Category: TV

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How to market your novel with music

West Port: Intro to Songs for Maitheland (Part I)

Hello, everyone. It is time for another adventure in “how do I market my second novel”. My second fiction novel, which I am calling Maitheland, is wrapped. And, as you know, I have been working on this novel for some time.

The story takes inspiration from romantic flash fiction I wrote for this blog eight years ago. I decided to repackage the story and make one of the main characters a nephew of King Cordial from The Quarter Percent. This time around, I plan to promote the novel with music.

I took my time to finish writing the novel because I had to relaunch, promote, and relaunch my startup again. During that time, social audio became an adventure and I made lots of great connections through this new medium. Some of my new colleagues have been featured here on this blog.

Photo by Maisie Kane

Sidebar: Speaking of social audio, now that Elon Musk owns Twitter, if you’re not on there, kindly dust off your accounts and hop in now because the popcorn drama is on every hour. Not even journalists, clamping their eyeballs on their phone screens, can keep up.

On Thursday morning, Elon cohosted a Twitter Space. A day later, I read a news report that the host, Robin Wheeler, and cohost, Yoel Roth had quit. About two hours after I scheduled this post, I see a tweet from Robin saying that she was still at Twitter. That was too fast. The space was recorded, so you can listen in.

And now, back to promoting my novel. You may remember that my attempts at promoting my first novel, The Quarter Percent, were pure drama. This time, music has been my focus.

Why music? Aren’t you only supposed to read a novel? I wanted to create an immersive experience for readers. The story is sensual and moody, and I think that listeners will appreciate that. There are also lots of soundtrack music fans out there. And I have my own playlist I listen to when I want to concentrate. That is why why I thought this idea would work.

Photo by Marcelo Chagas

After producing a suite of classical tracks for one scene in the novel, Maitheland, I thought about creating EDM tracks related to the story. But as I contemplated the expense of hiring a new team, I asked Google if AI could generate music for me.

The answer was yes, and that was how I found the platform Boomy. Over the course of two days, I created five songs. If you go to my Vimeo channel, you can hear five tracks in the easy listening, loopy style that is really popular on YouTube.

How does all this help with marketing my book and other creative projects? Simply put, presence, exposure, and traffic. My plan is to take advantage of Boomy’s role as my distributor. The platform will submit my work to all of these streaming services:

Rolling hills and river in Iceland, the physical location for my fiction work, Maitheland.
Natural scene from Maitheland

… Spotify, Apple Music, Pandora, Amazon, Google Music, YouTube Music, YouTube, TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, Shazam, 24/7, 7 Digital, 8Tracks, Akazoo, Alibaba Music, Amie, Audiomack, AWA, Deezer, EOS, iHeartRadio, iMusica, Kanjian, KKBox, Line Music, Leeway, MediaNet, RealNetworks, NetEase, Neurotic Media, RX Music, Saavn, Slacker, SoundExchange, Tencent Music, Aspiro, TouchTunes, UMA Music, Yandez, and Zvook.

Boomy ｜About

Have you even heard of some of those platforms?! In other words, based on the uptake, the soundtrack for my novel is going to be available everywhere. And that means (if I have used really good keywords) someone will find my work. Then, if they are intrigued, they will look me up. The first release of five tracks is called Songs for Maitheland Part I. There are four completed tracks, and I am hoping to expand that over the coming few weeks.

At the moment, I am waiting to find out if my music will be accepted by the above streaming platforms. Until then, I am building a presence on Vimeo. The rest is up to you. I hope that you enjoy the sounds of Maitheland.

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art creative writing fiction news opinion technology TV women writing

What revolution?


Fabric swatches on canvas with makeshift cardboard frames
Fabric swatches on canvas

The Netflix film, 365 Days, is not the worst film ever made. That distinction belongs to the threequel, The Next 365 Days. And this is according to journos who got paid to write nice things about it. The films are based on the series of novels by Polish author, Blanka Lipińska.

According to the Daily Beast’s Kevin Fallon, stories like 365 Days serve an important purpose. They allow us to watch as the inversion of our values play out in real world scenarios. And as we watch the scenes play out, our tablet or TV screens shield us from the consequences.

Sketchbook doodle from Charlie Esposito

Now, I think that as we broadcast disapproval of fan-fiction hot sex, we are avoiding the real hot topics. We might tell ourselves that we are staying neutral on those issues. But there is no political fence, not really.

