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Guest Posts

Writing/Poetry Promotion Tips by Lillian Brummet

Despite the global economic issues facing us today and the rising competition on the book promotion market, poetry is a growing market with an increasing readership. In the world of writing it is generally well known that poetry is one of the hardest genres to market, however there are a number of opportunities if one knows where to look.

Over the years I’ve noticed a growth in online radio programs that focus on poetry. Like print publications, each radio program will have a unique focus – some may accept poetic works according to the region, genre or topic. If you have access to the internet, all you need to do is do a search at each online radio station using key works such as poetry, poets, writing and the genre you write in (i.e. gardens, environment, social change, etc).

When you prepare the query there are several options to consider. First, how do you appeal to their audience? When does the radio show go live? How do listeners access the archived show? How do you plan on promoting the event if they decide to feature your work?

Depending on the radio program’s operations you might be calling in to a live show, or you might be recorded for a later date. Most radio shows will simply have a conversation over the telephone, so your location is not usually an issue, and this helps you reach a global audience. Some radio shows are Skype friendly (skype.com); Skype offers a way for people to have conversations using their computer and a headset – which is a budget-friendly option helping us avoid expensive long distance telephone charges. The host might want to interview you about the creation process, your experiences with poetry readings or the publication industry. They will likely need you to read at least one of your poems on air, be sure to choose poems that suit their audience.

The host may ask you to offer a pre-recorded MP3 file of your reading, and this is where you can have a lot of fun with having background music, or a variety of sounds from nature to industry – depending on your reading. When creating an MP3 file you can either use a recording of a live performance you did recently at a poetry café or something like that, or you can do a reading specifically for that radio show. Some radio shows will ask you to provide only one poem in MP3 format, others will want a longer performance. Be sure you have clarified what the host or program director requires from you.

Occasionally a radio host will be open to playing a 30 second promotional MP3 for your published book, magazine or website during one of their shows for free – all you have to do is ask. MP3 files that were created for radio shows are useful for websites as well, allowing visitors to a website to listen to the author reading their work in their own voice.

Online radio is only one option for a poet’s marketing plan. We can also consider online publications from e-zines to blogs that are often very willing to highlight a poet’s work. Be sure to offer those MP3’s to these sites as well, you never know what they might like to use. Another frugal and useful option is YouTube videos (youtube.com) where you can record yourself reading your work, or presenting it to a live audience. These videos are helpful for websites, publications and blogs to enrich the experience for their audience.

~ Lillian Brummet: Award-winning author, book marketing guru, owner of the award-winning Brummet’s Conscious Blog, and both the host and executive producer of the Conscious Discussions Talk Radio show. (http://brummetmedia.ca/)

Thank you for taking the time to read this post. If you like it let me know and share it with others. See you next time, Toi Thomas. #thetoiboxofwords

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Guest Posts

When A Fantasy World Spills Over by Jaq D. Hawkins

Click image to see more books in the Deathgate Cycle.

I’ve read Fantasy since a very young age and one of the wonderful discoveries of my young reading days was the series. Fantasy writing involves a lot of world building and setting up ‘rules’ of the society, but more importantly, the reader as well as the writer often falls in love with an imaginary world and a series allows both to continue to visit these Fantasy realms in our imagination.

Some of my early loves were Anne McCaffrey’s Pern and Marion Zimmer Bradley’s Darkover. I was fascinated by the laws of Physics and how they were gently warped in Roger Zelazny’s Amber. Some worlds were less of a joy to visit, such as the challenging worlds conquered by Michael Moorcock’s Eternal Champion series heroes and the prison world of the Deathgate Cycle by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman. Even these worlds embraced the fantastic and stretched the imagination into the far reaches of possibility. The seedy streets of Thieves World and the subculture of vampires in Anne Rice’s novels that began with Interview With the Vampire allowed the reader to adventure in dark and dangerous realms from the safety of their favourite reading chair.

I first became a published writer in the old traditional way in the 1980’s, but I was writing in a non-fiction genre and there was a part of me that always wanted to write in my own Fantasy world. I made an attempt once or twice to formulate an imaginary world and found that it couldn’t be forced. I had written a lot of fiction in high school, but as much as my Mind, Body, Spirit books flowed easily, my inspirations for fiction had become fragmented during many years of my life when I was travelling a lot and experiencing different aspects of real life.

It was something from real life that eventually sparked the seed of a new Fantasy realm. George Bush II was about to be re-elected *cough* and I had dipped my toe into activist groups in an attempt to start a worldwide protest movement that would reflect the atmosphere of 1969. I found that modern activist groups mostly worked separately and each had their own agenda, so co-ordinating anything after the effects of the ‘me’ generation of the 1980’s was effectively impossible. While contemplating how things should be rather than how they are, a line of dialogue entered my mind.

