Rowena Wiseman's Blog, page 15
September 14, 2014
Small press pop quiz - Fitzcarraldo Editions
What makes Fitzcarraldo Editions different to other publishers?
I decided to set up Fitzcarraldo Editions because, very simply, I believe there is space in UK trade publishing for a serious literary press focusing on ambitious, imaginative and innovative writing, both in translation and in the English language.
Before embarking on this project, I co-founded The White Review with Ben Eastham, and found that there was an appetite for fiction that grappled with contemporary themes and issues as well as experimenting with form and style. As a magazine editor, I got to know the British trade publishing landscape, and it strikes me that there are few presses willing to take risks on serious and 'literary' fiction, much less when it is translated. At Fitzcarraldo Editions, we'll be publishing three novels in the first year and the aim is to try to contribute to the culture by publishing books we feel are important 'literary' novels.
As well as working on The White Review, I also had a job as commissioning editor at Notting Hill Editions for two years. At NHE we published long-form essays: both new editions of classics like Joe Brainard's I Remember (which, amazingly, had never appeared in Britain before), and new work by the likes of Deborah Levy, Joshua Cohen and Jonathan Littell. When it comes to the essay, British publishers are equally conservative: the big publishers tend to stick to publishing 360-page non-fiction blockbusters, whereas their counterparts in France or Germany have imprints dedicated to publishing shorter essays by their important authors. There's a gap in the market for the long-form essay.
What kind of manuscripts are you looking for?
As mentioned above, ambitious, imaginative and innovative writing. I take an ambitious book to be one that explores and expands the possibilities of the form, that is innovative and imaginative in style, that tackles subjects and themes that are relevant to the world we live in.
If someone was to read two books on your list, what should they be?
There are only two at the moment, so this one's easy.
When I was looking for a first novel to publish earlier this year, I was amazed to find out that Zone by Mathias Enard, which I’d read in French when Actes Sud published it in 2008, had never appeared in Britain. It tells the story of a French secret agent, Francis Servain Mirkovic, travelling on a train from Milan to Rome with a briefcase full of information about the war criminals, terrorists and arms dealers of the Zone – the Mediterranean – that he plans to sell to the Vatican. On this train journey, he recounts the violent history of the Zone in the twentieth century, starting with the Balkans War, in which he fought for a far-right Croatian militia. It’s an ambitious book in terms of subject matter, but it takes form very seriously too: it’s a 528-page stream of consciousness novel written as one long sentence (but broken up into twenty-four chapters). It sounds hard to read, but isn’t – the rhythm of the language, and the intensity of the episodes and anecdotes it recounts propel the reader along. It’s also a politically-engaged book that poses many questions about the violent foundations of the Europe we live in today. Charlotte Mandell’s translation, for the 2011 US edition by Open Letters, is excellent. I couldn’t have wished for a better novel to launch a publishing house with.
As for Memory Theatre by Simon Critchley, it’s similarly ambitious in subject matter and form – taking as its starting point the discovery of a hand-drawn astrological chart predicting the author’s imminent death – but firmly rooted in the classical essay tradition that begins with Montaigne. It’s had some very high praise: the novelist David Mitchell called it ‘a brilliant one-of-a-kind mind game occupying a strange frontier between philosophy, memoir and fiction’. It defies categorisation and is also a short book – 72 pages – two things that scare traditional publishing houses.
What are you excited about for the coming 12 months?
In February 2015 we publish Eula Biss's On Immunity: An Inoculation, an essay in the American non-fiction tradition (think Joan Didion meets Susan Sontag) which takes vaccination as its starting point and moves on to discussions of the body, motherhood, paranoia, politics, and even vampires. Beyond that, we'll publish Mathias Enard's latest novel, Street of Thieves, in August 2015. In between, there will be three books, to be announced in the next few weeks.
Visit www.fitzcarraldoeditions.com
I decided to set up Fitzcarraldo Editions because, very simply, I believe there is space in UK trade publishing for a serious literary press focusing on ambitious, imaginative and innovative writing, both in translation and in the English language.
Before embarking on this project, I co-founded The White Review with Ben Eastham, and found that there was an appetite for fiction that grappled with contemporary themes and issues as well as experimenting with form and style. As a magazine editor, I got to know the British trade publishing landscape, and it strikes me that there are few presses willing to take risks on serious and 'literary' fiction, much less when it is translated. At Fitzcarraldo Editions, we'll be publishing three novels in the first year and the aim is to try to contribute to the culture by publishing books we feel are important 'literary' novels.
As well as working on The White Review, I also had a job as commissioning editor at Notting Hill Editions for two years. At NHE we published long-form essays: both new editions of classics like Joe Brainard's I Remember (which, amazingly, had never appeared in Britain before), and new work by the likes of Deborah Levy, Joshua Cohen and Jonathan Littell. When it comes to the essay, British publishers are equally conservative: the big publishers tend to stick to publishing 360-page non-fiction blockbusters, whereas their counterparts in France or Germany have imprints dedicated to publishing shorter essays by their important authors. There's a gap in the market for the long-form essay.
What kind of manuscripts are you looking for?
As mentioned above, ambitious, imaginative and innovative writing. I take an ambitious book to be one that explores and expands the possibilities of the form, that is innovative and imaginative in style, that tackles subjects and themes that are relevant to the world we live in.
If someone was to read two books on your list, what should they be?
There are only two at the moment, so this one's easy.
When I was looking for a first novel to publish earlier this year, I was amazed to find out that Zone by Mathias Enard, which I’d read in French when Actes Sud published it in 2008, had never appeared in Britain. It tells the story of a French secret agent, Francis Servain Mirkovic, travelling on a train from Milan to Rome with a briefcase full of information about the war criminals, terrorists and arms dealers of the Zone – the Mediterranean – that he plans to sell to the Vatican. On this train journey, he recounts the violent history of the Zone in the twentieth century, starting with the Balkans War, in which he fought for a far-right Croatian militia. It’s an ambitious book in terms of subject matter, but it takes form very seriously too: it’s a 528-page stream of consciousness novel written as one long sentence (but broken up into twenty-four chapters). It sounds hard to read, but isn’t – the rhythm of the language, and the intensity of the episodes and anecdotes it recounts propel the reader along. It’s also a politically-engaged book that poses many questions about the violent foundations of the Europe we live in today. Charlotte Mandell’s translation, for the 2011 US edition by Open Letters, is excellent. I couldn’t have wished for a better novel to launch a publishing house with.
As for Memory Theatre by Simon Critchley, it’s similarly ambitious in subject matter and form – taking as its starting point the discovery of a hand-drawn astrological chart predicting the author’s imminent death – but firmly rooted in the classical essay tradition that begins with Montaigne. It’s had some very high praise: the novelist David Mitchell called it ‘a brilliant one-of-a-kind mind game occupying a strange frontier between philosophy, memoir and fiction’. It defies categorisation and is also a short book – 72 pages – two things that scare traditional publishing houses.
What are you excited about for the coming 12 months?
In February 2015 we publish Eula Biss's On Immunity: An Inoculation, an essay in the American non-fiction tradition (think Joan Didion meets Susan Sontag) which takes vaccination as its starting point and moves on to discussions of the body, motherhood, paranoia, politics, and even vampires. Beyond that, we'll publish Mathias Enard's latest novel, Street of Thieves, in August 2015. In between, there will be three books, to be announced in the next few weeks.
Visit www.fitzcarraldoeditions.com
Small Press Pop Quiz - Fitzcarraldo Editions
What makes Fitzcarraldo Editions different to other publishers?
I decided to set up Fitzcarraldo Editions because, very simply, I believe there is space in UK trade publishing for a serious literary press focusing on ambitious, imaginative and innovative writing, both in translation and in the English language.
Before embarking on this project, I co-founded The White Review with Ben Eastham, and found that there was an appetite for fiction that grappled with contemporary themes and issues as well as experimenting with form and style. As a magazine editor, I got to know the British trade publishing landscape, and it strikes me that there are few presses willing to take risks on serious and 'literary' fiction, much less when it is translated. At Fitzcarraldo Editions, we'll be publishing three novels in the first year and the aim is to try to contribute to the culture by publishing books we feel are important 'literary' novels.
As well as working on The White Review, I also had a job as commissioning editor at Notting Hill Editions for two years. At NHE we published long-form essays: both new editions of classics like Joe Brainard's I Remember (which, amazingly, had never appeared in Britain before), and new work by the likes of Deborah Levy, Joshua Cohen and Jonathan Littell. When it comes to the essay, British publishers are equally conservative: the big publishers tend to stick to publishing 360-page non-fiction blockbusters, whereas their counterparts in France or Germany have imprints dedicated to publishing shorter essays by their important authors. There's a gap in the market for the long-form essay.
What kind of manuscripts are you looking for?
As mentioned above, ambitious, imaginative and innovative writing. I take an ambitious book to be one that explores and expands the possibilities of the form, that is innovative and imaginative in style, that tackles subjects and themes that are relevant to the world we live in.
If someone was to read two books on your list, what should they be?
There are only two at the moment, so this one's easy.
