and attract people to your work – there are no sales without an audience!
As an indy creator or self publisher or author, you don’t have the benefits that come with having a larger company available to take care of that work – and, truthfully, most authors signed at Big 6 publishers still wind up doing a lot of their own marketing (yes, even those who have written “quality work”). You need to find the time to do it or you’ll flounder in near obscurity forever. Coming up with a plan in advance is the best way to make sure you aren’t wasting your time online and will make sure you have more time to put back into creating new work. A little forethought and prep beforehand will help you on your road to building a large enough audience to keep doing what you want to do.
A little advance planning will go a long way…down the road, I’ll talk more about some specific tactics you can use in your online marketing to help things along – and I’ve posted a few tips on my site – www.matnastos.net – in the past.
Don’t fall victim to prayer marketing or “if you build it they will come” thinking because that only works with ghosts and ghosts don’t buy books.
-Mat Nastos, Super Genius
www.MatNastos.net
Social Cam Video Post: Prayer Marketing – Sweet, Jesus, Are People Still Doing This? is a post from: The Official Mat Nastos Website
May 8, 2012
SocialCam Video Post: The Valiant Controversy – Who Cares?
Click here to view the embedded video.
I’ve just started playing around with SocialCam to see how I like their system as a platform for posting quick video blogs. So far, it’s got potential.
For my inaugural SocialCam post, I talk a bit about the recent controversy over the Valiant Comics sales totals for X-O #1, why I think the uproar is funny, and why it really doesn’t matter in the short or long run.
Good times!
-Mat Nastos, Super Genius
SocialCam Video Post: The Valiant Controversy – Who Cares? is a post from: The Official Mat Nastos Website
May 7, 2012
A little sneak peek…
I’m not allow to really show off what I’m drawing right now, or even say what it is. But here’s a little taste!
-Mat Nastos, Super Genius
www.MatNastos.net
A little sneak peek… is a post from: The Official Mat Nastos Website
May 2, 2012
Guest Post – The Tribulations of Writing at Home by James Ninness
(Today’s post is by a good friend of mine, and fantastic writer-stud, James Ninness, and is on a subject I’m sure a lot of stay-at-home authors are very familiar with. James is the writer of the really spiffy webcomic, MYTHOI, from Semantink Publishing…check it out!)
The Tribulations of Writing at Home by James Ninness
Kids are be time consuming beasts.
All the whining and jumping and playing and eating and pooping and peeing… To say that personal time is rare in the presence of spawn is a gross understatement.
For parents with a nine to five, a career can be solace. Eight hours away from the non-stop whirlwind of post-procreation rearing can seem like the most relaxing time of the day.
Unfortunately for stay-at-home writer/parents, there is no such alleviation.
It is difficult enough for writers to stay disciplined. It can seem like we have to force ourselves to sit down in an isolated area, avoiding the temptations of Facebook and Twitter in order to hash our a few words that may or may not supply a bit of income. And that’s without kids. Throw the unstable, everyday nasty of children into the mix and the harmony of wordsmithery is thrown almost infinitely out of balance.
But it is not impossible.
If you are one of the writers of the world, using your children as an excuse to remain unproductive, the truth is, harsh as it sounds, you do not really want to write. Those who want to write make time to write. That’s all there is to it. It may sound like I’m oversimplifying the situation, but it truly is as simple as it sounds.
I have two children, both girls. One has existed for almost three years and the other has been breathing for almost twelve months. Thankfully my children are cute — not in the way every parent says their kids are cute, but genuinely cute — so I don’t hate them. My wife works a nine to five, leaving me to the general care of our cherubs for much of the day.
During this time I have still managed to work on five comic books, six short stories, two film scripts and a series of side projects. I’m not bragging. To the contrary, given my lack of fame, yet modest financial return, I am placing myself in line with most people’s worst-case-scenario. If I can do it, anyone can.
Getting the writing done requires a great deal of flexibility. Some days I wake up at five in the morning to scratch out some script work before my wife heads off to work. Other days I am up into the wee hours of morning after the monsters have been put to bed. The bottom line: I make time because I have to. If I don’t make the time I won’t get the time. If I want to write, that isn’t an option.
Avoid the distractions. Stop buying video games. Don’t use your kids’ nap time to catch up on your favorite DVR’d sitcoms. Consume every minute you get in front of your writing device, transforming the minutes into words. Eventually you’ll end up with something resembling a finished work. It’s all about putting the small moments together into a polished work.
Writing is easy. Throwing words together and calling it a story is a very basic concept that requires little more than a basic understanding of language and button-pushing. Being a writer is a far different experience. It requires willpower and stringent conduct to produce on a timetable efficient enough to meet deadlines while simultaneously developing a quality product on a regular basis.
