The Fabulist Flash
ISSN: 1554-0804
Issue 213
February 12, 2009
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In This Issue:
- This Week
- Fabulist Flash Recommends
- Book Trailers
- Submission Call
- 18Q
- Upcoming Events
- PitchRate.com
- About the Editor
- About The Fabulist Flash
1. This Week
The big news this week: I've worked out a deal with Carolyn Howard-Johnson (The Frugal Book Promoter & The Frugal Editor) and Red Engine Press. Any published author who takes advantage of the Clark County Fair & Rodeo advertising opportunity (see Fabulist Flash Recommends for a few more details) will also have their books in a catalog distributed at the LA Times Festival of Books! Don't miss this opportunity.
It's been a fun week. I enjoyed my birthday (my thanks to everyone who sent cards & well wishes!) And, I continued work on the new novel. It's in that middle place. I'm second guessing several choices and trying to bridge the set up to the solution in an interesting way. My hope is that if I keep getting words on the page I'll find my way through to the end, with the knowledge that it'll all get cleaned up during later revisions.
Keep Moving Forward,
Gregory
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2. Fabulist Flash Recommends
Advertising Opportunity
Fabulist Flash Publishing is sponsoring an exhibitor booth at the Clark County Fair & Rodeo (April 9-12). Published authors can have their books displayed, be included in a digital catalog that will be given away to fair-goers, plus have an advertising page on the Association of Local Authors website for the next year. If you're interested in participating visit AssociationofLocalAuthors.com
UPDATE...Digital catalogs from the CC Fair will also be distributed at the LA Times Festival of Books!
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3. How to Make your Book Trailer Shine
1. Keep it short - 30 seconds is about perfect. Most people do not have the attention span to sit through anything longer. You want to make sure that the viewer lasts to the credits - the place where you should tell them how to buy your book!!
2. Flash is the program I recommend to stream your video - a short video should load immediately. Other videos or players will take much longer to load and will usually be pretty big files. Example, a Flash video we created for the book Accidentally Engaged is 225k - as a Windows Media video it would have been much bigger, and therefore taken much longer to load and view. Plus, the market penetration is much larger with Flash. You want to reach as many people as possible.
3. Avoid using poorly produced video and bad acting. Still shots can be just as engaging and paint a vivid picture - leave something to the imagination of your viewer! For me, there is nothing worse than having the characters on the cover of the book, because frankly the characters in my head never look like the ones on the cover; you could be deterring interest in your book if you're not careful.
4. Make sure that your music is Rights Free, or that you own the rights. You can always try to buy the rights too, the choice is yours.
5. Make sure to include the cover of your book and a website where your viewers can buy it.
Reprinted from "The Book Marketing Expert newsletter," a free ezine offering book promotion and publicity tips and techniques. http://www.amarketingexpert.com
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4. Submissions
Patchwork Path: Friendship Star
Choice Publishing Group is seeking stories and essays about friends and friendship.
Submission Deadline: March 31, 2009.
Submission Guidelines: PatchworkPath.com
Patchwork Path: Wedding Bouquet
Choice Publishing Group is seeking stories and essays about weddings.
Submission Deadline: August 31, 2009.
Submission Guidelines: PatchworkPath.com
Presenters & Programs 2010
Advertise to 30,000 meeting and event planners in this full-color, glossy catalog from Fabulist Flash Publishing and Turning Point International.
Deadline: October 31, 2009
Details: PresentersandPrograms.com
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5. 18Q
Lynn Crain takes the Eighteen Questions
1. Did you choose the writing profession or did it choose you?
I think that we mutually chose each other. I do know that once I was in its gripe, I’ve never been released.
2. What is your background? (education, work, etc.)
My actual training is in nursing, geology and computers. I’m even getting a Ph. D. in Natural Health and can’t wait to finish.
3. When did you ‘know’ you were a writer?
I knew I was a writer when I was twelve and sold my first poem to a magazine.
4. How would you describe your style of writing?
Because I write in so many different genres, it’s hard to describe my style. I write what ever appeals to me. Sometimes I write in first person, sometimes I don’t. The story dictates the style.
5. What is your writing process?
I’m what I call a pantser. Most of the time, I write by the seat of my pants. Some stories do not lend themselves well to that type of writing and for those I’m an anal planner. So it definitely depends upon what type of story I’m writing that week.
6. What was your path to publication?
I had tried for years the normal path. But then again, just what is normal? On a writing challenge a few years ago, I wrote a hot erotic romance and it was accepted by a well known epublisher within 24 hours. Since that time I have been honing my craft and even have an agent. I still sell to that small epublisher and a few more to boot.
7. What is your favorite self-marketing idea?
Again, it would depend upon the genre of the novel I’m trying to promote. For my next book, out September 28, I am planning a big blow out give away. I have the final story in a four book series. It’s new and different and told mainly from the hero’s POV. For it’s promotion, I’ve purchased a one-of-a-kind necklace and earrings to be given away. The series is called Blue Moon Magic and when I saw the glass hearts embedded with beautiful blue hearts inside, I knew that was the one for this books giveaway.
8. What are the biggest surprises you’ve encountered as a writer?
Since I write a lot of erotic fiction, I am always amazed when people asked me about my own personal experiences. I have to remind them it’s fiction.
