No one seems to know what this is about

http://www.scarletseries.tv/

On the surface, it looks like an ad for a TV show called Scarlet.

Or, is it? There's NO listing in the TV guide, even though the show is supposed to air this week (either tonight 28 Apr according to the website, or 30 Apr according to the trailer).

An ad for Scarlet also appears in the lastest Entertainment magazine. But none of the press mentions a station affiliation. Better yet, the commercial for Scarlett is appearing on MULTIPLE TV stations.

Strangeness.

The consipiracy thickens when you check the Yahoo Groups Discussion of Scarlet. Some people suggest there is a connection to the release of a series of LG televisions with the same name, but there's no proof.

Smells like some kind of viral marketing to me. Keep your eyes peeled, and comment back if you find anything...

Art Is Resistance
-Zero

Labels: Viral Marketing

Getting your book printed is easy. I just did a blog post about Print On Demand technology, and you can read about that here.

Getting your book printed is easy. But getting it to the people, you are gonna need some help. For marketing and distribution of books today, Amazon.com is king - and according to Writers Weekly, the King just laid down the law:

Thou shalt have no other POD service providers before me.

Now if you want to release your POD book on Amazon, it must be printed on *their* POD service provider, called BookSurge. Of course, the whole POD industry is in an uproar because Amazon realized they could in-source the POD publishing themselves.

No.
Fucking.
Shit.
Sherlock.

Let's see, people step up and start offering POD, and a route to Amazon for independent authors. They start making a bazillion dollars, proving a huge ROI. Amazon says, "Thanks for verifying there's a market, now we'll do it ourselves. Blow us."

The only surprise here is that anyone is surprised.

You can listen to Amazon.com corporate execs blow smoke up your ass here. They claim it's all about making the process faster which is complete and utter bullshit. PODs can take the order from Amazon and ship direct to the customer, so 'making the process faster' is a flat-out lie. But there's no lie about how much $kaching$ Amazon is going to make.

Be careful, some people are mistakenly proclaiming that this means you have an "Exclusive" agreement with Amazon, (meaning you can't release your book through other POD publishers or other distribution methods) which is NOT true. Mark Jeffrey at the Huffington Post, for example, clearly DID NOT read the entire release from amazon which can be found here.

The agreement is Non-Exclusive, meaning you can still send your POD works through other POD presses, but if you want to sell those copies through Amazon, you will have to have a minimum quantity (as few as five copies) printed and sent to Amazon for stocking through Amazon's "Advantage Program". You can also release POD through Amazon/BookSurge, AND through as many other POD or traditional publishers as you like. You just can't tie Amazon orders to your POD publisher anymore. You wanna do POD on Amazon? You gotta use BookSurge, and you are going to pay whatever they want.

Sounds evil, but it's just a smart business move for Amazon to eliminate the middlemen. A clever businessperson would have seen this coming. Another clever businessperson would see this as the opportunity to step in and take the place of the 'Old' Amazon business model. Those people who were riding the POD gravytrain and are out of business because they put all their eggs in the Amazon basket can shut the fuck up and take this time of unemployment to take a class on simple business economics and examining market trends...

Art Is Resistance
-Zero

Labels: Authors, Business Phenomena

It was about ten years ago that Anna Lee and her sister moved in next door. Xtina and I were living in South Minneapolis at the time, and I remember looking out the window, and seeing these two young and industrious former Fargoians hauling furniture into their new place. I helped them with the bedframe as Xtina put together some kind of neighborly gift for the "new kids on the block". Candles so they would always have light, Wine so they would always have drink, and Bread, so they would always have food, Condoms so they would...well, I don't remember exactly, but something like that.

Well, that was ages ago, and now look, our little Anna, all grown up...on the cover of the Star Tribune and Vita.mn...[sniffle]... I proclaimed Anna Lee as Fashion Maven of Minneapolis long ago, and its high time the rest of the world found out. But since no one reads my blog, at least now she's finally getting the press she deserves.

Now, before any of you mock my rock-hard hard-rock sensibilities because I've attended every Voltage fashion show...be not fooled. Voltage is a mash-up of a fashion show and a 'best new bands' night, and I'm mostly interested in the bands, but I'm all for Anna's vision, and I want to see her succeed, so color me supportive. Just keep in mind that my own wardrobe hasn't changed much since the 90's so I'm not really any kind of fashion authority, and my opinion should be considered more Proletariat than Bourgeoisie.

Here are the bands that played at Voltage 2008:

ZibraZibra - Listening to this band was like being trapped inside an Atari 2600 that was run by the Village People. I'm not saying that's a bad thing. Their outfits were designed by Ivan Idland, and were an accurate representation of the band's music: gaudy, stunning, and outlandish.

The Haves Have It - Impressive. Think Jagged Spiral crossed with Heart. Three-piece band with female lead guitar/vocals, female bass player and male drummer. Catchy, punchy pop. Their new release "Friction" just came out last month, and I Have to Have it. I voted The Haves Have It as my pick for "Audience Choice Awards". Maybe they'd be interested in playing a show with Jagged Spiral down the road... Their outfits by EM/MA were cut as high as the price of gasoline, and smokin' hot.

Bella Koshka - I've seen Bella Koshka a few times before, and purchased their aptly named debut, "Slow Dancing on the Ocean Floor", so I already knew they were good. Technical problems with computer loops during the show taught them the hard way what Greazy Meal meant when they said, "...get on stage and push Play? No Way!" Funny thing is, the Owls learned this same lesson at the first Voltage show when their drum CD skipped and completely wrecked their song. Aside from the glitch, their show was top-notch. Strangely, their outfit design by Ann Alyse Clothing was kinda boring. What happened to the cool outfits they were wearing on the cover of Vita.mm?

