London Indie Authors group November Meetup

Mike GristAuthor Group, Life, Marketing, Writing

I haven’t yet mentioned on my blog about the group I co-organize on the Meetup.com website, called London Indie Authors.

I joined the group some 2 years ago, back when it was just about still being run by Orna Ross, who founded ALLi, the Alliance of Independant Authors. A year later I was invited by then-organizer and my bud Jerome to co-organize alongside him.

We meet monthly to discuss marketing of our books. The group has changed a little in the last year, largely in the way we plan the agenda. We used to get speakers in about half the time, and half the time just do a kind of round robin chat of everyone’s current progress.

I wanted to move us toward a more internal focus, with fewer outside experts on marketing services brought in and a Mastermind-like structure to the agenda. The reason for this is because there is a huge amount of practical expertise amongst our group members which we weren’t tapping too often.

Now we’re tapping fellow writers’ expertise regularly. There are approx 3 half-hour slots in the 1.5 hour monthly meet, which folks can book in advance. Often there is a blurb critique, sometimes a report from someone who had success with a launch, sometimes a cover critique, and occasionally an open question period.

I love it. In this week’s session we had:

  • My new blurb for The Last being reviewed
  • One of our members asking about how to maximize the impact of a Bookbub
  • Another member talking about her recent first book launch, which successfully got onto a nationwide BBC radio program via reaching out to social media influencers. Wow, right? It’s not something I’ve tried myself but the impact and authority it offers could be huge.

Another change in the group includes the membership rules – we used to be really an ALLi group – membership of ALLi and status as an Indie were both required, but neither are the case anymore. ‘Indie’ is still in the name, but I want the group to be open to all authors who care about marketing their books. Why not? We can absolutely learn from each other.

Indie marketing tends to focus on email lists and social media ads. Trad marketing focuses on getting into big media like the BBC and magazines. I want to hear it all. So maybe a further name change for the group is on the cards.

Now – what feedback did I get on my blurb for The Last? Extremely mixed! The new one is up on amazon. It takes good stuff from an earlier version (straight in with zombies rampaging in the streets) and a newer version (including Lara as a key ‘stake’). I’m pleased.

I believe everyone benefits from doing this kind of critique. Learning to write blurbs is the hardest. By critiquing each other, we definitely get to tune up our own skills, and get different ideas of what works. Plus it’s just good fun to help and be helped by ones peers.

Boycott the clickbait Trump news

Mike GristLife, Politics

I had the hope that US media would start reporting Trump’s ridiculous nonsense differently after the mid-terms, but it’s pretty clear they still can’t resist. No doubt, the more outrageous things he says, the more people click it.

Yes, so that is our fault – the readers who fuel their advertising budget. We are amplifying his message with our insatiable curiosity. He knows this. He’s playing the Twitter outrage game with the media, and we are all playing along.

So we have to stop. We are his megaphone. We must stop clicking on clickbait BS articles and take the temperature down by ignoring him. Nothing would piss him off more than being ignored, or at least being filtered.

So here’s some real clickbait headlines today, and how they should have been written:

Trump touts ‘Big Victory’ in midterms after GOP Senate wins despite losing House

– Here we have the same BS amplification, and the same sad allegedly tacked on at the end. The lede becomes ‘Big Victory’. It becomes Trump’s defiance. It should be more like:

Trump spreads further misinformation about the midterms results

It would doubtless get fewer clicks. It is also less information-dense, but the earlier information was not useful information. It’s meaningless lies. Are we gossipmongers or responsible adults? Are we out on the street with the mad drunk shouting alongside him – “Oh my gosh, you’re never going to believe what he just said!” Is that news? No. It may be fascinating, but it’s like sugar, no vitamins or minerals. We’re just getting sick eating it.

Another:

CNN journalist Jim Acosta banned from White House after Trump calls him ‘rude, terrible person’

– This one is just ridiculous. Imagine two kids in class, one a bully, and we’re all watching the bully bully the kid and repeating what the bully does. “Oh my gosh you’ll never believe the atomic wedgie that the bully gave to that little weak kid!”

It’s dumb. It’s car crash-watching sick. Let’s stop lollygagging and talk SUBSTANCE and REALITY! Here’s your headline:

Trump slanders and bans Jim Acosta from White House for asking a perfectly fair question.

Yes, it is slanted. Of course it is, because reality is slanted. This is what happened, so say that. Trump can’t succeed in the real reality, in the world where values have value, so he has to constantly be bending it. Let’s stop bending for him.

