Rich Samuels's Blog, page 9

Meeting World War II Veterans

 Last week, I had the opportunity to attend a 70th Anniversary D-Day commemoration at the Port of Los Angeles, and met some of the remaining World War II veterans, all of whom are about ninety years old (one female vet was one hundred and four).  They were all in their late teens and early twenties then, but still, when asked, feel the loss of all of those friends and comrades they lost so many years ago.

Nine of the attending veterans received the Legion of Honor, France's highest award, for their service in restoring freedom to that country. Some could still stand as the French Consul General pinned the medal on their lapel, others received their award in their wheelchair. Unfortunately, this may have been one of the last opportunities to honor these veterans directly.

I'd shaken the hands of World War Two veterans in the past, but shaking their hands this time took on a special significance.

In a few years, they will have faded entirely into history. I'm grateful that I had this last chance to acknowledge the enormity of what they did so long ago. Today, we know that D-Day succeeded. I think we sometimes forget how uncertain the outcome had been. These veterans didn't know they would be returning home.

Dwight D. Eisenhower, Supreme Allied Commander during the War, prepared this statement, to be issued in the event that D-Day had failed. It's a sober reminder of what have been.

"Our landings in the Cherbourg-Havre area have failed to gain a satisfactory foothold and I have withdrawn the troops. My decision to attack at this time and place was based on the best information available. The troops, the air, and the Navy did all that bravery and devotion to duty could do. If any blame or fault attaches to the attempt it is mine alone."

The Dark Truth About the Platform People

Though I take the train only occasionally, I generally travel on the same morning train into Los Angeles. I buy my ticket from the automated kiosk and join the closest line. Without fail, I'm preceded in that line by the same group of regulars; individuals that have shared their place on the platform for years. They've become great friends. They share family adventures, discuss their favorite television programs, and even engage in playful teasing. They'll observe other lines up and down the platform, speculating on the lives of their fellow travelers. On rare occasions, their association has reached beyond the platform to birthdays and other family events. 
There appears to a curious limit to their friendship, however.
One of them, though clearly a part of the group, retreats to her favorite, albeit less social, queue  a few minutes before the train arrives.
For those who remain at their traditional platform position, their association appears limited to the station.  Once they climb aboard the train, they say their goodbyes and go their separate ways. They don't appear to have independent onboard social groups. The car they choose to board each morning is the "quiet car," designed to discourage the sometimes raucous conversation they typically enjoy together.
It almost seems as if they need the independent time to cool down from their free, true selves, to their more repressed professional personas. There's no greater symbol of that transition than their enforced route as they step off the train, then walk down a crowded ramp and into a narrow concrete tunnel. Fellow passengers shuffle slowly through the passage, anonymous cogs in a mindless machine.
Those last few moments on the platform in Santa Clarita, perhaps, offer them a desperate last gasp of humanity before darkness descends. 

That's my theory, anyway.

I could be wrong.

Train Writing

One of my most productive writing environments is on a Metrolink train on the hour-long trip from my home in the Santa Clarita Valley to downtown Los Angeles.  I don't think it's because of the the lack of wi-fi, however. I suspect it's the inevitable journey's end that creates an urgent, immovable deadline. At either end, I might not have the time or energy to find the quality time to create—it’s now or never.  On the train, particularly in the enforced silence of the "quiet car," I can't be disturbed. I can’t talk on the phone or with other passengers. I wrote a good portion of the my first book during these commutes, and I'm writing this blog on the way home at end of a long day.
Though I'm sometimes fascinated with the passing scenery, it also can prove somewhat hypnotic, allowing me the opportunity to concentrate on my work without the chance of getting distracted too long by a passing curiosity. 

I've played with the idea of taking a longer trip, perhaps cross-country on Amtrak, to discover what I might create with that opportunity. I actually have in mind the perfect concept–another thriller—to accompany me on the journey...
...but that's for another blog!

Why I'll Blog Every Day

In January, as an experiment, I wrote a blog every day for the entire month. It was a major struggle, but I worked to create content that might be of interest to my assumed readers—writers, filmmakers and those who have supported my writing projects. As the end of the month, my blog readership was at an all-time high, and I suspect individuals in my compartmentalized life were a little more aware of the range of my activities.
Cool by Osmosis
Having said that, I was relieved to return to my occasional blogging schedule. My posts since then have had a higher readership than my posts previous to the January experiment. Content choices and increased awareness of my work both have played a part. Blogging every day, and disciplined social media sharing also helped sharpen my skills in creating responsive content.