When I was looking for a first novel to publish earlier this year, I was amazed to find out that Zone by Mathias Enard, which I’d read in French when Actes Sud published it in 2008, had never appeared in Britain. It tells the story of a French secret agent, Francis Servain Mirkovic, travelling on a train from Milan to Rome with a briefcase full of information about the war criminals, terrorists and arms dealers of the Zone – the Mediterranean – that he plans to sell to the Vatican. On this train journey, he recounts the violent history of the Zone in the twentieth century, starting with the Balkans War, in which he fought for a far-right Croatian militia. It’s an ambitious book in terms of subject matter, but it takes form very seriously too: it’s a 528-page stream of consciousness novel written as one long sentence (but broken up into twenty-four chapters). It sounds hard to read, but isn’t – the rhythm of the language, and the intensity of the episodes and anecdotes it recounts propel the reader along. It’s also a politically-engaged book that poses many questions about the violent foundations of the Europe we live in today. Charlotte Mandell’s translation, for the 2011 US edition by Open Letters, is excellent. I couldn’t have wished for a better novel to launch a publishing house with.
As for Memory Theatre by Simon Critchley, it’s similarly ambitious in subject matter and form – taking as its starting point the discovery of a hand-drawn astrological chart predicting the author’s imminent death – but firmly rooted in the classical essay tradition that begins with Montaigne. It’s had some very high praise: the novelist David Mitchell called it ‘a brilliant one-of-a-kind mind game occupying a strange frontier between philosophy, memoir and fiction’. It defies categorisation and is also a short book – 72 pages – two things that scare traditional publishing houses.
What are you excited about for the coming 12 months?
In February 2015 we publish Eula Biss's On Immunity: An Inoculation, an essay in the American non-fiction tradition (think Joan Didion meets Susan Sontag) which takes vaccination as its starting point and moves on to discussions of the body, motherhood, paranoia, politics, and even vampires. Beyond that, we'll publish Mathias Enard's latest novel, Street of Thieves, in August 2015. In between, there will be three books, to be announced in the next few weeks.
Visit www.fitzcarraldoeditions.com
I decided to set up Fitzcarraldo Editions because, very simply, I believe there is space in UK trade publishing for a serious literary press focusing on ambitious, imaginative and innovative writing, both in translation and in the English language.
Before embarking on this project, I co-founded The White Review with Ben Eastham, and found that there was an appetite for fiction that grappled with contemporary themes and issues as well as experimenting with form and style. As a magazine editor, I got to know the British trade publishing landscape, and it strikes me that there are few presses willing to take risks on serious and 'literary' fiction, much less when it is translated. At Fitzcarraldo Editions, we'll be publishing three novels in the first year and the aim is to try to contribute to the culture by publishing books we feel are important 'literary' novels.
As well as working on The White Review, I also had a job as commissioning editor at Notting Hill Editions for two years. At NHE we published long-form essays: both new editions of classics like Joe Brainard's I Remember (which, amazingly, had never appeared in Britain before), and new work by the likes of Deborah Levy, Joshua Cohen and Jonathan Littell. When it comes to the essay, British publishers are equally conservative: the big publishers tend to stick to publishing 360-page non-fiction blockbusters, whereas their counterparts in France or Germany have imprints dedicated to publishing shorter essays by their important authors. There's a gap in the market for the long-form essay.
What kind of manuscripts are you looking for?
As mentioned above, ambitious, imaginative and innovative writing. I take an ambitious book to be one that explores and expands the possibilities of the form, that is innovative and imaginative in style, that tackles subjects and themes that are relevant to the world we live in.
If someone was to read two books on your list, what should they be?
There are only two at the moment, so this one's easy.
When I was looking for a first novel to publish earlier this year, I was amazed to find out that Zone by Mathias Enard, which I’d read in French when Actes Sud published it in 2008, had never appeared in Britain. It tells the story of a French secret agent, Francis Servain Mirkovic, travelling on a train from Milan to Rome with a briefcase full of information about the war criminals, terrorists and arms dealers of the Zone – the Mediterranean – that he plans to sell to the Vatican. On this train journey, he recounts the violent history of the Zone in the twentieth century, starting with the Balkans War, in which he fought for a far-right Croatian militia. It’s an ambitious book in terms of subject matter, but it takes form very seriously too: it’s a 528-page stream of consciousness novel written as one long sentence (but broken up into twenty-four chapters). It sounds hard to read, but isn’t – the rhythm of the language, and the intensity of the episodes and anecdotes it recounts propel the reader along. It’s also a politically-engaged book that poses many questions about the violent foundations of the Europe we live in today. Charlotte Mandell’s translation, for the 2011 US edition by Open Letters, is excellent. I couldn’t have wished for a better novel to launch a publishing house with.
As for Memory Theatre by Simon Critchley, it’s similarly ambitious in subject matter and form – taking as its starting point the discovery of a hand-drawn astrological chart predicting the author’s imminent death – but firmly rooted in the classical essay tradition that begins with Montaigne. It’s had some very high praise: the novelist David Mitchell called it ‘a brilliant one-of-a-kind mind game occupying a strange frontier between philosophy, memoir and fiction’. It defies categorisation and is also a short book – 72 pages – two things that scare traditional publishing houses.
What are you excited about for the coming 12 months?
In February 2015 we publish Eula Biss's On Immunity: An Inoculation, an essay in the American non-fiction tradition (think Joan Didion meets Susan Sontag) which takes vaccination as its starting point and moves on to discussions of the body, motherhood, paranoia, politics, and even vampires. Beyond that, we'll publish Mathias Enard's latest novel, Street of Thieves, in August 2015. In between, there will be three books, to be announced in the next few weeks.
Visit www.fitzcarraldoeditions.com
September 9, 2014
Booktrack - a reading soundtrack
Booktrack is a unique platform that allows authors to create audio soundtracks for their stories. Whether it’s a companion piece of music or the sound of a phone ringing, Booktrack can help enhance the reading experience. Here I ask Paul Cameron, CEO, Co-founder and Director, about how he came up with the idea for Booktrack ...
How did the idea for Booktrack come about?
My brother Mark Cameron came up with the original idea for soundtracks to books while he was taking the ferry to work one day. As an avid reader, and also a big music fan, he noticed that some passages of the book he was reading were perfectly matched to the song he was listening to, increasing the drama, tension and emotion of the story. It was a match made in heaven, only there was no technology available back then that could synchronize soundtracks to books!
How can audio soundtracks enhance the reader's experience?
Two independent university studies done by New York University and The University of Auckland have shown that reading on Booktrack helps increase comprehension and engagement. But basically... it's a lot of fun. Readers read for entertainment and enjoyment, and Booktrack enhances that experience. We have many readers who also love music, and often mention to us that before Booktrack, they were listening to music as they were reading anyway.
How can writers best use Booktrack?
Our aim is to keep the core Booktrack product free, so this offers authors the chance to use our website and apps as a great free promotional tool. We encourage writers to post chapters or excerpts from their novels on the platform then point to their paid eBook. Or emerging authors can use the platform to gain wider audiences, including non-traditional reading audiences (musicians, gamers, tech-heads, etc) by publishing serialized fiction, and really participating in our digital community. We have over half a million users and growing at the moment!
How do you see Booktrack developing over the next few years?
We'd love to offer all our authors a way to sell their books. So that is what we're working on over the next few months. In the medium to longer term, we'd love to see Booktrack being used by all the different publishing platforms as another format that readers can choose. We believe we fill the niche between a conventional eBook and an audiobook quite nicely. There isn't really anything like Booktrack out there at the moment, we're the first and only so far!
Listen to an example Booktrack: Dagon, a short story by H.P. Lovecraft - http://cdn.booktrack.com/studio/index.html#!/bookshelf?booktrackId=875bb1f726604ac095f3dac5abf84d44
Create your own Booktrack: http://www.booktrack.com/
How did the idea for Booktrack come about?
My brother Mark Cameron came up with the original idea for soundtracks to books while he was taking the ferry to work one day. As an avid reader, and also a big music fan, he noticed that some passages of the book he was reading were perfectly matched to the song he was listening to, increasing the drama, tension and emotion of the story. It was a match made in heaven, only there was no technology available back then that could synchronize soundtracks to books!
How can audio soundtracks enhance the reader's experience?
Two independent university studies done by New York University and The University of Auckland have shown that reading on Booktrack helps increase comprehension and engagement. But basically... it's a lot of fun. Readers read for entertainment and enjoyment, and Booktrack enhances that experience. We have many readers who also love music, and often mention to us that before Booktrack, they were listening to music as they were reading anyway.
How can writers best use Booktrack?
Our aim is to keep the core Booktrack product free, so this offers authors the chance to use our website and apps as a great free promotional tool. We encourage writers to post chapters or excerpts from their novels on the platform then point to their paid eBook. Or emerging authors can use the platform to gain wider audiences, including non-traditional reading audiences (musicians, gamers, tech-heads, etc) by publishing serialized fiction, and really participating in our digital community. We have over half a million users and growing at the moment!
How do you see Booktrack developing over the next few years?
