Tuesday 31 August 2021

Paid Poetry Opportunity













Do any of my poetic friends know anybody suitable for this (Feel free to share - this came through on a email before and thought it would good enough to share)

"Paid Poetry Commission for a Ghanaian Poet: A Recipe of Reading  

Children's Writing organisation Ministry of Stories is working with three primary schools in London and three in Ghana on a new poetry writing project, and we need a poet of Ghanaian heritage to write a short poem to inspire the students. 

Poet Laila Sumpton has designed educational resources on how to write 'recipe poems' and the students are being challenged to write one about the books and stories they have heard from Ghana and Britain. We need a Ghanaian poet to write an example poem and film a performance- the poem is about children's stories and books that they love and would follow the guidance in Laila's resource. The poem would need to be in simple but inspiring language, around 12 - 20 lines long and our fee is  £70.

Get in touch with Holly from Ministry of Stories: holly@ministryofstories.org if you are interested in applying for this. Send us a short bio about you as a writer and an example of story of poem you have written for children.  

More on Ministry of Stories here: https://ministryofstories.org/

Monday 30 August 2021

Book Review - Dating – What the f**K - Lori L Hardacker


 












An audio version of this review will appear on the Book Review podcast Reading in bed in early September 2021 (readinginbed.bandcamp.com and all the usual places including Itunes, Spotify,  Anchor, Youtube, Instragram and loads of others)



Blurb:

Lori L. Hardacker is a first-time author who has unfortunately been dating for over 20 years. The stories she has accumulated and her opinions on dating will cause others laughter, joy, pain and tears. She is emotionally, mentally and physically exhausted from the "dating roller coaster" she has been on and tells it like it is with no holds barred!

She shares real-life and often times unbelievable stories from her experiences, and the experiences and opinions of other singles. This book is in NO WAY a self-help book, so don't read it if you are looking to make sense of the world of dating. Read it if you are or have been single and dating and are looking for others to commiserate with!

With that all being said, put your seat in the upright position, lock yourself in, grab the barf bag located in the seat in front of you, hang on tight and enjoy the ride.



Strengths:

Now for something rather different today. I am writing this from the other side of the coin of course as I a man who as of typing is about to get married, and has always done his best to treat members of the opposite sex with respect as much as possible.

This book however by Lori L Hardacker looks at things from a very different way and she has my respect for writing such a honest and to the point book here as I am not sure if I could have wrote such a book like this about some of the dodgy dates I have being on over the years.

Dating – What the f**k is as the title says is a no holds barred journey of the way society has changed in relation to dating since Lori joined the dating world and some of the strengths made me embarrassed to be a man here (No Spoilers here lol).

Respect to Lori here as it is a topic you can see means a lot to her, and the research she has put into this shows she has put quite a lot of thought into this and Lori has wrote this really well in a very easy to follow and read style – I certainly flew through this book fairly quickly in enjoyment.



Weaknesses:

Not a lot I disliked here personally, but the on the nose style of this book certainly isn’t for everybody that is clear to say here as I know a few people alone who would really hate this book for the direct nature of this book. 

I wasn’t one of them but its a book that wears its heart on its sleeve and has my respect for that as well as being told, a well thought and honest book on the minefield which is modern online dating. 



8/10




Saturday 28 August 2021

The art in finding the right Podcast for you (Part 3)


 










Following on from last week with ‘The art in finding the right Podcast for you (Part2)’ I’ve had several other terrible, terrible requests for sessions with the Podcasts I have ran:


As I said before, Podcasting is a great experience when you research the Podcast you wish to be on properly. I had a case recently, when the writer in question who I won’t name didn’t and made himself look completely stupid when he contacted me by email:


The writer who I will name as M got in touch with me by saying “I am a new author of science-fiction and I'm curious about your podcast. Does everyone do a reading on your program? Is your program only on poetry?”


First of all, the first mistake he did mistake was by just thinking I ran one Podcast when in reality I run several, but I guessed by the tone he was referring to Spoken Label but if you are approaching somebody, I think it is essential you advise people which Podcast you are referring to.


