Tag Archives: Goodreads

Episode #84: What’s Going On at Goodreads?

We are horrendously late getting this episode out (but don’t sweat it as we’re going to be recording another one next week!) but let’s call it like it is: November was a cray-cray month! After a wild ride between the end of October and the beginning of November, The Shared Desk is reflecting on their week of solid creativity, and also share their thoughts about a creative Kiwi and his recent motion picture that you may have heard of.

So, yeah, it took us a few weeks to getting around to posting this episode. We blame jetlag, the holidays, and smoking meats…

00:00 —  Introduction

08:05 —  Episode #84: What’s Going On at Goodreads?

  • A development over at the social network for authors and readers worldwide: Goodreads
  • Tee thinks this Goodreads situation is actually a good thing, making authors stop and look at the value of a “giveaway” be it on Good Reads or book blogs.
  • What is the real R.O.I. on working with book bloggers and blog tours?
  • So now, what are independent publishers expected to do?
  • Publishers, from our own experience, do not throw money at authors and rarely throw money into promotion.
  • With the free giveaway gone, why stick around with Goodreads?
  • Disagree with us? Then sound off…
    • …on the voicemail at 703-791-1701
    • tee (at) teemorris (dot) com
    • pip (at) pjballantine (dot) com
  • What are the options remaining for authors?
    • Your email list is your email list. Always.
    • Social media platforms like Goodreads, Facebook, and the like? No, they are not there for you.
    • A content creator’s relationship with Facebook
    • Instagram and advertising — nice idea, but…
    • Speaking of Instagram, here’s the new schtick…
  • Tee has been returning to Twitter, thanks to Twitch.
  • Cover Reveals: Pro’s and Con’s
  • The great debate on writers blogging
  • Pip and Tee start planning for 2018…

29:08 — The Loot Crate Lookie-Loo

  • Pip is cutting the show short in order to get to this month’s Loot Crate!
  • Neither Tee nor Pip can remember this month’s theme. Tee guesses…and gets it wrong.
  • November’s Loot Crate: UNIFY
    • From Funko Pop, a Loot Crate exclusive of Overwatch’s Widowmaker
    • The mini Q-Fig celebrates the Power Rangers. (And if you blink, you might miss a Red Ranger sighting in Stranger Things 2)
    • The Tee-Shirt: Voltron…in elegant 8-bit renderings! (Maybe Serena could wear it as a nightshirt.)
    • Wait a minute, Loot Crate, you think your cat is looking rough-and-tumble in the Punisher hat? Hold on…from 2016, thank you……
    • Pin: Superheroes assembled!
    • Comic Book Reprint: Justice League of America (their first appearance), presented by Brave and the Bold
  • Divvying up the Loot
  • Pip sometimes misses those details that matter.
  • Tee is counting down to December’s Loot Crate: EXPLORE.
    • Star Wars
    • Destiny 2
    • Guardians of the Galaxy
    • ….and a mystery franchise.
  • Since we mentioned Guardians of the Galaxy, how about DAT TRAILER!

    • Total nerdgasm at the Morris household!
    • Mantis: “Hey, Hemsworth!”

36:25 — The Wrap-Up

  • A few thoughts on Star Wars Day in Woodbridge, VA. You might want to not compare the U.S. Boy Scouts with…
  • Quick shout-out to TD-0013, the only Imperial Stormtrooper I love!
  • December 16, 10a – 7p — Jirani’s Christmas Con in Manassas, VA
  • Sadly, no MAGFest this year, but…
  • Happy Hour from the Tower is heading to GuardianCon 2018 in July!!!
  • Other events confirmed for 2018:
    • RavenCon (April)
    • Steampunk Symposium (April)
    • Steampunk World’s Fair (May)
  • Eyeing up Balticon for 2018.
  • Two weeks of Shared Desk, I know, right?
  • When did Old town Manassas get cool?
  • Pip’s Patreon will feature the first episode of her ALL-NEW PODCAST!
  • If you have an event and want The Shared Desk to appear there, or if you just want to share an opinion about the show, here’s where to find us…
    • 703.791.1701
    • pip@pjballantine.com
    • tee@teemorris.com
    • …and social media, of course.
  • See you in two weeks!