It’s not unlike parenting. Almost anything with genitalia can reproduce. However, being a good mother or father takes a great deal of patience, love and understanding.
I’ve met plenty of parents who write. They’re a dime a dozen. In order to be a inspiring as both parent and writer one has to make time and remained both disciplined and discerning in every minute of the day. As I said before, it’s simple but it is not easy.
You’ll need help. If you have a spouse, or anyone else to help with the kids, develop a plan with them. Come up with a schedule that works for all parties and stick to it.Take the help that is offered to you and use the time you get wisely.
Kids are time consuming beasts. So is writing. Thankfully life is little more than a string of seconds, minutes and hours.
Use them wisely.
James Ninness is a San Diego-based writer, husband and father. He has released few books through Semantink Publishing (MYTHOI, DUST, The Heaven’s, Drace Grey, and The Undergrounds) and is currently working on more comic books, short stories, some television pilots and a dabble of film scripts. James have wrote a few short films, including AMIRA which took home the Gold Medal for Musical Excellence in a Short Performance Film from the Park City Film Music Festival.
James received received his degree in English: Creative Writing from Cal State University Long Beach in 2007 and has been attempting to make a career out of that degree ever since. He loves meeting new people so feel free to drop him a line, follow him on Twitter or add him on Facebook (links below). James also has a blog wherein thoughts drip out of his brain and onto the interwebs, so take a look at that as well.
www.jamesninness.com
http://twitter.com/jamesninness
http://www.facebook.com/jamesninness
http://jamesninness.wordpress.com/
Guest Post – The Tribulations of Writing at Home by James Ninness is a post from: The Official Mat Nastos Website
April 14, 2012
Fan video review of “The Old Sergeant” novella
This morning, I found a really cool surprise in my email — it’s a video review of “The Old Sergeant” novella I wrote. Needless to say, I was tickled pink by it!
-Mat Nastos, Super Genius
http://www.MatNastos.net
Fan video review of “The Old Sergeant” novella is a post from: The Official Mat Nastos Website
February 20, 2012
Sexy X-23 Sketchcover – take 2
Today I finished up another X-23 pic, on an X-men #2 blank sketch cover. Last time I was trying something a little more along the lines of something Ebas might do – and not coming close. So this time around I did the same character in my more natural style. It fits a bit more with the Glory and Rogue sketchcovers I did a few weeks back.
Drawing attractive women is always a good time, so expect a few more of these in the near future as I work to improve my doodles.
-Mat Nastos, Super Genius
www.MatNastos.net
Sexy X-23 Sketchcover – take 2 is a post from: The Official Mat Nastos Website
February 10, 2012
Captain Mar-Vell sketch cover – Avengers #7
Click for high res versionToday's sketchcover commission is from Bruce G from Facebook. Bruce is also the owner of a Captain America sketchcover I did a couple of months back. The man has great taste!
The guidelines for this particular cover were that it be based on the Kree-Skrull War, have Mar-Vell fighting a skrull,include the three skrull cows and the Vision.
-Mat Nastos, Super Genius
www.MatNastos.net
Captain Mar-Vell sketch cover – Avengers #7 is a post from: The Official Mat Nastos Website
February 7, 2012
Uncanny X-Men #1 sketchcover w/X-23
I'm playing around with trying to make my superhero women sexier and have been studying Ebas and Milo Manara. This one is done all in Pigment Liners and Pitt brush pens.
-Mat Nastos, Super Genius
www.MatNastos.net
Uncanny X-Men #1 sketchcover w/X-23 is a post from: The Official Mat Nastos Website
February 3, 2012
Marketing for the Mainstream – the Problems with Pulp
Sean Taylor, a writer whose work I thoroughly enjoy, posted a couple of questions aimed at comic book and "pulp" writers…I'm guessing he means "new pulp" writers, but I'm not going THERE again! His questions caught my interest because, as a bit of an arrogant bastard, the answers seemed to be pretty obvious to me. They also seemed to mirror what is going on in the comic book industry in terms of shrinking marketplace and trying to expand audience, but that's another post.
Let's take a look at what Sean posted over on Facebook (you can see Sean's post yourself over at his FB profile):
1. Considering the similarities between pulp characters and mainstream comic book characters, you'd think comics featuring pulp heroes would perform better in the marketplace. What do you think is holding them back?
2. What could be done to improve the showing of pulp heroes in the mainstream comic book world, to win over both the retailers and the fans who don't know much (or anything) about The Spider or Doc Savage and their compatriots?
The blatantly obvious answer here is, of course, "Fix your branding." Right now, the impression that "pulp" gives is a retro one, and not "cool" retro. When I think of pulp as it is currently portrayed, I think of the 1930s, I think of old-fashioned artwork and I think of a market full of "homages." I was going to say "knock-offs," but that has negative connotations I didn't want.