Secondly. He clearly didn’t research Spoken Label as if he had, he would have discovered Spoken Label perhaps do focus on Poetry as I am a poet perhaps more, but I love reading and have interviewed a number of novelists / playwriters and musicians and I think it is essential you always research your market before contacting the Podcast in question and resulted in me emailing the gentleman back and simply suggesting he listens to a few of the Podcasts and the answer is there.


I don’t expect to hear back from him.




My second example is probably the worst approach I’ve had by a writer / artist to go on any of my Podcasts when I received an approach on somebody on Matchmaker.fm by somebody who didn’t even set up an account first of all somehow proper and sent this message out to me




“Hello


I wanna get interviewed


By you.


Im an author


Stoneangels, diktsamling.



? Its be an honor “


I showed this to Amanda (My partner and of course co-host in Reading in Bed) and it honestly left the pair of us completely confused as there was no account, no name, no book, no nothing.


The obvious point is for anybody wishing to go on Podcasting to introduce yourself to the writer so the Podcast host has an idea of who you are – a garbled message with no way of contacting who you are or working out who you are leaving me unable to response even if I wanted to do so. 


Ocean in a Bottle - new release

 













Two new tracks by Ocean in a Bottle "stepping away from the sun into your arms" and "looking for planet 9 from the sun"

have appeared on the new Ambient Online various artist album "Ambient Online Compliation Volume 13"

This is a great album and well worth your time having a listening to.

This is a free / paywhat you want download and can found here 


Friday 27 August 2021

Speak Easy Reminder - 02 September 2021

 












Speak Easy (Chorlton Cum Hardy's always welcoming Spoken Word Open Mic) is on this thursday coming 02/09/2021 @ 7.30pm.

All slots have gone but we would love to see you all there.

Anybody who wants to go on the subs list, please let me know asap.


Confirmed readers are:

Andy Npoet

Amanda Steel

Steve Smythe

Mike Booth

Antonia Fusaro

Anthony Briscoe 

Regi De Liguoro Agulha

Mary Cunningham

Jenny Petrie

Gordon Zola

Eve Nortley

David Bond

Rosie Lawson

Paul Stevens

Crystal Stewart

Karl Hildebrandt

Lisa O’Hare

Jessica Wiehler

Esther Koch

Melanie Lisa

Ian O’Brien, 

Rob O’Driscoll 

Sonia Hames

Kevin Bamford

Ben Willkommens

Thursday 26 August 2021

Radio from home – a chat with All FM Radio Presenter Ruth O’Reilly about how she has kept recording her programme during Covid 19.

 











Over the past few articles, we have looked at how the virus has impacted writers, comics and even independent publishers. One thing I hadn’t considered until I finished my last article was how they had impacted Television production or radio production in local, independent radio stations.

Myself and the rest of my team at All FM had only recently started to broadcast from our long awaited brand new studio within Levenshulme old library, and just celebrated the launch of a second recording studio” Ruth O’Reilly, presenter at Levenshulme’s All FM Radio began when asked about how Covid 19 had impacted the way she was working.

I had often joked to my co-host Nat, ‘I bet something will happen to stop us from using our studio’, purely because with it being an old Victorian building it had taken ages to get planning permissions to adapt our side of it, as we share it with another community group”. She carried on “Because we are a community radio station, our manager Ed wanted us to continue broadcasting from the studio as vulnerable locals needed to have up to date information about where they could get help and advice, but as the weeks went on, due to lack of space for social distancing, droplets on the microphone etc it became obvious that it was not going to work out.”

As a fellow artist myself, the onset of the virus forced me to change a lot of the ways I look at my own work recording and mixing Podcasts as was happened to Ruth also “Our manager said it was essential that we tried our best to keep going with our shows, but now from home, as community radio stations were closing down fast. This meant for the first time ever I was going to have to do a pre-recorded show. I had always meant to learn how to do the more technical stuff but I kept putting it off, now I was going to have to do it, and without any one to assist me.”

