The Survival Guide to Writing Fantasy

 

 Reboot Camp #003: Cold-Calling Bookstores [38:29m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (597)

Craziness in May will not stop The Sarge! Welcome to The Survival Guide’s Reboot Camp where we look back on the early days of the podcast (and see how things have changed).

The book is in print…but is it in the bookstores? Maybe yes, maybe no. It might depend on your publisher; but no matter who you are, the mission to get yourself into a bookstore for a signing or speaking event is yours. It’s a good idea to know how to pitch yourself to a Community Relations Manager or Area Marketing Manager before getting on the phone.

And remember, troops, Balticon 42 is coming up and coming up fast. Hope to see you there!

That is all.

 

 Reboot Camp 002: Contacting Cons: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (996)

Welcome back for another blast from the past with another Survival Guide Reboot Camp.

So you want to attend a con not as an attendee, but as a guest? How do you get on to the programming? What do I do once I get on a panel?! After taking that first impression, it’s time to work on the follow-up. Fall in, Troops, we’re heading into a con…

 

 Making First Impressions: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (1177)

Welcome to Reboot Camp!

To answer the demands for archives, I’m dropping into the feed, once a week, the episodes of Season One. I’m keeping it simple: New intro, new ending, and a blast from the past with The Sarge.

If you already have the episode, feel free to delete it but this is the shortest distance between you and the Archives. If you want to smile at the early days of the Survival Guide, have a listen. For old times sake.

In this first episode, the Survival Guide covers the first impression and the premiere Whiskey Tango Foxtrot Moment, awarded to a columnist that tried to fake their way through an article on podcasting.

There have been quite a few requests for my Survival Guide/Commentary to Dragon*Con which went offline after the FPM move to Podango. After checking the 8/27/07 post and figuring out the missing piece — the episode itself — I have remedied the situation (at least with this episode) and present you all the lost August episode of The Sarge’s Survival Guide on Dragon*Con.

Click here to jump to the blog entry for show notes…

As this podcast is all about promotion and all about the pimping, I couldn’t say no when Seth Harwood and J.C. Hutchins asked me to set up and send out a little love to Scott Sigler. Infected is out and all of us in the community of podcast writers are coming together to help get the word out.

Troops, for tonight, I surrender command to Survivalists Seth Harwood and J.C.Hutchins.

That is all.

 

 Special Edition: A Message from Hutch and Harwood [4:49m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (1161)

You’ve heard The Sarge chat with James Patrick Kelly about the uphill battle of writing short stories in a novel publishing. I decided to revisit the challenges of marketing short stories with a writer that is blazing a trail of his own: Matt Wallace. With multiple Parsec Awards under his belt and an arsenal of short stories strapped across his chest like an action hero, Matt is now setting his sights on the print medium…

Matt is gearing up for his Spring/Summer release, The Next Fix. Along with the latest development of The Failed Cities Monologues and his first collection, Matt also challenges himself in other ways by taking a seat behind the Editor’s Desk.

 

 Marketing Your Shorts Off (with Matt Wallace): Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (1359)

00:00 — Introduction

• I love doing The Survival Gui—what do you mean I missed March?
• Who was Joe Murphy and what was with the last show?
• Meet Matt Wallace through J.C. Hutchins’ Ultra-Creatives Podcast…
• …but meet the prolific Matt Wallace here on The Survival Guide.

9:18 — Marketing Your Shorts Off: Challenges in Selling Short Stories

• What are the promotional opportunities out there for short story authors?
• NOBODY EXPECTS DR. TRAN: Balticon Memories…
• The perception of writing short stories
• The Failed Cities Monologues
  • Facing the constant ebb and flow of the industry
  • Promoting a collection of monologues
  • How awards help the authors

25:12 — Promos

• The Adventures of Indiana Jim
• Mur Lafferty’s WASTELAND: Book Four of HEAVEN

28:26 — Marketing Your Shorts Off: Challenges in Selling Short Stories (Part II)

• Remaining on a monthly schedule for MOREVI: Remastered
  
• Billi’s Crazy Eights…more coming soon!
• Showing love at The Parsec Awards
• Returning to Matt Wallace with a talk about meeting his characters in the real world!
• Taking a seat behind the Editor’s Desk
• The challenge of writing columns
• The Next Fix from Apex
  • What you can expect from the darkness of Matt…
  • Opinions between King and Barker
  • TANGENT: Geeking out over film
  • “No World for Warriors” in print
• Matt’s Podcasting Presence
• What’s next for Matt?

50:22 — The Whiskey Tango Foxtrot Moment

J.C. Hutchins is a very naughty man who needs to be spanked.

56:41 — Closing

I Remember Joe

 

 I Remember Joe: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (1090)

On April 1, a podcaster takes one small step for writers, one giant leap for the publishing industry…

Infected, the new horror novel by Scott Sigler!

