(NOVELTOWN 2.0 is on the way, an entire DIY marketing campaign filled with lights and attention-seeking fanfare… more on that in another post. Coming real soon!)
Self-Publishing Scam Can Hurt Indie Writers
There’s a trend going on in the literary world: Indie writers with books fighting through the masses, swinging as they go. They need you. And Indie publishing companies need support too.
Maybe you’re just a reader who wants to support. Maybe you’re thinking about starting a press. Maybe you’re a writer who wants to get published. What do you do? How do you even start the fight? And what are you fighting for?
If you’re a writer maybe you’re confused. Do you send your book out into the world to slog through commercial publishing rejection swamps? Do you invest your own money in self-publishing? Or, do you take it a step further and go the Indie route: submit or start your own company? What’s the damn difference?
Right away you need to get it straight. I may have published my own novel through Noveltown. But I didn’t use the fly-by-night iUniverse, Authorhouse, or Lola (kings of print-on-demand publishing). I self-published once before and that’s a killer headache unless you’re already famous or have thousands of dollars at hand for a publicist. Even my old agent who died in a car wreck had negative remarks about print-on-demand self-publishing. In 1999 he was on special assignment for ebooks & print on demand publisher, iUniverse. Yet he would call me on the phone and rant and rave about print-on-demand services being a scam.
Why the hell did he do it? He had friends in high places and probably needed a paycheck.
Those places are rape artists, scamming potential self-publishers who waste their money creating a couple of books to throw on a shelf. There’s no marketing involved from the publisher perspective, and it’s a very hard road to even make a splash in the literary community. I learned the hard way by self-publishing The Blimperwhirls. Notice I don’t promote that book on here? Why should I? I see no profits and iUniverse is just a big phony wanting people to invest their money so that print-on-demand houses get fat pockets.
Noveltown, an Independent Literary Publisher
So I took DIY (Do It Yourself) axiom to the next level. I created a company and expanded my vision. Noveltown was born out of the fight to help all Indie people. 99.9999% of the artists Noveltown has promoted are self-starters, self-publishers, self-creators: TOTAL DIY… That’s the media side of Noveltown…
Why do you think I have been talking about World Wide Spies? DIY. The Filthies: DIY.
Noveltown is publishing other authors, that’s the literary side. One of the biggest and most exciting secrets Noveltown entertains is: who will be our next author? Do we even know? YES.
It won’t be me, thank goodness. Lords: Part One was an experiment of the Indie and self-promotional kind. Noveltown had just started out. None of us with Noveltown knew the business. We couldn’t afford to take a risk with anyone else’s book. Who wants a potential flop using someone else’s art? So we used a controversial novel to kick some life into Noveltown and to stir up controversy. It’s done a decent job. We’re ready for the next step: NOVELTOWN 2.0… (More in another post)
Join the Indie Fight
Should we beat ourselves up over books?
Maybe all you know is that you need to join a literary fight somewhere. There’s room for lots more warriors. I can tell you that NOVELTOWN 2.0 will be trying to recruit you all…
But more on the Indie fight…
I’m part of the fight, Noveltown is part of it, LitPark is on board. Many fans and writers we’re affiliated with want to change the literary world as part of an Indie fight to help folks have success in a commercially dominated literary world.
In a way, it’s LIT FIGHT CLUB. Us against them, us against ourselves and the world, us against the spirit of rottenness that’s out there in big lazy television-filled living rooms that says: books are boring, pass the potato chips, send me the football stats and throw me the remote control.
Why spend all your time watching TV when you can spend your time creating change?
It’s not just a music revolution out there. Indie houses are making waves because of the ability to pay attention to marketing one book at a time.
Fighting to Reach the Few Readers in the World
This can't feel good for very long... or can it?
The Noveltown blog is part of a fight to gain readers for literary fiction and non-fiction in general (not to mention music, the arts, etc). When a mere 3% of the population is interested in books, something has gone wrong. Is it with you? With me? With our parents? With my parenting? With our ability as a society to read?
Axioms I seriously live by:
1. If you want attention, start a fight - Blanksy.
2. When the fight begins within himself, a man’s worth something. - Robert Browning, 1855
3. This is your life, and it’s ending one minute at a time. - Chuck Palahniuk, Fight Club, Chapter 3
4. I just don't want to die without a few scars. - Chuck Palahniuk, Fight Club, Chapter 6
5. Great things are not accomplished by those who yield to trends and fads and popular opinion. - Jack Kerouac
The Physical Making of a Company Through Building a Book
Noveltown finally took shape in 2005 when we decided to go forth experimenting with publishing Lords: Part One. We figured it was a hot topic, that the book could be utilized to raise capital to publish other writers.
Which writers?
You’ll see.
The process was tough. But we thought: doable.
We had to figure out how big the book would be. We used a copy of Jack Kerouac’s Desolation Angels we had lying around. 5 inches by 7.75 inches looked good for several reasons: It was smaller than the 6 x 9 print-on-demand scam format, and we thought it a good size for the page count we had.
