And it remains time to admire nature, beauty, and kindness. All those are wrapped up in Jurgen’s post (he was also linked to in this other Happiness Between Tails post) about Valentin Grüner, whose friendship with Sirga, a lioness, is as cuddly as what I had with Mooshie, a tabby house cat. (More about Mooshie in this video and here.)
Jurgen’s site also offers an excellent example of the joys of using WordPress’ Google Translate widget. It’s free to use and great for anyone with a WordPress blog.
Within Jurgen’s post you’ll find videos and more about Valentin, who is a wildlife activist. In addition, here’s a video of Kevin Richardson, who also works hard to help wildlife.
Food, nature, friendship — that’s how Persian New Year culminates. To thwart bad luck from sneaking into the year ahead, 13 days after the 1st, we’ll go picnic, play, and take walks.
Much as I love animals, hopefully no lions will surprise us. If one did, I doubt I could stay as calm as Valentin and Kevin!
Would you pet a lion? Have you?
Share + Like + Rate + Comment + Follow + Email me at ContactdaAL@gmail.com
Want to listen to a podcast/audio version of Happiness Between Tails? Click the Spotify podcast link above. And please give it a follow.
Whew! It’s my second week of “real podcasting” (see about Podcast #1 h-e-r-e) and I’m so busy trying to learn that I haven’t time to work on my novels. After all, they’re what brought me to blogging and now the endeavor of converting blog posts into sound episodes.
Any creative person without a superstar agent has to wear many hats to create work while also promoting themselves, yet no one has more than 24 hours in a day.
Those constraints in mind, below is new stuff about podcasting I’ve learned and bits I neglected to mention last time. Maybe what I’ve learned (including what not to do) can help you (or at least help anyone appreciate what goes into these things). If you have advice or anything to add, please let us all know within the comments.
Video versions of the podcasts: Youtube versions by different services are in last week’s post. When I have time, I’ll use the remaining freebie credits at the apps to produce videos sized for Twitter, Instagram, and the like.
Monetizing Part 1: Thank you, thank you, everyone who watched and subscribed! Mwah! Mwah! Mwah! to each and every one of you because I reached the minimum of 50 views needed for Anchor to submit advertisements that I can start to insert and earn from.
Monetizing Part 2: Anchor’s feature that they’ll let you start making money from their ads on your show after you get 50 listens is definitely more doable than other social media platforms (like WordPress and Youtube) that require zillions before you see a penny. However, try as I might, Anchor’s sign-up form keeps bouncing back to me, saying that my account is already being used! I sent Anchor emails, Tweets, Facebook messages, and am still getting the run around. They have online chat, which the first time I tried getting on, I waited an hour, and then got cut off! (Note Since Publishing This Post & Then Hearing Back From Anchor: they fixed it — will let you know when they send me ads to record.)
Facebook: I changed my banner on my business page there. Canva does a better job with making text look crisp than when I try adding text via my iMac’s Photos app.
Anchor Part 1: hopefully I won’t forget, as I did last week, to tag them (they ask podcasters to do that) when I share this to Twitter. Dunno if good will come if it, but one can dare to dream…
Anchor Part 2: why can’t I open some of my drafts on my iMac, which is a million times easier to edit on than my iPad and iPhone?
Tagging: which reminds me, I guess I should tag anyone (besides guests here, who I already tag) who I link to or mention in posts? Have you done that?
Platforms: yah! Anchor has me on 7 platforms so far — but wait, some of them aren’t working or don’t list Happiness Between Tails in their search list — argh! That’s yet another thing I’ve been experiencing much aggravation with, trying to straighten out via emails. etc. And I’m in Apple Podcasts, so why aren’t I in Overcast? And ooooh, far far worst — one platform is showing my drafts that I’ve yet to finish and publish!!! (Note Since Publishing This Post & Then Hearing Back From Anchor: yah! I’m on Overcast. Am hoping soon the other platform will stop showing my drafts…)
Automated voices: I forgot to mention, if you want to hear each of them, the boy voice reads the address that’s within the last podcast that includes Willow Croft.
Podcasting WordPress into Anchor: for how to do that, see my earlier post — I forgot to add that one is allowed only one podcast per blog, which is why I started a separate blog. It’s one that’s only for me to see, even though technically Anchor needs it to be designated “public,” so I can experiment with how podcasts sound before I actually publish them.