Based on my experiences on social media over the past year, these are some questions I feel like asking people I am meeting for the first time:

Are you all in on a multicultural society? Can same-sex couples get married if they want? Can people with wombs please get a prescription filled without a pharmacist asking them to pee on a stick so their religious rules are not broken?

Dr. Emily Porter finds that medical professionals doing their job is going to be very frustrating

Neutrality is a nice word that means we are scared of saying what we think in case someone screams in our faces. Being human is already a lot of work, which is why we elect public officials to help us out. Yet, we keep electing representatives who won’t let us get on with living. They create legislation on matters that should remain private; and drag their feet on issues that are in the public’s interest. This is precisely the reason why more of us are speaking out.

With all of that in the background, I now ask you to consider the artist’s work during times of struggle. One of the best things about being an artist is that we usually end up collaborating to start a movement. The movement is whatever we choose to call it. We make noise as a collective, and people pay attention to our message.

Medusa Marie is on Twitter. Follow her for more fabulous visual art.

Unfortunately, the creative space is most vulnerable to interference. Because we artists are living in a society filled with outrage, our worst enemy becomes what we think others want from us. Fear stifles our productivity. But if we don’t make things, we cannot refine our process and become better artists.

Artists are people with feelings, and this makes us easy targets. And people use their own reactions to our relatively benign creations as an excuse to avoid the draft.

If you are a hobbyist critic, should you pack up and leave? Not so fast. There is still time to get some real work done.

Find balance in everything you do. drawing of stones balanced on top of each other.
“Find balance in everything you do” Artwork by MHBB via Twitter

Here are some people who will benefit from your support: Women, children, minority ethnic groups, refugees, the homeless, the starving, the physically challenged, the mentally unwell, recovering addicts and the orphaned. Dial up your voice to the usual strength. Vote for representatives who can help. Keep writing letters to them until they mobilise resources to alleviate pain and suffering.

Fairies are real and help us achieve our dreams as we sleep. AI assisted digital painting by Simply Veronica.
Fairies are real and assist us in our dreams – artwork by Simply Veronica

The revolution calls you to the draft. There is no need to burn your old scripts. Find a new cause, make some edits, and read them again. You might need a change of costume. Maybe a haircut. Or perhaps a 15-minute session on IG Live will get the ball rolling. The energy expenditure will leave you exhausted and restless. But soon enough, someone will hear you. And then, they will listen.

Good luck out there.

❤️

Postscript: Big shout outs to my lovely friends, Charlie Esposito, Medusa Marie, MHBB, and Simply Veronica. Thank you very much for responding to that last-minute request. Keep inspiring everyone with your activism and hard work.

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art fashion opinion TV women

Light giver: A passion for diversity

Brissa “Breezy” Marina Page, co-founder of Cricket Ranch, is today’s featured filmmaker. She is an independent creative director, producer, stylist and content creator based in Los Angeles, California. She shares her outspoken love for civil liberties and social justice with friends, family and collectors alike.

From the filmmaker herself:
Light Giver was a passion project for the Cricket Ranch, a production boutique and studio rental location. The Cricket Ranch is a five star location space I created with my partner, Coop Grafik. We are happy to work with artists in Los Angeles looking for a versatile location to shoot and create.

Follow our enchantress as she dances with the light as she reunites with her King at the end. Starring Aisha Anderson and featuring music remix by Therdchild. Shot in one night, we had a great time every second of the shoot and during post-production. I wanted to highlight my beautiful friend Aisha, and her belly dancing, costume and skills. She was brilliant.

My partner and I decided to create the Cricket Ranch as a location after noticing a need for more diversity on our social media timelines. The boring, thin cis-white model format was repetitive and we knew that we needed to be the change and inspire more photographers to do the same when they shoot here. We needed to see more black and indigenous people of colour, as well as strong, healthy body types from all walks of life.

Outro
You can learn more about Brissa on her website. Or, collect an edition of her Bottoms Up NFT creative photography (caution: nude woman) on Hic et Nunc for about $22 or 3 tez. You can also follow her around on the web via her Link Tree profile. See more of her beautiful body as well as the causes she supports when you follow her on Twitter. The featured film, Light Giver, was directed by her and her partners at Cricket Ranch.

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art science fiction TV women writing

Sailor Song (Music video)

Marinda Botha and Frankie Beagle collaborate for “Sailor Song”

Sailor Song
The music video Sailor Song was a collaboration between me and musician Frankie Beagle. Sailor Song includes paper cut-out puppetry, one of the many artforms I like to create work with. Even though I co-produced and directed this music video, it took a whole team to create this project and I am so very proud of that.

