#sometimes big budget does translate when the folks making it are passionate :)

[hareefaree]

The new DnD movie was good! Went into it with my tabletop group expecting a marvel-sequel quippy mess and was surprised by very cool practical effects and wet puppets. Also it felt like a really good translation of a campaign and watching them translate dnd mechanics into actual moments scratched my brain.

I am not immune to advertising ;-; I guess I kinda understand marvel fans now

[hub-pub-bub]

Whether you’re currently writing a book, querying agents or on submission to publishers, allow me to share this small-but-important truth: There’s an editor out there right now—sorting stacks of pitch letters, book proposals and manuscripts, thumbing through literary agent submissions, reading selections of the manuscripts she requested from authors directly—who is seeking to buy a book similar to yours.

So, in a sense, your future editor is out there thinking about you.

Picture this person for a moment: Perhaps she’s an associate editor for a mid-level imprint, working her way up at a growing publishing company. She majored in creative writing or English literature or journalism in college, where she developed a passion for Jane Austen or Jack Kerouac, Joan Didion or Anne Lamott. Whoever her muse, she knows good writing when she sees it. She wrote articles for the school newspaper or poems for the literary journal, nabbed a good internship after college and she’s worked hard ever since to finally land her dream job—acquiring and editing books full time and getting paid for it!

The 7 Deadly Sins of Novelists (According to Editors)

Now she fills the role of champion for her authors and books. She pitches the books she discovers to her own internal publishing team, during which she makes a case for both the editorial and business side for acquiring said manuscripts.

Her boss expects her to acquire a handful of new books every year, and though she’s still learning and growing into the job, in part, her performance is tied to the performance of her selections. If she acquires and takes a huge financial risk on a book and it bombs a year later, it reflects on her directly. Of course, like anyone in a new position, she needs time to grow and, sure, she might have more seasoned editors guiding her through this journey. But eventually, given a couple of years, her acquisitions become hers to own.

Does all of this create a little pressure on our friendly associate editor? You bet.

Every editor’s list of acquisitions is viewed (especially by management) as their own personal business within the greater publishing company, complete with its own profit and loss statement (P and L). As a result, each individual book might get more or less scrutiny depending on how it fits into the greater scheme. The worse the editor’s books perform, the harder time she’ll have convincing her team to take risks on her projects in the future.

When you’re writing a book, preparing a proposal or query (for publishers or literary agents, because agents make decisions based on whether they think a publisher will be interested), it’s important to think about your future editor. He is a human being, just like you, and every day he is facing the very real difficulties of the changing market, the shifting retail landscape and his own internal company pressures. He, like many editors in this business, hopes to come across something special—a work of unique power or appeal or finesse or authority—that makes him feel like he did in college when he read Jack Kerouac.

As someone who once sat in the editor’s chair at publishers large and small, I know those simultaneous pressures and hopes firsthand. My first publishing job was as a junior editor acquiring and editing 10–12 books a year for a small, family-owned press. To be honest, for a long time I had no idea what I was doing—but I worked hard and soaked up every lesson I could. Despite my inexperience, over the course of several fairly successful years, I found myself the publisher of that small imprint: hustling to make budgets; publishing competitive, influential books; learning the fast-changing worlds of marketing and publicity; and managing a team that shared my goals.

1. Do Your Homework

Every category and genre of publishing is governed by unspoken rules. In the world of traditional trade book publishing, fiction and nonfiction aren’t the same. For instance, most editors sign nonfiction book deals based on one to two chapters. But for fiction, and especially with first-time novelists, editors typically need to read the full manuscript before a deal is done.

If you’re submitting the next high-concept business book to an experienced agent, or an editor at a business imprint, make sure you’ve done your research. Do you know what other books the literary agent has represented, or the editor has acquired in the recent past? Has that press recently published a book like yours?

Immerse yourself in books similar to your own. Read in the category, but also study the jacket, the acknowledgements page, the author’s blog and their previous books. Conduct industry research on publishing houses, editors and literary agents through sites like Publishers Weekly. Attend a conference, watch lectures on YouTube. Read relevant articles, essays and blog posts.

To know a category is to know the world in which your future editor lives every day.

2. Use Concise Communication

The volume of reading material that accrues on the desks of editors and literary agents is immense. These folks read mountains of content every day, sifting through stacks of submissions for eye-catching queries.

Which is why yours should get right to the point—in such a way that compels them to read more. Don’t belabor your initial synopsis or write a three-page email. If in doubt, the fewer words the better. Share a little about yourself, but only the most relevant points.

