Marketing - What makes sense to me?

I definitely can't be confused with a marketing expert, but recently when two friends released their first album I thought they might not be reaching their entire audience.  I wrote to them a facebook message from my iPhone and I thought my fingers were going to fall off.  The following day, I had some things come to mind that I forgot to mention.  Keeping in mind that I am a writer and they are musicians, we naturally have different methods for marketing, but I came up with a few ideas which can be useful for most of us.

• Know your audience - What do they want to hear, read or watch?
• Know your competition - What are they doing to reach their fans?
• Know your material - Is there some facet of your work that differs from or is similar to anything?

Whether you're in the stone age or the information age, you need to address these points.  The following part has to do with timing, location and current trends.

• Don't wait until your book is published, album is released, openning night at your play (whatever) to begin marketing.  You want to think about these things at most a year before publication.

I finished the first few edits of my book in 2008 and felt that it was ready for an agent.  Before I did that however, I registered the domain Alorya.com.  I joined MySpace to get into the social media movement. I even did the unthinkable and became sociable around the office.  I expect to be published in the next few months.  Get something... anything... on every form of social media and interface you can (afford) and begin talking to people about your work.  If you're not proud enough to talk about it, who will be?

• Your competion should be the established greats of the current era in your genre.  If you're a musician, Mozart is not your competition.  If you're a writer, Frank Herbert is not your comptetion.  Find out how your competition is reaching their audience and then adopt/improve on it.  Do they use the web?  Do they use PodCast? 

I looked at Terry Pratchett, Neil Gaiman and Troy Denning to see how they reached their audience.  I obviously don't have the budget to compete with them from a marketing stand-point, but it was a great place to find some ideas.  (Hint:  Follow them on Twitter).

• Try to set yourself apart from everyone else.  Find something unique about your work and put a neon sign around it.

"Buy my book", "Check out my book" can really be annoying.  Don't turn yourself into a salesman, just try to spread the word that you are a member of the industry and you can contribute. (Kind of like this article, right?).  The unique part of my book is that I took real life events and exaggerated the hell out of them.  What's unique about that?  Well, they're MY life events.  That's pretty unique.  I never expected to write the first or best of anything.  I'm just trying to tell the story I started writing when I borrowed a few sheets of paper from a nurse, when my son was still in the hospital after he was born.

Special Thanks to Matthew Ashdown for helping clear these points up for me.

Eyes - A Poem to my wife Regina

It has been said that eyes are windows to the soul.
Eyes like yours are beautiful stained glass windows
to the cathedral that is your soul.

The story of our love is played out along that
stained glass pane that compliments your visage.
It is the story of love, happiness, sorrow and triumph.

The cathedral of your soul is home to the breath of heaven.

You held God and the Angels breathless when you were born.

Our story hangs upon the lips of everyone whom has ever
fallen in love at one time or another.

It is the tune everyone hears when they walk home from
their first date with their true love destiny.

It is the first smell of summer jasmine during the lovers
midnight stroll.

Football - American Style

I can remember days when I couldn't sleep after a Broncos game. Sometimes, they won in such ridiculous fashion I would be up all night with adrenaline pumping. On occasion, they would lose and I would be up all night reliving the moments which would have turned the loss into a victory. One time, in 1997 I had a dream after a Bronco loss to the 49ers. The Broncos lost pretty soundly yet I managed to have a vivid dream of referees being arrested for gambling. This led to John Elway giving an Independence Day-esque type of speech and leading the Broncos back on to the field. In this dream, the Broncos destroyed the 49ers. I actually woke up the next morning sure that the loss was overturned. It wasn't.

Last night, the Broncos lost to their division rivals the Raiders. Not only did I not bother to stay up and watch it, I really didn't care. I woke up this morning and read about the loss and just didn't care. I try to analyze why I don't care about sports anymore, but I can't seem to figure it out. On the other hand, if I had seen the game (if it were on earlier), I would have rooted for the Broncos and been upset at the loss. I just don't think I would have had a problem sleeping. I think I have it figured out and it brings to mind a Bruce Springsteen lyric.

John Elway - "You took my heart when you left."

I wasn't just dreaming about the game the night before. I was actually living the dream. From 1984 to 1999, I followed the Broncos religiously. Actually, that might be a lie. I followed John Elway religiously. After that, I followed the Broncos out of habit. During the John Elway era, I saw it all though. John Elway's never ending battle against the clock. All the Bronco faithful miss you John.

Never Winter

The Chill falls,
branches rustle in the wind.
Crunching beneath my feet the leaves lie.
It's almost Winter and time for everything to die.

The living run for their homes,
wings flap, paws patter, chimneys lit afire.
Sunlight wanes giving in to darkness, we all pause to consider regret.
The end is near, the cycle of death celebrates, recruiting us all in secret.

In this time of need,
our hour of greatest despair.
We look to the north and see comfort there.

For all of our failings, in all of its subtleties,
we let pass our weakness and welcomed our demons.
The summer sun let us forget, while the fruits of the fall made us grow fat.
We laughed while we aged and slowly watched our life lines grow flat.

In the darkness while everything dies,
nothing to see in the great empty, we question our eyes.
Yet we gaze to the north with longing despair,
the blackness is pierced by a glow in the skies.

We remember he came.
We remember the hope.
We can re-enter a year and try to recycle our hurts and play our own parts,
We feel courage now and know that with him, it's never winter in our hearts.