Newsletter, Edition IV

THE AUTHOR’S ADVOCATE
The DPP Authors’ Newsletter
EDITION IV
November 28, 2005


REMINDER: If you haven’t sent me your book’s copyright date yet, please send it to me ASAP to DigitalPulp Pub@aol.com. Thanks, Nicky

"Everything that doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger. And later on you can use it in a story."

Tapani Bagge


YOU ARE YOUR OWN BEST MARKETING REP!

I get by with a little help from my friends

The Beatles

Networking

Networking. It sounds so…so…buzz…so corporate…so Hollywood…or, at the very least, like something- gulp- scary. But, on the contrary, it can actually be rather simple and painless…


Check the Blog for more on Networking…

http://digitalpulppublishing.blogspot.com/


FEATURED AUTHOR-Of-THE-MONTH…

A Bi-Monthly Column

I love what Joyce Carol Oates once said about writers: “All of us who write work out of a conviction that we are participating in some sort of communal activity.” The idea that we are not just writing for ourselves, but that we are writing to share our thoughts, our feelings, our dreams, our world (real or imagined) was the inspiration for the new addition of the Featured Author of the Month column.

Bi-monthly, each of our DPP authors will be showcased in this column. One issue will highlight a piece of their work and the second will be an interview format between DPP and the chosen author.

Last week’s edition brought you a beautiful piece by Patrick Stafford, called Passion coupled with a poem he wrote which ignited a collection of poetry, Asian Darkness, available in the DPP Store in January, 2006. Next week’s newsletter will feature an interview with Mr. Stafford.

Sharing work and sharing about our work allows for community interaction between DPP members. Perhaps you’ll find similarities in how you work, or get new ideas about how to work. You might glean insights into your own view of writing that you hadn’t discovered before. And you might get motivated to put something else on that blank page you’ve been staring at all day, just by reading someone else’s work (I know that often jump starts me).

The column also allows for each of our DPP authors to “meet” each other. Who knows- you might even purchase one another’s books from the DPP Store!

Community, Collaboration, and Connection. The 3 C’s that apply to networking are the 3 C’s I hope to generate with this newsletter and this new column. We are a network of authors- on the “net”, sharing our “work”.


PUBLISHER’S PROMPT

Writing Prompt


From Pablo Neruda’s The Book of Questions, answer the following question any way you’d like- poetry, story, rap, song…

Is there anything in the world sadder than a train standing in the rain?

Use the prompt. Don’t use the prompt. If you decide to play with the prompt, and you’d like to share it, please send it to me (DigitalPulp Pub@aol.com) and I will post it in the following week’s Authors’ Advocate. You can find my response posted on the blog:http://digitalpulppublishing.blogspot.com/


FROM YOUR ADVOCATE

This is the 4th edition of The Authors’ Advocate. I hope that you are finding the newsletter informative, useful, and/or at the very least, amusing. I am 100% serious when I say I welcome suggestions and all ideas. After all, this is for you and I want to provide you with helpful tidbits, useful information, and inspiration.



Write on,

Nicky

Publisher's Prompt: Is there anything in the world sadder than a train standing in the rain?

Is there anything in the world sadder than a train standing in the rain?

There is nothing in the world sadder than a train standing in the rain.
Except maybe a train standing in the rain with open doors. And windows.
That sounds sadder, don’t you think?

I mean, if a train were standing in the rain, and the windows and doors were closed, then the inside of the train would be dry. So it’s sad…but a train standing in the rain with its windows and doors open- now that’s really sad.

Come on- think about it: Exteriors get wet. In a way that’s what exteriors are for, right? To protect the inside from outside elements. But when the interior gets wet- well…what’s the point of an exterior?

So, do you see? It’s sad- a train standing in the rain.
But it’s sadder, a train standing in the rain with open doors. And windows.

You Are Your Own Best Marketing Rep!

Networking

"I get by with a little help from my friends" -The Beatles

Networking. It sounds so…so…buzz…so corporate…so Hollywood…or, at the very least, like something- gulp- scary. But, on the contrary, it can actually be rather simple and painless.

Remember that old Breck shampoo commercial in the 1970’s: “And they told two friends, and they told two friends, and so on, and so on, and so on”? That’s networking!