Most important: Any sample writing you include should read fast and clean. Editors aren’t looking for reasons to reject, per se, but when inundated, it’s far too easy to dismiss a submission for little things like spelling errors, awkward phrasing or poor formatting.

3. Sign With an Agent

Inking a contract with a good literary agent can help avoid some of the above issues. When on submission to publishers, agents almost always get a faster read than unsolicited queries—especially in certain categories. There are several reasons why this is the case. First, most literary agents take the time to build relationships (and a level of trust) with acquisition editors in the genres they work within. Second, because publishing professionals have such limited time, agents effectively serve as a filter, siphoning in projects with higher-caliber content. Plus, most have also taken the time to work with their authors to develop and shape their book concepts, which adds additional value for the publisher.

I’ve also had countless conversations with authors who published their books agentless, and suddenly found themselves in a strange new world with no idea how to navigate it. Their books released to the world and their lofty publishing dreams slowly wilted as they made mistakes, agreed to bad contractual terms, blindly trusted editors, or neglected their marketing and publicity campaigns. The best literary agents act as a trusted guide, thinking through these details long before a deal ever comes to fruition.

4. Grow Your Platform

Here’s a fact of life in modern publishing: Attracting (and holding) attention is difficult in any medium, especially in a world of social media, streaming television and unlimited self-publishing. As a result, presses look for projects with a built-in audience. It’s thus through a platform that authors can do just that.

I define platform as any outward-facing method a writer uses to attract a readership prior to publishing—which will, in theory, translate to that readership purchasing the writer’s book. It can manifest as anything from a YouTube channel, podcast, blog or Twitter following to an email newsletter or college classroom.

Think of your writing as a business, and take the initiative to build your influence via a robust platform, which will only increase your chances of publishing.

5. Forge a Relationship

Once you sign a book deal, you’ll be assigned a “champion.” More often than not, that person is an acquisitions editor or developmental editor, but it may also be the marketing manager or the publisher herself. While every press is different, often that person is your point of contact throughout the publishing process—from beginning to end.

Whoever your point person, be intentional in building that relationship. If possible, meet your champion face-to-face, or at least set up regular phone calls. Get to know her. This small investment of time and effort on your part can pay off big in the long run.

I’ve seen authors send a nice handwritten note after a meeting or a phone call, thanking the participants for their time. And sometimes I’ve seen those simple thank yous tacked to the wall of an editor’s office years later. A small, kind act goes a long way, and when you need a favor down the road, your champion will remember you.

Guide to Literary Agents 2019

6. Remember to Engage

Shift your thinking about the publishing process: Turning in your manuscript is not the end, but the beginning. The more engaged you are at each subsequent stage, the better chance your book has of making an impact in the market. Writing a terrific manuscript is step one, but you must also help to market, publicize and sell.

Seek to be included in the key publishing decisions along the way, including the final title, cover design, marketing and publicity strategy and so on. Believe it or not, each of these things is regularly decided without the author’s input—but by becoming a part of these decisions, you can bring your vision to the table.

7. Be Your Book’s CMO

Remember: You are your book’s Chief Marketing Officer. You are its first and last advocate. Be clear that this book is still your baby, while remaining cordial and professional.

Consider setting aside some of your advance (if you received one) to help market your book when the time comes. Thinking that far ahead is tough, but every bit of marketing is important: strong Book 1 sales pave the way for Book 2.

If you know your publisher’s marketing strategy (presuming you’ve stayed engaged in the process), then you can supplement it. For example, if the publisher focuses on store placement, ads in industry magazines, focused banner ads and a book tour, then perhaps you invest in hiring a freelance publicist to line up TV, radio or print interviews.

Once you’ve garnered a book deal, it’s easy to sit back and let the professionals handle everything for you. But resist, for your own sake (and the sake of your book). Your book is your baby. When it gets out into the world, you’re the best one to teach it how to walk.

You’ve devoted hours, days, months—even years— to writing and editing your novel or nonfiction book. With all that time invested, it’s natural to want recognition for your hard work and dedication. Take your writing one step further and tackle the publishing process. When you enroll in this online course, you’ll learn the details of the query letter format and how to write a query letter that catches the attention of agents and publishers. Learn more and register.