Working on my own Podcasts, I do these through my laptop mixing and mastering with fairly straightforward. Ruth didn’t have this option as she explains “As luck would have it, my laptop had stopped working 2 weeks earlier and my co-host isn’t very tech minded either. I was about to give up on the show, because the online tutorials our manager was doing, were all based on the assumption that you had a laptop then I remembered hearing that Ed Sheeran recorded an album on his phone once thought ‘ what if I don’t need a laptop?’

I have recorded a number of sessions over the telephone myself and in person, but wasn’t aware myself of the amount of apps you can download to assist you “I started experimenting with recording & editing apps on my phone till I got a format together that I could use. “She explains “I record in the smallest space at home which is the little storage room, where I keep my CD collection, so it was always my radio related area. To my surprise the sound quality worked really well from there, without me needing to use duvets etc as sound blocks”

I have used myself socks to do the buffering to assist with the recording but never thought of doing things like that and as Ruth explains next, she learnt how more new skills

Without having a regular co-host as usual, I decided to do recorded interviews with  guests over the phone, which was something I’d never done before either!” before carrying on

Because the creative industries are the ones most suffering during this health crisis, I felt passionate about speaking to authors and other artists about how lockdown was affecting their work process etc.”

Working within a different area of work clearly would result in the work taking longer which she advises “Obviously, it takes a lot longer to do a show these days as I’m not just going into the studio and saying what I want on the spot or playing music. This means that a 2hr show ( with a co-host mainly)  now takes me 4-6hours to prepare and edit because I’m doing everything myself, and have to check that each segment flows as smoothly as possible. It makes me feel like more of a radio producer and sound engineer than ever, but it’s nice to be able to say that I have learnt a new skill during lockdown. I’ve had some good feedback, even a few ppl in other countries told me they tuned in and enjoyed the show so it encouraged me to record a show most weeks during lockdown.”

A few friends asked me was I back at the studio  the other week because it sounded so clear” She concluded  “Everyone it’s amazed when I tell them that all I’m using is my phone.”

Ruth is on every Sunday (with Nat) on All FM Radio between 2pm to 4pm. This can be streamed at https://allfm.org/listen

(Originally published on the Sunday Tribune on 28 June 2020)

Tuesday 24 August 2021

New Spoken Label Session - Mina Manchester (Spoken Label, August 2021)

 












Today's session from Spoken Label (Author / Artist Chat Podcast) is a special session featuring Mina Manchester.


Mina Manchester is the Fiction Editor of Five South and former Assistant Editor for Narrative Magazine. She is currently an MFA candidate at the Sewanee School of Letters.


Her work has appeared in HuffPost, Columbia Journal, The Normal School, Inscape, and elsewhere. She is a Pinch Literary Award Finalist, Cutthroat Journal Rick DeMarinis Short Story Award Finalist, and UCLA James Kirkwood Price in Creative Writing nominee.


Mina is a workshop recipient at Kenyon Review Writing Workshop, The Writer's Hotel where she was a TA in 2020 and 2021, and Narrative Magazine's The Art of the Story.

In this special Spoken Label session, we talk to Mina about her journey as a writer but also her journey as a publicist from which her client Carol Orange who I chatted to just before this session with editing and publicity among many other topics.


Her website is: www.minamanchester.com


https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/mina-manchester-spoken-label-august-2021/id1501847969?i=1000532326222

(Apple/Itunes)

https://spokenlabel.bandcamp.com/album/mina-manchester-spoken-label-august-2021

(Bandcamp)


https://anchor.fm/spokenlabelpodcast/episodes/Mina-Manchester-Spoken-Label--August-2021-e136rm6

(Anchor)

https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9hbmNob3IuZm0vcy9kOTA1ZTkwL3BvZGNhc3QvcnNz/episode/MGVkZGY4MjktODg2Ni00N2NkLWEyMWUtMTdkMmZmNWUwM2Zj?sa=X&ved=0CA0QkfYCahcKEwiA99fZo8XyAhUAAAAAHQAAAAAQAQ

(Google)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-w01hPcKrtA

(Youtube)

https://radiopublic.com/spoken-label-6BalgM/s1!c1133

(Radiopublic)

https://castbox.fm/episode/Mina-Manchester-(Spoken-Label%2C-August-2021)-id2678341-id415168150