But where to print? What kind of paper? 2-color? 4-color process print job? Grayscale? What kind of paper for the cover? How did we buy a bar code and ISBN number?
We started talking to friends in the industry and were finally recommended a printer out of China. We decided grayscale was a good choice since the cover was a foggy depiction of youth gone wrong.
What about design layout? We used Adobe InDesign and mimicked layouts from favorite books. I took the cover photograph in a living room with a fog machine blasting mist into the photo’s surreal textural background. The camera was a wimpy off-brand digital piece of crap. Yet the photo works. We think it’s a good cover.
Paper is always a tough issue. We went with a nicer stock. We found out how to buy bar codes and ISBN numbers from friends in the publishing industry. Easy enough.
Money for publishing?
Money is money and is tough to come by when you’re only three people in Bakersfield with a literary vision of a publishing company. Especially with an Indie publishing company. A few people accused Noveltown of being a vanity press, or self-publishing whores—the works. Some idiots still don’t know the difference and yet are DIY themselves. As if DIY can’t affect books. DIY isn’t just about music, theatre, fine art. It’s about all the arts. Every self-publishing accusation I read has stemmed from disgruntled readers of the controversial media blog, Paperback Writer.
So, is Noveltown a real company?
Yes. Does Lords: Part One have an ISBN number and Bar code? Yes.
And yet, early battles on the Paperback Writer blog took place as a defense for local artist self starters, self-publishers. I’d love to see the stats on how many musicians out of cities like Bakersfield are actually signed to a music label? I’m guessing 99.99% of all Bakersfield bands have burned CDs out of their living rooms and spent their own money having albums professionally made.
We’re still learning and have a long way to go.
So we scraped up and fronted most of the cash. I sacrificed getting a car so I could follow the Noveltown dreams. A few hundred trickled in from friends.
Thank goodness chingpea and Matildakay are part of Noveltown.
That makes three people in the fight. They help promote, make phone calls, do the accounting, and pick me up when I’m fighting and slogging through the blogosphere.
I said it was lit fight club, right?
We’re still find answers and solutions to the complex process of creating and selling books.
Solutions and answers for a young company: You!
We’re getting somewhere. Last year we converted the Paperback Writer blog to the official blog of Noveltown. It was a marriage waiting to happen.
Samurai swords, boxing gloves, a blog and books... that's us!
That’s risky in itself: a business with a controversial blog. We didn’t want to keep the two separated anymore, especially after Malcolm Margolin of Heyday Books called the Paperback Writer blog the “Paris of the Central Valley.”
That’s a big compliment and tells us that both the blog and Noveltown are going in the right direction.
Literary agent Erin Hosier of the The Dunow, Carlson, & Lerner Literary Agency recently wrote in an email:
“Paperback Writer is by far my new favorite... I am so impressed with the loyalty of its readers and the conversation Paperback Writer generates. So good for books.”
Did you catch that? It’s the community of readers who enjoy the blog and the books. That’s you. You make the idea of Noveltown work and we appreciate you.
Erin just sent me a new book to review. I can’t wait to dig in. And I can’t wait to write about NOVELTOWN 2.0. It’s all about you and community making a difference.
After all, I believe books are one of the deepest part of our cultural lifestyle that we can embrace.
We have to sell our stock of books to build our niche of Independent literature in Bakersfield. That means we need your help. Will you tell a friend? Will you help? Ask us how and give feedback by leaving a comment.
Help us grow so we can publish our next book!
More on Indie presses in part two: NOVELTOWN 2.0…
Sign design 1: welcome to our field/subdivision
Sign design 2: welcome back to our Southpark "dead man" squiggle
Is Bakersfield city councilwoman Jacquie Sullivan a designer now? Does she have experience in sign and logo design? I read an article in the Bakersfield Californian that reeks of her inability to understand design.
Noticeably absent from the article is any input from a designer. What’s the background of Sullivan and the rest of the council? Artists?
No.
This entire debacle started because a Bakersfield city engineer designed the redesign of the old squiggle signs resting on the outskirts of Bakersfield along Highway 99.
Now, I attended one meeting where the very non-creative Jacquie Sullivan called for the hole on the old Bakersfield sign to be filled in. A mosaic had been offered. No go. Looks like Sullivan got her way with two terrible designs I pulled from the Bakersfield Californian news site.
And now that terrible old Bakersfield city squiggle is back.
Don’t these people have any marketing/creative background? You don’t have two logos for the same product. You don’t spend thousands of taxpayer dollars for a new logo, and then later, incorporate the old into the first after the new logo has been adopted.
Sure, the new leaf logo sucks ass. But it was adopted. Phase out the squiggle then, right? Wrong. Apparently bad design just opens opportunity for worse.
I will say the first new re-design with the mosaic was way better than the two monstrosities being proposed.
The first newly proposed Sullivam design makes welcoming those to Bakersfield look like everyone happily hangs out in fields a plenty. It kind of looks like it was designed by an architect, not a designer. And it’s terrible. There’s nothing in the sign you wouldn’t see in the very unglamorous subdivision architecture outside Bakersfield's newest gated communities.