Those are my thoughts as a consumer of the material – as a creative-type, I'd add in the term "formulaic" to the mix. If we're talking comics, I might also add un-innovative (is that even a word?).
Are all of those impressions completely fair or accurately reflective of what is actually going on with pulp these days? Probably not. But they seem to be generally accepted by those on the outside looking in. We see cover art that looks like it came right out of the 40s, we see air pirates, warriors fighting on Mars and we see a hundred different variations on the Shadow, Green Hornet or Doc Savage, and not much more.
We're seeing stuff that looks the same as it did for our parents or grandparents, and it wasn't even new or cutting edge to them, either!
The problem the questions are missing, though, is an even bigger obstacle to expansion of the niche market that is "pulp."
The biggest obstacle to the expansion and wider acceptance of "pulp" work is, of course, the people within that little corner of genre fiction. They've taken what used to be a market that appealed to the widest possible audience and brought it down into something that is now only opened to the smallest sliver of readers. Unfortunately – and I say "unfortunately" only in regards to the questions of "why isn't pulp more widely accepted" and "how can it be fixed" – this is completely by choice – the choice of those who currently make and publish the material.
The current "makers of pulp" not only don't want a wider audience, but they are pretty active in making sure anyone from the mainstream that accidentally wanders in is aware they aren't welcome. If you think I'm wrong, try joining a discussion on one of the pulp forums. They are some of the most unwelcoming places I've seen outside of Bleeding Cool! If you're not over the age of 40, haven't read pulp for at least 3 decades and don't have an impressive mustache, then don't bother trying to join in on the conversations there!
Now, this isn't to say that the pulp makers don't want more sales – they do. They want more sales, but they really only want sales from people like them. If you're not one of the "chosen few" or the "right kind of people," then you're better off reading something else.
When you add this unwelcoming, sometimes even hostile, core fanbase to material improperly branded for more mainstream acceptance, what you wind up with is a very small, very hardcore niche product.
If you want to increase your audience, you have to deliver product that appeals to them – you can't just continue along the same rapidly vanishing path and just hope buyers are going to change.
Here are my suggestions:
Update your cover design. People really do judge books by their covers. If you want to get a modern audience's attention, you have to give them something that looks modern. You may think having a cover that feels like a "real pulp" magazine is cool, or you might really want to an homage to a famous comic book cover, but that won't sell your book beyond the audience you already have. The fastest way to cause the mainstream audience to "switch the channel" is to show them something that reminds them of their youth or, even worse, of something they think their parents would have liked.
Yes, there is still a market for "old stuff," as current pulp makers fully realize, it's just not a wide audience and it isn't one likely to grow from where it is right now.
And that's what we're talking about here – growing the current market for pulp.
Take a look at the current marketplace (even more important, take a look at what the marketplace is going to be like when your next product is due out) and see what is bringing the mainstream audience in. Package your product (comic, novel, audio drama, whatever) in a way that will appeal to those people in a similar fashion – action/adventure pulps could take aim at fans of John Woo films or the latest "Mission Impossible" movie or the next James Bond. Spy thrillers can latch on to what is being done on shows like "Burn Notice." Take a look at upcoming big-budget video game releases in your space.
Package your product in a way that will appeal to those audiences. Your interior prose content can remain exactly the same as it is now, you just want to brand your material so that it grabs the attention of someone whose interest is already piqued by another product. This is called "sniping," and every company trying to sell a product does it. There are groups of consumers out there with a specific interest who are actively looking to spend money, and you need to do whatever it takes to get their attention.
Unfortunately, the current branding and packaging techniques being utilized by the pulp makers will not do that. I'm not saying that is necessarily a bad thing – if you enjoy your the size of your current market and are not looking to expand, then you're golden. No changes required. However, if you want to grow your sales and your audience base, then changes need to be made, and that change has very little to do with the content found between the covers.
The product isn't the issue – the creators themselves are doing a great job. The issue is how it's being presented and how it is being "sold" to the public.
Fix that and fix your attitude when it comes to new people wanting to join your fandom. Do those two things and you'll have a product, and a readership, that is much more likely to enjoy more mainstream success.
-Mat Nastos, Super Genius
www.MatNastos.net
PS. In terms of pulp comics, I'd also try to get some more modern, more dynamic artists. To my eyes, pulp comics look the same as they did in the 80s when AC Comics was going strong, and they look the same as stuff being done in the 60s. There has been no real innovation in the comics in decades…but, I'll save that rant for another day. 
Marketing for the Mainstream – the Problems with Pulp is a post from: The Official Mat Nastos Website
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