(Castbox)

https://www.listennotes.com/podcasts/spoken-label/mina-manchester-spoken-label-YuvT72spRi-/

(Listennotes)

https://www.bullhorn.fm/spokenlabel/posts/mina-manchester-spoken-label-august-2021

(Bullhorn)

https://podcastaddict.com/?id=https%3A%2F%2Fanchor.fm%2Fs%2Fd905e90%2Fpodcast%2Fplay%2F35925126%2Fhttps%253A%252F%252Fd3ctxlq1ktw2nl.cloudfront.net%252Fstaging%252F2021-5-21%252Fa82a5286-dde5-03fb-aeea-77ff07955eb8.mp3&podcastId=2748767

(Podcastaddict)

https://www.podbean.com/ew/dir-evegk-fa13739

(Podbean)

https://www.himalaya.com/episode/mina-manchester-spoken-label-august-2021-143747240

(Himalaya)

https://podbay.fm/p/spoken-label/e/1629244800

(Podbay)

https://music.amazon.co.uk/podcasts/bae49616-2295-4e7c-b931-91415a724cb6/episodes/4b6bfa5a-9f8d-4fda-ac24-99fce0e40027/Spoken-Label-Mina-Manchester-Spoken-Label-August-2021

(Amazon)

https://tunein.com/podcasts/Arts--Culture-Podcasts/Spoken-Label-p1317427/?topicId=165194560

(Tunein)

https://www.instagram.com/tv/CS1GgCIDOQWjMDYHOdTygOsbGDodugccUXPLoM0/

(Instagram)

https://www.owltail.com/podcast/5FvX6-Spoken-Label?fbclid=IwAR2vICxgA_iP3wgoGIumzKdM7t9r-CmzagbSQWv-bLoX9xJjqTnLZhmWTco

(Owltail)

https://www.audible.co.uk/?ref=Adbl_ip_rdr_from_US&source_code=AUK30DFT1BkWS0826159058&ipRedirectFrom=US&ipRedirectOriginalURL=pd%2FSpoken-Label-Podcast%2FB08K58XN7S%3Ffbclid%3DIwAR1fs8quHvRxeJmxQ8yrzMHDDWsvx1zGxdhzMJp4bF5xwcu3_QP9bdM2ncU

(Audible)

https://open.spotify.com/episode/4KYanw7fLQtBlJkVU3r9Co

(Spotify)







Saturday 21 August 2021

The art in finding the right Podcast for you (Part 2)

 













Following on from my previous posts, I thought you would all be interested in seeing some cases of unsuitable guests who have contacted me for either Spoken Label or Reading in Bed and see what they did that was completely wrong in their approach work.

Podcasting is a great experience when you research the Podcast you wish to be on properly. I’ve being on two recently, one of which has just being released to great reviews and another is to follow shortly, and I’ve three more lined up for the autumn months, but as a Podcast host and co-host, for every gold nugget you may get, there does seem to be a increasing number of people who do not research you properly and the examples I will to include are just three examples of bad research / not reading guidelines or just being plain lazy.

First of all, please note for fairness I will not name their names but will publish their messages in full as much as possible to give you a idea of what they did.

1) I am a member of a few groups on facebook, and occasionally this throw up surprises but one gentleman I discovered recently went through roughly around the last two months worth of posts, and commented beneath each one, Hi, I have wrote a very interesting book and would like to come on your Podcast. I got a message off him in my other messages on facebook saying he had seen my post on the Podcast group (Notice the word the Podcast group) and was incredibly vague about his book he wanted to talk about. I said I don’t talk about this on facebook and asked him to email and received this email 


“My name is ******* and I help people use spirituality and breathing techniques for their next big thing, by believing in the universe and also providing career advice.

From understanding the effects of positivity, breathing exercises and belief in the connectivity of the universe.

The topic will revolve around focusing on positive thoughts, by connecting your third eye with the universe so that you can start believing in yourself and achieve success.

– To let the process be in the hands of the universe, because whatever it comes back with, there is a reason behind it.

– To have a positive outlook and surround yourself with good vibes, not focus on your wishes only or your demands from life.”