We'd love to offer all our authors a way to sell their books. So that is what we're working on over the next few months. In the medium to longer term, we'd love to see Booktrack being used by all the different publishing platforms as another format that readers can choose. We believe we fill the niche between a conventional eBook and an audiobook quite nicely. There isn't really anything like Booktrack out there at the moment, we're the first and only so far!
Listen to an example Booktrack: Dagon, a short story by H.P. Lovecraft - http://cdn.booktrack.com/studio/index.html#!/bookshelf?booktrackId=875bb1f726604ac095f3dac5abf84d44
Create your own Booktrack: http://www.booktrack.com/
September 2, 2014
10 tips for authors working with an editor
I really believe in the role of a good editor, so I was really excited about finally getting to work with editors on my stories. I work as an editor in my day job at an art gallery. To be honest, I find it quite intimidating, as often I edit catalogue essays by curators or academics – people who know far more about the artists and art history than I do. When I write a query to them, I’ve probably sat there for five minutes thinking about it. So I know that if an editor suggests something, it’s not done lightly. Here’s some tips for authors working with an editor:
Give yourself time to do the edits – don’t rush them. Ask the editor about how they would like you to use track changes, especially if you haven’t used it before.Read through all the suggested changes first before doing anything – so you get an overall picture of what they are suggesting. It may be useful to know things they are suggesting towards the end of the manuscript so that you can seed them earlier.Fix the easy things first, to clean up the manuscript – so you don’t feel so overwhelmed looking at all those different colours on your text.If something doesn’t feel right, you don’t have to change it. It’s okay to give a reason for why you wrote it that way and why you think that it works. Use your intuition.If you agree with what the editor has said, but don’t quite know how to approach the query, sit on it for a day or two and think about it. Often something will come to you.You might get into a situation where the editor feels quite strongly about one thing, but you feel quite strongly another way. See if you can meet them mid-way. For example, in one of my stories the editor thought I’d been too harsh on a character. I didn’t want to completely remove the situation, but I toned it down. Be extra careful when writing new slabs of text. You never want it to appear as if it’s been ‘tacked on’. Pay a lot of attention to these areas, read back over them a number of times and make sure they still flow with the rest of the manuscript.Allow time to read back over the entire manuscript at the end of each edit – there may be last minute things that pop out at you. But you can’t tinker with it forever. You need to know when it’s time to let it go.Remember that editors are there to help you – often the most challenging suggestions are the ones that may help you to create something extra special.
Give yourself time to do the edits – don’t rush them. Ask the editor about how they would like you to use track changes, especially if you haven’t used it before.Read through all the suggested changes first before doing anything – so you get an overall picture of what they are suggesting. It may be useful to know things they are suggesting towards the end of the manuscript so that you can seed them earlier.Fix the easy things first, to clean up the manuscript – so you don’t feel so overwhelmed looking at all those different colours on your text.If something doesn’t feel right, you don’t have to change it. It’s okay to give a reason for why you wrote it that way and why you think that it works. Use your intuition.If you agree with what the editor has said, but don’t quite know how to approach the query, sit on it for a day or two and think about it. Often something will come to you.You might get into a situation where the editor feels quite strongly about one thing, but you feel quite strongly another way. See if you can meet them mid-way. For example, in one of my stories the editor thought I’d been too harsh on a character. I didn’t want to completely remove the situation, but I toned it down. Be extra careful when writing new slabs of text. You never want it to appear as if it’s been ‘tacked on’. Pay a lot of attention to these areas, read back over them a number of times and make sure they still flow with the rest of the manuscript.Allow time to read back over the entire manuscript at the end of each edit – there may be last minute things that pop out at you. But you can’t tinker with it forever. You need to know when it’s time to let it go.Remember that editors are there to help you – often the most challenging suggestions are the ones that may help you to create something extra special.
August 26, 2014
How authors should use YouTube - Katie Tyler
John Green, author of The Fault in Our Stars, became a YouTube sensation with VlogBrothers way back in 2007. Together with his brother Hank, they created a dedicated community of 'nerdfighters' through their short videos to each other over a year. YouTube is a great way to make a personal connection with readers without having to leave the comfort of your desk swivel chair. I discovered Katie Tyler on Wattpad earlier this year. Her fanfiction novel about YouTubers Zalfie has had close to 2 million reads. She has her own YouTube channel KatChats - here I ask her about how writers can use YouTube as a platform ...
Why do you think YouTube is a good platform for authors?
I think the visual aspect of YouTube can appeal to readers. On sites such as Wattpad all people see is what you write and maybe a profile picture of you. But when authors go onto Youtube and create video content the reader gets to see the person behind the words. They can get to know the author and what they look like, what their personality is like too. This way it attracts more attention to the author. YouTube is a whole other community, therefore it widens the “target audience”, advertising the author and their work to many more people.
What kind of videos do people respond the best to?
In my experience so far I have gained more views and comments on the videos I mention in or relate to my writing. There are now several thousand views on a video I posted about my book getting printed, a mixed reaction, but it appears to be one of my most popular videos.
How do you prepare for one of your videos? Do you script anything?
So far I haven’t scripted anything, if I’m doing a haul video I just put the clothes beside me and give my opinion on them. Having a script may make it a lot easier during editing but at the moment I don’t see my channel on a level that I need to have a script.
What kind of technical equipment do you use?
When I first started my current channel I used my iphone camera and balanced it on my window sill and it did the job. But for over a year I had a dream camera in mind and saved up a while for it. I now have the Canon EOS 600D which is popular amongst YouTubers. I also have a tripod and edit on Windows Movie Maker. Not the fanciest of software but it’s free and does the job and for now that’s all I need. In terms of lighting I just turn up the IOS on my camera or sit in front of a window and use natural light.
What other advice do you have for writers thinking about using YouTube?
I think it’s a great idea! There could be a small community of writers on YouTube - if many make the first steps to post videos. Making your first video can be scary but once it’s posted and you’re happy with it, it becomes less daunting to post other videos. I also found it hard for a while to know what type of content to post. I figured I could gain my audience through Wattpad by posting Wattpad-related videos on advice and tips along with a Q&A where my readers could ask me questions. At first, sticking to what you know and have advice and opinions on is good because it establishes your channel and audience.
Visit: KatChats to see more
Other good author YouTube channels to check out:
Maggie Stiefvater
Tahereh Mafi
Joanna Penn
Ericka Clay
GoodreadsVideos
Why do you think YouTube is a good platform for authors?
I think the visual aspect of YouTube can appeal to readers. On sites such as Wattpad all people see is what you write and maybe a profile picture of you. But when authors go onto Youtube and create video content the reader gets to see the person behind the words. They can get to know the author and what they look like, what their personality is like too. This way it attracts more attention to the author. YouTube is a whole other community, therefore it widens the “target audience”, advertising the author and their work to many more people.
What kind of videos do people respond the best to?
In my experience so far I have gained more views and comments on the videos I mention in or relate to my writing. There are now several thousand views on a video I posted about my book getting printed, a mixed reaction, but it appears to be one of my most popular videos.
How do you prepare for one of your videos? Do you script anything?
So far I haven’t scripted anything, if I’m doing a haul video I just put the clothes beside me and give my opinion on them. Having a script may make it a lot easier during editing but at the moment I don’t see my channel on a level that I need to have a script.
What kind of technical equipment do you use?
When I first started my current channel I used my iphone camera and balanced it on my window sill and it did the job. But for over a year I had a dream camera in mind and saved up a while for it. I now have the Canon EOS 600D which is popular amongst YouTubers. I also have a tripod and edit on Windows Movie Maker. Not the fanciest of software but it’s free and does the job and for now that’s all I need. In terms of lighting I just turn up the IOS on my camera or sit in front of a window and use natural light.
What other advice do you have for writers thinking about using YouTube?
I think it’s a great idea! There could be a small community of writers on YouTube - if many make the first steps to post videos. Making your first video can be scary but once it’s posted and you’re happy with it, it becomes less daunting to post other videos. I also found it hard for a while to know what type of content to post. I figured I could gain my audience through Wattpad by posting Wattpad-related videos on advice and tips along with a Q&A where my readers could ask me questions. At first, sticking to what you know and have advice and opinions on is good because it establishes your channel and audience.
Visit: KatChats to see more
Other good author YouTube channels to check out:
Maggie Stiefvater
Tahereh Mafi
Joanna Penn
Ericka Clay
GoodreadsVideos
August 5, 2014
Transmedia storytelling - Takatsu
I recently interviewed Takatsu on my blog about being the first cell phone novelist in the West. Takatsu is a fascinating writer, musician and illustrator and is at the forefront of transmedia storytelling. Here I ask him more about how he is fusing different art forms to promote and enhance his new novel Espresso Love.
Tell us a little about how you are going beyond the traditional book and fusing art, media and music with your novel Espresso Love …
Espresso Love was written as an accumulation of a few years of personal experiences - in particular, travelling to Japan on my own and networking with local talent, my long persistent striving for musical ambitions and employment for a year in the corporate world - which was in stark contrast with my fundamental values, beliefs and foundations, along with a severe bout of depression, a health issue and other things which hindered my creative energy. When I started the novel at the beginning of this year (2014), it was designed to cap off and try to reveal what I've discovered, largely an ambitious undertaking - something that I had never done before: in fact, I hadn't written prose in a long time. It really became a collection of my philosophical ponderings and criticisms of our current consumer culture, digital entertainment landscape and capitalist mechanism. It is founded on a dystopian sort of concept but is more of a personal and subjective experience of a world that is severely saturated with subliminally oppressive ideology and locked down by pressures and forces on different fronts, that is flattening people to mere numbers and emotionless gears of a machine.
