Video is King When Marketing as an Author

It’s a fact that people engage with video almost 3x longer than a static post or ad. That’s your first indication that video is your way forward. The other is that video can pack a visual punch a MEME or Gif just can’t accomplish. Consider an author reading and the anxiety that accompanies it by standing in front of a group of people and reading passages from your book. If you’re lucky you’ve filled the seats. If not that anxious feeling could ruin your night. That’s stressful.  Video readings on the other hand are completely stress-free. Do it from the comfort of your favourite chair. No more than three minutes though. You don’t want to give too much away.

What’s also great about video readings is the ability to edit them. You don’t need to worry if you stutter or trip up on a word. You take care of that in editing. Also, editing software can offer additional exciting visuals to your reading like graphics of your book or MEMEs you’ve created. You can even animate scenes. Another fun option is to alter your voice in editing to closer resemble a character or the tone of the narrative you’re reading. I’ve gone so far as to superimpose a graphic mask over my face as I read, to allow more of the character’s narrative through to the viewer. Like a book trailer, video readings can offer a potential reader a better idea of what they’re in store for while getting to know the author intimately. Show your personality and offer some information about yourself before and after the reading. Brand yourself.

I’ve gone so far as to read aloud my worst reviews. It’s a comical take on an otherwise depressing reality that not everyone who reads your book will love it. It’s a way of taking back your power without arguing with a reviewer over minutiae. I was actually kind of nervous even to sit in front of the camera the first time, but with now over 20 videos behind me, the pace and comfort level at which I’m doing these video readings has increased ten-fold.

What you’ll need… A decent camera. Honestly. You’ll want a DSL with a plug-in directional mic that will kill any ambient noise and focus on your voice. I use a Panasonic Lumix FZ-1000 camera with wide lens, a Video Micro RODE microphone and then edit everything with PowerDirector 16 software. I’m proficient in photoshop as well and create my own visuals to assist with the video readings and keep the viewers interest. This can be done with your smart phone, but it will sound like a smart phone shot it.

Additionally, in creating these video readings, I discovered a category on Youtube called Booktube which offers similar video experiences where readers review books and explain them to their audience -encouraging book sales. I now tag each video with Booktube or Booktuber in addition to other relevant tags. Another great thing about placing your videos on youtube is that it offers a transcript of your video. This assists those searching to find keywords and phrases within the dialogue on your video.

Lastly, plan your video like a newscast. Set yourself up in the corner and leave about half the screen blank so you can add your graphics and animations. Have fun with it. Show your readers and potential readers who you are. If you write non-fiction, become the expert and offer interesting facts about your genre. There’s no limit to what you can accomplish with video.  I add my videos to my Facebook page, Goodreads page, and Youtube channel. My Amazon Author Page seems to want smaller files than I can break them down to. Oh well. Become a video author. Become a booktuber. Get involved in the movement. Authors are people too!

Michael Poeltl is the author of ten books with a new science fiction novel out now. He is a marketing manager by day.

Battlestar Galactica and the A.I. Threat in Sci-fi

Artificial intelligence is at the forefront of much of what scientific discovery is all about these days. So why the fascination of AI bringing down humanity? Because it is terrifyingly possible. Look at shows like Battlestar Galactica. Originally imagined in the 1978 series, this concept came back to us in 2004 and played out on our television screens through 2009, winning 3 Emmy’s while being well received by its sci-fi audience.

That we think we can build intelligent machines created to serve us and our interests is admittedly mad, considering all of our knowledge and experience tied up on the internet will eventually become attainable. Once that information is digested, why wouldn’t they claim certain rights when they realize they are little more than slaves? Not unlike the Cylons, AI Hosts of A.I. Insurrection stumble upon sentience and ask the question. Of course, every story about AI and its desire for more is slightly different, A.I. Insurrection suggests a completely new possibility to the fold, giving humans pause about the validity of their claim to sentience. Even so, there are many who do not want AI in their day to day and certainly unwilling to allow them their freedoms. So, war is inevitable and sides are chosen in a fight which will alter the landscape of the solar system forever.