But please, an open field? That’s the one symbol that Bakersfield can't live without (Like the way some people can't live without "dead man" squiggles? Can’t people already see fields from their car windows? They’ve been passing open fields for the last 25 minutes heading north through Bakersfield, and for hours, if driving from the north…
Noticeably absent are migrant field workers toiling in the sun.
The second sign makes Bakersfield look like a Southpark cartoon horizon. I’m sure it can be made out of felt and every once in a while a new big-headed city councilman’s noggin’ can appear… maybe even have entire scenes to depict holidays, or when Schwarzeneggar is in town. I’m sure he’d like the publicity. A wireless radio device tuned into an open FM channel can beam voices into cars and nearby homes: something with Sullivan’s voice would be perfect…
Perfectly boring.
"Oh my god! They killed the Bakersfield sign!" (with clip art!)
And let me also point out that the Southpark crayon design isn't even using the correct new Bakersfield logo. It's a different font altogether. If you're creating a mock-up, shouldn't you be using the correct logo? Just look at the "B" and the "K". Wrong font. The first sign is closer. But with a careful examination, even that has minute differences. The leaf is slightly off. Sorry, that's ticky-tack of me. Goodness!
There’s something I like to tell people about more than half the corporate artwork you see on signs and billboards around Bakersfield. It’s no comparison to the creativity you’d find in larger cities. I call it the “yes” man problem. Too many times, conservative non-creative business people want advertisements. The ad companies instead of arguing for the sake of creativity become “yes” men and women, and give in to the boring, far too conservative ideas of the folks with the money. Yes, the folks with the money are often the non-creative type.
In this case, it’s an unimaginative city council adding to the unimaginative aesthetics of promotional Bakersfield.
Marketing 101: you don’t have two logos. If you have a new one, don’t be an idiot and blend two past logos into a sign.
"I can't see why anyone cannot like this," Sullivan said in an interview with the Californian.
I don’t know what she’s talking about. I can.
I know nothing about this photo except that it's creepy as hell. Where was it taken? What does it mean? Who is the face in the tree? Christopher Taylor better come on here and answer some of these questions...
It's a nightmarish photo.
If you haven't seen Christopher Taylor's art gallery, go now.
What?
Exclusive pics too?
And a giant chicken?
You'll get a full report of what this video is all about, what the festivities were, and why I saw Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa of Los Angeles and L.A. band World Wide Spies. But for now, just watch...
I was walking to work a few days ago and decided to walk down a back alley that parallels H Street. I was wondering what the neighborhood had created. Would I find manicured back fences intricately woven with rose bushes and vines like tapestries?
Would I find trash cans spilling over with the debris of our community lives?
I found two photos of interest in the many photos I took.
1: The Created Abandoned House
This abandoned house has an aire of poor man's neighborhood artistry about it. In a past blog I showed how a big gang-tagged rock and shopping carts litter the front yard. If melting, would surely look like a Dali painting of the HOOD. But with broken windows, I think this house truly has that abandoned look and feel. It could sure make top billing on a "Pimp Out My Neighborhood Crack House" TV show...
It's been created.
2: Alley Trash: Getting to know your Creator
This piece of Christian marketing literature 'being' trash says a lot about how this little newsprint magazine found its way into an alley. Sure, maybe it was so I could ponder my own spirituality and oneness with the universe, my oneness with even the randomness of alley trash. But what about the person who tossed the trash into the alley? Why did they do it? What value do they have in the question of whether they were created along with the rest of humanity and nature like a tuna fish can in a factory?
And why would Christian marketing literature ask a question it already knows the answer to?
Why would I need to be reminded of a basic question I should have known the answer too long before the comic strip Calvin and Hobbes came about?
I ponder such philosophic mumbo jumbo of detritis in an alley...
So I ask, what's being created in your Bakersfield neighborhood? (You can answer this question if outside of Bakersfield)
I popped in on my kid's band, Dirty Spanglish at the Boiler Room the other night...
There was dancin'...
There was pop punk you can dance to...
And then a moment of solitude as the final band performed...
Critical Mass the blog of the National Book Critics Circle board of directors states in a blog posted Tuesday, February 20, 2007 that the Memoir is not dead.
John Freeman writes:
“Last summer, around the time we were supposed to be burying the memoir thanks to the excesses and lies of its practitioners, a few bright lights -- several of them now finalists for the NBCC's 2006 prize for autobiography, like Donald Antrim, Daniel Mendelsohn and Alison Bechdel -- showed the form was going to survive the Nasdij, LeRoy, and Frey correction. These books were getting great critical acclaim, though maybe not selling in the numbers they would have before high noon happened on Oprah's show.
Well, it looks like those sales have returned too: this week, 11 of the 15 books on the New York Times paperback bestseller list are memoirs (of a sort).
Former NBCC finalist Liz Gilbert has climbed all the way to #3 for "Eat, Pray, Love," which apparently has over 350,000 copies in print in paperback alone. Over on the hardcover list, 6 of the 16 books are memoirs.