Aside from the planning or thinking process involved, it is in my practice to write from the subconscious and let words flow, so when my conscious and more spiritual existential subconscious worlds collided, it became magical realism. I realize that a huge theme is challenging perception itself, presenting a discourse that the world is made up of all these forces - essentially a myriad of subjective perception and symbolic interpretations: that there is no true objective reality. The characters are swallowed and tossed between different pseudo-realities, a bombardment of instantaneous images and sounds, without a clear sense of what is real. In the same way, the novel is intended to provoke questions rather than answers, inspire new insight and philosophies, and allows a lot of room for reader interpretation. The experience of serializing literature online has been a blessing especially for this kind of project, since so much of it has to do with subjective perception - whenever someone comes along and offers their own insight or responses to the questions and ideas raised through comments and conversation, it is an absolute delight. They become a collaborative moment where I, too, am learning about my own novel and inner world.
In the past few years, I've realized that there is a higher level of human imagination and wisdom beyond our own consciousness and in a sense, many great thinkers and artists in the past who have sparked movements and changed history express radical things rooted in very abstract eternal ideals and concepts that seem to come from something higher than the physical, emotional, social plane of the world (an idea which is explored in my work). This novel is similarly a conscious and subconscious attempt to transcend into the metaphysical through art. How successful it is in doing so, that would be up to the reader! But regardless, the roots of the novel for me is beyond the novel itself, therefore, it is naturally necessary for other arts to come into play.
I've always had a lot of friends and contacts locally and internationally, who are extremely talented and multi-talented, yet many seem to develop their own paths independently. So I am taking this as an opportunity to meld some likeminded artistic souls, old and new friends together and add to the whole idea of this mosaic of subjective perceptions, different interpretations and personal responses to the themes, concepts (or other actual narrative and descriptive details) presented.
I have mentioned the project to a variety of illustrators, painters and artists for a visual art collaboration. Artwork could then be compiled into an art book or perhaps reproduced as t-shirts, phone cases, mugs - merchandise that I have experimented with in the past. A friend of mine who creates handmade crafts already joined in with her coffee bean charms which were part of the first free giveaway I launched for readers, to celebrate a few milestones and give back to the community. Coffee beans are discussed in the novel and play a huge symbolic role, and it feels like it's taking on a physical form, crossing the boundaries of perception, text on a page or screen into reality, from world to world.
Secondly, the dystopian content of the novel is also planned to manifest itself physically, through a social experiment / art installation campaign of large minimalist posters with vague, mysterious, thought-provoking and potentially jarring statements - which are things that actually appear in the novel. These would be posted all over Toronto in public and hopefully will garner some interest or solicit reactions as they present existential questions, offer social criticism or challenge the system. Meanwhile, a few volunteers would be filming and documenting the process.
Thirdly, music, references to music, and discussion of music plays a significant part in the novel, as I am a musician myself and have tried to plan my life around music making. I've always wanted to create original music soundtracks for my novels and involve various media in projects (for example, manga/graphic novel adaptations, independent film and so on), but this novel in particular is even more suitable! Along with other interested independent musicians, we will strive to create a mini-album with jazz, blues, indie, acoustic, rock influences that flow with the sentiments and abstract concepts involved. Each song will be the musician's own interpretation of ideas in the novel.
The art and music projects are planned to be released if/when the novel is published, to spawn some sort of a small scale movement. I am passionate about sharing and inspiring, and I wouldn't want the release of the novel to be an independent solitary occasion; I would take it as a chance to promote my peers and contribute to the artistic landscape. For example - just some wishful thinking here - book release or signing events would be coupled with live coffee house style acoustic performances of the songs in the original album.
Your cell phone novel Secondhand Memories has built quite a following. How have you found the experience of people writing fan fiction about you?
The fanfictions were really something unexpected at first. In the beginning, it was a little strange and embarrassing, because I felt like I was being misinterpreted or that my private life was being invaded knowing someone out there is thinking about me! Then I realized, just like Espresso Love, wearing my pseudonym - rather, mononymous identity - I, myself, am a "text" for subjective interpretation. And that is totally part of my passion and ideal. I always try to share as much as I can with people, friends, family and the community out there. In a sense, I live like an open book and life, in my personal philosophy, does not belong to us: I am here for a limited amount of time for a purpose, for a mission, and to be an inspiration, to help people with their walk in life towards a hopeful and positive direction. So, why was it bothering me that someone was writing something about me? When I realized that I am, in a way, a work of art, my perspective shifted and I welcomed seeing a myriad of different perceptions about me.
In my short story, "Sometimes I Think You Can't Hear Me", there is a passage where I describe how everything within our inner world exists separate from our outer appearance, and that our outer appearance similarly is separate from another person's subjective perception of us. There is no way someone will truly know much about someone's inner world - there are two barriers - and even if the person tries to express as much as possible, it then goes through the perceiver's interpretation, filtered through the perceiver's background, upbringing, philosophies, experiences, emotional state, and an abundant amount of influences. On the other hand, even we, ourselves, do not truly know what is within our inner worlds: we are only able to understand our consciousness, but not our subconscious and unconscious worlds. So again, fanfiction began to make sense to me.
In literary criticism there are scholars who will separate the work from the author, and try to take on as objective as a view as possible. But I think the author can be just as important and both the work and the author needs to be studied separately and then conjoined as one to grasp the fullest possible picture. I, the author, am also an object of study and am a part of my work.
Knowing there are people who will make efforts to study me and interpret me in their own ways is encouraging really - that as the author, or as a person, I may be interesting enough for such interpretation. In the end, it nurtured my confidence and I’m grateful to these writers and readers. What I hope for, is that they will continue to grow and using fanfiction as a form of inspiration, move on to create original characters.
What advice would you have for other writers about using different art forms and technologies to help tell their stories and promote them?
I believe we exist in a world of art and technology; where things cannot exist without one another. Art is the heart and soul of the world, technology is the tool necessary. Aside from message and content, even in practical terms, advertising cannot be without music, videography, animation, graphic design, textual content and onwards. Philosophy influences politics, politics influences literature, literature influences art, music influences literature, vice versa and onwards, like a complex and intricate spiderweb or rather, like a giant swimming pool of the collective human imagination. As a result, how can literature be separate from the different art forms? Books have book covers, authors have author websites, authors have been influenced by everything around them, absorbing without ever realizing - and all of which are part of identity. So first, I think we must embrace the idea of all arts working in conjunction. Doesn't that get you excited?
There are simple things we can do for our writing. The philosophy behind creative work is really about giving. Bonus content like songs or artwork that had inspired our writing can be provided - even a simple youtube link or image can enhance the reader's experience.
Authors are also working with book trailers nowadays, which is a great way to engage more audiences. However, it is important to showcase a trailer that really fits with the identity of the work and also looks professional. Sometimes, if resources are not available, or the writer doesn't know how to edit videos or know anyone who can, it is important to keep things simple. It's actually more intriguing if the writer uses ambiguous minimalistic imagery, like artistic photography of a coffee shop if that's a significant setting, a close shot of a coffee mug, maybe a silhouette, rather than getting images of actual people who might look like stock photos or are inconsistent pictures of different people that the writer tried to use to portray the narrative or events happening. The purpose of a trailer is to spark interest, not to tell the story per say.
In terms of design, both in a trailer and elsewhere, what can make or break a visual are actually two seemingly unrelated elements: the font and the music (for a trailer). Some images might be breathtaking but put some pink Courier New font on it and it suddenly becomes tacky. On the other hand, you could have nothing but a white page and put a fitting, well-placed, clean looking font on it - it would make aesthetic sense and an effective brand.
Society now is often invested in instantaneous delivery and reception, which means visual images are important. There is a huge saturation of information out there and as a result, according to statistics, internet surfers on average only spend a few seconds on each site. So if we don't have other forms of art involved with our writing, we are missing potential audiences who may just need something to stop them in their tracks and make them pick up our book. To attract attention, try innovative approaches and outstanding jarring things - blank white covers perhaps?
Beyond that, there is so much art everywhere - and in everybody too. You can always do it all yourself but personally, as a musician, illustrator and writer, I can't really find any time to do more than one thing. Once one thing gets on track, the other things become more peripheral. Writing and the writer side of life has been taking up most of my time lately. So, when we can't take things into our own hands of course we should reach out! There is much we don't know about one another, even perhaps our closest friends or family members. They might be doing something amazing and artistic!
So network and network lots and find out what people do. Nowadays, there are likely talented people who do some form of art for a living or as a hobby - even those who think they aren't any good! Remember artists are their own worst critics and many just don't know where to go with their talent, others are held down by the capitalist system (oops, not again). Be a leader and gather passionate budding talent around you and together create a platform. I think most will be genuinely interested with some encouragement.