Boycott clickbait. Boycott news sites that indulge in clickbait. Let’s bend reality back with our eyes!

Praise be reality!

Mike GristLife, Politics

Thank reality, the fever in America last night showed signs of breaking. The Democrats won the House, and while the Republicans strengthening their hold on the Senate will present plenty of problems, this feels like a massive step forward, and a huge relief.

I am extremely hopeful the rhetoric is going to get turned way down now, or be far more ignored, or both. I, like many others I’m sure, have become sick of hanging on every word Trump says.

The man is an idiot. He won an election by the skin of his teeth, which he didn’t even want to win. He doesn’t know anything at all other than how to grab people by their aggrieved guts and pour them full of anger and hate. It has been exhausting reading the breathless headlines every day reporting the things he said as if they mattered.

They don’t. They aren’t real. And this election proved that real things to do with real policy matter. People said healthcare was their number 1 issue. Republicans didn’t have a leg to stand on there, though they lied all day long in the most blatant ways.

I’ve grown weary of headlines in this format: “Trump claims (something racist and/or absolutely false) without evidence.” As if that tacked-on without evidence means anything at all. Surely we all know now that simply by repeating his nonsense claims, you are spreading them wider to the world.

Would you go to a mad drunk on the street and start repeating everything they said with a loudspeaker, just because they said them confidently? Would it matter if you appended a weak-willed allegedly at the end of each claim?

No.

I’m hoping to see a shift here. If you must report on the stupid, fact-free things he says, do it in this format: “Trump lies again about (topic name).” You don’t repeat the lie. The headline is not whatever BS he spews. It’s that he’s lying. That is the story all day long. When you report on the Westboro Baptist church, you don’t repeat all their slogans for an audience of millions, you say: “Westboro Baptist church disrupted another funeral with hateful rhetoric.” In the article, sure, you break down their mad beliefs, but it’s not the lead. It’s not the most important thing.

Let’s start believing in reality again. Winning the House, and the way the Democratics won it – on policy issues and reality – is a great step in the right direction.

Phew, right?

Cowboy formal style

Mike GristLife

I promised pictures of my new cowboy formal style – here they are (essentially involving the addition of a waistcoat).

Black style, with watch chain. I need a pocket watch to put on the end.

Blue style with a Henley shirt. I do wear shoes. These are different waistcoats, though in these photos they do look the same.

So far getting positive comments from colleagues at work, which is very new – I’ve rarely worn anything interesting enough to get comments before!

Replaced kitchen taps/faucets

Mike GristDIY, Life

Yesterday I dug in to swapping out my taps/faucets – the biggest part was probably just moving the washing machine. It is of course heavy, and very tightly squeezed in to its slot. I’ve done it plenty of times though, so it’s smooth enough.

The old tap, with the stopcock turned off and just dribbling the last water out.

Removed – easy enough, only one bolt held it in place.

The new tap – its so much better, with much improved water pressure and no roar.

In other news, I killed a bear last night in Red Dead Redemption. When it mauled me like DiCaprio in The Revenant I felt sure I was a gonner, but I managed to get free and shoot it up. My jacket is now all torn up.

Also, I went (real-world) shopping and bought some cowboy clothes! I will put pictures tomorrow maybe.

Collapsing shed

Mike GristDIY, Life

2 weeks ago I mentioned my collapsing shed – in the solution of the mosquito mystery. To catch you up – the shed roof had collapsed, so I replaced it with tarps as a temporary solution. The offshoot of this was that the tarpaulin caught all the rainwater, weighed the shed down, and forced the shed to bow inward.

A secondary offshoot was that all this standing water let mosquitos flourish – they were always in the house. I started bailing out the roof and the mosquitos disappeared.

Today I took some pictures, after fresh rainfall on Friday. All bailed out. Now I move on to replacing kitchen taps. At some point, in between buying cowboy clothes at Debenhams (?) and going to the charity shop with old clothes, I will also write!

First off, assorted feathes in the grass. Someone had fun with a bird last night.

Crooked shed! Popping up in the middle is a wooden pole that partially stops water from gathering in the folds.

Not supposed to be bending inward like this. Miraculously, it’s still pretty waterproof.

Plenty of water needing bailing out.

Cowboy clothes at work?

Mike GristLife

I’ve been playing Red Dead Redemption 2, and have fallen in love with cowboy style.

