Tuesday, November 18, 2014

new york here i come, again and again and...!

Remember I went to New York City back in July to nominate Rainbow... For the GL book club there to read, and they asked me to come back for the discussion in four months? Well, that discussion was last Thursday and I was there. I wouldn't have missed it for the world! Well, maybe I would have for the whole world but since I wasn't offered the world I went to NYC as planned. I almost didn't make though. Twenty minutes before my bus was scheduled to leave I realized that I'd forgotten my photo ID, which I needed since I had an online ticket. I panicked and talked to the station manager who referred me to the lady at the ticket counter. I told her my issue and she said that normally I would have to purchase another ticket, which I could not have afforded to do, but that she would see what she could do. Luckily she was able to print me an over-the-counter ticket at no charge. My trips always seem to have some sort of self-sabotage in store. Remember my key drama in LA? Maybe I'm just a drama queen who needs to spice up his travels with a nail-biter or two!
     If I had been unable to go I would have been truly bummed out. I would also have missed out on my next promotional opportunity. While I was there I found an organization, also in the NYC LGBT community center, called  The Bureau of General Services Queer Division or BGSQD. They have a library/art gallery were they host art shows, book discussions/readings, poetry slams and things of that nature with queer themes. People can buy or borrow books and they sell the art as well. That night they were having a book discussion with the author present just like the book club I was meeting with. When they were done I went in and introduced myself to the person on staff. He was very friendly and told me everything about the bureau. I immediately saw another promo opportunity. Call me an opportunist all you want but today's authors had better be ''oppurtunist'' or their not going to build a readership or any other ship! Anyhow, When I got back home I e-mailed BGSQD and simply asked them if they would host a reading/book discussion for me. They replied with a yes and now were already in the planning stages!
    The book club I went there to discuss Rainbow Plantation Blues with liked the book, thank God! New York City weather that night was wet, rainy and cold so only five people were there but the facilitator told me that the group collectively bought fifteen books! It was also not totally clear or known that I was coming either. Nonetheless, everyone was very nice and had good questions and comments. I can declare it a rousing success!

Friday, November 7, 2014

sometimes you score and sometimes you don't

 I've been lazy lately and not blogging, but to my credit I have been doing other things. I made contact with some of the other authors from the book-to-screen festival via e-mail. I tried to contact five people and three replied. However, most of the people I met there I'll probably never see or hear from again. Nonetheless, I wish them all well. Anyhow, Diana Finfrock Farrar author of  ''The Door of  the heart'' replied. She told me that she got five request to read her book from the Hollywood reps- five request! Another author told me that he got two, like me, and the other author told me she got one. Diana also told me that she ordered and read Rainbow Plantation Blues. The only comment she had was that she thought it should be longer, by 100+ pages, but that she still thought it would make a good movie. From the tone of her e-mail, I don't think she particularly liked it over all.
    Speaking of not liking it, I got an e-mail from RainbowReviews.com today. I have been trying to get reviewed on their site for a year and a half and now I know I can forget it. After numerous tries, I had finally gotten one of their readers to pick up the book. But then I didn't hear from them for quite awhile. Today they informed me that two of their readers have read my novel and neither of them could write a positive review on it. Their policy is that they only publish positive reviews.
    I bought my bus ticket to New York City last week. Remember I went their back in July to nominate Rainbow... for that book club to read, and they voted to read it? Well, they also invited me to come back [In four months] to sit-in on the club's discussion of it and that discussion is next week! Going their on the heels of this RainbowReviews rejection could be a boost for my confidence[if they like it] or a real confidence killer if they don't. After all, it is New York City! If you can make it there you can make it anywhere, Right? My bus leaves Cleveland next Thursday at 5AM and gets there at 6PM. The meeting starts at 7or 8PM [I don't remember exactly] and my return bus leaves NYC on Friday at 12:30AM. So, I'll be there for a total of around six hours. I'll be on the bus four times as long as I'll actually be in NYC! I know that schedule sounds insane but I have to get back home so I don't lose anymore time on my day job. Such is a writer's life. You have to do whatever you have to do to promote your work, and everybody is still not going to like it! But you keep on truck'in regardless. I think of promotions and readers/readerships as like playing basketball. Sometimes you score and sometimes you don't. That's funny, that analogy also reminds me of my cruising days!