Why do I blog?

Writing a novel, at least for me, is a long, complicated process. I can't often bring new content to my readership. Posting blogs allows me to connect with readers much more often. and expand that readership. Selectively sharing my blog entries on Facebook and Twitter have especially been useful in widening my interaction not only with readers, but with resources as I continue to learn my craft and develop my marketing skills.

I've come to the conclusion, though, that for this blog to be truly effective for my goals and objectives as a writer and storyteller, then it's an all or nothing proposition. With that in mind, I'm returning to my daily posts. I'll be sharing my thoughts about writing in general, my own work, marketing and media creation.

I'll also define those goals. I'd like to develop a healthy readership of course, but I'd also like to use the experience of writing and marketing my work to generate the opportunity for some new adventures. I'll be sharing those thoughts, too.

I look forward to your thoughts.

Follow me on Twitter @rickflix
Visit my website at richsamuelsauthor.com

Teasers, Trailers and My Books...

I recently created a book trailer for Ours, a book I haven't written as yet. It's been in the back of my mind for a very long time, but it's still at least a year away from publication, at best. In fact, I'm in the midst of rewriting my second book (the follow-up to My Life at the Bottom of the Food Chain ), the title and plot of which I haven't revealed.



So, why do it?

I work as a video producer/editor, and I'm in the midst of transitioning from Final Cut Pro editing software to Avid Media Composer. I created the Ours trailer as a goal-oriented exercise in becoming more familiar with Avid. Simply following exercises in a manual or video isn't very useful, as far as I'm concerned. Creating real-world content is much more productive and motivating.

At the moment, I don't have the time or resources to actually shoot content for a trailer, so I started to browse for ideas on Videoblocks.com, an affordable subscription-based stock video/audio site I use frequently. A month before, I had used the site in much the same way to create a new trailer for My Life at the Bottom of the Food Chain. Since I'm not ready yet for the reveal of Food Chain's follow-up novel, I searched for content that could serve me in other ways.

The trailer for My Life at the Bottom of the Food Chain
I found stock footage of an abandoned school (and/or office building - it's hard to tell), and thought immediately about Ours. Since this is a teaser, rather than a full trailer, I could afford to be somewhat mysterious with my imagery and effects. A teaser generally provides less information, and is intended to keep the plot line an intriguing mystery, rather than provide the more in-depth expository of a full trailer.

As I continue to ponder and struggle with the question of proper marketing, I'm hoping that his teaser of my third book will help me develop legitimacy and a long-term readership as I more toward completion of my second book. Creating an audience and raising awareness demands a long term plan, and trailers, teasers and other videos, I believe, will be useful building blocks.

Ours, incidentally, is a thriller aimed at an older readership than the middle grade audience I imagined for My Life at the Bottom of the Food Chain.  Text in the trailer, interspersed with all-American images of kids and teens in idealistic settings and a long-abandoned building, reads, "For three years, they lived their lives as if they had nothing to hide...but they did." Down a hallway in the abandoned building, we hear a light knock, and an attempt to open a locked door....

Literally Racing Along

There's been a great deal going on lately in the My Life at the Bottom of the Food Chain world lately.

I was interviewed on the Layered Pages blog, as part of my B.R.A.G. Medallion recognition. I think it came out fairly well - I'm hoping to book more of these interviews in the coming months leading to the debut of the second book in the series.

I released a new book trailer. I'm much happier with this than the original version. It's a very simple tease that I think catches the spirit of the story.

The book trailer (and the landing page linked above) was the center of a Facebook Ad campaign I recently concluded. My primary gain in the campaign was a higher profile, rather than outright sales. The ad itself received numerous likes (which I hadn't expected), and I added more followers to the Facebook Page. To be perfectly honest, the trailer and the campaign didn't translate to sales, at least as far as I can see at the moment (for some markets, sales reports might take up to a month or two to appear). I still haven't quite worked out right approach to turn interest into results.  There are so many factors at play(subject matter, audience reach, ad timing, advertising materials, for example), and it's going to take time to understand exactly how to make this work more effectively. Independent reaction to the book has been positive—but I'm still working on the marketing learning curve...

