Weekly Update February 1st


The last week of January was pretty crazy. We went from freezing cold temperatures, to very unseasonably warm. In the space of a few days we have a forty degree temperature change. As I write this we are back to seasonal temps, which means I nice warm fire is a good thing to have around.

Short and Creative

How can an advertisement for a washing machine be interesting, or even funny? I’m sure the marketing director, and ad designer had that exact question on their minds when they shot this video: http://youtu.be/Xoe5Vjl90-o There is a good surprise. I’m not going to give it away. I’ll just say, watch the bear.

Another short video for your perusal is a little animated film called “Paperman” made by Disney: http://youtu.be/aTLySbGoMX0 What struck me on watching the video was that Disney was trying to attain the artistic skillful heights of Pixar short films…and didn’t quite make it. I liked the atmosphere and style a lot, but I felt the method used to resolve the plot was forced.

I Like Stone, and Stone Houses

Hobbit houses have become faddish. True, there aren’t very many of them in existence, but you see enough links to those underground homes that do exist, paying homage to J.R.R. Tolkien. Recently I saw one that stood out as deserving special attention: http://www.visualnews.com/2013/01/01/a-real-life-hobbit-home-in-pennsylvania/

This isn’t a hobbit home as people typically expect–it isn’t underground. It is a “hobbit home” built above ground, using stone. I think stonework is beautiful, whether it be stone walls, or stone buildings. The craftsmanship in the building is amazing.

Inside Books, and Book Selling

Do you read book dedications? I do. And I am always on the lookout for particularly artful dedications. The list of seven great book dedications over at Bookriot.com has some good ones (http://bookriot.com/2012/12/20/seven-great-book-dedications/). Don’t miss the dedications that are pointed out in the comments on the post because there are some real good ones (In particular Gideon Defoe’s dedications for the books in his Pirates! series).

Another article at Bookriot.com is Nonfiction Books that Should be Reshelved as Fiction (http://bookriot.com/2013/01/24/nonfiction-books-that-should-be-reshelved-as-fiction/). The article highlights some authors who weren’t so truthful in their “factual” books.

Their summary for Geronimo’s Bones:

In 1999, Esquire magazine published an article by an unknown Navajo writer named Nasdijj, which described the death of the author’s son by fetal alcohol syndrome. The piece was nominated for a National Magazine Award, and Nasdijj went on to publish three memoirs about his turbulent, often terrible life. Turns out, though, that Nasdijj was a fabrication spun by Tim Barrus, a white man from Michigan who also wrote erotic novels. Points for creativity?

Indeed.

On to more practical matters. I have a goal of becoming more successful at publicizing/marketing my writing, and my books. The Book Marketing Maven has a concise article addressing the idea of before-during-after marketing. While it doesn’t go into great depth, it is a good place to start you thinking: http://bookmarketingmaven.typepad.com/book_marketing_maven/2012/12/using-the-before-during-and-after-technique-to-market-your-book.html

Marketing from Rundy

Since I intend to market my writing better, this means taking practical steps. Added to my list of things to do is revive my author page on Facebook, and make my author page on Amazon more meaningful. Next week look for more information on my author page at Facebook. After that will come my updated Amazon author page.

That’s all for this week! Hope you enjoyed the links, and onsider sharing this with your friends.