Why DIY?

It's been a hectic week already as yesterday I engaged in a flurry of emails and ideas about Pulp 2.0 Press and building both our catalog of offerings and our business.  It has been a learning experience to say the very least as I now have a plethora of PDF homework printed out and notebooked for study and guidance.

School is always in session, gang. At least until you're dead.

But what's come out of this flurry of publishing and marketing is a wealth of practical, no-nonsense knowledge about what works and what doesn't and why.  Constant testing, constant challenging the status quo...and constant bloody noses and sore backsides.  But damn, if our little company isn't figuring out what's going to work for us and our readers. 

And that's part of the importance of doing it yourself.

If you were a writer who only submitted the final manuscript and weren't involved in the process of design, format, marketing, distribution, publicity and printing then you would only see the smallest tip of the whole iceberg that you were heading toward.  Now there's certainly something to be said for specialization, but if you only see one small aspect of your business then you're vulnerable.  You're missing tools in your belt that you could possibly use to do your job better.

In the past several months, I've had to learn the basics of InDesign, PR "hotspots" for publicity, scheduling, book marketing (not too much of a stretch as it is very analogous to DVD marketing) and a whole host of other things related to the business of publishing.

And now I've embarked on learning to format for Kindle, EPub and soon IPad.  I won't be an expert at it by any means, but I will have a greater understanding of the process and will be able to budget my time accordingly.  I'll be able to make them better reads tuned to the format in which they're being read ... and we'll be able to sell our books in any format you want ...

And that, kids is the win for both of us.

This doesn't just apply to book publishing either.  Not in today's new IPad world.  Soon we'll be integrating all sorts of applications into our "books" making them fully-functional multimedia ventures.  As you read you be able to click on video, or sift through evidence photos (if you're reading a mystery or crime thriller) or hear  witness statements - a whole host of things.  Using all of the media buffalo to tell the story.

But the storyteller (you) has to figure out how to best use these tools.  How to put them together in new ways to maximize the entertainment value.  How to communicate with others you will partner with to accomplish this task.  That's going to take you sitting down and using the tools yourself, getting comfortable.

And that's another of the reasons why DIY is so important.

(there will be more to come)

So do yourself a favor and get out there and make your own damn media.

The iPhone (R)Evolution

Courtesy Pro Video Coalition:

Since the iPhone 3GS came out with video recording features, a small subset of people have been pushing the limits of what is the accepted norm and using the device in actual production work. When the 3GS came out, Alex Lindsay put out a humorous video in which he attached the phone to a full Redrock Micro shouldermount stabilization rig. We all had a good laugh, and then suddenly Zacuto and others started making professional grade accessories for the device. There are handheld rigs with wide lenses, and even an iPhone stabilizer in the works. For the most part, iPhone video seems to be limited to quick and dirty video blogging, and the occasional music video. But by far the most professional use to date has to be the following spot courtesy of the geniuses at The Mill…

They built a custom iPhone rig with 3D trackers, and used three witness cameras to capture the handheld movement of the camera as it shot the performance (which was to be dressed up with quite a bit of CGI work). The resulting advert is a meld of high-tech compositing and low-tech iPhone video, complete with rolling shutter goodness and shaky handheld work. Watch below.

And here's a video breakdown of how they married computer graphics with video you could shoot yourself:

DIY School: In Session

No Excuses.

No time like the present.

You want to make a film? Don't wait. Don't hesitate. Don't look for the stars to align. It's never going to be absolutely perfect.

The tools are right here.

Make your own damn media.

More on this as it develops.

Because if you need a kick in the pants. I own the steel-toed boots.

Edit to add: Not only am I in your corner, but 1K Film has a handy horror / scifi tip post here. Again, no excuses.

Because I Endorse Any Pulp Objects Made From The Bra Strap

From Cory at Boing Boing "MAKE YOUR OWN DUST GOGGLES. "

Whitechapel: Lo Fi Sci Fi

Interesting, educational thread here.

Read.

Watch.

Connect.

Lots of interesting visuals, but in most of these vids the storytelling is predicated on that and is lacking. ( Exception that proves rule: PRIMER)

Mix interesting story and character with this production value and network television will have to change their underwear constantly.

Add this to the mix. (H/T to Valerie)

And this. (which breaks my heart and kicks me in the boys all at once. Thank you Warren, for ranting on our behalf)

Must rethink network television - the idea of network, structure, organization, resources, monetization.

From the Comments

Stephen Blackmoore commented on my post re: You Need Some Kindle-ing to Start a Fire and in the interest of furthering discussion on the topic and disseminating views, I brought it up to a post.

For the longest time people were saying the short story market was dead...I think perhaps its resurrection is all-digital.

Couldn't agree more. As magazine sales disintegrate more and more short fiction is appearing on the web. Sites like Plots With Guns (http://plotswithguns.com) and Thrilling Detective (http://thrillingdetective.com) have always been web based, but even more traditional print mags are moving to the web as their markets collapse.

When the NY Times finds it could save money (and by money I mean millions) by giving its subscribers a Kindle and having them download the paper every day then you have to say the gong is ringing loud and clear.