Now, if you’re not familiar with Scott’s work, be warned — Scott’s work is not for the faint at heart. He is about to grab the attention of booksellers and publishers, and we can hope that doors previously closed to podcasting authors like myself, Philippa Ballantine, P.G. Holyfield and Mur Lafferty to name a few (and there are so many talented podcasting authors out there…) will open.

Until that opportunity comes by, enjoy the PDF, and I will be talking to you soon…

That is all.

 Free PDF of Scott Sigler's Infected: Download (2845)

Place yourself into the following situation: You begin in 2006 a novel that evolves into a larger-than-life epic. For the past two years you have been building up to the grand finale, the earth-shattering, mind-blowing, nail-biting ending to a story full of twists, turns, dips, and diversions that would make the Top Ten List of World’s Greatest Roller Coasters! Finally, you type out the words “The End” and those you have entrusted your work with applaud and say “That was cool.” There it is: your novel, completed.

Now what do you do?

Find out from the guy who is experiencing it first-hand, author J.C. Hutchins. After an incredible ending to his podcast trilogy, 7th Son, Hutch is refusing to slow down and for good reason. Once again, The Sarge has a sit down with friend, fellow podcaster, award-nominated author, and all-around-good-guy, J.C. Hutchins.

 

 Now What Do I Do?! [53:21m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (2135)

00:00 — Introduction

• Welcoming back to Boot Camp for his third visit, author J.C. Hutchins
• Enjoying a nice brew with the best of glassware, a pint glass from Keepsie’s Bar!
• SPOILER ALERT: Revelations on 7th Son throughout this episode. You have been warned…
• A bit of gushing and discussion on the conclusion of a two-year journey

6:30 — Now What Do I Do?

• 2008: The Year of the Upgrade (in preparation for 2009…)
• Establishing an online community
• LOLCats…and 7th Son?
• Hutch’s Inability to sit still and relax…
• Avoiding burnout

22:50 — Promos

• Fear the Froot with Tony Mast
• Chasing the Bard
• Black Shadow

26:38 — Now What Do I Do?! (Part II)

• J.C. Hutchins new podcast offering: The Ultra-Creatives Series
• What would 7th Son: The Movie look like?
• The pressures on Hutch, 7th Son the Print Novel, and other podcasting authors….
• The Power of “SOLIDARITY!”

50:55 — Closing

• The Sarge is slowly getting a handle on things. Stay subscribed. There’s a lot more to come!

Turn your back for only a moment…and THAT’S when those New Zealanders strike…

(SARGE’S NOTE: My own snarky remarks to Pip’s attempt at recording a Survival Guide will be featured in italics.)

 

 Pip's Podjack [43:56m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (3367)

00:00 — The Survival Guide… podjacked by Captain Kiwi!

• NOW HEAR THIS: Prepare to drive on the wrong side of the road and spell everything with a “U”…
• Who the hell made HER a captain?! Frak me…
• Who is Philippa Ballantine? (Oh yes, this show is all about Pip…)
• A Brief History between the Sarge and the Kiwi

5:01 — Help, How Do I Beat the Distance?

Pip, while an award-nominated novelist in her own right, is based out of New Zealand. (Any further south and you’re in Antarctica!) So how do you promote your North American-published work when you are in a different hemisphere? Here are a few tips for authors trying to promote either coast-to-coast or continent-to-continent.

6:01 — Promos

• South Coast: A Shaman’s Tale by Nathan Lowell
• Playing for Keeps by Mur Lafferty

9:00 — Help, How Do I Beat the Distance (Part I)

• Wait a minute…DRILL CALL?! And Pip claims to listen to my show…
• Accept this fact: You will be in charge of your own publicity and marketing.
• The Zen of Being an Extrovert
• Tools available for the International Writer
  • Online Social Networking
  • The Internet Presence

22:22 — Promos

• Thesis: A Fantasy by Indiana Jim
• Morevi: Remastered by Tee Morris

26:25 — Help, How Do I Beat the Distance (Part II)

• Me?! Whine?! Harumph…
• Relishing in Your Own Novelty
• Making the Most of Your Time
  • Online Social Networking
  • Making an Internet Presence
• The Education in Travel

36:08 — The Whiskey Tango Foxtrot Moment (Sort of.)

“Pip’s Picks” of moments far too surreal to believe…

39:25 — Where to Find Pip in 2008

• NZ Guest of Honor at Conspiracy II
• New Media Expo 2008
• Dragon*Con 2008
• Podcasts and Projects in Progress
  • Chasing the Bard: The Podcast
  • Geist, a work-in-progress
  • The Dragon Clan of Morevi, coming soon…
  • …and a collaboration? (Who would be fool enough to do THAT?!)
• Pip’s Online Presence
  • The Pen and The Sword
  • Metamor City, as Eva
  • Morevi: Remastered, as Askana Moldarin
  • Weaver’s Web (Yeah, Pip, remember that — your first ever podcast?!)
  • Whispers at the Edge (Yeah, Pip, remember that — your award-nominated podcast?!)

42:50 — Closing

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