Sound: besides having the separate blog I noted above, when I’m revising a blog post to make it relevant to listeners, it’s useful to preview it through my word processor’s audio narrator as well. Using trial and error, you can figure out how to improve the pacing, etc., using different punctuation and spelling.
Promotion: it’s not easy figuring out who and how to tell people. For me, part of that has to do with this show being my “classroom” for when I do one for my novels. That means that this one isn’t as polished, so I don’t want to invite criticism from people who won’t understand that. The people who “get it” are more often fellow bloggers and writers.
There you go — if you have any questions or answers, I’m all ears (and eyes).
How’s your week been? Listen to any good podcasts or read any good novels?
Share + Like + Rate + Comment + Follow + Email me at ContactdaAL@gmail.com
Thinking about starting your own podcast but don’t know where you’d record it? Here’s Ira Glass, narrating his ultra successful radio show and podcast, “This American Life,” in his closet…
Want to listen to a podcast/audio version of Happiness Between Tails? Click the Spotify podcast link above. And please give it a follow.
Hurrah!!! Picture me jumping up and down with as much glee as panting with relief after laboring over the ins and outs of producing The Happiness Between Tails Podcast. The HBT podcast is really an experiment — a hands-on classroom where I make most of my mistakes before I serialize my novels (“Flamenco & the Sitting Cat,” and “Tango & the Sitting Cat”) into audio fiction series. For the record, the fiction shows won’t use the automated readers. I’ve already posted a bit about podcasting H-E-R-E and H-E-R-E.
It’s not your imagination that the video transcriptions below for teasers are all the same. What differentiates them is that they’re made using the free features within AnchorFM and Audiogram and Headliner. So far I’ve only made them for my YouTube channel, but they can also be to accommodate the size requirements for other social media.
Anchor did this video of my teaser that’s on my YouTube…
“For any bloggers out there who would like to try to use the Anchor program (I found it to be very straightforward, not complicated), I would recommend starting off with a short introduction about your blog that would help set the stage for what you are about to read. I did not do that. I even forgot to read the essay title. It would make the whole thing seem more warm and inviting. The hardest part of the experience for me was reading the essay without making any mistakes. I ended up recording about six times and finally gave up. Not really sure podcasting is my gig, but for those of you who are curious and want to give it a try, I found the Anchor program quite user friendly.”
Curious about experimenting with a podcast of your own?
Given my frazzled state, here’s some un-organized dribs and drabs about what I’ve learned to date. Feel free to add your own or point out any errors I’ve made.
Random hard-won notes regarding setting something up on Anchor:
For the sake of not risking messing up this site, I set up an alternate WordPress blog. That’s because when Anchor’s automated voices (there’s a female and a male version) “audio-ize” posts, they’re not completely tidy. For instance, they don’t read the post’s headline. Also, my posts need massaging to sound good as podcast episodes. My voice as well as both of the automated ones are used in this first full episode.
Don’t like the background on your Anchor page? Change it by typing in a different HEX code. To find codes for colors, google stuff like, “HEX code for light green.”
The tangled road to figuring things out includes how to make money. Sites such as Patreon take a percentage of one’s profits in exchange for taking some of the bother out of setting up incentives for potential sponsors. Somewhere along the way I came across “Buy Me a Coffee,” as in: Like what you hear? Buy me a coffee.
When emailing a question to Anchor, it helps to include your anchor url.
Distribution: Anchor can automatically distribute your show to a bunch of places, such as Spotify, Stitcher, etc. As for their sending it to Apple, I waited and waited and waited for Anchor or Apple to let me know I’d been added to Apple Podcasts — months of agonizing later, I checked Apple myself (duh!), and it was there! This is a h-u-g-e deal, as to get on Apple’s “New and Interesting” list, one must get a lot of listeners within the first couple of weeks.
Anchor title pages: they need an intro paragraph and whatever links you’d like to include. They can also have a list of time stamps (a list of where on the show different things happen), and a list of what folks are missing if they don’t check out your corresponding blog post, i.e., links and photos.
Any show needs an intro, and middle, and an outro — and it’s helpful to throw in what you’d like your listener to do, i.e., subscribe to the show, tell others about it, and to visit your site.