MC/VL - I think it's poetic justice that the Beastie Boys get ripped off like this. Lots of fun N-R-G and running around, including running into the audience. Xtina even got to participate in one of the songs! Their outfits by Erin Smith were a nod to the Licensed to Ill era just like the music; Members Only Jackets?!! Ha! and oversized fake 'bling' before it was even called that. Good times. If you didn't like Early Beasties, you won't like MC/VL. I thought they were great fun.

White Light Riot - The Minneapolis Darlings who made the "Best New Bands of 2006". I hadn't heard from WLR since they held an industry party for the record labels to come paw at them. They were by far the Best Dressed Band of the evening, looking quite dapper (and warm) in Olde English Velvet outfits designed by Elizabeth Chesney. A trip-up stole some of their energy about 5 sec into their set, but he got it back towards the end of their set. A good show. I'm told their CD recordings are better...have to check that out.

Birthday Suits and only "Birthday Suits", not "The Birthday Suits". A two-piece band; drummer and guitarist playing minimalist pseudo-punk. While Birthday Suits guitarist made better use of the stage than Gay Witch Abortion, the guitarist's tone and singing voice were both tinny. When you choose not to have a bass player in the band, you need something on the bottom end to hold it together. GWA know this and dial in some wicked tone on the guitar (Check out "Action Cop" on their myspace), Birthday Suits provide some overdubbed bass on their recorded works (check out "Cherry Blue" and "Flying Man Y2K" on their myspace) but their live show doesn't, and suffers for lack thereof. I can't recall their outfits by Dan Patrick, other than they truly were wearing clothing and not their birthday suits....

Overall, the band choices were all pretty safe, a good mix of musical styles to go with the various fashions. I would say this was the best production for Voltage yet, but since there's only been three of them, that's not high praise. The honor is that Voltage is still going strong, and still turns a crowd and a ton of sponsors. Anna Lee knows that Voltage on it's own isn't enough to shake the foundations of the local fashion industry, so she's been quick to tie it to other MNFashion events: the "Fashion Weekend" and the "MNFashion Flash" contest. Voltage is a stepping stone to an even bigger vision from the fashion maven, and it should be interesting to see how it all pans out.

Art Is Resistance
-Zero

Labels: Concert, Fashion, Minneapolis Event, Ubercool

Care to play a game?

http://www.clowntravelagency.com/

Easy sure, and been done better before, but still...

Art Is Resistance
-Zero

Labels: Viral Marketing

Before you think I'm about to rail on the group POD (Short for Payable On Death) I'm not. They are P.O.S., but they aren't my subject here.

The POD I'm talking about is Print On Demand and sometimes incorrectly called "Publish On Demand", this is the replacement for what used to be called the "Vanity Press".

Back in the day, anyone with personal issues, a typewriter, and a couple grand to blow could become a 'published' author. Simply take your maysterpeasce to the printer, and pay them to make you a book. Easy-peasy-lemon-squeezy, right?

Right.

So, you ended up with a truckfull of books that sat in your garage. You gave one to your mom, sold a handful to any friends and family you could guilt into a purchase, gave away more copies as Christmas Presents, and a year or two later you had....

...a truckfull of books sitting in your garage.

Fast-Forward to 2008, and although we don't have any fucking flying cars yet, we have made some fabulous advances in print technology. Some printers decided to make short runs of books available, as little as ONE copy. Submit your book over the interwebs, and order as many as you need, as often as you like, when you need them. And thus, POD was born.

So now anyone with personal issues, a personal computer and a couple hundred to blow can become a 'published' author, and they still have room in the garage for their car.

Now, authors ('real' authors, mind you) who went through the traditional route of agent > publisher > editor > marketing... would argue the self-published author is as much an "Author" as someone who purchases a medical degree online is a "Doctor".

And publishers? Wow, don't even get them started.

I attended the Authors Book Fair as the Bloomington Art Center last weekend, and got to hear a panel of publishers rail on POD publishing. You can imagine what they had to say. They railed on the quality, and their mantra was, "You get what you pay for." They cried about how the POD business is cutting into the Publishers market.

But then they proceeded to tell us how our books weren't going to be published without some sort of track record, and a marketing plan, and some visionary (or what *they* thought was visionary) manuscript.

What I didn't hear was the side of the POD businesses, who likely weren't invited to attend the presentation.

So, let's add this up - Independent artists, working around the existing system, directly targeting their audience through the internet with crappy quality product, and undercutting an industry which makes money by selling someone else's work?

Whoa! I thought we were talking about books, but it seems we've ended up talking about the music industry...

So getting a book deal with a publisher is pretty much like getting a record deal with a major label. Even the contracts and advances are based on the same business model. Because they have the money and distribution connections, they make the rules, and they pick what they think will sell. The hand full of successes cover the losses of the hundreds of other artists who "fail".

Meanwhile, the internet comes along, and I discovered that the Major Publishers are simply another middleman. Indie Publishers might be a different story, the way there are still some Indie Record Labels that are worth their salt.

For a while there, I was torn about how to proceed with The Demonslayer's Handbook, I was waffling about getting an agent and all that, but making the mental connection between the publishers and the RIAA made this decision a little easier.

I still need more info, but I don't think I need an agent. My options now are a little clearer.

I can choose to Print On Demand. This would be like running my own business, something I continue to do, so invoicing, book keeping, and filling out a Schedule C don't frighten me. This is probably the best option for me at this time.

I can choose to approach smaller Independent Publishers on my own. I'm not likely to find one interested enough in my book, but it's worth getting a couple form rejection letters to put up.

Art Is Resistance
-Zero

Labels: Authors, Business Phenomena