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Find us on Twitter at either Tee’s or Pip’s account,
leave us a voicemail or questions for the show at 703.791.1701,
or leave us a comment here at the blog.
We’ll talk about it!
And remember, you can find the show on iTunes or Stitcher!
Subscribe, listen, and review.

Enjoy the ride
and we’ll catch you later.

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Episode #20 — Nothing Personal: Rejection Amongst Your Peers

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We were a few days late on posting this, but we have posted — determined to stay on schedule! Yeah, yeah, yeah, we’re a few days late but we’ll be back in two weeks time with some more news and a new topic for you all in what will be a podcast-packed end-of-the-month. All this and more in this — the twentieth episode of The Shared Desk — where we are looking hard at the art of rejection from the toughest people to get it from — your peers.

00:00 — Introduction

  • Hey now…two in a row! Sort of…
  • Right now, the hosts of The Shared Desk are bit peckish.
  • Tee welcomes back the drop-in…
  •  On the upside, we’re working the Medifast hard!

03:00 — What’s going on in the Writing World

  • Working title: The Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences — Declassified, and the first round of invitation have been sent
  • The Janus Affair places 7th in Goodreads 2012 Choice Awards
  • The Janus Affair is released in Germany (and Tee lets the inappropriate humor fly)
  • Pip revels in more incredible Cover Art Fu…
  • Ace’s Clockwork Fairy Tales coming in 2013…
  • …but Tee talks about the success of Aladdin and His Wonderfully Infernal Device just to get in a last word.
  • Tee and Pip also release Christmas Tales from the Archives on Amazon and other markets.
  • We’re planning a few consecutive episodes of Tales from the Archives as a holiday “Thank you” for the end of the month.
  •  Wouldn’t it be great to have a personal assistant? Looking at 2013, yeah, we would.

10:17 — Nothing Personal: Rejection Amongst Your Peers

  • A unique experience — sending out invitations to our anthology’s Dream Team
  • Having a chat with friend-of-the-show, P.J. Schnyder, about why she’s a friend but not on the A-List
  • Writing with friends is fun. When you’re working for an anthology, however, you need names.
  • Author Jeff Vandermeer turned us down…but come on — COME ON — I’m just thankful I can approach him.
  • Sometimes, you have to say “No.”
  • Tee’s prepping for rejection (and not taking it personally) with Darkwater based on a rejection for The Case of the Singing Sword.
  • Remember this about publishing — It’s a business.
  • Looking ahead with Kickstarter and advice from J.R. Blackwell.
  • Rejection is not a personal thing.

19:22 — Seriously?! Seriously.

  • A brewing issue in geek circles: Fake Fan Girls
  • Pip believes this whole debate began in high school.
  • What Tee’s noticed — the debate rages about Fake Fan Girls that cosplay, but never about Fake Fan Boys?
  • Pip takes umbrage with girls that are showing up as Lollypop Chainsaw, taking pictures of (or with) them, then complaining about how they are “fake.”
  • Tee wonders why did the rage about out-of-shape superheroes at Comic Con disappeared while this argument rolls on? (And yes, I found out it was Men’s Fitness, not Maxim magazine)
  • The Flawed Logic of a Fake Fan Girl
    • Tee’s obsession with the ID Channel creeps into this rant…
    • Do hotties REALLY WANT the attention of the average con?
  • Pip and Tee go into a little commentary on the source material and how tough it is for BOTH sexes, but ESPECIALLY for women…
  • When it comes to Fake Fan Girl: Who are you to judge?
  • Celebs that step up — Fake Fan Girls? We don’t think so.
  • Tee stumbles through awkward memories of high school…
  • Geeks and their territorial tendencies
  • What happens when Geekdom goes mainstream: People get upset and don’t want to cope.