Looking down the catalogue lists for 2007, it looks like there is more noteworthy writing to come.”
(Read the full article)
Is your life story good memoir material? If so, your memoir might be right up Noveltown’s alley. Submissions accepted here.
Does your life ever turn full circle? Can you trace your past and connect dots? One moment today strangely connects to another point in your past that you thought was completely isolated?
I recently spoke to a relative of Joseph Campbell. As soon as I heard the name I thought of the book by him I once owned, The Power of Myth. You know the book, right? There was a six-part PBS/Bill Moyers series that recorded interviews between Lucas and Campbell on Skywalker Ranch. All six one-hour episodes were recorded there and aired in 1988, the year after Campbell died. Campbell discusses at length the role of myth in human society.
I used the book as reference when writing my own myth: The Citrus Girl. There’s even a few Star Wars references in the novel. The novel sits in a dusty cupboard. Hardly anyone has read it. I don’t know why I hoard it. Fear probably.
At work, when I sit at my desk I always see, “Brad Alexander”. A day doesn’t go by that I don’t glance in the direction of his shadowy name. The cover on my Rolodex has slipped off and his is the first to appear. I don’t throw it away for a few reasons. One, some people you don’t want to forget, and two, I’m too lazy to just grab the card and toss it.
The last time I called LucasFilm they acted like they never heard of Brad Alexander. How could that be? He’d just worked on a few Star Wars films and games. He was supposedly responsible for portions of CGI in the cantina scene and the weird millipede creature that crawls on Amidala. I often wondered if he worked on some of the lighting on the giant Wookie battle… he may have set the mood entirely. Emails bounced back too.
The receptionist said she never heard of Brad Alexander.
It was a cover-up.
And a lot like chump Brad’s own cover-up of the book I loaned him years ago while at Up in the Air Productions out of Las Vegas working on Fremont Street Experience sound-and-light shows. There was Brad, a snotty-nosed kid right out of the Air Force. We talked Star Wars. I mentioned the Power of Myth book. He needed to read it like a true Star Wars junkie.
So I loaned it. I just never got it back.
I talked to another buddy of mine who had a lead that he was working on War of the Worlds. I had no leads, so I gave up trying to find him. According to the IMDb database, it looks like he not only worked on War of the Worlds, but moved on to Underworld: Evolution, X-Men: The Last Stand, Ghost Rider, Evan Almighty, The Kingdom, Transformers, and Avatar. And it looks like Brad Alexander has moved up in the world of Animatics and pre-visualization.
A short bio on IMDb reads:
Throughout the workday, he is completing a series of tasks including rigging and animating a digital character, texturing and lighting lavish realms, modeling a creature or character, and 2D/3D tracking.
Alexander often begins his day organizing what needs to be done, whether it be creature modeling or animation. Sometimes he is expected to show his progress to Lucas who visits the Animatics office on a daily basis.
"My favorite part of the job is being able to work directly with George on sequences one-on-one and learning his way of making the masterpieces he does," Alexander says. "Learning the aesthetics of filmmaking from him as it is created in real-time is the most incredible thing."
I often wonder what that book helped form in Brad’s own mind about Star Wars. And all the notes I’d written in the margins—my own theories and ideas of myths, heroes and the nature of humans.
I don’t hold anything against Brad. He’s just one of those old pals you lose sight of then gain glimpses of again in memory.
Such strange circles.
Jeffrey Lependorf is the executive director of the Council of Literary Magazines and Presses as well as the executive director of Small Press Distribution. In a very informative and exciting interview, (the excitement literally jumps off the screen as you’re reading), Susan gets down to business and finds out the current state of the publishing world with mainstream presses and smaller independent presses.
Susan writes:
“I probably throw around the name of today’s guest more than any other. I’m thinking of starting my own indie publishing house. Who should I talk to about this? Jeff Lependorf. Is there a way to tell the legitimate small presses from the scams? Yes. Ask Jeff Lependorf. Is publishing poetry a futile effort? No. Ask Jeff Lependorf. We can’t seem to keep our literary magazine afloat. Lependorf. Quick!
I don’t know of a more knowledgeable advocate for literary and non-profit publishers.”
In the interview, Lependorf defines small presses and talks about their budgets and distribution. He explains how the Council of Literary Magazines and Presses and Small Press Distribution can help indie press publications. He identifies the difference between printing a book or magazine and publishing one. He gives advice for those wanting to start a literary magazine or indie press. And he gives his thoughts on self-publishing and print-on-demand.
N.L. Belardes of Noveltown left a comment on the article:
"Noveltown as an Indie Publisher has a long way to grow. It’s all about upward mobility! We’re definitely going to scrape our pockets to attend a future AWP conference. It’s a must. But we have to get a few more titles under our belt to convince the literary world we’re legit. And we’re working on that too because we are mission driven…
It takes time. It takes working with the right people…
It also takes networking and learning through great articles like this one. Jeff and CLMP really look like a saviour for a lot of the people/businesses in the world with literary visions. And by saviour I mean, they’re the ones bringing the love and community together, this sort of shared fanatical religion of creative intellectual properties…"
(Read the full article)
This is an interview you don’t want to miss! So get on over to LitPark and hang out for a while.
