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Where have all the Podcasts gone?

April 11, 2009 by Jina Bacarr in category Archives tagged as Confessions of a Podcast Goddess

Was it only three years ago I did my first podcast for OCC/RWA? Check out the press release I wrote back then about podcasting at OCC:

Romancing the O.C. with Podcasting

What I find interesting about the state of podcasting since then is that most authors seem to prefer making book trailers. Book trailers are the new basic black for authors, but YouTube isn’t the only site where you can upload your trailers. TubeMogul.com allows you to upload your trailer to several sites at once.

If you want someone else to put together the book trailer for you, Circle of Seven Productions is the “go to” company for book trailers. You can check out their award-winning trailers and get information about the different book trailer packages they offer.

What if you want to make your own trailer?

With companies like iStockphoto.com/ to license photos and a plethora of podsafe music sites like Shockwavesound.com along with the free software like Windows Movie Maker, we can all be directors and let our characters tell the story. But is that enough? Readers love to connect with the author, find out more about her. You can only do that by getting up close and personal with a video or audio podcast.

Romance Novel TV does a fabulous job with author video podcasts and authors Jill Monroe and Gena Showalter’s Author Talk is my favorite video site for fun and informative author podcasts.

Filmmaker Terry Kate with her Romance in the Back Seat author video podcasts is a new face on the horizon with her author interviews in the back seat of a car and, when possible, I interview our local OCC authors and guests at our local monthly OCC/RWA meeting.

All this makes me wonder: what is the future of podcasting for authors? That’s not an easy question to answer. With technology changing every day, I believe it will continue to evolve so more writers can take advantage of this great marketing tool.

I love shooting video and will continue to turn them into podcasts, but like all authors, the writing comes first. That doesn’t mean we can’t promote our work with podcasts, whether we use book trailers, upload video interviews or make slide shows of those great research photos we took in Ireland.

We can’t spend all our time in front of the computer, can we?

Best,
Jina

Follow me on Twitter: www.twitter.com/jinabacarr

Jina Bacarr is the author of The Blonde Geisha , Naughty Paris, Tokyo Rendezvous, a Spice Brief, and Spies, Lies & Naked Thighs, featuring an Indiana Jones in high heels.

New: Cleopatra’s Perfume “One whiff and every man was her slave.”

Read Cleopatraâ€™s Perfume: The Prequel

Weimar Girls Gone Wild: The Berlin Sex Diary of Lady Eve Marlowe

Cleopatra’s Perfume, my new Spice release, is mentioned in Candyâ€™s Inside Books at FreshFiction.com)

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Anticipation

April 6, 2009 by Linda O. Johnston in category Pets, Romance & Lots of Suspense by Linda O. Johnston tagged as Berkley Prime Crime, Linda O. Johnston, Pet, Silhouette Nocturne

My next Kendra Ballantyne, Pet-Sitter Mystery, NEVER SAY STY, is officially published tomorrow! Yes, its lay-down date is April 7. A few stores put it out on the shelves before the official date, but all the ones that will carry it will most likely have it out tomorrow.

This is the seventh book in my Kendra series. NEVER SAY STY will be my twenty-second published novel. Iâ€™m also looking forward to my next Silhouette Nocturne, BACK TO LIFE, which will be published in June.

Do I ever get blasÃ© about the publication of a new book? Never!

So… as of tomorrow, welcome to NEVER SAY STY!

What exciting event are you currently anticipating?

Linda O. Johnston
http://www.lindaojohnston.com/
http://www.killerhobbies.blogspot.com/

Linda O. Johnston is the author of 15 romance novels and several novellas, including a current Nocturne Bites, with 2 more Nocturnes upcoming. She also writes the Kendra Ballantyne, Pet-Sitter mystery series from Berkley Prime Crime.

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Chapter Meeting Information for April

April 4, 2009 by A Slice of Orange in category Archives tagged as Chapter Meeting Information

General Meetings are held the second Saturday of the month at the Brea Community Center, 695 E. Madison Way, Brea, CA 92821. For a map and directions, click here. Meeting fees are $10 for Members and $20 for Non-Members.

Meeting Schedule for April 11, 2009:

9:30 am: Doors Open / Ask an Author
Volunteer Ask an Author/s for April: Shannon Donnelly and Janet Cornelow

10:30 – 10:45 am: Announcements
Morning Speaker:
OTTILIA SCHERSCHEL former copy editor, teacher and OCC member will present: Grammar School: Pesky Passive Writing

11:50 â€“ 1:00: Lunch Break (Lunch Orders available)
12:45 – 1:00: New Member Orientation
12:30 â€“ 1:00: Book signings

1:00 – 1:30 pm: General Meeting and Achievements
Afternoon Speaker:
BLAKE SNYDER bestselling author and screenwriter will discuss What Novelists Can Learn From Hollywood Screenwriters
3:00 pm: Meeting Adjourns

Attention: OCC Members Attending the Meeting–Monthly Critique Drawings!
Volunteer Critique Author for April: Jacqueline Diamond

Important 2009 Dates to Remember:

April 11—26th Annual Orange Rose Contest entries due.
(You may bring your entry package to the meeting!)