34:12 — The Wrap-Up

  • Pip’s already a confirmed guest at Dragon*Con
  • New Archer is coming soon!!!
  • Looking forward to the holiday
    • We’ll be recording on Boxing Day!
    • Screw Medifast — we’re having Christmas Pudding!
  • Tee Morris: 2 for 2 with the Creative Commons tag…
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Find us on Twitter at either Tee’s or Pip’s account,
leave us a voicemail or question for the show at 703.791.1701,
or leave us a comment here at the blog.
Enjoy the ride
and we’ll catch you later.

 

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The Shared Desk — Episode #008: Dealing with Deadlines


It’s been a month! Where have these two been?! Well, Tee & Pip have been tackling deadlines, and that struck them as a good topic for the next Shared Desk. So join these two in a deep dive into the wonderful (no seriously, wonderful) world of deadlines.

00:00 — Introduction

  • What are you sitting on, Pip? (No, it’s not a euphemism!)
  • Running down a laundry list of what’s happened between episodes
  • The Janus Affair is now off to New York!
  • Thoughts on the Goodreads Choice Awards (We were #8 in the Top Ten…and that rocks!)

01:55 — Deadlines

  • What is it about being sick around deadlines?! (It’s something Pip and Tee do well.)
  • The importance of deadlines — why they are needed
  • Defining a deadline
  • Congrats to all the participants of NaNoWriMo
  • How we love buffers in podcasting…and with deadlines.
  • What happens during deadlines — Life.
  • Deadlines are not a terror, but a motivator for the writer
  • Good catches during the editing process
  • From an editor’s point-of-view, how do you gauge time to give contributors for deadlines?
  • Understanding benefits and consequences when fiddling with a deadlines
    • Acceptable “Life Happens” siutations
    • When the deadline is kept — promotion and touring
  • Managing multiple deadlines
  • Reviewing the future deadlines we  have on our chalkboard (Personally, I like Barn & Mule…)
  • After you reach your deadline and send things off, celebrate!
    • What did we do?
    • Tee is the g–damn Batman!
    • Pip does something she hasn’t done in a while — started a recreational read!
  • Getting caught up after a deadline, and looking ahead to what we need to do…
  • And while Tee takes a drink…Pip goes quiet.

21:03 — Seriously? Seriously.

  • Some things were going down in the publishing world…and it hits Tee’s hot button.
  • Thanks to Tee Tate and her blog, Lit Stack for bringing this to our attention.
  • Here’s Quentin Rowan a/k/a Q.R. Markham, and his story.
  • Does his story sound familiar? That’s because he copied it from someone else.
  • What pissed Tee off? He wanted us to feel sorry for him.
  • With soundtrack, the dramatic reading falls apart…kind of like this guy’s lie.
  • And now Tee and Pip go off on Quentin Rowan’s “addiction”

29:32  — Writers Off the Clock

  • Taking a breath…
  • With Pip being sick, Tee and Pip curl up with Bridesmaids.
  • A review…complete with spoilers
  • What we liked about the movie
    • Not afraid to go there
    • Meeting the various bridesmaids
    • Rock solid funny…up to a point.
  • The fourth act…what the hell happened?
    • Chris O’Dowd — kept Tee’s attention
    • Two of the Bridesmaids disappear for the remaining of the film
    • The movie stops being an ensemble piece and becomes a formula rom-com-buddy-chick-flick
    • And what the hell was the end sketch with Melissa McCarthy?!
  • This movie was marketed like The Hangover…but it felt more like The Hangover of Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants

43:22 — The Wrap-Up

  • Hanging in there…
  • How we’re wrapping up 2011
    • The Janus Affair: A Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences Novel— We got the cover…and it’s BEAUTIFUL!
    • Hunter & Fox — Another pretty cover…and we’re sitting on that one, too!
    • Still trying to narrow down release dates for 2012
    • Let your favorite bookstores know about our upcoming releases.
  • One more show for the year…and what a year it has been.
  • The final show of 2011 will cover Setting Goals, and the first show of 2012 will be the Fan Appreciation show!
  • Where to find us online…including a Goodreads Discussion Group!
  • And here’s where Tee completely shuts down…
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Find us on Twitter at either Tee’s or Pip’s account,
leave us a voicemail or question for the show at 703.791.1701,
or leave us a comment here at the blog.
Enjoy the ride
and we’ll catch you later.

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