Advertising: once 50 people have listened to your show, Anchor lets you start placing ads they submit to you and then they’ll give you some sort of a cut.
Editing: Anchor has an editing feature that isn’t too hard to learn, though it can be a bit clunky. Many podcasters edit with Audacity or Garageband. I like using iMovie, because all I need is something simple and visual.
Music and sound effects: Anchor offers a bunch, which is nice given what a headache it can be to figure out all the legalities of those.
General wisdom advises one start with several shows already in the can, so new listeners can “binge” a bit when they find you.
Also, “they” say it’s good to podcast on a regular basis, same as blogging. For now, I’m not putting that sort of pressure on myself, particularly since I’m still learning and experimenting.
Episode title: Don’t put name of show in each episode, since it automatically appears next to episodes in podcast directories.
Publicize, publicize, publicize: it you’ve blogged for more than a little while, you know the rigmarole on that…
Got an idea for a podcast? Do you listen to them?
Share + Like + Rate + Comment + Follow + Email me at ContactdaAL@gmail.com
Traditional publishing, the kind that engages literary agents and monolithic publishing companies, has always been a challenge for writers. In my quest to find either for my soon-to-be-released novels, “Flamenco & the Sitting Cat” and “Tango & the Sitting Cat,” it feels akin to winning the lottery. Fortunately, self-publishing is rapidly becoming a mainstream empowering alternative. What’s your experience with either buying or publishing self-published novels?
I belong to aMuslim community from the coastal state of Kerala in South India. We are said to have been winnowed out from the rest of the Kerala populace by the inter-marriages that took place between the Arab traders and the local women. Most of the cultural aspects continued to be picked up from the customs prevalent in Kerala, with some changes to create a distinct identity.But there was a marked Arab influence as well.
During the years I grew up, there were many changes that were happening which were, in fact, slowly erasing the differences in dress and lingo and the social mores of confining women indoors, etc. A female like me, therefore, got the benefit of education, which was a rare thing during my mother’s generation and almost non-existent before that.
Then, there was aturn towards more strict observance of the religious customs although there was no going back on the education, fortunately.In part, this had to do with the political changes that saw an upsurge of right-wing sentiments and the political events that they ushered in, as also with the influx of the Wahabian influence brought in by those who had found a livelihood in the Gulf countries. These attempts at aggressively establishing religious, political, and cultural identities between the Hindus and the Muslims, is now gradually bringing in a subtle divide and disturbing the harmony that had existed for thousands of years.
My novel has been woven through this backdrop, but it is in no way discourse on any of those aspects. It creeps in through the different characters, of course, but not stridently so.
The story is told from a woman’s perspective for the most part.
I am sixty-two now, and I have always cherished the idea of getting something that I wrote published. After finishing this novel, I did tentatively explore the regular publishing route. I realized that it would take a very long time and that there was no certainty of any of the established publishers taking it up. So I decided to look for self-publishing platforms. My children offered to bear the cost.
Notionpress, who I approached, came across as very professional, with a good team who managed the different aspects of the publication process.I chose the minimum package which would take care of the formatting,the cover design, the copyrights, and the online listing on their online store as well as on Flipkart and Amazon India. The editing is a facility available with a higher package. So I did the editing myself. They did allow for post-publication correction of the grammatical and spelling errors and a couple of errors in the names, etc. The whole process was completed in two weeks.
They do not do any promotion with this package, nor will the books be available in the bookshops.
But I’m happy.
My friends were the ones who read the book first and gave me feedback. They have liked it and assure me that they can relate to it, that the flow is smooth, that it speaks to them of what I had wanted to convey and so on.
With the money I earned in the last two months, I decided to upgrade the package, which would make the book available outside India on Amazon.com
The pricing they suggested appeared to be almost the same as that of many well-established authors, and I expressed my doubts to them about that. I was told that my book would be printed only as per demand, which would hike up the production costs, as compared to the mass production of the books of established authors.
The royalty I get on the sale of one copy after they deduct the production costs and half of the profits (that was the agreement) is only about 2/5th of the MRP if purchased through the Notionpress store and much less (about 1/8th) if sold through Amazon and Flipkart.
But what’s more important to me is that more people get to read the book.
da-AL’s kind offer to let me put up a blog post here about it is therefore very much appreciated.