I am suspecting most of you have at least two friends. Think about this: suppose you told those two friends about your book, and that it’s available in January through your publisher in their online bookstore (http://www.dppstore.com/ – yeah, that’s a plug for us too…Every bit of marketing counts, you know.). If they don’t ask you about it, tell them about it (a very enthusiastic tone would be helpful), and also ask them to tell two friends (of course, you don’t have to limit how many people you tell- it’s just that two sounds really simple- not so scary).

Also, think about “friends you haven’t yet met”. Attending open mic readings, poetry slams, author lectures/book signings, writers’ conferences, and joining writers’ workshops gives you the opportunity to make friends and supporters within a community of like-minded people and people who do what you’re doing. And they also know people you don't. They might tell two friends, and you never know who those friends could be- avid readers, radio show talk hosts, bookstore owners...yada, yada. Think: community, collaboration, connections. C ? How great is that?!

Of course as Astrid Cooper cautions in her essay on Marketing and Self Promotion (you can read it in full at http://www.twighlighttimes.com/ACooper4a.html): “…if one approaches making friends with the idea of ‘they can be useful’, then nothing will ever come of such a relationship.” But exploring new outlets and keeping an open mind will surely lead to you meeting new people. When an authentic chance meeting happens or a new friendship develops through commonalities- well…as Cooper also states “[that’s] Karma. Fate. A universal scheme? Luck?...you decide.”

Publisher's Prompt: Returning Takes Too Long

From Nicky

Returning takes too long. Which is why I don’t do it, or I should say, why I don’t do it well.

Dry cleaning is a good example. About twenty-or-so years ago, I never returned to pick up dry cleaning I had dropped off. I don’t know why exactly. It seemed fairly easy to drop off my clothes…but picking them up, well, that just felt overwhelming. Consequently, many of my clothes lay in wait at dry cleaners’ all over the West Side of L.A. Never to be picked up. Perhaps because returning takes too long.

I’ve also been saddled with countless library fees over the years, to the point that I’ve bought several books from various libraries. Picking up the books was easy enough, but returning them…well, returning just takes too long.

The same can be said for when I rent videos, buy clothes that inevitably I don’t really like or don’t really fit, receiving a present I don’t particularly care for with a gift receipt included- they all remain in my care, for the effort seems too great and returning takes too long.

I know this all makes me sound like I must spend money lavishly and that I am one lazy-ass gal. The truth is, I scrape by and am busy working my butt off. The key thing here is, returning takes too long, and I am simply unwilling to put in the time to do what it takes to return.

Luckily, for me (and my pocketbook), I no longer go to the cleaners unless I am sure I am going to pick up whatever I drop off; I rarely go to the library, and when I do, I research there instead of check books out; and I no longer rent videos. Because, for me, returning takes too long.

Newsletter, Edition III

THE AUTHOR’S ADVOCATE
The DPP Authors’ Newsletter
EDITION III
November 21, 2005


REMINDER: If you haven’t sent me your book’s copyright date yet, please send it to me ASAP to DigitalPulp Pub@aol.com. Thanks, Nicky

"A poem begins as a lump in the throat, a sense of wrong, a homesickness, a lovesickness…It finds the thought and the thought finds the words."
Robert Frost


YOU ARE YOUR OWN BEST MARKETING REP!

It’s important who you meet- after all, if you meet forty or fifty people, the one person who will produce your first film [or publish your book] might just be there.
-Martin Scorsese

You Never Know Who You May Meet at Thanksgiving Dinner…

Or over the holiday weekend (even if you don’t live in the U.S., or you don’t partake in celebratingThanksgiving)…And, if you meet no one new, well, then you haven’t lost any opportunities either! Take a break from thinking about marketing and know that at least one of your books is assured to be marketed by DPP! Also…

Marketing Tips are Moving…

To the DigitalPulp Blog: http://digitalpulppublishing.blogspot.com/ (beginning the week of November 28). The Tip Headline will be listed on all of our subsequent newsletters with the DigitalPulp Blog link. We are making room in the newsletter for a new format- Oh, boy! Oh, boy!

FEATURED AUTHOR-Of-THE-MONTH…

Author! Author!

I am pleased to announce that, from here-on-out, we will be featuring a DPP author once a month in the Authors’ Advocate. This new format will allow for each of us to get a glimpse into each of our authors’ work and how they work, and perhaps, how and from where they get their inspiration. I am always curious, and often inspired, by hearing other writers’ thoughts on why they write and how they write. I hope that this new addition to the newsletter does the same for you.