Of course this is not of interest to any of the Podcasts (Spoken Label, Reading in Bed, Comics Unity etc) so I advised him of the case, and suggested researching his targeted Podcast more only to receive this in response


“Dear Mr. Npoet,

Thank you for responding back to my email. I really appreciate it.

Looking forward to staying in touch with you.”


I am expecting another email off him some-point in the future over a similar kind of book and he will get the same message possibly a bit stronger.

Doesn't mean I will put him on Spoken Label or anything else I am involved in of course. 

**

2) As mentioned before, I have being a member on Matchmaker.fm for around a year or so now and have gathered some great guests off it, however for every great guest we get, we get one who is even unsuitable or does not do themselves any favours atall with how they use the website.

One example was a person who I will call for this ‘R’ who got in touch asking “Hey,I would love to be on your podcast!”

This itself isn’t much help as you may have guessed from the opening covering message, so I would then have a look at their profile that states “Hey,I am a teen looking to improve my communicating skills and get some exposure along the way!” “

Yep, not much help again so I dropped them a message in response “Hi R. To be honest, your profile gives nothing so I can’t say yes or no. You may want to expand this a lot as not being horrible, you’re struggle to get on many Podcasts with such a brief profile. Come back to me when you have and I’ll consider it.”

The gentleman in question then responded by saying “Okay, I’ll get to work on it”

Three months later, I still haven’t had a response to this nor have they bothered improving their profile. A bad move, I know. 


**

3) What also happens on matchmaker.fm are people who don’t read your guidelines and send messages clearly not reading guidelines what you are looking for on your Podcast. Reading in Bed, my joint book review Podcast with Amanda has this stated clearly on our profile:

“** THIS IS NOT A PODCAST FOR GUESTS TO COME ON. THIS IS A BOOK REVIEW PODCAST. If you wish us to consider any of your books – please look at our archives for books we review to see if the kind of book we read and review is yours before you contact us to save unnecessary correspondence.

We welcome fiction and poetry authors if they wish to be considered for a honest review. Please note if you wish to us to read from a self help book or that genre, this will be automatically be rejected. “

Recently, we received this message on Matchmakerfm from a gentleman who for this case we will call ‘Y’ who sent the following message (edited for length):

“Hi, I’m Y, a Motivational Speaker on Diversity and Inclusion in ****, ******. I’m writing to introduce myself as a possible guest on your podcast. I’ve written a book titled “***** *********** ****** ** ***** * ****” This book was written to challenge the norms of division present in humankind. I highlight in great length the divides and the motives behind them. I am happy to send a PDF version of the book to read before the podcast if you require me to do so. The book will be released in August. I would love an opportunity to promote my book on your podcast.

Of course, as you will see he clearly hadn’t read the guidelines and drew this as a automatic response

“Thank you for your recent message.

If you read our profile, you will see that Reading in Bed firstly does not review books akin to yours and secondly is not a guest Podcast rather a book review Podcast so we are turning down your request automatically.

I wish you all the best with your book, but a gentle suggestion would be to review what Podcasts you are contacting before sending a message like you have.

Reading in Bed.”

It is also worth noting he sent the same message through to Spoken Label which has similar guidelines on.

(Originally slated for publication on the Sunday Tribune on 22 August 2021)


Speak Easy News

 











Speak Easy, the Spoken Word Open mic night co-run by Andy N, Amanda Steel and Steve Smythe are hosting two live events (both at Dulcimer on 567 Wilbraham Rd, Chorlton-cum-Hardy, Manchester M21 0AE) in September both starting at 7.30pm, our normal night on Thursday 02 September 2021 and a second additional night as part of Chorlton Arts Festival on Monday 13 September 2021, line ups for both are as follows and are all fully booked, if anybody wishes to go on the subs list for either, please let me know.