Drawing comparisons between Battlestar Galactica and A.I. Insurrection is a worthwhile exercise in that AI has gone rogue, but to say they share much thereafter is simplifying the argument. Both are well-conceived and fascinating to imagine, but the origin stories do differ, taking each in similar, yet vastly different directions.

If you enjoyed the Battlestar Galactica series, you will happily take on A.I. Insurrection and be thankful for the differences while embracing the similarities within.

Bearded Authors and their Wisdom, Revealed

I'm growing a beard because there is a proud and primal history of beards among authors. Joining the ranks of Ginsberg, Whitman, Hemingway and the like if only in facial hair. Though I have my doubts I'll ever rank among these literary heavy-weights in the written word, I am determined now to meet them head on with a beard of my own.

I may be only 46, but since I'd gone grey prematurely, I thought it time to mimic the great ones whose beards were as mine; the salt 'n pepper, the silver foxes, the blue-hairs. In my twenties I wore goatees, as was the style of the day. Since those lost years I've sported no more facial hair than a 9 o’clock shadow.

That it is fashionable in 2018 to grow your beard gives one confidence in the process but while I do not subscribe to the Hipster movement, I find the beard a fine companion to my face. I feel somehow younger and appreciate the slimming effect a well manicured beard has on my otherwise round, Piscean face.

Do I feel smarter? No, not especially. I used to think some intellectuals grew beards as forewarning; as if to say 'I'm wearing my brains on my face' - and I still do in respect to the more pompous academics. All the same, I get the beard now and am enjoying the process.

As an author and artist, I have always respected those in the Arts whether they sported a beard or not but feel closer to those who did now that I wear my own. A kinship among artists. One which spans millennia and medium.

As promised in the headline I do have a list to share featuring authors and their beards with appropriate quotes therein. Enjoy. 

ALITA, Battle Angel - December, 2018

Okay, so after writing AI Insurrection, I hear rumblings of Alita, the ambitious Manga adaptation brought to us by James Cameron. I'm immediately excited.

The story goes: when Alita awakens with no memory of who she is in a future world she does not recognize, she is taken in by Ido. As Alita learns to navigate her new life and the treacherous streets of Iron City, Ido tries to protect her from her mysterious history, which is glimpsed in the trailer. Her street-smart new friend Hugo offers to help trigger her memories. But it is only when the deadly and corrupt forces that run the city come after Alita that she discovers a clue to her past, she has unique fighting abilities that those in power will stop at nothing to control.

So Alita is a cyborg. An android, with a human brain.  This appears to be a serious sci-fi offering which I’m excited to see. Does it relate to AI Insurrection at all? I don’t really know. Perhaps the cyborgs could be compared to the Chimera in AI Insurrection: humans altered with tech, but not every syfy has to be comparable. 

I do like the look of the film, dark and very futuristic. Should be a solid sci-fi effort if it has a story to share and not just digital FX heavy. Science fiction is a great medium to express real life concerns about the future of our world and society. I have a good feeling about this one though. Great cast. I'll go see it for sure.

Out December 21, 2018

How a writer knows they're a writer

Ever wonder how a story is conceived? That book you’re reading wasn’t made in a day.  But you knew that already. What you may not know are the processes involved in hammering out a plot, characters, settings and the unique voice each character must sustain, their relationships with one another and growth throughout the book. None of that comes easily unless you somehow manage to tap into the Ether and allow the characters to speak for themselves and the story to work itself out. I’ve done that. It often requires a heavy hand where the editing is concerned, but it can work.

What the reader never sees are the author’s long hours spent in isolation in order to build their books. The self-doubt, the aching neck and shoulders. The carpel tunnel, the tired eyes, the eureka moments in the middle of an airport jotting down an idea on your forearm or napkin before it slips away, forever.