Patrick Stafford

PASSION!

Many words are often used to describe the creative process. Perspiration, inspiration, hard work and misery are a few! Frustration, drudgery and obsession also come to mind. But for me personally, no word better encompasses the whole process than the word passion.

Passion is a process unto itself. It entails developing, having and feeling the strong desire and unquenchable thirst for accomplishing something--for setting a goal and believing in it with every fiber of your being. And pursuing it until completion. No matter how arduous the journey, how difficult the challenge or how many obstacles are encountered along the way, if one is truly passionate in his beliefs and passionately determined to succeed, he will.

The passionate writer writes passionately. It's as simple as that. And the story he has to tell he is passionate about telling. There are of course many essential tools to the trade and craft of writing. But none more important, in my humble opinion, than passion. For even before a writer sets about writing his passionate tale he must be passionate about thoroughly learning the tools and skills of his trade. A dispassionate effort at formal or self-education will invariably render a dispassionate result. And its byproducts: disappointment, rejection and failure, can also be expected.

For years I had a passion to write about the Vietnam War. My passion began the very first time I termed it a war and not a "conflict" as popular media has too long called it. For a war was fought in Asia. Warring armies engaged in bitter and violent combat, and awesome weapons of destruction were employed. And thousands were maimed and slain and left destitute. So from the passion of my own personal experience and that of so many who served during the Vietnam War I was impassioned to write Asian Darkness. The process was a long one and rife with many disappointments and challenges. But never was I discouraged from completing my writing goal nor ever dispassionate about the purpose of my writing. It all began with the following poem:

MY SON

They stole him from me to send him off to war, And there he stayed to fight and die till it was done. It's bad when governments steal sons from you, And he was my son. They said this war had to be fought And that it was for a just and noble cause. So, since I was patriotic and voted for them, I stood by their laws. But it always seems to be the young who go And against whom the scales of death are swung. It's bad when governments send young men off to die, And my son was young. For what matters to them of a million deaths When war is the tender of life they promote? You can be sure when their reelection comes up, They won't get my vote! For the enemy is now my chosen leader, The enemy called peace that all governments abhor! And you can be sure they won't get any more of my sons, Till they end all war.
Oh they may think they can get away with murder And do any damn thing they feel must be done, But they won't take what I love away from me again, And I loved my son.

From this first entry as a war poet my passion guided and directed me to pen 99 other poems to complement and complete my journey through the jungles and badlands of South and North Vietnam. Along the way I found that I had also inscribed a tribute to warriors in general and to all the military men and women who fought and bled in Southeast Asia. Asian Darkness is a salute to them as well as a commentary upon almost every conceivable subject that the Vietnam War gave birth to. Moreover, my book is a salutation to every writer who has ever taken pen and paper to create from scratch a work of art or commentary. And did so through the process of true inspiration and tireless passion!

Patrick P. Stafford is a resident of Grants Pass, Oregon and resides there with his novelist father, Elsan Stafford. Patrick has written for AccessLife.com, IQ Magazine, Neighborhood America, Amateur Chef Magazine, Careerbay.com and Healthcare Traveler, and has sold poems, articles and editorial pieces to both online and print publications over the past 30 years. He recently had a book of poetry published online at the Writer’s Closet and a poetic tome dedicated to Princess Diana published in print in 2002.

PUBLISHER’S PROMPT

Another New Addition

For me, sometimes getting started is one of the most difficult tasks of my craft. As writers, we must continually start over and over. If I waited for pure inspiration to take hold, I might sit for a very long time in front of a blank computer screen. Writing prompts have been a useful tool for me to just get something on the page. They have allowed me to free myself of the destination and to simply enjoy the journey. They have prompted new thoughts, feelings, and ideas that I didn’t even know I had. And they sometimes just give me a jolt to sit down and write and get me going so that I can fully give myself to whatever piece I am currently working on- to just get to it or to approach it from another angle, a new perspective.

Each week, I will highlight a prompt in the newsletter. You can use it or not use it. If you decide to play with the prompt, and you’d like to share it, please send it to me (DigitalPulp Pub@aol.com) and I will post it in the following week’s Authors’ Advocate.

