Mark Yoshimoto Nemcoff's Blog, page 6
May 2, 2013
May 1, 2013
Pandora Founder Tim Westergren Gets Pwned by Blake Morgan
Tim Westergren, Founder of Pandora has apparently been trying to get indie musicians to drink the Pandora Kool Aid. My good friend and ECR Music Group CEO, Blake Morgan (pictured) , received Tim’s “personal” email to join up. True to form, Blake saw right through the smokey haze of Westergren’s bullshit and called him on it. His response back to Tim was so on the money, I had to repost the whole conversation here.
On May 1, 2013, at 1:15 AM, Tim Westergren wrote:Dear Blake,
I hope you don’t mind this unsolicited email. I realize Ed on our team has already tried reaching out, but I thought I’d give it one last shot.
Hopefully you received the earlier email along with the attached artist deck that gives a preview of the product direction we’re considering at Pandora to help working musicians build their audiences.
Over this past month we’ve had over a 1000 conversations with independent musicians on Pandora. It’s been a very productive, and encouraging dialogue. One thing is crystal clear, there are large numbers of musicians who have not been part of the mainstream that have the talent and commitment to break through. And internet radio could be the difference.
We received a ton of feedback on the artist deck, and ideas for the future. We’re consolidating all that feedback and will be circulating a summary shortly. The input will most definitely impact the direction of our product development. Our goal is to make something truly useful – not just interesting or cosmetic. Something that can materially impact the ability of artists to make a living. So stay tuned for that.
The letter of support which we also included in our earlier email has also taken on a life of its own. We’re approaching 500 signatures! As we suspected, there is a huge appetite among working musicians to be heard, and to begin participating in shaping the future of the music industry. The response has been so enthusiastic that we have decided to expand the campaign more broadly. If you’re curious to learn more, or think you’d like to somehow participate, we’d welcome you. We really think there’s an opportunity here to change the course of the industry in a direction that will be far more inclusive and empowering for independent musicians.
We look forward to hearing from you.
Best regards,
Tim
Tim Westergren
Founder, Pandora
To which, Blake responded:
To: Tim Westergren <tim@pandora.com>
Cc: Ed Rivadavia <erivadavia@pandora.com>
Subject: Re: PandoraHi Tim,
I have to be blunt and honest in my reply.
I like Pandora, and have supported it. However, this approach and idea that Pandora is intimately interested in the success of independent artists rings quite hollow––especially from a policy standpoint––when it’s put next to the reality of the so-called Internet Radio Fairness Act.
I was terribly disappointed to find your company working hand in hand with someone as unscrupulous as the reality-deprived representative Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) on this bill. This is a congressman who aside from voting against economic stimulus packages and voting NO on banking regulations, also denies evolution (I’m not kidding) and global climate change, while insisting that President Obama is not an American citizen. Certainly not the sharpest––or most reasonable––tack in the box.
Representatives Watt and Conyers have gone so far as to re-name this bill humorously as the Paycheck Reduction Act.
The AFL-CIO, NAACP, Americans for Tax Reform, the American Conservative Union, SoundExchange, and others all oppose this bill, and the supposition that Pandora should pay less to artists and songwriters in order to accomplish higher profitability.
So again, Tim, I support Pandora and would like to believe that you and your company have artists’ best interests at heart. Unfortunately, it’s difficult to stomach this idea based on policy, and reality.
best,
B
April 23, 2013
Robyn Gardner, Tina Watson – The Truth Revealed
Robyn Gardner and Tina Watson, were they victims of the perfect murder? Watch this brand new video promo for VANISHED BEAUTY, then pick up a copy of the book and discover the shocking details of what actually happened to these two women.
Kindle
Nook
iBooks
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Yes, that’s my voice over on the promo.
True Crime – #12 Hot New Releases
Thrilled to see this. Huge thanks to all who purchased the book!
April 21, 2013
VANISHED BEAUTY: What Really Happened to Robyn Gardner and Tina Watson
Fatal Sunset: Vanished Beauty
A new true crime mystery thriller by Mark Yoshimoto Nemcoff
Just why did Robyn Gardner’s travel companion purchase a $1.5 million insurance policy and make himself the beneficiary? Did Tina Watson’s husband really insist she increase her life insurance coverage to $1 million before the wedding? When both suspects’ stories are deemed suspicious, what does the evidence ultimately reveal?
VANISHED BEAUTY is an investigative look at the tragic fates of both Robyn Gardner and Tina Watson including the controversial new theories about what really happened on those fateful trips. Fully examine for yourself society’s reaction to these shocking cases allegedly involving human trafficking, kidnapping, insurance scams, fraud and deceit, then decide: when a vacation tragedy turns into suspicions of murder, just who is to blame?