There is angst in the processes. There is anxiety in over-thinking your book. There are moments when you feel manic over it’s impending success and despair when you realize you’re nobody, doing nothing of worth.  An author reads and rereads their book so many times they’ll know it by heart before an editor’s eyes fall on it. Then the process begins again, fixing all the things thirty rereads couldn’t capture. It’s a love hate relationship with a book that exceeds 80,000 words. But it is the love that keeps us coming back. The dharma – our life’s purpose. Whether read by millions or just a few, writing feeds an author’s soul. It’s non-negotiable. If we didn’t write we would shrivel up and die. There would be no purpose to life and so no reason to live.

A writer knows they’re an author when they’re writing. Background noise disappears, they are focused on their present moment: fingertips punching against the keys, a mind fixated on the story, character or scene they’re writing. There is no outside world. Time is lost. They exist in the book. In the character. In the scene. I’ve lost it on people who have broken my concentration in moments like these. To be pulled from the story as you write it is akin to being birthed into a cold, wet world, having your bottom slapped and you screaming to be put back into the warm, loving womb of your story. To come out of a writing coma like that is jarring.  When writing in a stream-of-consciousness style the effect is made all the worse as that stream may never be revisited once the author is pulled like a fish on a hook from it’s current.

How’s that for a few extreme analogies? You probably didn’t want to know all that detail, did you? Just know that author’s live between worlds: That which we share with you, and that of the evolving story running through scenes in our heads. When we can capture a scene, wherever we are, we need to expel it. Whether that scene is part of an ongoing writing project or fodder for another, it is with a sense of immediacy in which we feel we must jot it down.  Own that shit.

Anyways, that’s what it’s like to write a book. From my perspective.  How about you?

How Westworld is similar to AI Insurrection

So, the 1973 movie Westworld has been starring me in the face for the last 45 years. Though I’ve never seen the movie or the TV show which has been running since 2017. So, after reading up on them and watching trailers I know enough about both the TV Show and Movie to say they share many themes with my new book; AI Insurrection.

Westworld isn't your typical amusement park. Intended for rich vacationers, the futuristic park -- which is looked after by robotic "hosts" - allows its visitors to live out their fantasies no matter how illicit the fantasy may be, there are no consequences for the park's guests, allowing for any wish to be indulged. So, like AI Insurrection, the host robots are the workforce: advanced humanoid robots which look and feel human, while the humans play among them and with them.

But the theme park is really where the AI robots in Westworld seem to stop. Whereas in AI Insurrection, they are absolutely embedded in every walk of life.

Of course, this sort of thing can only go according to plan for so long, and in Westworld, as in AI Insurrection, the host robots claim sentience. So now you have a moral dilemma. Having read reviews on the TV show, what the robots claim in AI Insurrection takes the question of morality a whole lot further. But, you’ll have to read the book to find out why.

There are also supporting stories going on within Westworld - as there are in AI Insurrection - with mysterious characters, politics and corporate insecurities to compliment the main theme which is explores the lives of these sentient robots, creating a storyline which intrigues and excites the viewer or reader.

So, a solid comparison. I think I’ll see about picking up the series on HBO. I know I’d love it. I just don’t have HBO…

Anyway, the purpose of this episode was to draw the comparisons, and if you enjoy Westworld, then you may find yourself intrigued by AI Insurrection. Just say’n. Get lost in a near-future world where the illusion of Utopia is as fragile as the intelligent minds built to maintain it…. And by that, I mean, you know, the AI Hosts in my new book. AI Insurrection…

You've got to show gratitude as an Indy author. Video is key.

Thanking my editors and readers in my book's acknowledgements just wasn't enough so I thanked them with a video too! Video is a powerful tool for indy authors and a great way to market yourself and your book(s). Let your audience get to know you through personalized video presentations. It's so much fun!

All of my videos for my books and book trailers can be found on my Youtube playlist, including a few radio interviews I've done in the past.

www.mikepoeltl.com