Archive for Projects

Podcasts, Projects

Ditch Diggers #98: Claire Rousseau and Booktubers

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 56:02 — 33.8MB)

Subscribe: Email | TuneIn | RSS

  • Mur and Matt come to you live from the brand new film studio inside the Ditch Diggers manor with special guest, Hugo-nominated BookTuber Claire Rousseau!
  • Interesting shoulders are briefly unpacked.
  • The Ditch Diggers bring you up to date on their current events, including Mur’s daughter’s drive-thru high school graduation.
  • Claire graciously and eloquently explains what BookTube is, what it does, and some of the challenges associated with breaking into more traditional spaces as a BookTuber, e.g. the Hugo Awards.
  • The winding, serendipitous tale of how Claire got started as a BookTuber (and an explanation of concepts like Book Holes).
  • The challenges of breaking into BookTube and getting discovered by viewers, and how the same systemic racism and misogyny affecting other mediums extends to BookTube.
  • Claire shares some of her favorite recommendations for BookTubers to check out.
  • How companies deal and have dealt with BookTube/Tubers and vice versa, how those companies (namely Book Outlet) have fallen short in those dealings, and their response.
  • Claire finally shills her own channel, and tells the audience about her exciting new projects.
  • Booktubers from this episode:

HEY. Matt has a book, SAVAGE LEGION, coming out shortly. Be a dear and preorder, won’t you?

Podcasts, Projects

ISBW #500! Live on Crowdcast

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:02:53 — 44.6MB)

Subscribe: Email | TuneIn | RSS

If you missed the live video, here’s the audio from the event! It’s not the big to-do I would have liked, but there’s the whole pandemic, and migraines, and all that going on, so I do with what I have. Thanks for all your support over the years. I wouldn’t have made it this far without you.

(next Crowdcast on Monday, July 6)

Podcasts, Projects

ISBW #499: Audience Questions

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 19:03 — 15.4MB)

Subscribe: Email | TuneIn | RSS

I’m still outside, so the audio isn’t what I’d hoped. I DID find my good mic so things will improve moving forward.

I miscounted when I recorded, so the live ISBW #500 will be this coming Monday, June 22, at 12:30 EDT! Hope to see people there!

This week I’m promoting the podcast Megasheen.

Podcasts, Projects

Ditch Diggers #97: Return of the Agents!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 56:07 — 36.2MB)

Subscribe: Email | TuneIn | RSS

Mur and Matt come to you live from the guest room of the Ditch Diggers Manor House separated by shadow performance partitions and welcome their very own agents Jen Udden and DongWon Song back onto the show for the first time in over two years.

  • Much like Pepperidge Farm, Skype remembers (and is a receipt-keeping bastard).
  • DongWon and Jen are back to help the Ditch Diggers tackle the very important and difficult topic of abuse and harassment in publishing, particularly how authors and others can share information and their stories safely with each other and the community.
  • The panel discusses “grooming” behavior, what it is/can be, and how it’s pervasive in fiction and publishing communities.
  • Trusting your instincts when it comes to recognizing and processing abusive behavior directed towards you and others.
  • How to broach the subject of inappropriate behavior and “missing stairs” with others in your circles, communities, and industry, and the lack of structures in place to help.
  • What structural changes need to be made/put in place to supplement whisper networks about abuse and abusers, especially in situations like conventions and live events.
  • What individuals in positions of privilege and/or authority can do to be better allies to marginalized groups and people dealing with abusive behavior.
  • Twitter Q&A! The Agents offer their takes on freelancing in the time of COVID questions about publishing trends and marketing.
  • The Agents end the episode by shilling their clients’ forthcoming books, like pros (including Matt’s SAVAGE LEGION, preorder now).
Podcasts, Projects

Ditch Diggers #96: Rebranding

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 51:19 — 35.2MB)

Subscribe: Email | TuneIn | RSS

[Note- this is the correct file. I had an episode numbering problem. Check episode 95 if this is a repeat for you.]

Mur and Matt come to you live from Ditch Diggers Island Pear Farm on Animal Crossing.

  • The fruit-based economy of Animal Crossing is discussed, with a focus on the disdain for pears and Matt’s belief that AC pear hatred is coded fatphobia.
  • Props are given to Escape Pod, the first and longest-running fiction podcast celebrating its 15th anniversary, and Matt predictably rants about how podcast fiction is “invented” every year, erasing the originators of it.
  • Mur has discovered South Korean baseball, and is very excited about it.
  • Cooking and curries, or how “curry” isn’t actually a thing.
  • An anonymous publishing source emails Matt and Mur to address a previous episode about the lack of book publisher’s leaning into ebook and other digital marketing in the time of COVID.
  • How, despite general book sales staying steady or even rising right now, the sales of kids books are falling alarmingly.
  • Yoga mat/block scarcity is real, as is puzzle scarcity.
  • Matt and Mur discuss the issue of whether or not authors should ask a prospective agent’s clients about that agent before querying them, and the fallout/varied opinions that flooded Twitter after an agent threatened to blacklist authors for doing so.
  • Q&A! Alternative options for selling books, freelance writers to follow on Twitter for smart freelance writing talk, and more.
  • Mentioned in this episode:
Podcasts, Projects

Ditch Diggers #95: More Lockdown Questions!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:01:05 — 42.3MB)

Subscribe: Email | TuneIn | RSS

[EDIT- Link finally included in the post! Sorry about that!]

  • Matt and Mur come to you live with a do-over of an episode that was recorded once before already however due to COVID-19 and/or sabotage by alien robot spies it was deleted (that’s their story, anyway).
  • Garfield Minus Garfield and murder playgrounds as a metaphor for modern society is briefly discussed.
Garfield comic without Garfield in it
Garfield Minus Garfield

 

  • Mur and Matt update the audience and each other on their life-and-working-in-quarantine status.
  • Mur descends into a tangent on feeling pressure to innovate and create new, lockdown-focused content in quarantine and the inability to do so.
  • The Ditch Diggers are recreating what they did last week that you didn’t hear, which is answering your lockdown-related freelancing questions!
  • Economic relief options and programs for freelancers are discussed and (at least tenuously) explained, including PPP and applying for unemployment.
  • Whether the recent layoffs, cutbacks, and furloughs announced by Macmillan and other book publishers are the result of concern or panic.
  • The question is asked, is now the time to write that pandemic novel you’ve got burning inside you? Which feeds back into the age-old topic/question of “writing to the market.” (Also: beans, cool and otherwise)
  • Mur’s books are as important as sex porn (which is a callback to earlier in the episode, because the Ditch Diggers like callbacks).
  • Matt and Mur encourage those with the disposable income to do so to support debut authors in this time of news and circumstances crushing book debuts. Some ideas:
  • The traditional end of episode shilling occurs, including where to find Matt and Mur online in the time of COVID and Matt’s debut epic fantasy novel dropping in July (*cough*Savage Legion*cough*).

Privacy Policy - Terms and Conditions