Target who you'd like to ask. Find people who are on a similar level: same level of success, same interests, same wavelengths in terms of philosophies, content, genre or style, and so on. Keep in mind that it is a collaborative effort and there should be cohesion and unity, each part fitting together. Social media and technology are also useful, there are forums and groups that will have an abundance of hobbyists who make book covers, trailers, write music and onwards. Join some online networks if you don't know artists personally. It reminds me of a friend of mine, an independent film director and videographer, who would post on Kijiji and Craig's List recruiting talent. There are many aspiring actors, actresses, models and so on who volunteered for roles. After screening and interviews, then they would be selected and may even work free of charge as portfolio pieces. The same idea can apply and, in fact, I am considering doing that for Secondhand Memories for a little piece of jewellery I'd like made as a collector's item. A huge benefit of working with others is that it is mutually promoting and helpful for portfolios, it will share and increase followers and fans.
Thirdly, give contributors ample room to be creative and encourage creativity. But make sure to follow through and plan things accordingly with plenty of communication. From my experience as a web and graphic designer sometimes there are disagreements over direction between the client and artist, so in a collaborative project, constant communication, discussing and bouncing ideas, rough drafts, is vitally important!
Collaborate!
Links:
http://takatsu.tk
http://wattpad.com/takatsu
http://facebook.com/takatsumusic
http://twitter.com/taka_chan
Tell us a little about how you are going beyond the traditional book and fusing art, media and music with your novel Espresso Love …
Espresso Love was written as an accumulation of a few years of personal experiences - in particular, travelling to Japan on my own and networking with local talent, my long persistent striving for musical ambitions and employment for a year in the corporate world - which was in stark contrast with my fundamental values, beliefs and foundations, along with a severe bout of depression, a health issue and other things which hindered my creative energy. When I started the novel at the beginning of this year (2014), it was designed to cap off and try to reveal what I've discovered, largely an ambitious undertaking - something that I had never done before: in fact, I hadn't written prose in a long time. It really became a collection of my philosophical ponderings and criticisms of our current consumer culture, digital entertainment landscape and capitalist mechanism. It is founded on a dystopian sort of concept but is more of a personal and subjective experience of a world that is severely saturated with subliminally oppressive ideology and locked down by pressures and forces on different fronts, that is flattening people to mere numbers and emotionless gears of a machine.
Aside from the planning or thinking process involved, it is in my practice to write from the subconscious and let words flow, so when my conscious and more spiritual existential subconscious worlds collided, it became magical realism. I realize that a huge theme is challenging perception itself, presenting a discourse that the world is made up of all these forces - essentially a myriad of subjective perception and symbolic interpretations: that there is no true objective reality. The characters are swallowed and tossed between different pseudo-realities, a bombardment of instantaneous images and sounds, without a clear sense of what is real. In the same way, the novel is intended to provoke questions rather than answers, inspire new insight and philosophies, and allows a lot of room for reader interpretation. The experience of serializing literature online has been a blessing especially for this kind of project, since so much of it has to do with subjective perception - whenever someone comes along and offers their own insight or responses to the questions and ideas raised through comments and conversation, it is an absolute delight. They become a collaborative moment where I, too, am learning about my own novel and inner world.
In the past few years, I've realized that there is a higher level of human imagination and wisdom beyond our own consciousness and in a sense, many great thinkers and artists in the past who have sparked movements and changed history express radical things rooted in very abstract eternal ideals and concepts that seem to come from something higher than the physical, emotional, social plane of the world (an idea which is explored in my work). This novel is similarly a conscious and subconscious attempt to transcend into the metaphysical through art. How successful it is in doing so, that would be up to the reader! But regardless, the roots of the novel for me is beyond the novel itself, therefore, it is naturally necessary for other arts to come into play.
I've always had a lot of friends and contacts locally and internationally, who are extremely talented and multi-talented, yet many seem to develop their own paths independently. So I am taking this as an opportunity to meld some likeminded artistic souls, old and new friends together and add to the whole idea of this mosaic of subjective perceptions, different interpretations and personal responses to the themes, concepts (or other actual narrative and descriptive details) presented.
I have mentioned the project to a variety of illustrators, painters and artists for a visual art collaboration. Artwork could then be compiled into an art book or perhaps reproduced as t-shirts, phone cases, mugs - merchandise that I have experimented with in the past. A friend of mine who creates handmade crafts already joined in with her coffee bean charms which were part of the first free giveaway I launched for readers, to celebrate a few milestones and give back to the community. Coffee beans are discussed in the novel and play a huge symbolic role, and it feels like it's taking on a physical form, crossing the boundaries of perception, text on a page or screen into reality, from world to world.
Secondly, the dystopian content of the novel is also planned to manifest itself physically, through a social experiment / art installation campaign of large minimalist posters with vague, mysterious, thought-provoking and potentially jarring statements - which are things that actually appear in the novel. These would be posted all over Toronto in public and hopefully will garner some interest or solicit reactions as they present existential questions, offer social criticism or challenge the system. Meanwhile, a few volunteers would be filming and documenting the process.
Thirdly, music, references to music, and discussion of music plays a significant part in the novel, as I am a musician myself and have tried to plan my life around music making. I've always wanted to create original music soundtracks for my novels and involve various media in projects (for example, manga/graphic novel adaptations, independent film and so on), but this novel in particular is even more suitable! Along with other interested independent musicians, we will strive to create a mini-album with jazz, blues, indie, acoustic, rock influences that flow with the sentiments and abstract concepts involved. Each song will be the musician's own interpretation of ideas in the novel.
The art and music projects are planned to be released if/when the novel is published, to spawn some sort of a small scale movement. I am passionate about sharing and inspiring, and I wouldn't want the release of the novel to be an independent solitary occasion; I would take it as a chance to promote my peers and contribute to the artistic landscape. For example - just some wishful thinking here - book release or signing events would be coupled with live coffee house style acoustic performances of the songs in the original album.
Your cell phone novel Secondhand Memories has built quite a following. How have you found the experience of people writing fan fiction about you?
The fanfictions were really something unexpected at first. In the beginning, it was a little strange and embarrassing, because I felt like I was being misinterpreted or that my private life was being invaded knowing someone out there is thinking about me! Then I realized, just like Espresso Love, wearing my pseudonym - rather, mononymous identity - I, myself, am a "text" for subjective interpretation. And that is totally part of my passion and ideal. I always try to share as much as I can with people, friends, family and the community out there. In a sense, I live like an open book and life, in my personal philosophy, does not belong to us: I am here for a limited amount of time for a purpose, for a mission, and to be an inspiration, to help people with their walk in life towards a hopeful and positive direction. So, why was it bothering me that someone was writing something about me? When I realized that I am, in a way, a work of art, my perspective shifted and I welcomed seeing a myriad of different perceptions about me.
In my short story, "Sometimes I Think You Can't Hear Me", there is a passage where I describe how everything within our inner world exists separate from our outer appearance, and that our outer appearance similarly is separate from another person's subjective perception of us. There is no way someone will truly know much about someone's inner world - there are two barriers - and even if the person tries to express as much as possible, it then goes through the perceiver's interpretation, filtered through the perceiver's background, upbringing, philosophies, experiences, emotional state, and an abundant amount of influences. On the other hand, even we, ourselves, do not truly know what is within our inner worlds: we are only able to understand our consciousness, but not our subconscious and unconscious worlds. So again, fanfiction began to make sense to me.
In literary criticism there are scholars who will separate the work from the author, and try to take on as objective as a view as possible. But I think the author can be just as important and both the work and the author needs to be studied separately and then conjoined as one to grasp the fullest possible picture. I, the author, am also an object of study and am a part of my work.
Knowing there are people who will make efforts to study me and interpret me in their own ways is encouraging really - that as the author, or as a person, I may be interesting enough for such interpretation. In the end, it nurtured my confidence and I’m grateful to these writers and readers. What I hope for, is that they will continue to grow and using fanfiction as a form of inspiration, move on to create original characters.
What advice would you have for other writers about using different art forms and technologies to help tell their stories and promote them?
I believe we exist in a world of art and technology; where things cannot exist without one another. Art is the heart and soul of the world, technology is the tool necessary. Aside from message and content, even in practical terms, advertising cannot be without music, videography, animation, graphic design, textual content and onwards. Philosophy influences politics, politics influences literature, literature influences art, music influences literature, vice versa and onwards, like a complex and intricate spiderweb or rather, like a giant swimming pool of the collective human imagination. As a result, how can literature be separate from the different art forms? Books have book covers, authors have author websites, authors have been influenced by everything around them, absorbing without ever realizing - and all of which are part of identity. So first, I think we must embrace the idea of all arts working in conjunction. Doesn't that get you excited?
There are simple things we can do for our writing. The philosophy behind creative work is really about giving. Bonus content like songs or artwork that had inspired our writing can be provided - even a simple youtube link or image can enhance the reader's experience.