And it's not just short fiction. Interesting post at Joe Konrath's blog about his releasing one of his novels onto the Kindle for $1.59.

And how he shot to a #1 bestseller with it.

I will investigate this further, and see what I find out. John August has already dissected some of the manipulation going on over at Kindle as to how something gets on their bestseller list. Certainly I'm not saying that anything underhanded is going on, just that the methodologies employed give readers a skewed idea of what "bestseller" really means on Kindle's charts.

He's not making huge money ($1250.00) by any means, but it's an experiment and he rightly points out that an advance for a first time novel is traditionally about $5K.

And since he's putting it out himself all he's losing is the cut Amazon takes.

He could easily make $5K in a few months if sales remain strong.

Sure, he's not going to get royalties, but as you say it's about marketing. He needs to keep his brand fresh and strong and if he does that and works to maintain it then the royalty issue becomes moot.

Well, if he's selling it on Kindle and has built an audience, then he could easily do a print version via Createspace with added material and so forth - for the collector types. Again, I have to slice through his post. But, it points a way for new writers to get their work out there which is both a blessing and a curse. I do think that editors and designers will become more more important in this new paradigm. At least for those wishing to produce something of professional quality that stands out from the pack of books available.

And I don't know about you, but an extra $15K couldn't hurt (3 novels at $5k each/ year) and the fact they will always be "in print" means they are working for you. Then of course, there's the translation rights for other territories, the media and merchandise tie-ins... you get the picture.

He makes an excellent point about the advance a novelist would get in that it can either be spent on whatever or looked at as a business loan for your company and rolled back into it.

And ahem, certainly their will be companies hiring writers to work on Kindle novels based on outlines. The pulp publishing novel. Strictly percentage based, but a way to put callouses on your fingertips. This is how Tom Swift and Nancy Drew were created.

There are a lot of different ways to go about this, obviously, and I know a lot of people who are freaking out about it.

Certainly no need to freak, just start making plans and executing them. If you're an established writer - this is a new market for your work. If you're a newbie writer who needs experience, this is an opportunity. If you're a webcomics person, this is a way to sell your comics while you gather material for the GN. If you're and editor or graphic designer this a chance to ply your skillset to people who will need your services.

It's past time that self-publishing raises the bar on its offerings and quality.

And if you're like me, you're already working on this and tying it into web video (movies and serials), audio, comics, social networking and merchandising.

Danni Daring TM and copyright (c) 2009 by Bill Cunningham and New Pulp Media. Artwork used for example purposes only - no rights implied.

Whedon Speaks on Dr. Horrible...

Here.

There is a lot of goodness in this interview with actual numbers and returns and "How I did it" information... but here's the heart of it:

Knowledge@Wharton: What advice would you give to someone starting out that wants to make an independent film or web content? How can they get their work seen? How can they generate enough revenue to do another one?

Whedon: The fact of the matter is, if somebody has a story to tell there is no reason at all that they should not be telling it. The quality of the material that exists — I’m talking about the physical [equipment] like the cameras — [allows you to do] things that could not be done when I was a kid for almost nothing.

People aren’t going to the Internet to look for IMAX [large screen movies]. They’re going to look for things that shock and delight and surprise and upset and all that good stuff. They’re going for the most basic story.

A lot of people sit around and go, “How can I get this made?” The only answer is: By making it. By borrowing someone’s camera. By buying a camera. They come cheap and they work well. And if you know where to point them — and the person that you point them at is saying something interesting — that’s it! That’s how it works.

I can’t stress enough that I believe the best thing in the world is for everybody who feels like they have a story to tell, to tell it.

Which dovetails into something from our good friend John Rogers over at Kung Fu Monkey:

All in-house (see above.) Welcome to the future of television. Everything under one roof. When we began working on Leverage, the Electric Entertainment offices were on a studio lot. Across the way, a giant steel and glass building was under construction - a new post house. I idly asked Mark Franco, our VFX supervisor, what they did in that building. "Everything we do on six Macs," he answered.

"So that's not the future of visual effects?" I asked.

"John, the future of visual effects is four guys in a garage with a bong."

Read about the VFX from six Macs for LEVERAGE here.

No Excuses...

Everyone has them - excuses that is - those nasty things that impede the success of media-making. Because I work/ consult with small companies a lot, I run into new folks fresh out of school (designers, writers, marketers, filmmakers) who grind things to a halt because they do something completely wrong. And when you ask them why they did it the way they did (wrong), inevitably the words come out:

"Well, I didn't know what you were talking about so I did it this way..."

Okay, then.

Beyond the obvious, "Why didn't you ask a question when I called for them?" there's the secondary failure of not quickly doing the research. We live in the internet age right? What used to require a trip to the library to research we now have at our keyboard.

Okay, Bill. You can shut down the Pontification Ray now. We're sufficiently dosed.

Good, because FilmmakerIQ has put up a handy-dandy List of DIY Filmmaking Tutorials.

Camera equipment, lighting, sound, green screen, bullet and other physical FX, gore...it's all there. Tutorials on how you can build and use this equipment in order to create compelling scenes for your films. No more, "We did it this way because we didn't have X or Y." No more boring shots. No more half-assedness.

Now go make some cool stuff.

But first make sure your story is cool.