I do hope some of you will pick it up from Amazon.com and give me your feedback after you’ve read it. Go to Notionpress here. Go to Amazon here.
Thank you all very much for reading this ☺
What’s your experience with buying or publishing self-published novels?
Share + Like + Rate + Comment + Follow + Email me at ContactdaAL@gmail.com
I’ve featured several self-published novelists here at Happiness Between Tails. Now it’s time to hear what it’s like to be published the old fashioned way!
Contrary to how publishers have been described to me, hers give her much control every step of the way. Her first book’s cover, Smile, was publisher-designed, yet she designed the cover for her upcoming book, The Dome. For both books, the publisher went with her titles. They would have deep-edited her books, but given how print-ready she handed them over, their revisions were minimal.
For more about Suzanne — and when you want or need to laugh — visit Suzanne’s humor blog, mydangblog. In her own words, here’s how she became a traditionally published author…
For author/blogger Suzanne Craig-Whytock (and Titus), “A supportive dog is a writer’s best friend.”
I’ve been writing all my life. Poetry, short stories—you name it, ever since I can remember. I still have them in a drawer—and that’s where the manuscript for my first novel was hiding for a long time. It was a Young Adult novel that I’d submitted to a couple of different publishers and got immediately rejected, as one does. So I shrugged my shoulders and put it away. It wasn’t until I changed jobs 5 years ago and met a colleague who was a literary editor that my publishing journey really began.
We were talking about writing one day, and I said, “Oh yeah, I have a manuscript sitting in a drawer at home.” She replied, “Oh, I’d love to read it!” She was excited; I was terrified. My family loved the book, but she was a professional editor with a Ph.D.—what was she going to say about my little YA novel?! But she gave me excellent feedback and said, “You need to get this back out there.” So I did some much-needed revisions based on her suggestions and took a chance.
I didn’t know anything about agents or “querying”; I just sent it to a reputable Canadian publisher that considered unsolicited manuscripts. Shockingly, they accepted it. I ran down the aisle at work with the email on my phone, looking for my colleague to show it to her before anyone else.
When my author copies arrived and I held Smile in my hands for the first time, I cried. 50 years old and finally a published author.
Now, my second novel The Dome will be out this October with the same publisher, and the third book is underway. Thanks, Carol.
Cover for soon-to-be-released “The Dome,” by Suzanne Craig-Whytock.
About the author: Suzanne Craig-Whytock is a Canadian writer published by Bookland Press. Her first novel, Smile, was released in 2017, and her new novel, The Dome, will be released this October. Both books are available on Amazon, Chapters Indigo, and with most other online booksellers.
You can read all about her weird sense of humor on her website mydangblog or find her on Twitter @scraigwhytock
If you’re a traditionally published author, how did you do it?
Share + Like + Rate + Comment + Follow + Email me at ContactdaAL@gmail.com
Novelist/marketer/copywriter M.L. Davis blogs from South West England.
Love, practice, and persistence go far with any endeavor — including when it comes to writing. For me, it helps if I can tap into something fun about a project (like with my soon-to-be self-published novel, “Flamenco & the Sitting Cat”). What works for you?
Novelist/marketer/copywriter M.L. Davis blogs from South West England. Here’s how Davis hones her craft…
Writing is a skill, and like all skills it cane be learned and honed. Some people have a natural talent and flare for certain things, others have to try a little harder. Wherever you stand, if you love writing you should write. And if you’d like to improve and grow there are plenty of ways to do so.
1. Write Let’s start with the simple and most effective answer. Write. You learn as you do, and you improve as you do. As with all skills, you will get better with practice and perseverance.
2. Read Fiction If you’re writing fiction, you’ll learn a great deal about what you like/don’t like by reading fiction. You’ll get a sense of what works and what doesn’t. And if you’re going to tell stories, it’s important to get used to the way stories are shaped. (This can also be done by…
I don’t understand German, but I love how boldly she assumes identities on her video channel.
Valeska Réon and her many personas.
In addition to a host of careers she’s had and currently pursues, she loves dogs — she often features them on her Instagram! See what Valeska’s up to later here.
Valeska Réon and her dog indulge in a black and white moment.