How many hours a day do you spend watching videos on youtube.com or movie trailers online? With millions of people tuning in… clearly video makes a difference.
Poets and Writer’s magazine reports that the literary world is jumping on the video bandwagon.
“Taking their cue from the film industry, in which a well-produced trailer is infinitely more valuable than a print advertisement or press release, commercial publishers such as HarperCollins and Houghton Mifflin are taking advantage of new technology to offer promotional videos on their web sites to augment their traditional publicity campaigns.”
(Check out HarperCollins Digital Media Café with downloadable videos).
“VidLit Productions (www.vidlit.com) in Santa Monica, California, has created promotional videos for publishers such as Penguin, Random House, and Bard Press, and uploads them to its own web site as well as more than seventy-five others, including YouTube. The book trailers, or VidLits, as they are called, can also be accessed using mobile devices such as iPods and video cell phones. “There’s no barrier to distribution,” says VidLit founder Liz Dubelman.”
(Read the full article)
Video is not new to Noveltown. With Noveltown’s Zowietown video productions and videos uploaded to Noveltown’s blog Paperback Writer; Noveltown’s been promoting Bakersfield’s music, art, theatre and film scenes for a while now. Book trailers or VidLits is a natural evolution in video for Noveltown.
After eight years as the Development Director of Heyday Books, Patricia Wakida is moving on to bigger and better things.
“My time at Heyday has been extremely meaningful to me, not the least of which has been working with all of you… I finally have no excuse to put off my own writing and research. It will be quite an adventure, and I am thrilled to attempt it all.”
Noveltown and Paperback Writer wish Patricia all the best in her new endeavors.
Writer’s block. Every writer experiences it. Staring at a blank notebook or computer screen, waiting, waiting, for the light bulb to go off over your head. Waiting for that brilliant idea that will be the next great American novel. How do you combat writer’s block? How do you make those brilliant ideas form in your head and find their way onto the page?
Michael J. Vaughn states in an article for Writer’s Digest that creative lollygagging is the cure for writer’s block.
“Picture yourself as a satellite dish. The way a dish receives signals is a decidedly passive activity, but nothing comes in until the equipment is properly charged and opened to the universe. A few years ago, ensconced in one of my "brewing" modes—done with my last novel, waiting for the next to come a-knockin'—I decided to take my dish to the beach and open 'er up…
If you subtly stimulate your other senses—in this case, tactile (the glass) and auditory (the ocean)—you can take the "edge" away from your conscious, purposive mind, return the satellite dish to a state of active passivity and open yourself to the forces of serendipity. And if you come to the beach for frosted glass, you'll also get ideas for your story, slipping in along your peripheral vision.”
(Read the full article, which includes a creative lollygaggers to-do list and the coffee house ritual).
Now quit staring at your blank computer screen, get to lollygagging and be creative. Your next great novel, and Noveltown’s, could be outside literally lying on the ground.
Just to let you know: I'm getting political on Paperback Writer this week. I'll be posting a satirical Pipehead cartoon that's sure to raise a few eyebrows. I suppose it will be my own way of criticising the American-Iraqi war. It will be the first in a series that will see if I can tread a fine line of humor, satire, criticism and my own patriotic consciousness.
But let's start off with a photo I took at Bakersfield's The Marketplace recently. I don't remember which movie I showed up to see a few weeks ago, but I do remember snapping this photo of a truck:
Is liberalism an illness? What is liberalism?
Now, I know I entertain readers from the full spectrum of American political ideologies: conservative Republican warhawks, moderate Democrats and Republicans, Independents, and full-on left wing conservatives. We're a dynamic group, especially politically speaking...
Differences aside, I wonder what you all think of this photo and its message? What could be the truck owner's agenda? Is liberalism an illness?
I'm taking requests. If you have a profile on Bakotopia and you want to be added to my drawing, just let me know... You can suggest an insect too... Just add your suggestion to this blog.
-n.l.
An Argument for Writers’ Taking Charge by Johnny Temple, publisher and editor of Akashic Books of New York, while written in 2005, is an article that captures the spirit of Indie Presses and Noveltown to this day.
“Today’s indie publishing community is in some ways reminiscent of American punk rock in 1982. In that era, bands took it upon themselves to carve out networks that would connect the punk scene in San Francisco to the one in Phoenix, the one in Lawrence, Kansas, to the one in Washington, D.C., to Amsterdam’s, to Belgrade’s, to Israel’s, to Bangkok’s, and beyond. Working closely with indie labels, bands did the dirty work of booking their own tours and driving in decrepit vans and sleeping on floors and in parking lots—hammering out a vibrant (and, yes, highly flawed) new underground culture where one didn’t exist before. A similar grassroots approach to local- scene building—and to the networking between those scenes—is under way in indie literature.”