In the meantime, I'm moving on with the second book in the Food Chain series, and have now delivered a draft to my editor (The Book Scrubber). If my last experience was any indication, we'll be working on this for the next couple of months to further develop and finalize the book for publication. I'm hoping to launch it this fall. I think it captures the spirit of the original, while it moves Alexander's story forward in a fun new direction.

In the next few days, I'll be sharing the title of the new book, and a few plot details. Check here, the Facebook page, or Twitter @rickflix for the latest. Reviewers interested in an advance copy should let me know as soon as possible.

"I Got a Golden Sticker"

Having a digital image of an award is one thing, but getting non-digital proof is a whole different ball game.  It's also a nice, in-my-face motivation to finish the second book in the series!

If you're new here, please check out more about the book at http://richsamuelsauthor.com

Short Stories and Tumbleweeds

In the year since I published my first novel, "My Life at the Bottom of the Food Chain," I've been experimenting with a range of marketing approaches.  I've held a couple of book giveaways on Goodreads, pushed out a series of press releases when appropriate, and tried, the best I could, to encourage reviews on the various online sites where the book is sold. Though I'm working under a modest budget, I've also advertised on a limited basis, and I've given away dozens of promotional copies.

Independent reviews (those I haven't personally recruited) have been everything I could have hoped for, and the recognition I announced here yesterday (see Good Timing: My Book Wins an Award) was a great morale booster for my team (me!).

One particular experiment has been especially frustrating.  As I've been working on the sequel to "My Life at the Bottom of the Food Chain," I thought it would be important to keep my online bookstore active with a possible series of ebook-only short stories based on characters from the book. The first in the series, "Why Do You Think They Call It a Ghost Town?" was released on the traditional sites for 99 cents.  It's a fun story (I think) about Alexander's adventure visiting the real-life ghost town of Bodie, California.

The result was something akin to many ghost towns:

Tumbleweeds.

To be honest, I knew that this was a risky proposition. This is a niche short story, aimed at an audience which may not read short stories, and wouldn't necessarily look for them online. Even so, I must admit, I haven't received a single review on any Amazon, Goodreads or anywhere.

While I'm far enough along the road now that I can say I'm satisfied with the story itself, I remain intrigued the lack of reaction. Good? Bad? Indifferent? I have no idea!  Since "Food Chain" (and it's upcoming follow-up) are really in-depth comedic character studies, perhaps the short story format doesn't work in this "world." Or, perhaps short stories, by their brief nature, don't generate a drive within readers to actually spend the time to create a review.

I had considered the possibility of creating an illustrated version of the story for an actual physical (paper) edition, but now I'm undecided.

Still, even without responses, I'm happy to have a second title available as I continue my quest as an author. I didn't want to disappear for a year and a half, publishing-wise, as I wrote the second book.

Tumbleweeds, after all, aren't obstacles after all. They might be annoying, but you can kick them out of the way pretty easily.

Good Timing: My Book Wins an Award!

"My Life at the Bottom of the Food Chain" has been awarded a "B.R.A.G. Medallion," a reader-curated recognition for independently-published novels in numerous genres.

Reviews, recognition and acceptance, of course, is always appreciated, particularly by a first-time novelist like myself. Recognition from B.R.A.G., the Book Readers Appreciation Group, is particularly meaningful. It represents a direct connection with readers at large, which is one of the greatest joys I've found in this experience.

This recognition comes along at a great time, too. I'm in the latter stages of writing the (as yet unnamed) follow-up to "Food Chain" (with a launch date, hopefully, sometime this fall).  This is naturally a great marketing tool as I work on the next volume in Alexander's tale.

B.R.A.G. is a great resource. It comes with a number of advantages, including a social media campaign, an active website, interview opportunities, and more - if you're an author, or a reader that would like to contribute your services, it's worth checking out. They also have a Facebook page.  I intend to take full advantage of the program.

Marketing has been the greatest challenge in bringing "Food Chain" to an audience. I've been experimenting with a variety of approaches over the past year. I've had good reaction to the book, but I haven't found the "breakthrough" approach to push it to a larger audience.