Marinda Botha
I have been writing poetry since I was a teenager and I dabbled in photography, too. I studied to become an actress, and moved to London where I lived and worked for 8 years before returning to my home country, South Africa. During my drama studies, I was introduced to puppetry and there, I fell in love with the medium. On both continents, I have worked with numerous genres of puppetry, but my first love is for wooden marionettes. Perhaps, as a result, I have found myself in daily life observing people and catching small gestures they do, the way a person flicks a hand, a transfer weight, tilt a head, fascinating to watch.

For the past 20 years or so, I have also been a voice over artist, working with studios in London, while in the UK, and now from my home studio in South Africa. If I had to condense what I am about, what my art, I would say:

  1. I believe in the power of words, in transporting people to other forms of existence and worlds through the use of that age-old artform: storytelling.
  2. I believe that our lives and identities are shaped by the tales we absorb and tell. It is what we come to believe.
  3. I love movement. In another life I want to be a contemporary dancer, say nothing and just move).
  4. I trained as a mime artist in London and still love that form of performance so very much, but everyone hates a mime, right?
  5. I love animation and the delicacy of that medium.
Marinda talks about her upcoming NFT project

I am new to the NFT community but will be launching numerous projects in the next couple of weeks. My spoken word audio art can be found at Foundation and I will be dropping video poetry soon, too. Please follow me on Twitter for updates.

Website: Marinda Botha
LinkedIn: Marinda Botha
Spoken word poetry NFTs: Foundation App
Twitter: Marinda ETH
Udemy: Marinda Botha voice trainer

Sailor Song full credits:
Vocals and guitar – Frankie Beagle. Backing vocals, keyboard and beats – David Driver. Upright bass – Brendan Ou Tim. Saw and percussion by Frankie Beagle. Recorded at The Cooler. Produced and written by Frankie Beagle.

Video credtis:
Puppetry / Director / Producer – Marinda Botha
Co-Producer / Director – Frances Charlton
Director of Photography / Editor – Karien Mulder
Lighting – Damon Berry and Tammy Reid
Cinematography – Nicole Olwagen, Celeste Muller and Karien Mulder
Continuity & Gaffer – Liani Lombaard
Puppeteers – Franqi van Niekerk & Anri Wessels
Make-up – Yowyn du Plooy
Stills – Mark Straw, Nicole Olwagen and Celeste Muller
Concept design – Marinda Botha and Frankie Beagle

Marinda is a voice actor on the feature film, Alien Rescue

Thank you for viewing this post and getting to know this talented artist, whose voice is featured in studio film productions. How exciting it is to meet someone who is dedicated to their craft. Please follow her on Twitter. I have seen sneak peeks of the poetry videos and I have to say that they were stunning. Marinda has agreed to let me feature her work here in future, so please stay tuned.

In next week’s post, we will meet filmmaker, photographer and diversity activist Brissa Marina Page. Stay good until we meet again.

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men news opinion People TV writing

On Leaving (Short film)

On Leaving is a short film by Sagar Kapoor (India)

On Leaving (07:45) is a documentary short by Indian filmmaker, Sagar Kapoor.

Synopsis
Lockdown in India had just started to be lifted, however, due to job loss, increasing COVID19 cases, and other circumstances, the narrator is forced to vacate his rented room. This short film tries to express the feeling of the narrator visiting his room for one last time and how spaces can be personal and important parts of our lives.

Bio
Sagar Kapoor is a filmmaker from India and he grew up in Lucknow, a city known for its delicious cuisine, history, art, and culture. At La Martniere College, he was first introduced to the world of art and photography. Today, he works as a independent filmmaker and illustrator. His documentary films are introspective and empathetic, as they focus on our relationship with the environment. In his free time, he loves to read, write, travel, and cook. 

His upcoming projects are: 
1. Eating clouds, a documentary on a local delicacy from Lucknow.
2. On Death a City; how the uniqueness of a city dies with time and our need for modern infrastructure.

Follow Sagar Kapoor on social media:

Instagram
YouTube
Twitter

How many of you have friends who make films? Well, you have one now. And you will make another filmmaker friend next week. On October 22, 2021, drop by and greet South African poet, voice actor, and performance artist, Marinda Botha. Stay tuned as I feature more filmmakers and creatives over the next few weeks.