A new venue for authors

As authors, we are always looking for new ways to reach our readers. I was contacted by these two lovely ladies, through friends made on Lisa Burton Radio, to promote their startup on YouTube. Check out what they have to offer, and there are some pretty decent prizes available here too.

CraftQuest 2018 Launch

Co-Founders: Maria Tureaud & Ari Augustine

Motto: We are warriors of the written word.

This month, Maria Tureaud and I are launching CraftQuest, a LIVE YouTube webinar series for serious writers. We wanted to create the equivalent of The View for seriously determined writers willing to transform their failures into successes and want to “get shit done”.

Each month, CraftQuest will host between five to ten writers to chat about their unique writing lives, creative processes, and lessons learn from rejections. We will share tips, perform open critiques, and collaborate with other humans who want to improve their works in progress.

At its heart, CraftQuest is mostly about making connections with writers who understand how terrifyingly maddening writing can be and recognize the value and beauty each writer brings to the table as a literary artist.

We will pull the curtain back to reveal what it really takes to write a book.From the pre-research stage to the querying phase, we delve into our fears, lay bare our failures, discuss our projects, and shed light on the realities of writing life. CraftQuest is a place for us to use our bruises, cuts, and scrapes as weapons of motivation, and to address the flaws of our work in a constructive manner.

At CraftQuest, we are a “revolution of writers.” We share our passion, hunger, and drive to create the best versions of our work for publishing. We believe that together we are empowered to create fearlessly, encouraged to write authentically, and embraced for the uniqueness we bring to the publishing industry.

Episode one: The Art Of Making It All Up airs February 24th, 2018 at 5:00 pm EST.  Our guest speakers include: Vivien Reis, author/writertuber, and Justine Manzano and Megan Manzano from The Inkwell Council.

To kick off our launch, Maria is giving away three first pages critiques. I’ll be giving away one FREE download of Scrivener in February, March, and April. All entrants into the giveaways must be followers of our CraftQuest YouTube channel and our Twitter profile.

Maria Tureaud bio: 

Maria is one half Tolkien, one half Captain Kirk. She began writing fan fiction in high school, and hasn’t looked back since. With a passion for history, fantasy, romance, and sci-fi, she likes her heroes tough, and her heroines tougher. Blogger, Tweeter, and Writetuber, Maria is a co-founder of CraftQuest — writers helping writers. With a penchant for query writing, she strives to break down the doors, change the conversation, and hammer home the truth: a writer’s craft level determines their level of success. They are their own gatekeepers.

 

Ari Augustine bio:

Ari Augustine is an ENFP Type A personality who works as a freelance writer in Seattle, Washington. As a wearer of many hats, she graduated in 2017 with a degree in Science and is actively pursuing an English Literature degree alongside a certification in editing. In her spare time, Ari created Ravenous for Reads, a blog dedicated to the lifestyle of book lovers, and in 2018, she became co-founder of CraftQuest, a webinar series created to discuss the turbulent nature of writing. After growing up in foster care and struggling with Anxiety, she believes in taking risks and passionately diving into the art of writing. After all, life is too damn short to be doing anything, but the one thing that brings you happiness.

Social media links:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/writecraftquest

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZMncuN-YLU-vsTySyQuBYA

Maria’s twitter – https://twitter.com/Maria_Tureaud

Ari’s twitter –  https://twitter.com/SouffleLumiere

Ari’s blog: http://www.ravenousforreads.com

Some success

Yesterday I tackled the Lisa Burton interviews. I have twenty-five applicants, but only nine who've delivered the questionnaire answers. (Oops, ten now.) I worked up six shticks and sent them out. This took me six hours. I'd like to have completed them all up to the minute, but I have to face some facts.

Six hours is an effort on my days off. It will take me twenty-five weeks to post them all, so I'm ahead of the game. I hope nobody gets disappointed, but I can only do so much. It adds up to a considerable word count too.

I used part of today to work my time travel story up to 2500 words. This one is taking me way too long, and I'm feeling some pressure. Truth is, I never intended to write a time travel story. I like a challenge, so we'll see how it comes out. Writing to a theme and a target is kind of new, but fun. My MO is to get it done with enough time to make requested changes. I may only have a week of padding, but it will be enough.

I got the final Lisa poster for The Yak Guy Project, then did something crazy. I thought it might be cool to have a Lisa poster to promote the anthology with. The other authors can do what they want, but I'm going to have some artwork to promote with.

My time travel story spent a couple of months in the daydreaming phase as a Western. It didn't come out that way, and I hope it intrigues a few readers. Sorry, no cowgirl Lisa, at least for now. You might like what I changed it to.

This story is taking some serious research too. I'll bend some facts, but I want to have the rest of the details right so my changes don't stand out. Things like train times, actual hotels, and more help sell the twists.

While I was at it, I decided to order enough art to get me through the end of the year. These will be mostly for holidays wishes, but one is for my Macabre Macaroni short stories. (God, I still have to write those too.) The deadlines are spread way out, so Sean can take his time.

We had a quick date night last night, since my wife won't be here. Just a quick dinner and a beer. I had scallops with squid ink pasta… in Idaho, just imagine. It was wonderful too.

My wife headed for Nevada this morning, but not so early as to allow me to get some major work done. I dabbled and had some moderate success. I got a proof back from the formatter for The Enhanced League, and there are a few minor adjustments to make.

For the rest of this vacation, I would like to finish my short story, write three more promotional pieces for The Enhanced League, and schedule next week's Lisa Burton Radio. I might chuck some of it and publish The Enhanced League instead. No, it isn't too much, I might be able to do it all with a little bit of luck.

I don't think I'll add any more than that. The interview is all done and awaiting a link. I have ideas for the promo stuff, and I'm 2500 words shy of a short story draft. Two days is a nice pace without killing myself over it. If Enhanced League gets out next weekend, that's fine too.