9. How do you inspire yourself? What are your sources of creativity?
I try to do a lot of things for myself like facials and massages. I also eat right and exercise. My biggest inspiration is reading fellow writers and listening to music. I can really be inspired that way. I’ve always been a creative person and life is a big source of creativity for me.
10. What is your proudest writer moment?
The day I got an agent as suddenly everything I had done to that point was a validation of my writing.
11. What’s the best advice you were given about writing?
Never give up, never surrender. It wasn’t quite said that way, but you get the idea.
12. What is your most embarrassing writer moment?
I mentioned it above. That fan who asked me if I had done everything in my books did so at a writer’s convention during the book fair. It was everything that I could do to keep it together although I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
13. What business challenges have you faced as a writer?
And business is a challenge and I don’t think that writing is any different. Most of my ventures so far have been in the epublishing field with a few in the print field. Now I’m ready to face the challenge of NYC and I’m learning new things every day.
14. What is your writer life philosophy?
Write as much as I can each day and always strive to be the best writer I can be. Don’t judge yourself against the writings of fellow authors but against yourself because if you’re not happy with yourself, you won’t be happy with your writing.
15. When you’re not writing what do you do for fun?
Research and most of that research involves travel. I love to travel.
16. Who do you like to read?
I like to read whatever looks appealing to me. I definitely judge a book by it’s cover on first glance. I then read the back cover and then the front one again. I like stories where something happens and I would have to say that paranormals or futuristics are my favorite.
17. What’s your advice for new writers?
Believe in yourself first and foremost. And develop a tough outer shell because this business can eat you alive if you don’t fortify yourself against the elements. The real writers are in it for the long haul. Writing is like a marriage, you can’t just jump at the first signs of trouble but need to learn how to work the problem and find a solution.
18. What are you currently working on?
I have three big things I’m working on right now. One is a quirky story about a woman lawyer who returns to Scotland to find her underwear stolen and displayed by her ex-lover like a trophy. It’s told in first person and just a hoot to write. The other two are stories I’m targeting for Harlequin’s NEXT line and I love writing these stories. I turn fifty next year and I can certainly idenfy with the problems of women my age.
Bibliography
Summer Solstice Scorches
Violet Visions
Santa’s Elves Series
Everyday Journeys
Shopping Spree
Read more 18Q interviews
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6. Upcoming Events
February 25
Writer's Pen & Grill
A social evening for writers in Las Vegas, NV
April 9-12
Clark County Fair & Rodeo
Fabulist Flash Publishing hosts an exhibitor's booth for published authors. Details
April 16-18
Las Vegas Writer’s Conference
Gregory will present Internet ACE: Online Self Promotion
April 29
Meet the Authors
(Clark County Library, NV)
Gregory, and members of Laudably Tarnished: A Poetry Workshop, host a Q&A panel on poetry.
July 29
Meet the Authors
(Clark County Library, NV)
Gregory and the production/publishing team for the Patchwork Path anthology series host a Q&A panel on getting publishing in anthologies
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7. PitchRate.com
PitchRate.com is receiving short deadline requests from MSNBC.com and other big media venues. These are HUGE media coverage opportunities. We need your help filling those requests. Please visit PitchRate.com, sign up as an expert, and make a pitch to any request that you are qualified to answer. If you're wondering what PitchRate.com is and what we do, see the following:
Tired of waiting at the back of the media line when you know you've got the goods? PitchRate.com moves the best experts to the front of the line!
It's free.It's simple.Here's how it works.
For Journalists
- They make a cloaked "Request" to share their story needs. Experts respond.
- PitchRate.com rates the pitches. Journalists contact the best experts immediately.
- Once they've found the perfect match, they stop incoming pitches by simply turning off their "Request".
- Journalists rate their experience with experts so the next journalist will benefit.
For You
- Are you a perfect match for a media request? "Make a Pitch"
- When journalists contact you, be amazing so you'll get a great rating.
Are you ready to make a move? Sign up now!
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8. About the Editor
Gregory A. Kompes
Gregory A. Kompes (www.kompes.com), The Writerpreneur, is the author of the bestselling 50 Fabulous Gay-Friendly Places to Live, and the Writer’s Series that includes Endorsement Quest, Your Online Media Kit and Should You Write an eBook. He is also a contributor to The Complete Writer’s Journal, Writer’s Bloc I, Writer’s Bloc II, Chopped Liver for the Gentle Spirit, and Chopped Liver for the Kindred Spirit. Gregory speaks frequently on internet marketing and publishing at writer and speaker events and conferences. He also teaches an interactive, ten-week, online course: Internet ACE: Online Self Promotion. The author is a monthly columnist for Writers on the Rise, Production Director for Presenters & Programs, and editor of The Fabulist Flash, an informative newsletter for writers, and the award winning Eighteen Questions, a Q&A series that collects and shares the experiences of published authors. Gregory is co-founder of the Patchwork Path anthology series, Presenters & Programs (the Premier Catalog of Speakers), and the Writer’s Pen & Grill, a writer’s social evening held monthly in Las Vegas, NV. Gregory holds a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature from Columbia University, New York, a Certificate in Online Teaching and Learning, and a Masters of Science in Education from California State University, East Bay.
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9. About The Fabulist Flash
ISSN: 1554-0804
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The Fabulist Flash
PO Box 570368
Las Vegas, NV 89157
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