[earlgraytay]

okay but shit like this always makes me go feral because like, it's equating 'fandom' with a very narrow subset of the things that people do fannish shit over, usually a very narrow American subset at that

one of my bigger fandoms right now is the Les Miserables fandom. we've got folks like @needsmoreresearch doing... well.... detailed, in-person research on the jails of Toulon, @pilferingapples ' deep dives into the context and background of Hugo's world, and @rouge-la-flamme 's achingly detailed Tokugawa-era Japan AU (seriously if you have any interest in Les Mis or Japanese culture please go follow them).

all of this in a fannish or fan-adjacent capacity. all of this from the same people who will also produce adorable fanart of men tenderly holding each other, or share goofy headcanons about the Barricade Boys' antics, or come up with crack AUs involving Javert's sideburns secretly being the tails of two giant squirrels.

I don't think anyone is going to say that Les Miserables isn't Great Literature. Or that there aren't scenes in Les Mis that won't make you stare at the wall for three hours. (In particular, Javert's suicide is always going to stick with me.) but Les Miserables has a fandom, and it's not exactly a small fandom.

and like, this is not exactly a fringe phenomenon! I've seen people produce fanworks of everything from The Terror AMC to Balzac's Vautrin novels to the Vorkosigan Saga to Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell to Moby-Dick. @focsle is making a comic loosely based on 19th century whaling diaries, ffs.

because, like, the driving force of fandom is not actually shipping, it's Love Of The Thing, and often specifically Love Of The Characters In The Thing. shipping is one way to engage with Love Of The Characters- if you love characters, you want to see them in a world where they can be happy, and for a lot of folks that does mean "romantically involved in a healthy relationship". so shipping happens.

but fandom can and does often mean "love of the themes in The Thing". "love of the motifs and imagery of The Thing." "love of the historical setting that created The Thing, in all its good and bad." "love of translating the thing out of that setting into a modern context, or taking a modern setting and putting it in historical context."

you can get so much out of fannish readings of a text, because fandom is not about coffee shop AUs. It's about obsessive, passionate Love Of The Thing. sometimes that manifests as 'getting a degree and going to research primary sources in a lab'. sometimes that manifests as porn.

when you take the idea of "fandom" and collapse it down to "the people who write certain kinds of fic for certain big-budget American/British media properties", you lose a significant chunk of fandom. you lose a significant amount of what fandom is, and what it can be.

collapsing it all into that category is a waste of so much fucking potential.

stating to think there’s an inverse correlation between how good media is and how easily fandomizable it is 😁

[ulyssessklein]

“How I thrive after 15 years as a DIY musician”

Yael Meyer’s 6 keys to independent music success.

The impossible dream.

When I first decided to make music for a living it was as much an act of passion as it was an act of defiance. I grew up in Chile, a very small and conservative country at the bottom of the world, listening as much to Michael Jackson and Madonna as to James Taylor and all the folk greats from the 60’s and 70’s. I was born in the 80’s and grew up during the 90’s, and before the MP3 in a country far away, stardom felt like an impossibly distant dream, and my knowledge of music artists consisted of only what was readily available on the radio or on MTV.

In my world, it was almost unheard of for someone to become an artist or to make a living making music. The industry in Chile was, and still is to this day, very small. In terms of opportunities, all eyes were set on what was happening outside the country rather than inside the country. As such, my greatest aspiration was to leave and pursue an elusive dream, knowing full well that there would be absolutely no certainty, no sureness of success, and on the contrary, more chances of failure than achievement.

So I decided, in an act of trust, a bit of lunacy and a lot of defiance, that I would prove everyone who ever told me that this was a dead end, a bad idea, impossible to do or that I should go to law school instead and study something much more socially acceptable, that they were wrong. At 17 I applied for a scholarship to the only place where I wanted to study: Berklee College of Music.

For a South American girl like me, the mere idea of leaving my home country to pursue music was disruptive and ambitious, so when I received news that I was invited to audition for a scholarship in Argentina, I told my parents matter-of-factly that I would be traveling in a few weeks. I hadn’t sorted out how I would get there, but somehow and for a reason I am still not sure of to this day, I knew I had to go, whatever it took, and was determined to make it happen. That scholarship had my name on it, it’s just that others didn’t know it yet.

To my parents’ credit, out of all the adults around me who believed I was insane, including my teachers and everyone else within my parents’ circle, they supported me and didn’t doubt my choice or my path. They traveled with me to the audition and celebrated with me a few months later when I received the news that I got it.

When you make a choice that goes against the norm there will be those who are inspired by it, and those who feel threatened or challenged by it. This is something I have encountered over and over again at several points in my life and have come to realize that this is usually the case for most artists, and something that we all at some point need to become comfortable with.

Berklee was an incredible experience. I met people from all over the world and my music taste and knowledge grew exponentially. I had a chance to play with musicians from different backgrounds who were a lot better than me, form several bands, and write and record two records.