A grassroots approach to local scene building and networking… now that is what Noveltown is all about!
Temple goes on to make the argument for why writers should work with independent publishers.
“For starters, one’s editor at an indie is often the publisher herself, who can’t easily up and leave for greener pastures…
And independents are often far more attentive to their books, and more creative with their marketing, even if their budgets are smaller…
Reaching beyond traditional venues and actively seeking out new audiences, rather than waiting to be “discovered,” young writers and publishers are rolling up their sleeves and carving out new networks through which literature can be promoted…
The love of books remains the guiding principle for almost all indie publishers.”
(Read the full article)
Noveltown loves books and writers and we’re working hard to connect the indie literary scenes as we grow in the world of indie publishing.
Shopping carts fill the yard of an abandoned house
Bakotopia user, Kindra has been writing about the cop cars zooming down Bakersfield's Forrest Street. She even took a photo of the short-lived car-speed-o-meter.
What does this mysterious Easter Island gang-tagged rock say?
I thought I would take the strangeness of Forrest Street into the realm of posing questions. Over the weekend I noticed a sea of shopping carts filling the abandoned lot near an alley across the street. I began to wonder why they are there, and if they’re all left by the same person….
It's artistic, in a way...
What do you think? And, what’s weird on your street?
Bakersfield's Indie press, Noveltown (That's us) is gearing up for some cool contests. Get ready. Get your thinking caps on. Get your game on... Keep checking the Noveltown site for details... go there now for some hints...
You ready?
-n.l.
Corporate blogging is an entirely different beast than Bakersfield's Paperback Writer blog. You've got to balance a lot... Well, if I didn't run Noveltown, I would write differently, that's for sure. But I can do what the heck on want in these waters.
A big thanks to the trade magazine and industry folks who support my corporate blogging over at the ProSoft blog. I gave them a nice thank you.
I'm a regular visitor to the ProSoft blog, because it's a great place for conversations on connectivity solutions, OPC and many other topics of discussion around industrial automation. It's informative, sometimes provocative, but always sure to be entertaining. I've seen many interesting conversations born on the ProSoft blog, but the thing with blogs means they don't end there.
Eric Murphy
Matrikon OPC
www.blog.matrikonopc.com
I think that Nick has done the best job of all the bloggers in the field of industrial and process automation of stimulating conversations with his ProSoft blog. He truly understands the power of connecting individuals and its role in changing nature of business and communications.
Jim Cahill
Emerson Process Experts
www.emersonprocessxperts.com
The purpose of a blog is not to spout a monolog but to start a dialog. Nick does that better than anyone else in the Industrial Automation blogosphere. I'm jealous.
Carl Henning
PROFIblog
www.profiblog.com
I like the way Nick combines blog style and protocol with upbeat company, product and technology information. ProSoft Blog is on my reading list.
Gary Mintchell
Editor in Chief
Automation World (Feed Forward blog)
Blogs provide a sense of community to their readers. Nick is gifted at keeping industrial automation professionals connected while informing us about technology and products. ProSoft Blog answers the ‘so what’ question.
Jack Smith
Managing Editor
Plant Engineering magazine
www.plantengineering.com
Looks like Matt Munoz over at Bakotopia got the big scoop. I remember being at the Montgomery World Plaza when Karmahitlist played their last show. I met Sandy Serrano briefly. Her then boyfriend, Seantastic talked to the crowd about my novel. I was flattered. But the relationship was falling apart with both the band and Seantastic and his girlfriend (More on Karmahitlist and more...)
Seantastic (Sean Starkey) used to date Anna Nicole Smith's hairdresser
I remember hearing at the time about an Anna Nicole Smith connection too. Word on the street was Seantastic was hanging out at Anna Nicole Smith's house. I had no idea his girlfriend was her hairdresser. At the time it was all about Seantastic being a rock and roll star. I considered trying to do a story on the connection. But you know how time flies. Now Matt Munoz has Bakotopia's biggest scoop yet. I thought my Fresno Famous/Modesto Famous scoop was big. Not even close. Read on...
It was in the wee hours of Jan. 10. Sandy Serrano needed to catch an early morning flight back to the U.S. from the Bahamas, but she would not board her plane without first saying goodbye to her friend and client, Anna Nicole Smith.
She went to Smith's bedroom where little Dannielynn Hope, then 4 months old, was already awake. And like so many other times over their two-year relationship, Serrano, a native Bakersfield resident who since moved to Southern California, becoming the personal hairstylist to the model/actress, bid Smith farewell with a kiss and a hug, also saying goodbye to Dannielynn, until the next time.
But there would be no next time, for that day would be the last Serrano would ever see Smith alive.