THURSDAY 02 SEPTEMBER 2021

Andy Npoet

Amanda Steel

Steve Smythe

Mike Booth

Antonia Fusaro

Anthony Briscoe 

Regi De Liguoro Agulha

Penny Sharman

Mary Cunningham

Jenny Petrie

Gordon Zola

Eve Nortley

David Bond

Rosie Lawson

Paul Stevens

Crystal Stewart

Karl Hildebrandt

Lisa O’Hare

Jessica Wiehler

Esther Koch

Melanie Lisa

Ian O’Brien, 

Rob O’Driscoll 

Sonia Hames

Kevin Bamford

Ben Willkommens

*

SEPTEMBER 13 2021

Steve Smythe

Andy Npoet & Amanda Nicholson

Mike Booth

Ben Willkommens

Penny Sharman

Jack Horner  (Leon the pig farmer)

Sarra Culleno

Rana

Dave Hartley

Fokkina McDonnell

Antonia Fusaro 

Esther Koch

Regi De Liguoro Agulha

Gordon Zola

Eve Nortley

Elenia Gr

Grant Curnow

Tom Jenks 

Michael D Conley

Steph Lonsdale

Ant Smith

Thursday 19 August 2021

New Spoken Label Session - Carol Orange












Latest Spoken Label Podcast (Author / Artist Chat Podcast series) features currently from Chicago, the wonderful Carol Orange author off "A Discerning Eye".

A Discerning Eye is described as "Portia Malatesta, an art dealer and a docent at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, is devastated by the robbery of thirteen paintings. Vermeer’s Concert had been her artist brother’s favorite, and its loss intensifies her grief over his recent death. As the days drift by, and the police can’t find any leads, Portia analyzes the stolen art and discovers that the thief did not remove the most valuable work, but has instead chosen moody paintings.

Driven to share her insights, Portia meets Julian Henderson, an Oxford–educated maverick heading the FBI’s Art Crime Unit. The FBI searches their database to see if they can match her profile of the thief. Within 24 hours they confirm rumors about a Colombian suspect with a hidden room. The FBI hires Portia to join their team, and she travels with them to drug-riddled Medellin. Her role is to befriend the drug lord’s wife and gain entry into the villa."

More about Carol can be found at her website which is: www.carolorange.com

Session can be streamed at:

https://anchor.fm/spokenlabelpodcast/episodes/Carol-Orange-Spoken-Label--August-2021-e131r5q?fbclid=IwAR2-cK95x_Viy_1I526137s1I5NA1NmgUf3XT0TpOPjeE0iTzFOhb4LmLbQ

https://spokenlabel.bandcamp.com/album/carol-orange-spoken-label-august-2021

https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/carol-orange-spoken-label-august-2021/id1501847969?i=1000532039373&fbclid=IwAR1lkTUTrCfEuXJi3uyDHH-ehQr4fgb1BJP07KCIigeXVkN1olk_PENs8HU

https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9hbmNob3IuZm0vcy9kOTA1ZTkwL3BvZGNhc3QvcnNz/episode/MTUyNGU4MjItMWExYS00NGUwLWE1NjEtYTUyMDNkNWUzOGUz?sa=X&ved=0CA0QkfYCahcKEwjIpLWLgL7yAhUAAAAAHQAAAAAQAQ&fbclid=IwAR3Ei4xzKmcavuiSoRz8oknHIJBffz2HYJqs99VJDQyjgWx6ctMCKwprhyo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dECsJzdh-QA&t=3s

https://radiopublic.com/spoken-label-6BalgM/s1!c74c3?fbclid=IwAR214cHbyDN0uq2bpvwBbBJjwpXMcSDU9dFfOMntBc-UIJiFoTdhv4OXp7c

https://castbox.fm/episode/Carol-Orange-(Spoken-Label%2C-August-2021)-id2678341-id414227941?fbclid=IwAR3E1X9sc-PkpSP6lhTY6TMdUb5G8D3Qu4Oq9x-AN32yoSa9gt-c4OBzD_U&country=gb

https://www.listennotes.com/podcasts/spoken-label/carol-orange-spoken-label-VmROz_JQCfb/?fbclid=IwAR0QKmCqEzAKrbldkZPyFnfPtbcHhU00g5je62e7iSlgI6d4PRRbxWd-aqQ

https://www.bullhorn.fm/spokenlabel/posts/carol-orange-spoken-label-august-2021?fbclid=IwAR2c4zX_Dt8EM8RtaoDo8GvBdB_C3jHsTr4U738FYIXbIRL9BzftDcI5QBY