Music school and music business

Music school certainly made me a better musician, but it did not teach me how to make a living making music. I realized years later that this happens in most professions. School educates you in your chosen career, but learning how to earn a living from it kind of happens on the job. The issue with a career in music is that it has no defined path or form to follow. Everyone pretty much makes up their own way.

When you graduate from a traditional school, say law school, you know that if you find a job at a law firm and you are good at your job, in a few years you will make partner. If you are really good several years down the road you may even become name partner or possibly be recruited by a larger firm. There is a corporate ladder to climb.

In the music industry there’s just a lot of mumbo jumbo, not a whole lot of direction, several different stories (everyone has their own) and usually within those incredible success stories there is always something missing from the official account which leaves out an essential component of how it all happened.

How the heck does Jane Doe from small-town-Louisiana all of a sudden become such a huge superstar? There’s a part of the story that we are never privy to, that happens undercover and behind a silk curtain, and young aspiring artists and musicians are left to the wolves to fend for ourselves, figuring it all out without much direction.

Coming up in an industry that was going down

At the time that I decided to make music for a living, the industry was pretty much falling on its head. The MP3 had just come out. Napster had been shut down. Apple was coming out with its first iPod. Record labels were frightened. Nobody knew where this was heading and big companies were reluctant to invest in new acts, because you know, the industry was crashing.

I had several friends signed to major labels at the time, and I would often hear all these horror stories of how they got signed and then the label never released their record. They were stuck in a deal unable to get out. They had no support from the record label and couldn’t release their albums, because the masters didn’t belong to them anymore. I didn’t want this to happen to me. So I made a decision then and there to stay independent for as long as possible, to own my masters, my publishing and my career and see how far I could take this thing on my own. And I did.

Owning your own career in the middle-class music economy.

There’s this idea of the struggling artist and then there’s the idea of becoming a huge star, but in reality there is a whole world in-between, a world where artists are making a living making music, on their own terms, at their own pace, creating their own market, without anyone breathing down their throats.

Is it hard? Absolutely. Impossible? Not really. It takes an incredible amount of dedication, strength and certainly a high tolerance for risk. It is not for the faint of heart, especially today.

The digital revolution has brought with it many great things. It is more affordable and more accessible than ever to make music. You don’t need huge budgets to make a record. It has also made getting your music out there a lot easier. Anybody can release music online and reach a global audience through social media and online-specialized media, blogs, Internet radio, etc.

However, the digital age has also made it a lot more challenging to get heard. There is more music out there than ever before, which creates a lot of noise. How do you cut through the noise so that your voice is the one that’s heard?

Successes and setbacks.

In my 15 years in the music industry as an independent artist I have had many successes and also many setbacks. It is difficult sometimes when you devote so much time and effort to pursuing your goals, to savor the fruits of your labor, precisely because it has taken so much work to see any fruits at all, but looking back I have a lot to be proud of.

I have toured and traveled to many places in the world as a solo artist, with my band and with my kids as a family (I am a mother of two) and I’ve played some of the largest music festivals out there (Lollapalooza, SXSW, Sziget). Music has taken me to places such as Cuba, Argentina, Australia and Germany, and I’ve had the chance to write with amazing songwriters from several countries, getting songs cut in Australia and China (even translated to Mandarin!).

My songs appear on TV shows, movies and adverts in the US, UK, Korea, Chile, and Macedonia, having been licensed to TV shows like Teen Mom, Private Practice, Parenthood, Reign and The Rain and adverts for brands such as Blackberry, Massimo Dutti, and Ralph Lauren. They also play at retail stores I don’t even know, in places I have never been to. Friends often send me videos of them in random situations with my music playing in the background while on hold with Jet Blue, while shopping at a chain store in Panama or while sitting at a Starbucks in London.

I’ve won awards both as an artist as well as an entrepreneur (somewhere along the road I ended up building and heading my own independent record label, sync company and publishing house), and I’ve been featured in some of the most influential magazines and music outlets out there (Spin Magazine, KCRW, PASTE Magazine, Relix, the LA Times etc), while securing several government grants to fund both my businesses and my career.

However, for every success there have certainly been many more defeats. For every one door that has opened before me, there have been another 99 that closed before that very one opened, sometimes opening just enough for me sneak in before it closed again. I’ve had many setbacks and frustrations, and encountered more than my fair share of rejection.

Learning from the lows.

Yet setbacks, as painful and frustrating as they are, are never in vain; they form a big part of what it means to be an entrepreneur, no matter your chosen profession.