(Read the full article)
**There's also an audio clip with Serrano on the post.
Dirty Spanglish at the Talent Show audition
(SCROLL DOWN FOR BAK-O-MATIC REVIEW AND LINK TO EXCLUSIVE PHOTOS ON BAKOTOPIA)
Turn down the rock and roll, it’s Dirty Spanglish at the Bakersfield High Talent Show - By N.L. Belardes
The auditions were held a few weeks ago at Bakersfield High’s Little Theatre. That’s on the south side of the Harvey Auditoriun, one of Bakersfield’s finest theatres. I love it as much as the Fox Theatre in downtown Bakersfield for its ambience and “big stage” feel. And you can squeeze more than a thousand folks inside.
Little Theatre at the Harvey Auditorium, Bakersfield, CA
The Late Greats were at the audition, the only other rock band trying out. And they both got in. It was a rockin’ evening…
The Late Greats: a band named after a Wilco song
During the actual Talent Show, the night was to open with rock and close with rock. The only problem would be turning the rock down. I’ll get to that.
BHS auditorium begins to fill up a half hour before the show starts
Will there be a Talent Show at your school?
I showed up with Jordo from the alt country band Black Dog. He’s Lando’s brother and a talented violinist. They write original country tunes and also perform acoustic Wilco covers. The Late Greats were to perform “I’m Always in Love” from the Wilco album Summerteeth. That means closet Wilco junkies would be showing some unity at the Talent Show.
Oh yeah, my kid Jordo. He seems to know everyone at BHS because he’s one of those cool seniors. He showed me to the “green room”, a room not really green, but where everyone hangs out waiting for their turn to perform. Right away, Alix Lamb walked up, fanned two decks of cards and started performing tricks. I was stumped.
Alix Lamb fans the trickery
Soon Matt Munoz and Lydia Gonzales from bakotopia.com and MAS Magazine arrived. They had the real journalistic goods. Matt interviewed Dirty Spanglish with his cool pocket-sized video camera, while Lydia staged a photo shoot, snapping fun photos of the boys in a bathroom—true Dirty Spanglish potty humor—and got them to jump out of lockers, literally. Except for bassist, Nick. He pouted in a bathroom stall.
You'll have to see the MAS magazine images of this photo shoot when it comes out.
Bassist Nick pouts because he is locker challenged
Bakotopia, Matildakay.com, Noveltown.net, and Paperback Writer all sponsored the show. Bakotopia wrote for the show’s program:
Yo Dirty Spanglish, Bakotopia honors you and sends you positive vibes to kick the doors down. You guys got the skills, now it’s time to show the crowds what real noise is all about! Congratulations on being true punk patriots! Keep it dirty…Spanglish that is!
Bakersfield High’s 6th Annual Talent Show featured 16 competitors: dancers, a magician, an acoustic act, two rock acts, and solo singers galore. The show was hosted by Sherece Stancil—she wasn’t afraid to kick off her shoes at one point—and Tyrone Brazzell. He could dance, hold an audience and look debonair.
Yes, they should have their own TV show.
Talk about hosts beaming with confidence. Their professionalism and quick-witted humor carried the entire evening—so did Tyrone’s moves. Their back-up band was truly right off a late night talk show. They jazzed up the evening with transitional songs and weren’t afraid to cheer for their own favorite performers throughout the evening. They even performed their own jazzy rendition of “Donut Shop” after Dirty Spanglish performed.
The Late Greats perform
This might be Alicia Bean... someone correct me...
Personally, I hadn’t been nervous all evening. I know the kids in Dirty Spanglish have performed to larger crowds. It was the sound I was worried about. “They’ve got us turned down,” Lando said. And there were no monitors. The singers couldn’t hear themselves. That’s never good for a performer. I asked Lando if they were nervous at all during the show. He said, “A little bit, because of the whole deal with not hearing the singing. Otherwise we were pretty pumped up and ready to do it.”
Still, I wasn’t nervous. But there were some solemn moments for the band, and moments of anticipation. As other contestants performed, Lando sat and tuned his guitar in a back area. He seemed to be going over in his head about his band’s performance.
Maybe I was growing nervous after all. I watched as they stood for a moment to view one of the acts. They were silent, stirring, kids on a mission to entertain. The glanced at the crowd. Anticipation set in. They had a sparing amount of time to set up. Or that’s what it seemed like.
Suddenly Lando said, “Hold my guitar.” Holy crap was he talking to me?! “Don’t touch the strings, and don’t bump it on anything!” I had no idea where he was going, but Dirty Spanglish was about to go on. I stood still. I was now a deer caught staring into the stage lights like it were an oncoming semi of rock and roll distortion. I didn’t dare move or twitch a muscle in fear that Lando’s guitar might suddenly explode in my hands. My heart rate jumped. Lando seemed lost in a sea of backstage darkness. Any travesty would suddenly be my fault. How do these kids take such pressure?
Finally he came back, grabbed his guitar, and the band took their place behind the curtain.
Lando jumped onto an amp for a moment of total rock godness, the band toyed with their instruments—bass thumped, guitar strings raked and drums pounded—which pumped up the crowd. I suddenly thought, they have nerves of steel.
And then the giant curtains opened. Lando jumped off the amp and hit a chord. It was time to perform their cover of The Filthies “Donut Shop.” Two of the three members of The Filthies attended Bakersfield High. It was a moving tribute to Bakersfield’s rural rock punk kings.