Help a robot girl out

Lisa Burton Radio exists to help authors promote their books to a new audience. This spot has worked well for over a year now, but we need guests to keep it going. Here is a little data about how it works, and some past posts to browse to see what you’re getting into.

Tell your friends, maybe one of them needs a place to post.

Drop me a line at coldhand (dot) boyack (at) gmail (dot) com. Let Lisa promote your books for you.

Dear Lisa Vol. 3, on #LisaBurtonRadio

“Welcome to a special edition of Lisa Burton Radio. We run these out every once in a while, when I find myself without a guest. This time, it worked out to my advantage, but I never planned it that way.

“At the time of this broadcast, I’m working with Sean Harrington to make promotional posters for The Yak Guy Project. We already have some cool ones for The Enhanced League. I’m super excited to share these with you, but we have to wait for Craig to get some things accomplished.

“On episodes of Dear Lisa, I answer listener questions on the air, and today we have some doozies. Let’s get to the mail.”

Dear Lisa,

My dad ran over all my video games with his lawnmower! What a jerk. Just because I’m 30 years old and still live at home with no job, he thinks it’s okay to destroy my stuff. I have a good mind to– Well, anyway, I’m writing to you for advice. I plan to play video games professionally. That’s a job, right? How can make my parents understand?

Signed,

Frustrated in Farmington

“Wow, sorry to hear about that, Frustrated. It’s tough when your stuff gets ruined. You might want to assess why your father feels so strongly about your situation. After a bit of deep thought, you should probably have an adult conversation with him about it too.

“In an attempt to be ever helpful, I Googled the information for you. You know you can do this yourself, don’t you? It appears there are professional video game players. This is a world of competitions and prize money. Many of them supplement their income by filming practice sessions and selling access to view them. So I have to admit that it’s possible.

“Oh, and you might want to read The Yak Guy Project when Craig gets around to publishing it. It’s about a guy who’s a lot like you.

“The bigger picture is a man your age living at home, and not getting on with his life. Every person out there has a dream beyond their current reality. I’d like to be a super heroine, and I have the onboard equipment to pull it off too. It doesn’t appear to pay all that well though, and robot girls need things. See, a real job pays for things.

“For every wanna be fashion model there’s a barista. For every Major League Baseball player, there’s an Uber driver. Go for your dreams, but don’t forget to live a life while you’re at it. Craig would like to write full-time, but he keeps a paycheck job to cover the house payment and keep food on the table. Go get that first job and that first apartment. Then use your spare time to work on your gaming.

Let’s look at our next letter.

Dear Lisa,

My two sons drive me insane with their constant bickering. Between you and me, my eldest, Nathan, starts it. He thinks he’s the cat’s meow, and he never misses a chance to smear his good looks in poor Robbie’s face. He’s my baby. Such a wonderful boy, too, with straight A’s and on the honor roll every year. Nathan, on the other hand, has girls in and out of his room at all hours. He doesn’t think I know, but I do. I even slip condoms into his leather jacket. Lord knows if he ever uses them. At my tender age, I can’t be a grandmother! Ahem. Excuse me. My question is, how do I stop the rivalry between them? It’s not Robbie’s fault he wasn’t born with more brains than brawn.

Signed,

Desperate in Dakota

“Gee, Desperate, you don’t sound desperate. I get some frustrations and a lot of emotions toward both of your sons, but no desperation.

“They’re different people, and have to approach life differently. Find a way to encourage their talents and protect them from life’s pitfalls. The condom idea is good, but you can’t make him use them. Do what you can. Remember, Robbie may need them too. He might just be a little more discrete about things.

“I may be able to introduce Nathan to some romance authors. They might find a job for him.

“Oh, and as far as being a grandmother goes, if you were old enough to make a baby, and that baby is now capable of having sex, then yeah, you are. Buy some grandma pants, get a short perm, and get over it.

“Finally we have a letter from someone who wants to know how to get the most out of Lisa Burton Radio when their character is on the show. Okay, I made that part up, but it’s good data.

“First, be present. You’re going to get comments, and even some reblogs. You need to respond to those comments. You should probably visit the sites of those who shared the broadcast and thank them on their own page. It could turn out to be a good contact for you, you might find an incredible new blog to follow, plus you can help raise that blogger’s stats a bit.

“Second, share the post. Reblog it on your own site. Put it out on every social media you have, and not just on the day it posts. I see some tweeting out their interview a year after it was live. Make people like your characters, and they may want to read more, but only if they know about it. Feel free to use the #LisaBurtonRadio hashtag. That benefits me, and it costs you nothing.

“Third, come back. The broadcast usually gets comments for three or four days. You don’t have to live here, but don’t make a potential fan feel like you dismissed them.

“That’s it for our mailbox, but I have a bit more. I need guest characters to keep the show running. We aren’t exclusive to any particular genre, and have covered a broad swath around here. We even branched out into kidlit in the past month.

“Send me your jilted lovers, your dark lords, your heroes and heroines. Minions, I’ve never had a minion on the show, and that would be cool. It’s easy to do, and you might reach a bunch of new readers. Simply drop an email to coldhand (dot) boyack (at) gmail (dot) com, and let me know what you have in mind.

“I’ll be back after I finish modeling, and a few vacation days. I have access to email, and will help you out even if I’m not at the writing cabin.

“Remember, not only do I need guests, I’ll need letters for the Dear Lisa episodes too. If you don’t have a character, or if you’re not quite ready to promote, you can always send me a letter to answer on the air. It’s the same email address, and I’ll save it for Dear Lisa Volume Four.

“Thanks for tuning in. For Lisa Burton Radio, I’m Lisa Burton.”