Authors are also working with book trailers nowadays, which is a great way to engage more audiences. However, it is important to showcase a trailer that really fits with the identity of the work and also looks professional. Sometimes, if resources are not available, or the writer doesn't know how to edit videos or know anyone who can, it is important to keep things simple. It's actually more intriguing if the writer uses ambiguous minimalistic imagery, like artistic photography of a coffee shop if that's a significant setting, a close shot of a coffee mug, maybe a silhouette, rather than getting images of actual people who might look like stock photos or are inconsistent pictures of different people that the writer tried to use to portray the narrative or events happening. The purpose of a trailer is to spark interest, not to tell the story per say.
In terms of design, both in a trailer and elsewhere, what can make or break a visual are actually two seemingly unrelated elements: the font and the music (for a trailer). Some images might be breathtaking but put some pink Courier New font on it and it suddenly becomes tacky. On the other hand, you could have nothing but a white page and put a fitting, well-placed, clean looking font on it - it would make aesthetic sense and an effective brand.
Society now is often invested in instantaneous delivery and reception, which means visual images are important. There is a huge saturation of information out there and as a result, according to statistics, internet surfers on average only spend a few seconds on each site. So if we don't have other forms of art involved with our writing, we are missing potential audiences who may just need something to stop them in their tracks and make them pick up our book. To attract attention, try innovative approaches and outstanding jarring things - blank white covers perhaps?
Beyond that, there is so much art everywhere - and in everybody too. You can always do it all yourself but personally, as a musician, illustrator and writer, I can't really find any time to do more than one thing. Once one thing gets on track, the other things become more peripheral. Writing and the writer side of life has been taking up most of my time lately. So, when we can't take things into our own hands of course we should reach out! There is much we don't know about one another, even perhaps our closest friends or family members. They might be doing something amazing and artistic!
So network and network lots and find out what people do. Nowadays, there are likely talented people who do some form of art for a living or as a hobby - even those who think they aren't any good! Remember artists are their own worst critics and many just don't know where to go with their talent, others are held down by the capitalist system (oops, not again). Be a leader and gather passionate budding talent around you and together create a platform. I think most will be genuinely interested with some encouragement.
Target who you'd like to ask. Find people who are on a similar level: same level of success, same interests, same wavelengths in terms of philosophies, content, genre or style, and so on. Keep in mind that it is a collaborative effort and there should be cohesion and unity, each part fitting together. Social media and technology are also useful, there are forums and groups that will have an abundance of hobbyists who make book covers, trailers, write music and onwards. Join some online networks if you don't know artists personally. It reminds me of a friend of mine, an independent film director and videographer, who would post on Kijiji and Craig's List recruiting talent. There are many aspiring actors, actresses, models and so on who volunteered for roles. After screening and interviews, then they would be selected and may even work free of charge as portfolio pieces. The same idea can apply and, in fact, I am considering doing that for Secondhand Memories for a little piece of jewellery I'd like made as a collector's item. A huge benefit of working with others is that it is mutually promoting and helpful for portfolios, it will share and increase followers and fans.
Thirdly, give contributors ample room to be creative and encourage creativity. But make sure to follow through and plan things accordingly with plenty of communication. From my experience as a web and graphic designer sometimes there are disagreements over direction between the client and artist, so in a collaborative project, constant communication, discussing and bouncing ideas, rough drafts, is vitally important!
Collaborate!
Links:
http://takatsu.tk
http://wattpad.com/takatsu
http://facebook.com/takatsumusic
http://twitter.com/taka_chan
Bequest to be published by Tenebris Books
I’m so pleased that my long short story Bequest has been signed by Tenebris Books. Bequest will be published as the first Tenebris Nyxies ebook and will be the first in a series of such stories that will be compiled into a Nyxies Annual in both print and ebook form.
Tenebris Books is an imprint of Grimbold Books. They publish high quality fiction with a dark side; tales that unnerve, disorient and give readers the good old-fashioned chills. I’m really excited to work with Tenebris Books on Bequest, in particular, I’m really pleased to be working with publisher and editor Zoë Harris, who also leads the Oslo International Writers' Group.
I was reading Kafka’s In the penal colony and one of the last scenes in that story inspired an idea to write a story about tattoos coming alive. Then I recalled a real-life story that had always fascinated me, about an artist named eX de Medici who has tattooed Geoff Ostling’s skin over 15 years and he wants to donate his skin to the National Gallery of Australia when he passes away. These two ideas came together and Bequest was born.
Bequest is a fictionalised story about a man who wants to bequeath his tattooed skin to the National Gallery. The problem is they don’t want his skin. He’s a canvas that nobody wants …
Bequest should be out later this month!
Visit: http://www.tenebrisbooks.com/
Tenebris Books is an imprint of Grimbold Books. They publish high quality fiction with a dark side; tales that unnerve, disorient and give readers the good old-fashioned chills. I’m really excited to work with Tenebris Books on Bequest, in particular, I’m really pleased to be working with publisher and editor Zoë Harris, who also leads the Oslo International Writers' Group.
I was reading Kafka’s In the penal colony and one of the last scenes in that story inspired an idea to write a story about tattoos coming alive. Then I recalled a real-life story that had always fascinated me, about an artist named eX de Medici who has tattooed Geoff Ostling’s skin over 15 years and he wants to donate his skin to the National Gallery of Australia when he passes away. These two ideas came together and Bequest was born.
Bequest is a fictionalised story about a man who wants to bequeath his tattooed skin to the National Gallery. The problem is they don’t want his skin. He’s a canvas that nobody wants …
Bequest should be out later this month!
Visit: http://www.tenebrisbooks.com/
July 22, 2014
Book trailers - LoewenHerz-Creative
LoewenHerz-Creative promotes books of all genres with the production and promotion of exciting, innovative, and affordable book trailers. Here I ask them why book trailers have become so popular, what makes a good book trailer and about the production process ...
Why do you think book trailers have become a good marketing tool for authors?
With the increased use of multi and social media, book trailers have been an up and coming method to promote and advertise, and have increased in popularity among both authors and readers. Writers increasingly see the value in offering book trailers to their current and potential readers, and are eager to let this medium help them expand their fan base and sales of their books.
Most blockbuster movies have a trailer. So why not apply the same concept when promoting a book in order to let the potential reader gain valuable insight into the book’s content, while ultimately supporting the author in reaching a broader audience?
Book marketing is one of the biggest challenges for authors. Most are usually unsure as to what steps they need to take, and what is necessary and vital to their success. One of the key components to an author’s book marketing strategy is the use of a book trailer. Book trailers are transforming the way readers choose their books. Books with trailers receive increased search engine visibility and generate more buzz on social networks. They represent a visual teaser that engages new audiences in a fun and exciting way.
Videos are quickly becoming the most popular form of information sharing. YouTube alone has grown tremendously over the last few years. People love to see videos on all types of subjects. Selling a book is difficult as competition is fierce. Book trailers can give authors and their books an affordable and competitive edge. The use of motion graphics for a book’s promotion may be a fairly new concept, but they truly work when done well. Affordable, exciting, and beautiful trailers will enhance an author’s brand and the opportunity to increase sales by combining visual images with text or narration to their title and will help it stand out from the rest.
What makes a good book trailer?
A good book trailer is short, and sweet, and to the point; very similar to regular TV commercials; something that captures and keeps your attention. Our trailers are between 45 seconds to 1 minute long. This time is perfect to peak the viewer’s interest and showcase the book’s purpose and content. The right use of graphics and color is essential, as it depicts that mood of the book. And appropriately matched music further helps to describe the theme and presentation of the book.
Take author Stuart Allen’s Trailer for his debut novel “Parting Lines,” for example (http://youtu.be/b67P5r1Op8E). In its 48 seconds, we learn that the main character of the book is fighting his way through a midlife crisis. The choice of words and music lets us see the overall tone and mood of the book, and the video graphics and design mirror the author’s chosen style for the cover of his novel. And all that in less than a minute.
How do you work with authors to create an effective book trailer? What is the process from brief to finished product and what should the author have in mind before approaching you?
An author usually contacts LoewenHerz-Creative via the email address found on our website. When contacted any other way, we always refer potential clients to our website’s sample page, so they can see what types of trailers we produce. This also helps in developing some ideas for their own trailers in terms of text bursts or narration.
We always encourage authors to provide as much information as possible before we begin the creative development of the trailer (including the book’s genre, the desired trailer mood, the desired mood of the trailer background music, etc.). When authors work with our team to develop the concept before production begins, we are able to create a trailer that meets the author’s needs earlier in the development process and reduce time required for re-editing.
Authors may also provide images, music, or video clips that they would like to be included. If submitted by the author, these assets have to have the appropriate rights clearances or must be creative commons, as we do not acquire licensing rights for authors. If their desired images are not rights-cleared, we usually use those as a reference to find similar types and styles of images that are rights-cleared.
We then go over the desired text bursts or spoken narration, depending on the author’s chosen trailer package. The general guidelines are that the total number of bursts doesn't exceed 9 and that the individual bursts are kept relatively short. Each line represents one text burst that will appear on the screen by itself, one at a time. Most authors ask us to create the bursts or spoken narration for them in order to get a general idea.
