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Ditch Diggers #106: Mike Underwood and Marketing

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:11:26 — 39.8MB)

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annihilation aria coverMike Underwood comes on to talk to us about his new book, ANNIHILATION ARIA (The Space Operas, Vol. 1), but the talk also goes into Mike’s experience with book marketing, and, boy, the stuff he tells us, no lie, is enlightening.

  • Matt and Mur come to you live from the haberdasher in the Ditch Diggers Manor that is also occasionally a Mansion, with special guest, author, podcaster, and book selling/marketing veteran, Michael R. Underwood!
  • Very important cowboy hat discourse preempts the main topic of the episode, with an aside into the difference between a comically small bowler hat and a fascinator.
  • Everyone talks about what’s new in their freelancing lives, and Mike discusses being an SWFA mentor working with multiple mentees.
  • Mur is a runaway Twitch sensation, and anyone who hasn’t joined in on the phenomenon is going to be left behind (according to Matt. Mur insists she’s having to build a new platform from scratch and it is difficult).
  • Mike talks about his new space adventure found family novel, ANNIHILATION ARIA, and Matt and he discuss how their careers have intersected at multiple points in weird ways.
  • Mike discusses the spectrum of traditional publishing, small presses, and self-publishing from the perspective of someone who has released books through all three, and worked as a bookseller and publisher rep.
  • Different ways to think about marketing your book as an author.
  • The big ways the publishing industry is broken, how that affects the staff, including publicists, at the publisher itself, and your relationship/dynamic with them as an author.
  • Virtual book tours, and the importance of diversifying your marketing content in the age of COVID, and balancing everything with self-care.
  • The traditional end of episode shilling commences!
  • Mike will return in Michael R. Underwood vs. The World Crime League (no, seriously, Mike will be back in a future episode to talk more about publishing and marketing).

Mentioned in This Episode…

Podcasts, Projects

ISBW #522: Agents, ADD, and Track Changes

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 58:37 — 53.4MB)

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It’s been a rough few days, but I’m back to talk about agents being people, too, still addressing ADD and productivity (I’m seriously considering writing a LARPing a responsible human blog series), and how to handle an editor who doesn’t use Track Changes. (Wha?)

Other things:

Twitch Schedule (All times Eastern Daylight Time):

  • M- Lunch AMA, 12:30
  • T- Live ISBW, 12:30
  • Th- Live ISBW, 12:30, Live gaming, 8:00
  • Su- Live gaming, 2:00

September 22, 2020 — Copyright 2020, Mur Lafferty — BY-NC-SA 3.5 License — murverse.com

Podcasts, Projects

ISBW #521: Bad Days are the BEST

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 38:40 — 39.4MB)

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I talk about training your brain, and as long as you do your part, you should start training your brain to do its part.

Other things:

Twitch Schedule (All times Eastern Daylight Time):

  • M- Lunch AMA, 12:30
  • T- Live ISBW, 12:30
  • Th- Live ISBW, 12:30, Live gaming, 8:00
  • Su- Live gaming, 2:00

September 17, 2020 — Copyright 2020, Mur Lafferty — BY-NC-SA 3.5 License — murverse.com

Podcasts, Projects

ISBW #520: The Angry Molasses Episode

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 43:09 — 41.2MB)

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I’ve had a few bad days and am still dedicated to streaming on time, so I talk about what’s making me mad (because it does affect my creative pursuits.) I bet Terry Gross doesn’t bring her angst to her show…

By the way, the Murverse newsletter is no more. I kinda did a rage-quit this morning.

It’s never one thing, it’s a cascade of suck, constant mayhem
And I knew today was gonna go from bad to goddamn

~”Not Amused” by Devo Spice

Other things:

Twitch Schedule (All times Eastern Daylight Time):

  • M- Lunch AMA, 12:30
  • T- Live ISBW, 12:30
  • Th- Live ISBW, 12:30, Live gaming, 8:00
  • Su- Live gaming, 2:00
Podcasts, Projects

ISBW #519: Protagonists and Antagonists

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 46:13 — 43.1MB)

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I’m not a huge fan of Sherlock Holmes stories, but Doyle did one thing Christie didn’t: he made a brilliant sleuth and then gave him an antagonist just as smart.

Other things:

Twitch Schedule (All times Eastern Daylight Time):

  • M- Lunch AMA, 12:30
  • T- Live ISBW, 12:30
  • Th- Live ISBW, 12:30, Live gaming, 8:00
  • Su- Live gaming, 2:00
Podcasts, Projects

Ditch Diggers #105: Career Changes with Gail Carriger

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:06:22 — 41.4MB)

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We welcome the godmother of our podcast, Gail Carriger, back to talk about her new book, The Heroine’s Journey, venturing into nonfiction, and the path from traditional publishing to self-pub. 

Podcasts, Projects

ISBW #518: Why Create During a Pandemic?

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 15:09 — 17.5MB)

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A reasonable question came up in the Discord this week. Why create right now when everything is terrible and even creators have existential (or very tangible) dread?

Other things:

Twitch Schedule (All times Eastern Daylight Time):

  • M- Lunch AMA, 12:30
  • T- Live ISBW, 12:30
  • Th- Live ISBW, 12:30, Live gaming, 8:00
  • Su- Live gaming, 2:00
Podcasts, Projects

Ditch Diggers #104: Kickstarter with Shawn Pryor

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:17:29 — 54.5MB)

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Comics creator Shawn Pryor returns to Ditch Diggers! We talk to him about Kickstarter, career transitions, and Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers.
  • Matt and Mur come to you live from the Ditch Diggers Weeping Closet where Mur is lamenting the departure of her daughter to college, with special return guest, author and comics creator, Shawn Pryor!
  • A lot has changed since the last time Shawn was on the show. Most of it is bad because the world, but some of it is good.
  • Matt and Mur reminisce with Shawn about meeting him for the first time over a game of Bang! (the rules of which are loosely explained).
  • What’s going on in our hosts’ and their guest’s professional lives? Mur talks about the daughter-sized hole in her life and how it is affecting her work, and Shawn talks about signing with his first agent after 13 years in the business without professional representation.
  • How, despite our acclimation to it culturally, many creators are still intimidated by the thought of launching a Kickstarter, and Shawn’s thoughts on the basics of KS, having created and run several successful campaigns.
  • The unique relationship between Kickstarter backers and Kickstarter creators, how crowdfunding differs from traditional selling in that way, and how to function in that dynamic as a KS creator.
  • Shawn talks about the pressure creators put on themselves to achieve career goals and benchmarks by a certain age, how to overcome that arbitrary measurement of success, and his new five-year plan.
  • The environments of comics as opposed to other creative mediums/industries, and the assholes you meet along the way (also the kind people, like Matt and Mur, at least according to Shawn).
  • The patented end-of-episode-shilling commences! Shawn has so much cool content to shill, including Power Rangers and Flintstones fan works!
Mentioned in This Episode…

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