Not the cowboy style you’re probably thinking of. No to tassles. No to spurs or chaps or even the hat, because though it does look cool, and makes sense for extreme sun in the West, I can’t pull it off in London.

Yes instead to smart-looking jeans or dark khakis. A plain white or gray button-up collar or Henley shirt. A cotton/twill/wool/denim waistcoat with some brocade. A long jacket or duster.

It looks awesome. I’ve been into waistcoats for a while, but not found one that I like. Now I’m hunting more. Here’s some of the guys I’m talking about:

That’s the main guy on the left. I also like Dutch’s look on the right. Minus gun belt, hat, and maybe pocket watch chain, it’s totally wearable in a modern office – at least in my office.

So, I’ve got some shopping to do!

Roaring taps in the kitchen

Mike GristLife

When I turn the hot water on in the downstairs bathroom, the pipes roar. Sometimes the hot water cuts out for no obvious reason. Sometimes they vibrate very loudly, sometimes they whistle.

What the heck?

Some time ago I figured out what was causing this phenomenon. The kitchen mixer tap is two years old and the ceramic washers inside it, or the cheap rubber washer that seals them, have perished. This also explains why the hot tap is constantly leaking. When those pipes are roaring, it is because air is getting sucked in through the dripping tap.

What a pain.

To get a plumber in would cost some 150 pounds to replace them. They can’t be fixed, the local plumber’s shop tells me. The parts are too unique.

Luckily I have my Phd in tap replacements! I fitted all the bathroom taps – 6 in total. I’ve ordered a new tap for the kitchen. A few months back I lifted and re-seated the whole kitchen sink, which involved removing and re-attaching the taps anyway, so this is a piece of cake. I have all the plumber’s gear. A wrench. Putty. That is scheduled for tomorrow.

Kep your eyes peeled. Maybe I will include photos!

Carpal Tunnel update

Mike GristLife

Yesterday I promised an update on my carpal tunnel situation in my right wrist, and lo today it appeareth. I went in to see the doctor on Tuesday to get the news and have a consultation – this is a week after they did an electromyogram on my right arm.

What an electromyogram involves is electric receivers on your wrist while the doctor gives you electric shocks in your elbow. It gives a speed, which, combined with the length of your forearm which the doctor also measures, gives you an idea of your nerve conductivity. I suppose that tells them how inflamed your nerves are and if they’re working properly.

It does, however, take them 10 days to analyze these results. And I did the test last week. So, unhappily, they couldn’t tell me anything! They screwed up in making the follow-up appointment. A nice offshoot of this is that I got my uber ranking up to a square 4. For some reason I was down at 3.7 :(.

The doctor could, however, tell me about my shoulder (which had an ultrasound weeks ago). Mild tendonitis. He will refer me for physio on that. Regarding the wrist, hopefully he will just call me and give me the news. I started wearing a splint recently, and that really helps a lot.

 

Revamped ‘About’ about me

Mike GristLife, Writing

Thinking about my post from a few days back – about thinking more about mentoring – I’ve rethought my About and updated it on the site front page. Here it is:

Michael John Grist is a bestselling British/American author, adventurer and teacher. His 9-book Last Mayor zombie apocalypse series has sold over 10,000 copies and was optioned for a movie, while his Ignifer Cycle epic fantasy series is being produced for audio by major publisher Podium.

For 11 years Michael lived in Tokyo exploring and photographing Japan’s modern ruins, such as abandoned military bases, ghost towns and underground bunkers, gaining millions of hits on this website with his reports, which thriller bestseller Barry Eisler calls, ‘gorgeous, haunting, stunning.’

In his free time Michael works out in the gym, plays board and videogames, and mentors other authors. He lives in London with his wife, and works as an academic English lecturer at university.

It definitely foregrounds my successes more, and even mentions that I do mentoring even though I don’t do it yet hahah!

I thought about putting some of my top short story sales in here too, but couldn’t justify the words. The two boasts I’ve got there now, about 10,000 and Podium, are stronger. But I figured it’s nice to have that info somewhere, so I revamped my short story page (made it years ago) and provided a link. Here’s the link.

I’ve got lots of ideas for blogs too, such as a series of ‘MJG Guides’ which will showcase what I know about the various areas I could mentor. Also I thought about how to price mentoring services in a way that suits me, and came up with some ideas. That’ll be a page I guess, when I get a chance.

Also an update on my carpal tunnel situation and my writing progress – coming soon!!