https://podcastaddict.com/?id=https%3A%2F%2Fanchor.fm%2Fs%2Fd905e90%2Fpodcast%2Fplay%2F35760762%2Fhttps%253A%252F%252Fd3ctxlq1ktw2nl.cloudfront.net%252Fstaging%252F2021-5-18%252Fd356b46c-a140-5c73-aa4a-834f95105318.mp3&podcastId=2748767&fbclid=IwAR0PFmtdwEljj9SeFap8e9uTmu8uiLZfwL4SHNRHbcYfmai8yJoBXmLp8kM

https://www.podbean.com/media/share/dir-fiipu-f98d105?utm_campaign=w_share_ep&utm_medium=dlink&utm_source=w_share

https://www.himalaya.com/episode/carol-orange-spoken-label-august-2021-143442230?fbclid=IwAR1lkTUTrCfEuXJi3uyDHH-ehQr4fgb1BJP07KCIigeXVkN1olk_PENs8HU

https://podbay.fm/p/spoken-label/e/1629003600?fbclid=IwAR0PGZvB9E7oeSSori4L7vxdKYsZT_tkRFSfmTGUb_3KWs3uOzwjMfIXM88

https://music.amazon.co.uk/podcasts/bae49616-2295-4e7c-b931-91415a724cb6/episodes/02940e72-ac4e-4f74-afe3-7de67e27d840/spoken-label-carol-orange-spoken-label-august-2021?fbclid=IwAR04mCgkRC87-oGT_e6vtuP_0rDLpqCcD6rv_SSMIcTL6ATPe5AEK-8CO24

https://tunein.com/podcasts/Arts--Culture-Podcasts/Spoken-Label-p1317427/?topicId=165129587&fbclid=IwAR3Ei4xzKmcavuiSoRz8oknHIJBffz2HYJqs99VJDQyjgWx6ctMCKwprhyo

https://www.instagram.com/tv/CSxTP2JM-nDijmBXiEXdVnjlXr64aZypR7s2us0/?fbclid=IwAR3jegfUIAGxXj9cQBFyuwV9A8KFQvwU5W2yRh2UaY8QskiuAYQrro290jY


https://www.audible.co.uk/?ref=Adbl_ip_rdr_from_US&source_code=AUK30DFT1BkWS0826159058&ipRedirectFrom=US&ipRedirectOriginalURL=pd%2FSpoken-Label-Podcast%2FB08K58XN7S%3Ffbclid%3DIwAR16szP_si69nWGp5LBSv4icJAkufX8lKl15P2fB4y7XdqeM5HyKqIknqjE&fbclid=IwAR2c4zX_Dt8EM8RtaoDo8GvBdB_C3jHsTr4U738FYIXbIRL9BzftDcI5QBY


https://www.owltail.com/podcast/5FvX6-Spoken-Label?fbclid=IwAR3ydIpKLTTVJe0H64yLnlxtCe9xczTaAFl8rIQRBjQsWEjKGMXzTbFpe3A


https://open.spotify.com/episode/6VuJRTOtuDQfZfmGh8zJXy?fbclid=IwAR0qm6hP75veeIZ4HXxFJ9Miq7jyAfoj7hS1E8Xx5aGIB1fBFvWFqg863EQ

Changes in approach from publishers during Lockdown 1: Fly on the Wall Press

 











Over the past few articles, we have spoke to a few writers and artists over the problems they have faced since the outbreak (Co-vid 19) began which has included the cancellation of shows and how writers plan and market their books, but what of the struggles of publishers themselves?

Take the case of Fly in the Wall press, a wonderful independent press from Manchester ran by Belle Kenyon. “Fly on the Wall Press started in 2018 with a mental health anthology, Please Hear What I’m Not Saying” She begins” with profits going to UK charity, Mind. From then, we have established ourselves as a publisher with a conscience, publishing poetry books, cross-genre anthologies, magazines, and short story collections, all with a socially conscious message. We pride ourselves on working with charities across the UK for our anthologies and publishing international talents.”