Once we have gathered all this information and the production has been scheduled, a 30% deposit is required. The deposit is payable via PayPal. The author will be provided with watermarked drafts of their trailer, upon which they can provide their feedback. We provide up to 3 revisions. Once the author is happy with the trailer, and after the remaining balance has been paid, the final version will be supplied as HD and 360p files without the watermark. We also send the author the public YouTube link, which they can link to directly in order to showcase their new trailer on their own website or any other social media site.
Most authors are very open to suggestions, as they usually don’t really know where exactly to go with their trailer and what to expect. They have a general idea in mind, but nothing too specific. But that is perfectly fine, as LHC is more than happy to develop a creative concept for them.
LoewenHerz-Creative always prioritizes the author’s preferences and suggestions. We also let the book’s cover and the author’s website guide us in the style and music choices we are making, since those are great indicators of the author’s overall taste and likes.
Visit: www.LoewenHerz-Creative.com
Why do you think book trailers have become a good marketing tool for authors?
With the increased use of multi and social media, book trailers have been an up and coming method to promote and advertise, and have increased in popularity among both authors and readers. Writers increasingly see the value in offering book trailers to their current and potential readers, and are eager to let this medium help them expand their fan base and sales of their books.
Most blockbuster movies have a trailer. So why not apply the same concept when promoting a book in order to let the potential reader gain valuable insight into the book’s content, while ultimately supporting the author in reaching a broader audience?
Book marketing is one of the biggest challenges for authors. Most are usually unsure as to what steps they need to take, and what is necessary and vital to their success. One of the key components to an author’s book marketing strategy is the use of a book trailer. Book trailers are transforming the way readers choose their books. Books with trailers receive increased search engine visibility and generate more buzz on social networks. They represent a visual teaser that engages new audiences in a fun and exciting way.
Videos are quickly becoming the most popular form of information sharing. YouTube alone has grown tremendously over the last few years. People love to see videos on all types of subjects. Selling a book is difficult as competition is fierce. Book trailers can give authors and their books an affordable and competitive edge. The use of motion graphics for a book’s promotion may be a fairly new concept, but they truly work when done well. Affordable, exciting, and beautiful trailers will enhance an author’s brand and the opportunity to increase sales by combining visual images with text or narration to their title and will help it stand out from the rest.
What makes a good book trailer?
A good book trailer is short, and sweet, and to the point; very similar to regular TV commercials; something that captures and keeps your attention. Our trailers are between 45 seconds to 1 minute long. This time is perfect to peak the viewer’s interest and showcase the book’s purpose and content. The right use of graphics and color is essential, as it depicts that mood of the book. And appropriately matched music further helps to describe the theme and presentation of the book.
Take author Stuart Allen’s Trailer for his debut novel “Parting Lines,” for example (http://youtu.be/b67P5r1Op8E). In its 48 seconds, we learn that the main character of the book is fighting his way through a midlife crisis. The choice of words and music lets us see the overall tone and mood of the book, and the video graphics and design mirror the author’s chosen style for the cover of his novel. And all that in less than a minute.
How do you work with authors to create an effective book trailer? What is the process from brief to finished product and what should the author have in mind before approaching you?
An author usually contacts LoewenHerz-Creative via the email address found on our website. When contacted any other way, we always refer potential clients to our website’s sample page, so they can see what types of trailers we produce. This also helps in developing some ideas for their own trailers in terms of text bursts or narration.
We always encourage authors to provide as much information as possible before we begin the creative development of the trailer (including the book’s genre, the desired trailer mood, the desired mood of the trailer background music, etc.). When authors work with our team to develop the concept before production begins, we are able to create a trailer that meets the author’s needs earlier in the development process and reduce time required for re-editing.
Authors may also provide images, music, or video clips that they would like to be included. If submitted by the author, these assets have to have the appropriate rights clearances or must be creative commons, as we do not acquire licensing rights for authors. If their desired images are not rights-cleared, we usually use those as a reference to find similar types and styles of images that are rights-cleared.
We then go over the desired text bursts or spoken narration, depending on the author’s chosen trailer package. The general guidelines are that the total number of bursts doesn't exceed 9 and that the individual bursts are kept relatively short. Each line represents one text burst that will appear on the screen by itself, one at a time. Most authors ask us to create the bursts or spoken narration for them in order to get a general idea.
Once we have gathered all this information and the production has been scheduled, a 30% deposit is required. The deposit is payable via PayPal. The author will be provided with watermarked drafts of their trailer, upon which they can provide their feedback. We provide up to 3 revisions. Once the author is happy with the trailer, and after the remaining balance has been paid, the final version will be supplied as HD and 360p files without the watermark. We also send the author the public YouTube link, which they can link to directly in order to showcase their new trailer on their own website or any other social media site.
Most authors are very open to suggestions, as they usually don’t really know where exactly to go with their trailer and what to expect. They have a general idea in mind, but nothing too specific. But that is perfectly fine, as LHC is more than happy to develop a creative concept for them.
LoewenHerz-Creative always prioritizes the author’s preferences and suggestions. We also let the book’s cover and the author’s website guide us in the style and music choices we are making, since those are great indicators of the author’s overall taste and likes.
Visit: www.LoewenHerz-Creative.com
July 15, 2014
Stuart Allen - writer of songs and stories
Stuart Allen is a writer of songs and stories. I have his sentimental track The Invisible Woman on repeat around here (you can listen to it on Soundcloud https://soundcloud.com/dangarstu/the-invisible-woman). He has recently published his novel Parting Lines and is experimenting with some unique marketing ideas. Here I ask him about his novel, the differences between songwriting and novel writing and being an indie writer and musician and how he is promoting Parting Lines.
Tell us a little about your debut novel Parting Lines and how you came up with the idea ?
Parting Lines was essentially conceived the day I bought an old typewriter from Reverse Garbage in Marrickville. I took it home, marvelled at its charm, opened a bottle of scotch then started using it to write short passages ranging in size from a single line to about half a page. At the time, they were all disconnected, each just investigating an idea that I either found interesting or amusing. Sitting at a typewriter is a great way to explore a stream of consciousness without the temptation of editing as you go.
After a while I showed one of those short pieces to a friend of mine. It simply read, “It’s not as though when I was a kid I actually decided to grow up to be an arsehole. I made that decision much later in life.” At the time I just thought it was funny, but she said it made her want to know what the speaker wanted to be when he or she was a kid, and what went wrong to end up making the decision to become an arsehole instead. I thought about it for a while then sat down to expand on those two lines to satisfy her curiosity. The resulting page, along with several others, went in the folder that I would take to our local writers’ group and that afternoon I tabled the lot. When reading through the pages, a different friend grabbed that newest page and said, “Here, this page should be the first page of the novel. I would read that novel!” And so that page became what is now the prologue of Parting Lines and rest of the book is an investigation of the themes within it. Any resemblance between the protagonist deep in the throws of a midlife crisis and this middle-aged author are purely co-incidental. :)
You’re also a singer/songwriter. How did you find the experience of writing long-form fiction and does your song writing influence your fiction writing in any way?
I have to say I enjoyed the experience of writing long-form fiction from beginning to end. I can’t say there was a single moment where it felt like a chore, so from that perspective it was great. The challenges are different, that is for sure. In some ways it is simpler: no need to count syllables, find words that rhyme, combine multiple instruments that harmonise and compliment each other, never stepping on each other’s toes in the audio spectrum; but in other ways it is harder: a novel must remain cohesive and well paced over tens of thousands of words. I guess the biggest clue as to how hard writing a novel is compared to a song, or even an album of songs, is the number of people in the acknowledgements page of the book. Although I have collaborated with others on songs, there are plenty I have recorded solo, but there is no way the book could have been produced to any standard without the team of professional people that helped.
But has my song writing influenced my novel writing? I think it has. With a song you are trying to capture the essence of a simple idea. You still need to build on that idea each verse to give the song a sense of progression, but in many ways they are like a flavour or a smell. The choice of words, the tone of the instruments, the tempo, they all combine to give a certain feel and that is also how I approach the writing of each scene. I have always loved song, stories and movies that have a strong atmosphere and sense of place, and that is what I most tried to carry over into the writing of Parting Lines.
Just as there are a lot of changes going on in writing and publishing in this digital era, there are a lot of new opportunities for musicians getting their music out there on platforms such as Soundcloud and Youtube. What do you find are the similarities and differences between being an indie writer and an indie musician?
I’m glad you asked this one because self-publishing is a bit of passion of mine. I don’t see it as a fall-back option, I see it as a completely valid first option. (If you are in the mood to read me ranting about this ad nauseum then check out my Should I Self Publish? blog post.)
There is no doubt that the digital age allows you to distribute your songs and stories to the entire planet, but that of course doesn’t mean they are going to be read or listened to. Songs have the advantage here as people will commit to listening to a three-minute song while they are doing the washing up much more readily than they will give up many hours of focussed attention to read a novel they stumble across. In fact I would go so far as to say that people will almost never do that no matter how many times a promotion company with 500 thousand “followers" tweets to tell them they should. The distribution of songs and stories is largely very similar, the marketing is worlds apart.