Writing Prompt

Use the following prompt(taken from Judy Reeve’s A Creative Writer’s Kit) however you like: Returning takes too long

WHAT’S GOING ON AT DPP…

Home Sweet Home

Our move is complete! We are a proud, happy, busy-working company with a fantastic office space to boot! We are located in bustling (as bustling as you can get in the desert) downtown Palm Springs! Come visit and have your choice of coffee shops to write in and be inspired! (I’ll send you our new address and phone number in a separate e-mail)

Happy Thanksgiving

Short week, Short newsletter!

Will leave you with some quotes to feast upon…

Got no checkbooks, got no banks. Still, I’d like to express my thanks- I got the sun in the mornin’ and the moon at night – Irving Berlin

O Lord that lends me life, lend me a heart replete with thankfulness.” – William Shakespeare

God gave us our relatives; thank God we can choose our friends. – Ethel Watts Mumford


Write on,

Nicky

Newsletter, Edition II

THE AUTHOR’S ADVOCATE
The DPP Authors’ Newsletter
EDITION II
November 14, 2005


REMINDER: If you haven’t sent me your book’s copyright date yet, please send it to me ASAP to DigitalPulp Pub@aol.com. Thanks, Nicky


"I think I did pretty well, considering I started out with nothing but a bunch of blank paper."
Steve Martin


YOU ARE YOUR OWN BEST MARKETING REP!

I never travel without my diary. One must always have something sensational to read on the train. –Gwendolyn to Cecily in Oscar Wilde’s THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST

EXPOSURE

Always travel with a piece of your work. Read it on trains, planes, and automobiles (unless you’re conducting, piloting, or driving of course). Carrying your book, manuscript (even if it’s not finished), e-reader (with your work on it), might just start a conversation, which might lead to an interest in your work, which might lead to a sale, which might lead to word-of-mouth marketing, which might lead to more sales!

In other words: Exposure, Exposure, Exposure!

No one can talk about your work better than you. So talk it up! Having your work with you is the best way to sell it. If you have a PDA we will be glad to show you how you can carry your book with you. I carry my e-reader everywhere and I solicit a lot of interest with it. I get to introduce people to the idea of reading works in a digital format, talk about DPP, our authors, and talk about my own writing. It sparks interest and provides EXPOSURE!

Come December we will be sending you postcards with your book cover on the front and information about you and your book on the back (as well as information about how to buy your book from the DPP Bookstore). These will also be a handy tool to carry with you to get the word out about you and your book- YIPEE!: More EXPOSURE!

So… EXPOSE YOURSELF (well, you as an author, not you naked- unless of course you are selling a pornography book and, then, by all means- go to town!), EXPOSE YOUR BOOK!
EXPOSURE is one of the best marketing tools in town! In the words of Nike: “Just do it!”- whenever you can, wherever you can, as much as you can!

WHAT’S GOING ON AT DPP…

On the Move…

We are moving our offices! As most of you know I have had e-mail problems due to the move, but they will hopefully be resolved in the next week or so. However, that hasn’t hampered mine, or anyone else’s, excitement over the venture! Our new offices are right in the heart of downtown Palm Springs which puts us in the middle of everything. The new space also serves us better in terms of our technology. Better use of our technology serves us, so we can better serve YOU! A complete win-win situation!

We invite you to come visit whenever you need a Palm Springs get-away!

DON’T escape THE BLOG!
Part II

The Digital Pulp Blog has been up and running for four days now. If you haven’t had a chance to visit the blog, please do (http://digitalpulppublishing.blogspot.com/)! This weekly newsletter is posted there as well as a short piece I wrote. I encourage comments and please feel free to post a short piece of your own, if you like…but better yet: CREATE YOUR OWN BLOG! (Aha- another marketing idea!)
Blogs are really great tools to get your name out there! You can write ANYTHING you want and get feedback, if you so desire. It’s another link to get people to know you’re out there. You can market your book- post excerpts, link to your own website (if you have one), post reviews- whatever you like!
If you’re interested (which I encourage you to be), please e-mail me back and let me know and I will send you the information about how to create one (FOR FREE!).
Don’t just sit there with a blog in your throat- get it out on the world wide web!

Newsletter Feedback

I received some excellent feedback last week from one of our authors on last week’s newsletter. I was offered some terrific suggestions about how to make this weekly rag more helpful and interesting for all of us. I plan to start implementing some of them two weeks from now (not one week from now because of the move and Thanksgiving- how early it’s come this year!).

If any one of you has suggestions- SEND ‘EM MY WAY! Please and thank you.