As with all presses prior to the viruses Fly in the Wall release their books through avenues of book promotion including live book launches and book fairs, as well as gaining PR and review coverage in journals and newspapers. However, since the virus has began, Belle advises “Since the virus took hold, my authors with books published March through to July have had all headliner invitations, book launches and radio interviews in studio cancelled. I have struggled to get their books into shops or libraries as both are closed and unable to consider future stock requests until they can properly assess their budgets. Gardeners (one of my distributors) and the main distributors Waterstones has all but closed. The result has been that Waterstones is unable to shop any new titles, without this infrastructure. Amazon is prioritising essential items so chose not to order in my Main title, “House of Weeds” by Amy Kean and Jack Wellington, which has been embarrassing to me as a publisher because Amy Kean’s last title was a number one bestseller on Amazon – unfortunately my authors are now very unlikely to achieve the publicity in the ranks which they deserve. I’m also selling less books, though sales of not dried up – everyone needs books for the lockdown”

Trying to find new ways to market your books under such pressure, Belle has now set up a new way to try and help publicise titles for Fly in the Wall press by setting up a special Facebook group for her publications ‘Fly on the wall press performance group’. “The Facebook performance group has had a welcome reaction” She begans “perhaps because it is more engaged than poetry for the page or perhaps as a try before you buy! I think brevity is key – we all have limited attention spans for online media.”

It’s a excellent idea and I’ve seen the first few shows of these on their group and all have been excellent which has given Fly on the Wall Press a different direction until hopefully lock down finishes “Post lockdown” Belle concludes “I’m hoping to relaunch March to July books, possibly together if I can coordinate London, Ireland and Birmingham-based writers! And launch our next anthology “Mancunion ways”, actually in Manchester! I’m hoping bookshops and libraries will prioritise small press titles post lockdown as we have all been hit hardest in the industry.

Fly on the Wall can be found at: https://www.flyonthewallpoetry.co.uk/

(Originally published on the Sunday Tribune on 21 June 2020)

Wednesday 18 August 2021

Searching for different clues with Heather Burnside

 









Over the past two articles, we have how Co-vid 19 has affected careful planning of writers. We have seen how a writer and a storyteller, both have had plans for a novel and a show interrupted, both of which of who have had to learn to work around their various situations to get their work out there.


Not all artists and writers have been so lucky health-wise. One such case which is quite different from both of the previous situations I have talked about is with Manchester based thriller writer, Heather Burnside.

Heather over the past few years has had brought out up a impressive series of books covering series such as the Riverhill trilogy, the Manchester trilogy and is currently working on the Working girls series of books.

Heather unfortunately contracted the virus after lockdown and advises the beginning “ was difficult at first as I spent the first week in isolation with suspected Covid 19” She began “As my children were also ill with it, after my son had been working with Covid patients, it was a very worrying time.”

 “For the first week or so I was less productive but then I decided I needed to knuckle down and try to carry on as normal” She carried describing things “For me, it’s been easier to adapt than for most people as I work from home anyway although I must admit it hasn’t been as quiet with all the neighbours off work and school. I am a procrastinator and I sometimes find it hard to get on with the writing but often, when I do, it helps me to escape to another world and gives me a bit of a buzz if I know I’ve had a good day’s writing”

Heather advised me thankfully she has since recovered this and like a lot of writers / artists have tried by doing a launch / reading on Skype after other readings / appearances were either cancelled or delayed. She described this experience as “ It was quite challenging to be honest as most of the people on the call weren’t used to Skype.”

This meant that we had a lot of technical hitches” She concludes “Fortunately, we managed to soldier on despite the hitches and it didn’t go too badly. I’m attending an online event in November but it’s organised by somebody else. I don’t think I would organise another online event myself as I’m not knowledgeable enough on the technical side of things but I would certainly attend an event organised by somebody else who might be more familiar with the software. Also, we had about 20 people on the call whereas I’d only been used to a handful of people previously so I think smaller numbers are more manageable on Skype. I don’t regret the experience though. I think we’re lucky to have such technology at our disposal especially at a time when most people are confined to the home.”

Heather’s official website is https://heatherburnside.com

(Originally published on the Sunday Tribune on 12 June 2020)