As the photo says, there is also a huge gulf in the perception of self publishing in these two markets. The music market has an inherent rebelliousness that lends itself well to being independent; the book industry is more conservative and authors seem to value the recognition of a publishing house more. The same goes for readers too. With such a huge amount of time needed to read a novel and determine if it is good or not, readers look to publishing houses to decide what is worthy of their time and what isn’t.
To complete the crossover though, I am planning to record the first few chapters of my novel as an audiobook and post it on SoundCloud. I’ll let you know how that turns out on my next Book Marketing blog post.
Tell us a little about Book Crossing and how you are using this as a unique way to get your book out there to people?
So if tweeting to 500 thousand followers doesn’t get you 490 thousand sales (some people just have bad taste), then what does? Word of mouth. Time and time again people will tell you that almost every book they read is as a result of a personal recommendation from someone they trust. This launches the independent author straight into a catch 22. People won’t read your book until someone recommends they do, but so far no one has read it to recommend it. I see giving copies of your book away as an entirely valid way to break this catch 22 and seed the pool of copies that are out in the wild being read. Giving away ebooks isn’t a new strategy, and evidence seems to indicate that it works quite well, but I personally feel there is a lot of value in giving away paperback copies too. There is obviously a cost involved in doing this and see registering each book with Book Crossing as a way of maximising this investment. It increases the chances that your book will be passed on, and it also increases the chances of each reader posting a review. Goodreads giveaways are another way to achieve this same goal.
Visit: http://dangarstu.com
Tell us a little about your debut novel Parting Lines and how you came up with the idea ?
Parting Lines was essentially conceived the day I bought an old typewriter from Reverse Garbage in Marrickville. I took it home, marvelled at its charm, opened a bottle of scotch then started using it to write short passages ranging in size from a single line to about half a page. At the time, they were all disconnected, each just investigating an idea that I either found interesting or amusing. Sitting at a typewriter is a great way to explore a stream of consciousness without the temptation of editing as you go.
After a while I showed one of those short pieces to a friend of mine. It simply read, “It’s not as though when I was a kid I actually decided to grow up to be an arsehole. I made that decision much later in life.” At the time I just thought it was funny, but she said it made her want to know what the speaker wanted to be when he or she was a kid, and what went wrong to end up making the decision to become an arsehole instead. I thought about it for a while then sat down to expand on those two lines to satisfy her curiosity. The resulting page, along with several others, went in the folder that I would take to our local writers’ group and that afternoon I tabled the lot. When reading through the pages, a different friend grabbed that newest page and said, “Here, this page should be the first page of the novel. I would read that novel!” And so that page became what is now the prologue of Parting Lines and rest of the book is an investigation of the themes within it. Any resemblance between the protagonist deep in the throws of a midlife crisis and this middle-aged author are purely co-incidental. :)
You’re also a singer/songwriter. How did you find the experience of writing long-form fiction and does your song writing influence your fiction writing in any way?
I have to say I enjoyed the experience of writing long-form fiction from beginning to end. I can’t say there was a single moment where it felt like a chore, so from that perspective it was great. The challenges are different, that is for sure. In some ways it is simpler: no need to count syllables, find words that rhyme, combine multiple instruments that harmonise and compliment each other, never stepping on each other’s toes in the audio spectrum; but in other ways it is harder: a novel must remain cohesive and well paced over tens of thousands of words. I guess the biggest clue as to how hard writing a novel is compared to a song, or even an album of songs, is the number of people in the acknowledgements page of the book. Although I have collaborated with others on songs, there are plenty I have recorded solo, but there is no way the book could have been produced to any standard without the team of professional people that helped.
But has my song writing influenced my novel writing? I think it has. With a song you are trying to capture the essence of a simple idea. You still need to build on that idea each verse to give the song a sense of progression, but in many ways they are like a flavour or a smell. The choice of words, the tone of the instruments, the tempo, they all combine to give a certain feel and that is also how I approach the writing of each scene. I have always loved song, stories and movies that have a strong atmosphere and sense of place, and that is what I most tried to carry over into the writing of Parting Lines.
Just as there are a lot of changes going on in writing and publishing in this digital era, there are a lot of new opportunities for musicians getting their music out there on platforms such as Soundcloud and Youtube. What do you find are the similarities and differences between being an indie writer and an indie musician?
I’m glad you asked this one because self-publishing is a bit of passion of mine. I don’t see it as a fall-back option, I see it as a completely valid first option. (If you are in the mood to read me ranting about this ad nauseum then check out my Should I Self Publish? blog post.)
There is no doubt that the digital age allows you to distribute your songs and stories to the entire planet, but that of course doesn’t mean they are going to be read or listened to. Songs have the advantage here as people will commit to listening to a three-minute song while they are doing the washing up much more readily than they will give up many hours of focussed attention to read a novel they stumble across. In fact I would go so far as to say that people will almost never do that no matter how many times a promotion company with 500 thousand “followers" tweets to tell them they should. The distribution of songs and stories is largely very similar, the marketing is worlds apart.
As the photo says, there is also a huge gulf in the perception of self publishing in these two markets. The music market has an inherent rebelliousness that lends itself well to being independent; the book industry is more conservative and authors seem to value the recognition of a publishing house more. The same goes for readers too. With such a huge amount of time needed to read a novel and determine if it is good or not, readers look to publishing houses to decide what is worthy of their time and what isn’t.
To complete the crossover though, I am planning to record the first few chapters of my novel as an audiobook and post it on SoundCloud. I’ll let you know how that turns out on my next Book Marketing blog post.
Tell us a little about Book Crossing and how you are using this as a unique way to get your book out there to people?
So if tweeting to 500 thousand followers doesn’t get you 490 thousand sales (some people just have bad taste), then what does? Word of mouth. Time and time again people will tell you that almost every book they read is as a result of a personal recommendation from someone they trust. This launches the independent author straight into a catch 22. People won’t read your book until someone recommends they do, but so far no one has read it to recommend it. I see giving copies of your book away as an entirely valid way to break this catch 22 and seed the pool of copies that are out in the wild being read. Giving away ebooks isn’t a new strategy, and evidence seems to indicate that it works quite well, but I personally feel there is a lot of value in giving away paperback copies too. There is obviously a cost involved in doing this and see registering each book with Book Crossing as a way of maximising this investment. It increases the chances that your book will be passed on, and it also increases the chances of each reader posting a review. Goodreads giveaways are another way to achieve this same goal.
Visit: http://dangarstu.com
July 14, 2014
Aunty Arty, Astro Circus Kids and Jet Black Publishing
I'm still catching my breath, because a week after I signed the contract with Merge Publishing for my novel Exit Stage Left, I heard from Jet Black Publishing and they want to publish two of my children's book series! That is six kids books to start with!
Jet Black Publishing is a new ebook publisher in Melbourne, my hometown. Their mission is to publish inspirational and creative stories for children and young adults and they are donating 20% of the sales to children's literacy charities, such as the Australian Children's Literacy & Numeracy Foundation. So not only can titles on their list offer the joy of reading to kids, but they can also help support children's literacy in remote and marginalised communities.
I'm delighted to be working with Kim Mungcal and Jet Black Publishing. He's really enthusiastic about my stories and a true professional to work with. And the most exciting thing about getting these kids books published is that I am working with illustrators on both series. It's like a fusion of my two passions - art and writing!
The very talented Narelda Joy is illustrating the Aunty Arty series, about a quirky aunty who takes her niece Frieda and her siblings inside well known artworks. I've just seen the first roughs, and if I thought getting published is exciting, well seeing my ideas illustrated is absolutely mind blowing! And we've got Ray Eckermann on board to illustrate the Astro Circus Kids series, about kids growing up in the circus.
I've often written about how lonely writing is, but suddenly I don't feel lonely anymore. I've now got people to bounce ideas around with, people who care as much about my characters, their behaviour and the way they look as I do. These stories have become a true collaboration and I'm jumping out of my skin with excitement as I'm watching my characters being born ...
Visit: http://www.jetblackpublishing.com/
Jet Black Publishing is a new ebook publisher in Melbourne, my hometown. Their mission is to publish inspirational and creative stories for children and young adults and they are donating 20% of the sales to children's literacy charities, such as the Australian Children's Literacy & Numeracy Foundation. So not only can titles on their list offer the joy of reading to kids, but they can also help support children's literacy in remote and marginalised communities.
I'm delighted to be working with Kim Mungcal and Jet Black Publishing. He's really enthusiastic about my stories and a true professional to work with. And the most exciting thing about getting these kids books published is that I am working with illustrators on both series. It's like a fusion of my two passions - art and writing!
The very talented Narelda Joy is illustrating the Aunty Arty series, about a quirky aunty who takes her niece Frieda and her siblings inside well known artworks. I've just seen the first roughs, and if I thought getting published is exciting, well seeing my ideas illustrated is absolutely mind blowing! And we've got Ray Eckermann on board to illustrate the Astro Circus Kids series, about kids growing up in the circus.
I've often written about how lonely writing is, but suddenly I don't feel lonely anymore. I've now got people to bounce ideas around with, people who care as much about my characters, their behaviour and the way they look as I do. These stories have become a true collaboration and I'm jumping out of my skin with excitement as I'm watching my characters being born ...
Visit: http://www.jetblackpublishing.com/
