ROW80-3 22/09/2019 -And now, for something completely different.
September 22, 2019
Yes, it's the last post of the Round, and several days late.
But I tried something different yesterday - reading one of my stories and posting it online. Video shown below, but no editing, so please excuse the occasional stumbles. Comments are welcome too. Feedback so far on Facebook is mostly positive. Some suggestions were slower, breaks between speakers, and more emotion. I read a recent Flash Fiction of mine, A Touch of Magic, prefaced with a few minutes outlining my ideas/concerns. I'll repost them below.
- length - my Flashfiction are 1000 words, so maybe 6-7 minutes long. One story at a time or 30 minutes worth? My two novels are over 50,000 words so would be several sessions. Or I could read from the classics, be it Dickens or Grimm's Fairy Tales.
- format -initially will use my Twitch streaming setup, with just a headset, and just export as usual to Youtube. What do I use for visuals - webcam of me reading? Just a static photo that relates to the story? A slide show of images?
- long term - Get a better mic, use something like Audacity to record and edit, tidy it up, and choose an online home - where do I start? Soundcloud? Stay on +Youtube? My blog as a link? Podcasts?
- monetize? Do I bother? Twitch people can pay to subscribe. Youtube -need lots and lots of followers, then run ads. Amazon Audible books need to use their ACX, only available in the US.
Status of objectives (updates in italics):
- Write - Because I enjoy it.
- Write new material - one Flash Fiction a week.
- I did one for Sept 13, A Difficult Separation. Prompt was sending someone/something off to school.
- Also one for Sept 20, A Touch of Magic. It was part of a contest, by NYC Midnight -1000 words in 48 hours.
- Edit existing material - to send in for publication. 2h/d. A few sessions on my draft novel, reviewing and rating scenes as Scene or Sequel. Off to Toronto for a week Wednesday, so I will do more while there.
- Write new material - one Flash Fiction a week.
- Write better - Read about how to write, and get constructive feedback.
- Series of writerly blogs. Objective, to stay current. Doing okay, seems to be a Sunday thing, that I get busy reading soI can log it ;-)
- Write regularly - set a FF challenge a week. A challenge was set for me, for the FF contest mentioned above. And did another one last Friday - random first line of dialogue.
- Other - Masterclasses - None.
- Publish/market
- Amazon Marketing Services Campaigns on KDP - Dump this? Not sure it's worth it,can't be bothered tweaking it. Paused for now.
- Give away stories. Yes. Found a few fans, so I give them reprints every week.
- Send in one story a week to a publication. Nope, nothing sent.
- Read with purpose
- Objective - read and review a book a week. I read Albatross, by Terry Fallis. Lots of stuff about pens, and golf. Boght another pen, a second nib, and more ink!
- Health
- Fitbit step Objective - 7 day average goal 4000. Not doing well lately.
- Set sleep target to 7 hours, starting at midnight. Still erratic.
- Eat better . And lose weight. Will try intermittent fasting - the no breakfast option.
- Stay social - That's a given, what with walking about, visits to local cafes and bars, and all my grandkids being in Ottawa. Met with people from my old home down. I remembered nobody, they didn't remember me, but I think we forged tsome nw freindships. Plus, I took our new LRT there and back. I joined the Ottawa Fountain Pen Society. Possibly a nerdy group?
- Have fun - Gaming, Netflix - both indoors. Outdoors?
- Netflix/Amazon - Mostly Grey's Anatomy.
- Gaming - 8:30-10:30 schedule. Lots, but no real schedule. I tried an ATS convoy online to drive to Area 51 on September 20th, but nobody else showed up.
- Vacation - Do at least mini-trips. Thinking.
- Chores - Canning. 12 pint jars of Tomato Chow-Chow. 6 quart jars of tomatoes. Sore back.
I've been toying with the idea of reading some pieces too, so of course I like it.
You do have a good reading voice! As for the story (very Harry Pottery), it has a nice pace and your reading gives it justice.
LENGTH
One FF at a time seems perfect as people's attention is around 3-5 minutes only! Plus on Twitch, people keep going from channel to channel.
It's more interesting with your own work because it's something new. There are already tons of classics in audio version, so unless it's connected to your work somehow, I don't see the point.
FORMAT
Twitch then YouTube seems to work fine but the thing with Twitch is that it's live, so hesitations and so on will be there. That's not necessarily a problem (it can be more human too!) but that's something you should keep in mind.
I would personally go with a slideshow of pictures connected to the story, but that's me again. If you show yourself reading, it's also about you, whereas if you don't it's only about the story. Also, if you have a new release, you could open with a shot from the webcam to show the book.
Just a static picture makes it more of an audio than an actual video.
So then again, it depends how you see things here.
LONG TERM
Not sure here. You can get quite a good mic for less than $100 FYI. But the sounds was not too bad.
The blog can be one place to share things but I'd start with the places where lots of people are. In the end, I would definitely blog about it too, but that would not be the starting point.
MONETIZING
Stay on Twitch for starters and see where that goes. It's part of Amazon so Prime members get a free subscription every month if I remember well. (I let Hubby handle that as he's way more there than I am.) Also, remember to talk about the rest of your work to try and generate sales.
I think this kind of videos are more about getting a community and being out there anyway so I would not count on it as a big source of revenue.
Hope that helps you in your thought process.
Posted by: Rui Chan | September 23, 2019 at 02:47 AM
Very exciting stuff happening for you, Mike! Enjoy Toronto, and see you next round!
Posted by: Shan Jeniah Burton | September 23, 2019 at 11:05 PM