“We are not like you. We do not glory in having power over our own kind. Or imagining that we do.” ~Haghuf, Dance of the Goblins

It wasn’t something that a human was likely to say to another human, so in my mind the speaker became a goblin and suddenly an idea for a whole society, a Shamanistic subculture of goblins was born. Ten minutes later I was busy scribbling and when I stopped, chapter one was finished. I threw in some magicians for the goblins to interact with and they took over as the ruling class and suddenly, a whole new Fantasy world had effectively laid itself out for me.

During the course of writing the first book, the second and third books became notes files. There were things I wanted to follow up in subsequent generations, but I decided I would definitely stop at three. A series that goes on too long can weigh heavy on a reader. As much as I enjoyed Deathgate Cycle, I was very anxious for it to finish in the last few books. However, Darkover and Anne Rice’s Vampire books had transcended the sequential series by expanding through stand alone books. These worlds can be dipped in and out of without any need for sequence. My answer to this was to work towards a book of short stories related to my goblin world, Meat For the Storytelling. At this stage I have story notes to fill two volumes, but the stories that have been released to date can be read at http://jaqdhawkins.wordpress.com/.

When I finish ten of them, I will bundle them into the first collection and offer it at minimal price. How long it will go one to further volumes will be decided by the goblins. As long as I still have need to visit their world, the short stories will make a convenient arena to fill in pieces of back story or new adventures that reveal more detail about the societies that make up the series.

If you are writing about a Fantasy world, don’t feel that you have to put everything into a first book. Let it unfold in stages so that both you and your readers can enjoy the thrill of discovery at every point along the way. To build a world begins with a basic landscape and a few rules. The rest will fall into place as you write. Once you have established your own world, side novels or stories can go on for as long as someone, especially the writer, wants to return just one more time to experience this special realm of your imagination.

Thank you for taking the time to read this post. If you like it let me know and share it with others. See you next time, Toi Thomas. #thetoiboxofwords

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Author Insights Fun Hops

The “Writing Process” Blog Tour

I was introduced to this lovely tour by a very powerful writer and friend, Glynis Rankin of Imaginings . She challenges me as writing to dig deeper into my soul, but I’m saving that for another post. Be sure to visit her contribution to this tour and see what she has going on…

And now, down to me. 😉

What am I working on?

I’m currently working on two independent projects. I’m in the editorial phase of publication for the second book in my Eternal Curse Series. I’m hoping to make alternations after receiving feedback from two beta readers before submitting to an editor.

I’m also working to complete the first draft of my first work of contemporary fiction, a romance entitled It’s Like the Full Moon.

How does my work differ from others of its genre?

The fact that none of my work seems to fit neatly into any specific genre is an indication of how unique it is. I don’t want to give the impression that I’m writing ground breaking material that is setting new precedents, but I am doing things in my own special way which seems to ruffle a few feathers.

I’ve been told that my tales of romance aren’t typical, that my sci-fi is daunting, that my paranormal is truly relevant, and that much of my work has strong spiritual undertones. This is all true, however I fear some will be left with a misconception of my works. Not all of my writing is deep, but a lot of it is. Some of my stories have strong religious ties, while others focus more on the human condition.  Some of my work is purely for entertainment.

I don’t know if my readers are ready for some of the works I’ll be presenting in the future, but I hope I have enough time to ease them into it.

Why do I write what I do?

I don’t know if it can be classified as OCD, but I feel compelled to tell the stories created in my head. It’s one thing to write them down, to share them with friends, but to have them published and presented to the masses is something else entirely. My works haven’t made it to any bestsellers lists yet, but I feel a sense of comfort knowing that someone may stubble upon one of my stories and connect to it in some way.

Ultimately I want to entertain people with stories that, hopefully, make them laugh, cry, swoon, and even shiver with fear…But don’t jump to conclusions; I don’t have the mindset to write horror or erotica.

How does your writing process work?

While creative is key, I go into my writing with strategic precision. I know my weak points and rely on the skills of others to clean up my work and make it presentable, but I have a unique voice that I refuse to have altered.

Typically when I write a story, this is what happens:

-Idea and notes

-More notes and outline, and outline

-Character and setting outlines and profiles

-Transition notes and plot development.

-Writing, writing, reading, editing, writing, reading, reading, editing, writing, reading, editing, editing

-Then others finally get to see it for feedback

Who’s Up Next

-L.A. Little, author of Deadblood and soon to be many more.

The Ways, The Methods, & The Tools | @LALittle12*

-Andrew Hess, author of The Phoenix Blade Project Justice:  Writer’s Revolution

Thank you for taking the time to read this post. If you like it let me know and share it with others. See you next time, Toi Thomas. #thetoiboxofwords