Write on,

Nicky

Newsletter for DPP Authors, Edition I

THE AUTHOR’S ADVOCATE
The DPP Author’s Newsletter
EDITION I
November 7, 2005

REMINDER: If you’d like to add an acknowledgment or dedication page to the front of your book, please write one up and send it to Nicky @ nicpit@DigitalPulpPublishing.com no later than November 11. Thanks.


"I admire anybody who has the guts to write anything at all."
E. B. White


YOU ARE YOUR OWN BEST MARKETING REP!

In the modern world of business [and your business is writing] it’s useless to be a creative, original thinker unless you can also sell what you create. –David Ogilvy

In each subsequent newsletter you receive, I will be sending out tips to help you be your own best marketer. Of course, DPP will do as much work as we can on our end, but the lengths which you go to make your book a success are what is crucial to the success of your book- No one can promote your book as well as you can!

Please send me questions you have about marketing and self-promotion and topics that you are interested in learning more about. I will do my best to gather the best answers and information possible and pass it along in our weekly e-letter.
Send questions and topic ideas to nicpit@DigitalPulpPublishing.com



WHAT’S GOING ON AT DPP…


DON’T escape THE BLOG!

For those of you not familiar with blogs (web logs) here are some short and to-the-point definitions:
(n) web log, blog (a shared on-line journal where people can post diary entries about their personal experiences and hobbies) "postings on a blog are usually in chronological order"; (v) blog (read, write, or edit a shared on-line journal)
Our DPP Blog will be up and running this Friday, November 11! We will be updating it weekly, with information about DPP, digital publishing in general, and all kinds of other fun tidbits! Our weekly newsletter to you will be posted and you’ll be able to post opinions, feedback, and other information you’d like to share. Check out our NEW blog at http://digitalpulppublishing.blogspot.com/


UPCOMING EVENTS:

The Third San Francisco Writers ConferenceBuilding Bridges to Better Tomorrows February 17 - 19, 2006
For Complete information and registration:
http://www.sanfranciscowritersconference.com/

Genene, David and I attended last year’s conference, and we’re going again in 2006. It’s a good networking ground, and there is good information on the publishing industry. Also, it’s a great opportunity to meet agents (they have “speed dating” where you can pitch your book to agents in about 5 minutes). They also have nightly sessions where you can read your work out loud and get feedback. And, heck: it’s San Francisco- a wonderful writer’s town and a magnificent city!


Write on,

Nicky

What Goes on in THIS Writer's Head!

I belong to an online writing club where various prompts are sent to spark spontaneous creativity. I figured since this is a website for writers, I’d share what hit my inner author today, and let you know who you’re really dealing with when you visit this blog. Don’t know that I’m painting the prettiest picture of myself but it’s honest.

November 10, 2005

I can usually be found sitting in my head obsessing.
Obsessing about what was and what it meant and why it happened that way and what if it had happened differently and what if it was different now and if it was how would that be and since it’s not what was the point and what should I do now.

I can usually be found sitting in my head obsessing.
Obsessing about some idea that just popped into my head and what I can do with it and where it could go and who could be part of it and if it would be something that Oprah would do a segment on until another idea popped in my head and I become enamored with that and follow it through as far as it takes me until I am led to another idea.


I can usually be found sitting in my head obsessing.
Obsessing about the state of the world and if things had gone one way instead of another would we be where we are and is it possible to change things as they are now and really make the world a better place and if individuals and nations would simply practice “live and let live” and be tolerant and respectful of one another would hunger end and education expand and would lives be lived more fully and harmoniously.


I can usually be found sitting in my head obsessing.
Obsessing about how much time I spend obsessing about anything and everything and how much better spent my brain would be if I stopped obsessing and started doing and then I obsess about what I would do and how I’m going to do it and when I’m going to do it and who I’m going to do it with and how much time it will take and if it will cost anything and if it does cost anything can I afford it and if I can’t afford it what will I do so that I can afford it and what would I like to do, to do what it takes to afford the thing I was going to do instead of obsessing about it.

Honest responses are welcome, and/or if this little ol’ piece prompts you to write something spontaneous- by all means: post away!- Nicky

Welcome!

Welcome to the DigitalPulp Publishing blog. We are going to be telling you all about the cool things we are doing. Please come back.

If you have comments or ideas about eBook publishing we would love to hear them! Either post them here or send me email nicpit@digitalpulppublishing.com