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iBooks
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April 19, 2013
Why I Love America…
Boston was my home for nearly all of the 4 years I went to school at Berklee. That city has a spirit that lives and breathes. There’s almost nothing like it. With all that has been going on in Boston with the Marathon bombings and this hunt for the suspects this week, I’ve had a lot on my mind. I just wanted to talk about what I love about America. Let me give you a hint… it involves music.
April 18, 2013
Win a $50 Amazon Gift Card
To celebrate the release of my non-fiction thriller VANISHED BEAUTY, and to give a special thanks to my awesome fans, one lucky person on my mailing list will win a $50 Amazon Gift Card. I’ll be picking a winner on May 6th!
If you’re already on my mailing list, you’re already entered to win! If you’re not sure, sign up with your email address. It takes 30 seconds to enter!
Sign up here: http://bit.ly/11n8heU
April 10, 2013
How to Get THE CHURCH OF INFINITY Audiobook for FREE at Spookshow.tv
As I gear up for the release of my non-fiction thriller VANISHED BEAUTY in a couple of weeks, I’ve decided to give away the audiobook for my demon hunter novel, THE CHURCH OF INFINITY for free over at Spookshow.TV. Previously published as just “INFINITY”, the newly rebranded THE CHURCH OF INFINITY is the first volume in the complete INFINITY SAGA.
All 13 parts of THE CHURCH OF INFINITY audiobook will be available to download starting on Thursday, April 11, with serialized episodes also being made available to stream directly from the site each week!
As part of the rebranding, I’ve rolled both Infinity books, THE CHURCH OF INFINITY and INFINITY RISING into one volume, INFINITY (The Complete Saga). So if you like what you hear, you can get the complete saga collection as an audiobook or an eBook.
April 9, 2013
Self Publishing 101: Dispensing with the Obvious… You Need a Finished Manuscript
When it comes to indie publishing, let’s dispense with the obvious. To sell books, you first need a sale-able book.
Duh.
The good news is that these days, you don’t need 75K words to make a book. There is no prejudice against a thin book spine when it comes to e-books.
One of my most successful titles was my Bin Laden book which clocked in at about 12K words total. It proved to me that you can succeed with a short book, but just know that you may face trouble charging a lot for a short book. You may be limited by how much people will be willing to spend on something they can read in an hour or two.
Now writing a book is one thing. Everyone has their own way of doing it.
However, in order for your book to be market-worthy, you’re going to need the holy trinity… Rewriting, Editing and Proofreading. There are very few people who can create a first draft that is publishing-ready. It’s the kind of thing that takes not only skill, but a great deal of experience. Trust me, your written work will only get better through rewriting.
It should also go without saying that you NEED others to read your work before it gets published. Writing is lonely work that often takes place in a vacuum. You need objective and honest feedback in order to make your book shine.
Unfortunately, my recommendation is that you do not trust the opinions of family and close friends. They may not be completely honest assessors of your ability to succeed. They may not want to see you get hurt. They may have an agenda. They may like you just where you are.
Find a writer’s group near you or online. If you have someone who will be straight up with you, you are already ahead of the game.
Editing and proofreading are also jobs that are too important to be done by you, not so much because you may not be qualified to do it, but because you may not be qualified to do it objectively. It’s your book, you’re too close to it. You need to find and editor and/or a proofreader for your work before it goes out into the world.
This is actually one of the most difficult tasks in the process and in many cases, the one that will carry the highest expense. Editing and proofreading are such important jobs that you should really hire someone to do it. Thanks to the e-publishing boom, there are lots of vendors offering these services to writers just like you and I.
When it comes time to find a editor, ask around. If you have friends who have self-published, there’s a good chance they may know someone. Sometimes people are protective of their editors, not wanting them to get too popular lest they raise their rates and lose their availability. I have an editor I like a lot. He’s someone I’ve known for about 20 years so I trust him with my work and I trust him to be honest with me.
If you really get stuck, I may give you his contact info, but just know he doesn’t work for free.
Looking for an editor or proofreader can be as easy as an Internet search. You can also find freelance editors at sites like ODesk.com where freelancers hang their shingle looking for gigs. On these sites, you can often put your job up for bids and the editors who have registered have also taken various aptitude tests and their scores are visible on their profiles.
Whatever you do, try as hard as you can to put your best foot forward. An audience will be your most honest critic. If your book is bad or good, they will let you know.