As clichéd as it sounds, every failed experience gives you knowledge you didn’t have before, enabling you to get further ahead the next time around. Still, many times along the way I have wanted to quit.

I read once a line attributed to Banksy that said: “If you get tired, learn to rest, not to quit.” I also heard someone say once, “The ones who make it are not the most talented ones, they are simply the ones who didn’t give up.”

I try to remind myself and other artists of this, so when the grind gets too much to bear, I remember to take a step back in order to continue moving forward. No matter how many accomplishments or how much experience you have, you will always need dedication, strength and a high tolerance for risk to open new doors and reach new heights.

Tapping into that same fire that fueled me to pursue a music career almost 20 years ago is key to continuing to pursue the many dreams I have yet to accomplish and the many things I have yet to achieve. After 15 years of doing this on my own, on my own terms and through a lot of trial and error, I’ve gained a wealth of information that now allows me to begin each project from a better standpoint every time around.

So if I can give anybody any advice, it would be the following:

1. Educate yourself on the music industry as much as possible.

Today we have the Internet and there is no better tool out there to become educated. Nowadays there’s no excuse not to learn something if you are truly interested. So take courses, reach out to musicians you admire and take them out for coffee, ask them questions, learn from their experience.

Pick 1-2 artists you admire and learn as much from their journey as you can, read books, interviews and watch documentaries. Go to music markets and conventions, meet people in the industry, talk to everyone, take their cards and follow up. Don’t be a nag, but be polite and perseverant.

Stay curious, be voracious and soak up as much knowledge and experience as you can.

2. Become a better entrepreneur, not just a better musician.

If you want to make a living making music you must really treat this as an enterprise, not just a job or a career. This is your own start-up and you must think of yourself as the CEO. As such, educate yourself on entrepreneurship, marketing, business and leadership.

Building solid teams and finding people to work with that complement your strengths and weaknesses will be key to developing a successful business. None of us are good at everything, but we are all good at something, so know your strengths and make sure to find people to work with who are great at those things you are not.

Write a solid business plan and break it into small achievable steps so that every day you are working towards the goals you want to accomplish. Do at least one thing every day that brings you closer to where you want to go.

3. Be proactive.

Every now and then you will get a lucky break, but for the most part not a lot will be handed to you on a silver platter. So be proactive and seek out opportunities.

Like I said before, reach out to people you admire. Most may not get back to you, but some will. Ask questions. Always ask questions. If possible, find a mentor, someone who has gone down this path before and can trickle down some wisdom.

Remember to be resilient. Many doors will close before you. It will be hard not to be deterred by this, but if you remember that every door that closes leads you one step closer to the one that will open, you will be able to move on from disappointment much quicker and continue moving ahead, looking for the next opportunity.

4. Fuel your fire.

Remember why you decided to do this in the first place. Continue to fuel the inspiration, motivation and joy de vivre that sparked the fire within you that pushed you to pursue this dream.

There will be times when your energy will wane and inevitably you will want to give up, so it is important to find things that keep inspiring you and motivating you when you don’t feel you have it in you. Whether it is listening to interviews by artists you enjoy, going to live concerts, rehearsing with your band, playing live shows or maybe taking time off to take a step back and become re-inspired by life, do what you need to do to fuel your fire.

5. Stay defiant.

There will always be naysayers and people who will try to deter you from your path or convince you that it is too hard, or impossible. What you think is much more important than what anyone else thinks. So as long as you are not hurting anybody, keep walking your path, which is yours and only yours to follow.

6. Fail a lot.

There’s simply no way around this one. You must fail a lot in order to succeed. Failure ain’t fun, it’s annoying and it’s frustrating. But remember, when you were a toddler you fell on your bum many, many times before you learned to walk and you did it with a smile on your face. Now you don’t even remember the many times you fell and walking eventually becomes second nature.

The best learning experiences come to us by trying and failing. Most successful entrepreneurs had several failed business before they hit the nail on the head. Failure is simply part of the journey to success. So embrace the setbacks, regroup and continue moving forward.

..and lastly, above all, don’t give up.​

  Yael Meyer is an American-Chilean independent artist, producer and entrepreneur, owner and co-founder of KLI RECORDS.

She has developed an online music business course, based on her experience and knowledge as an independent artist and entrepreneur in the music biz. The course is tailored specifically for DIY artists, songwriters, musicians, producers, DJs, managers and anyone in the industry interested in learning more about how to develop a successful career in the music industry.

For more information or to sign up, you can reach her at yael@klirecords.com or visit the following link HERE.

The post “How I thrive after 15 years as a DIY musician” appeared first on DIY Musician Blog.