I keep in mind my friend Lynette Privatsky's suggestion that marketing "Food Chain" will be a slow burn.

Onward!

Follow Friday - and Why!

Twitter's "Follow Friday" concept, where users post a small list of their most appreciated followers, tends to be annoying after a while.  Some, if they're mentioned in a #FollowFriday post, will retweet that post, thereby sharing all others on the list as well. If just two or three followers repost, everyone else on the list is flooded with multiple notifications.

I thought I would try something that might provide a little more value in the spirit of Follow Friday. Instead of simply listing users in a tweet, I'll tweet a Follow Friday link, and bring any interested Twitter users here, where they can see not only who I'm recognizing this week, but why. For all concerned, this might be a more productive approach to sharing and generating followers.

So, here is my list for Friday, March 28, 2014 - along with their Twitter Profiles - and a comment or two from me!

@wyld_stallyn
I make short movies promoting animal shelters because it's the badass thing to do youtube.com/CountyofSDDAS
[My nephew and partner in RoadTrip crime - and a writer of award-winning screenplays]

@TheBookScrubber
I edit, therefore I am. thebookscrubber.com[My niece and owner of this editing/proofreading service - without her, my book wouldn't have seen the light of day!]

@SymposiaBooks 
Hudson County's last & only bookstore! We sponsor community events and buy/sell used books. Our space is available for rental. Support our mission[I'm on the other side of the country from SymposiaBooks, but I appreciate that they will retweet my book news!]
@TheKindleWhispe 
#USAF Vet, Ret #EMS, #indieuthor of Trauma Junkie, #scifi Shades of Amber, Screenwriter & Future #showrunner, Join KM & I will tweet the SH&T outta your books.[Another faithful retweeter of my book news!]
@RashaGoel
Entrepreneur, veggie food junkie, and owner of Bollywood Step Dance! Kinda nice, sorta naughty!
[Good Friend, has appeared in one of my documentaries, and sometime collaborator]
@FloresFamilyFun
We are on Youtube at youtube.com/user/TammyFlor… youtube.com/user/coolas781[The Flores Family provided some great feedback as I wrote my first book! I call them my Canadian Contingent]

@ChristinaKenway
Author of the middle grade novel, The Dragonlord's Heir, and the Ascalon Trilogy. Cosplayer, gamer, and lover of all things Batman.[I think I last met Christina when she was about a year old. Thanks to Facebook (and her grandmother), I can follow the emergence of this YA author!]
@andymooseman
Managing Editor of The Stinger magazine, Co-founder of Pierless Music, Radio DJ, vlogger, blogger, music lover, ex-Drummer, blah, blah, blah.
[Resident of Hastings UK, I first met Andy during a Santa Monica YouTube meet-up in 2010, and caught up with him in Hastings in 2013]

@kenrg
Just a guy who spends too much time online  kengoldstein.ca
[We go WAY back. I could tell ya stories. An old high school friend and YouTube/social media veteran]

[I keep threatening to make a documentary about a certain Florida family that's dedicated to YouTube - here they are!]

@HappySuuz
People know me as FUR's mom - But I make videos too! :) Love GOD, my family, YouTube, the Keys and Disney!  youtube.com/HappySuuz[The Mom. These kids have incredibly cool parents that fully support YouTube madness- one of the reasons I'd still like to make the documentary]

@Fur24
I'm FUR! Yes, MY NAME IS FUR! :) I'm a 16 yr old who shares my life and personality making content for YouTube - so... WHAT THE FUR!?! - JOIN ME! :) youtube.com/FUR[Aspiring filmmaker, writer, and dedicated YouTuber]

@AntinnyWorld
I am me, you are you, and we are in my world now. Welcome to My World!Look behind you  ·  youtube.com/AntinnyWorld[YouTuber, Musician - and he wrote a fantastic review of my book. I quote him]

@DrewDudeTV
I LOVE making Youtube videos, playing video games, doing art, watching TOBUSCUS, CRUSHING ON JENNIFER LAWRENCE, Spending time with God and my family! :)    youtube.com/DrewDudeTV[11 years old, emerging YouTubers - and he bears a striking physical resemblance to Alexander, the main character in my novel - if I can afford to get down to Florida, he just might be in a book trailer...]