April 11â€”OCC 2009 Annual Dues (must be received no later than April 11)
Current members who do not renew by April 11 will no longer have access to the Members Only section of OCCâ€™s website, special Announcements, The Morning Juice, reduced fees for online classes and workshops, etc. You may renew using PayPal at www.occrwa.org go to About Us: How to Join, or bring your renewal to the meeting on April 11th.

April 11—OCC Monthly Meeting (Brea CC)

April 13–April Online Class: Show & Tell: An Interactive Workshop with Shannon Donnelly (For information click HERE.)

May 9â€”OCC Monthly Meeting (Brea CC)

May 11â€”May Online class: Writing the Synopsis with Camy Tang (For information click HERE.)

For current Online Class Schedule and registration information, please visit http://www.occrwa.org/onlineclasses.html.For more chapter meeting information http://occrwa.org/meetings.htm

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Notes from Val’s Desk

April 3, 2009 by A Slice of Orange in category Archives tagged as Motivational, Notes From Val's Desk

Spring is here. And, so are the layers of dust that go unnoticed during the dark winter months. I passed by one of my bookshelves last weekend and actually thought I heard a little cough. Out came the Swifter.

As I concentrated on dusting the many books and putting a gleam on the rows of shelves, I picked up a small decorative picture frame. Sandwiched between a backing board and a dull piece of glass is one of my favorite little snippets of writing. Iâ€™d like to share it (the writing, not the dust) with you. This was written by Winston S.Churchill and is titled Thoughts and Adventures from â€œHobbies,â€ a collection of essays published in 1932.

â€œWhat shall I do with all my books?â€ was the question; and the answer, â€œRead them,â€ sobered the questioner. But if you cannot read them, at any rate handle them and, as it were, fondle them. Peer into them. Let them fall open where they will. Read on from the first sentence that arrests the eye. Then turn to another. Make a voyage of discovery, taking soundings of uncharted seas. Set them back on their shelves with your own hands. Arrange them on your own plan, so that if you do not know what is in them, you at least know where they are. If they cannot be your friends, let them at any rate be your acquaintances. If they cannot enter the circle of your life, do not deny them at least a nod of recognition.

I think Iâ€™ll pay my writing books a little visitâ€¦..itâ€™s been a while and I need to fondle them.

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April President’s Message

April 1, 2009 by Marianne H. Donley in category Archives

Itâ€™s Spring; the season of renewal!

You caught my double entendre, yes? Of course you did if you read the announcement that came with this newsletter. Itâ€™s time to renew for your chapter. Past time actually, and we wouldnâ€™t want you to miss out on this coming year!

Your new Board has brought a plethora of new energy and ideas to your chapter, and theyâ€™re open for more. Several of those ideas are based on need and reflect fundraising approaches. And many of you have already offered up suggestions on raising money. These are timely, as our numbers are not as strong as we hoped. You can view a synopsis of this yearâ€™s budget in this newsletter. We welcome your thoughts and questions.

You will see new items at the Ways and Means Table, on-line at CafÃ© Press, and at a Midnight Madness table in Washington DC. You will see more special one-day events such as the ones led by guest speaker Diane Pershing earlier this year. On-line classes will continue to bring you fresh voices and new outlooks to improve your writing and boost your career. We will continue to bring you monthly speakers who will motivate and inspire, provide you basic to advanced tools, and set the stage for your writing efforts.

Last month your Board approved a survey which will come to you in April, asking you what you want from your chapter, both in person and on-line, so we can continue to serve you in the best ways possible. Please, please, please take the time to fill it out and send it back. I truly want to see this Board setting the stage for the future, ensuring we are keeping pace with the times, and providing the most current and comprehensive assistance that you could ever want from local RWA. At the same time, I donâ€™t want to see anyone left behind. We are all different, some technologically astute, and others a little techno-phobic. We are here to serve both, and all in between. But we canâ€™t do this effectively without your help. Your Chapter exists to support you. Here is your opportunity to tell us how we can continue to assist you over the next five years.

Itâ€™s the season of renewal (did you?), the season of new ideas, of rebirth. Help your chapter be reborn as the springboard to your success. Please fill out the survey and lend us your thoughts and ideas to how we can best assist you, as an individual and a part of Orange County Chapter, to attain your writing goals.

Randi

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