How do you re-imagine yourself?…
Share + Like + Rate + Comment + Follow + Email me at ContactdaAL@gmail.com
Good writing takes more than merely a great idea. It takes time to edit and re-edit, yet it can vault mediocre writing into stellar writing. Here UK author and blogger David Jarrett shares how he simplifies the process…
Hi there, after months of editing and updating here are some tried and tested tips for how to edit your draft book. I found this needed multiple passes, constructive feedback and dispassionate discipline. I also needed to re-learn key parts of grammar to understand what ‘good’ looks like.
1. Get the structure right first with feedback from others, check for consistency.
By this I mean – the plot, characterisation, events, scenes, order of events, plausibility of events, story arc for each character, etc.
Consistency of proper nouns, places, character names, etc. is also a key check. Word spellchecker can assist by highlighting those variants which are yet to be accepted into your dictionary. A Find and Replace can bring things back under control.
2. Screen your own writing for overuse of words and phrases.
I recommend running Wordcounter and the Hemmingway app on chapters of your work and noting the…
Combining creativity with business can be challenging. Author/blogger Shabnam Curtis is one heck of an organized writer! Here she generously shares her detailed and well-researched gameplan for self-publishing success of her book, “My Persian Paradox: Memories of an Iranian Girl”…
(1121 words – 8 minute read) Independence has been the magic word through out my life. Since I was a little girl, I wanted to be independent. I’ve tried hard and succeeded in so many aspects of my life; immigration, finance, job back in Iran. But, I have been a paycheck lady ever since I came to the U.S. Every now and then I thought about becoming a freelancer again but didn’t seriously pursue it. I was not and am not ready for the financial risk. But a few years ago, I noticed an inside revolution and strong desire, demanding to create something new other than a freelance project analyst. The uprising in my heart took me home; I began writing my memoir.
Writing my memoir taught me develop more critical thinking skills, approaching the society from not one but many different viewpoints. In short…
Want to write and publish a book? Blogger Rhiannon Brunner (who has also contributed to HBT here) has written and self-published many of them! A resident of Vienna, Austria, she writes about whatever interests her. Her books are in German. Soon she’ll translate them into English. Here she encourages us all…
Author/blogger Rhiannon Brunner with her cat, Carry (big sister of kitten Maze).
If you’re thinking about writing a book, these are my experiences that I’d like to share to encourage you. Some see themselves as warriors, others as traders or craftsmen. Through my blog and books, I have come to see myself as a “bard,” as a storyteller. Let me inspire you and accompany you on your writing journeys.
Since childhood, I’ve loved reading stories. To this day I adore how a good book shows me new worlds. My first steps in writing started when I was a little. A few years ago, I realized how important writing is to me. My trigger was wanting to find a good present for my mom.
Since then, I haven’t been able to keep my fingers off the keyboard. Becoming an author is a work in progress. Accepting input is necessary for growth. Every book is like your “baby” that you send into the world. It doesn’t matter how good it is — you still love it and wish it all the best on its way.
TIP 1: Go for it! No master has fallen from heaven yet, everyone started small. Set the first step for your book.
TIP 2: Hold on! Writing a book requires that one invest time and commit to finishing. It doesn’t matter how good your “baby” gets. Just get to the end.
TIP 3: Open yourself to input! There is always someone better than you. Ask for advice if necessary, but never let anyone pull you down. If the criticism is constructive, it will help you.
*** These first three tips are essential — all else is variable. ***
With my books, I started from scratch. I researched bloggers and “professionals.” I searched for tips on the homepages of publishers and organized writing guides for myself. Some helped, others did not.
TIP 4: I dare you! I don’t like to leave projects open or to cancel them. If you want to write a book, sit down and finish it.
TIP 5: Perfection does not exist.
TIP 6: Hang in there! Again and again, I looked for writing experts. I didn’t have any luck, so I began to experiment. I gave my manuscript to others to read and wondered how accurate their opinions were. Some advice I put into practice, some I didn’t. Not every input is meaningful and helpful. Make sure that it helps you to improve and that it doesn’t dissuade you. Go with your gut feelings, even small ones. You don’t need flattery, merely sincere advice.
TIP 7: Open yourself to input. Constructive criticism can sting, but it helps with further development.
You don’t need to reinvent the wheel. Make the best of everything.
Good luck!
Share + Like + Rate + Comment + Follow + Email me at ContactdaAL@gmail.com
Happiness Between Tails by da-AL 