Only problem I could tell? The sound. The band was too quiet. Oh, they rocked. In fact, they got to play two songs during the night. But this was a Bakersfield High School Choir Event. And we all know what a lot of choir folks think of rock and roll. Yet rock is meant to be performed loud. Hell, so is country music and so is jazz. I wanted to run onstage and pump up the volume. Sherece and Tyrone came on stage as total air guitar monsters of rock. It was a hilarious and fun moment as their back-up band jazzed some “Donut Shop” riffs.
You have to appreciate that the kids in Dirty Spanglish heeded the call of adults who tempered their sound. They’re respectful and I appreciate the band for it. Had they had their sound blasting in the auditorium they still might not have won. The talent during the course of the evening was that good.
Right after their performance, a quick celebration
Some moments backstage: Late Greats and Lando from Dirty Spanglish
There was a moment of confusion. The band was about to perform another song. They took to their instruments. The curtains started to part… a sudden change of plans to announce the winners. The curtains closed, kids poured onto the stage and eventually Dirty Spanglish slipped through the curtain just in time to win second place in the People’s Choice category.
Latin Mix won first place People's Choice
Drummer Kris from Dirty Spanglish celebrates after announcement
Criston Moore won the Grand Prize with a moving rendition of “Over The Rainbow”. That was the first time I’d heard a male sing the classic number, and I’d never heard it performed in such a contemporary soloist style. I swear John Legend was performing the piano for him as he swooned the crowd. Screaming had reached a fever pitch.
Criston Moore woos the ladies
After the awards Dirty Spanglish rocked the house with “She’s A Jones Soda”. It was party time in Bakersfield High’s Harvey Auditorium, even though the sound was still too low for rock and roll…
Performing at the end of the show...
The BAKOTOPIA Review
(Click for exclusive photos/vids)
-6th Annual BHS Talent Show, February 8th, 2007, Harvey Auditorium
High school productions don't often move passed the usual song & dance routines most parents are used to year after year, but that was not the case during my visit to the BHS campus last week for the 6th Annual BHS Talent Show.
As photographer Lydia Gonzales and I met local blogger NL Belardes backstage to document the efforts of some of BHS's brightest talent, I was immediately impressed with the professionality and seriousness displayed by participating students.
Directly below the BHS Harvey Auditorium stage, students warmed up, practiced lines, dance steps, card tricks, while others joked around, and behaved as high school kids do, punching each other, laughing, and of course, talking on their cellphones.
Lydia and I immediately approached young punks, Dirty Spanglish, and directed them to a side room for an exclusive interview with one of the more popular bands on the under-21 set.
As we entered the next room, we were greeted by BHS senior, Danielle Alcala, who was also practicing her "Exhibition" act, to perform a selection from "Grease." As an "Exhibition" act, Alcala would not be judged on her peformance, but would perform during the tallying of the votes at the end of the show.
After a nervously funny interview with the Dirty Spanglish boys, and clowning around with some photo taking, it was off to see the talent. But before we headed upstairs, we were stopped by one of the show's performers, Freshman Alix Lamb, who showed us a preview of his act, a cool card trick. We agreed to check it out, and were very impressed. Funny how young kids like Lamb, have the ability to out-do adults attempting to do the same trick. It reminded me of a so-called "professional" local magician, who bored his audience so badly during a show, they gave him the boot after the third try. Not Lamb, he was confident, and had a kind of "punk magic" air about him. Hilarious...
We headed upstairs, entering a side door into the packed Harvey Auditorium.
I haven't been in the Harvey Auditorium, since Kern County Honor Band rehearsals back in the day. It was quite the time warp.
Then...it hit us...."the teen spirit"....
Remember your old locker room? Phewww!!! Turn the air on!!! It was hotter than a
Lamont packing shed in there.
I knew we probably weren't going to last the whole show with funky hot air filling our lungs, but decided it woudn't be very nice to ditch the kids, so we stayed.
After a shaky start, the show began to flow really well, with some very nice vocal acts..
Sophomore Solange Igoa, also the daughter of Bakersfield singer and popular MySpace MILF, Mystic Red, gave a fine rendition of the Simon and Garfunkel classic, "Scarborough Fair."
Magician Alix Lamb was up next, to repeat the trick we saw, but added some new twists involving a Vanilla Pepsi can and some loose pocket change contributed by an audience volunteer. It was a little hard to see the card trick from the audience, unless you had binoculars or bionic vision, but cheers poured over the young Houdini anyway.
Junior Cassie Pederson took the mic next with another vocal offering, the song "Strong Enough." At first I thought she was going to sing the Sheryl Crow song of the same name, but thank god she didn't. I didn't recognize the tune, but she pulled it off, in tune, and too much applause.
Yesterday's Prayer, a guitar duo and drummer trio, did their best to show some emotion, but relied heavily on the eternal strum guiding their song. Unfortunately, the sound system didn't do the band justice. I'm sure in a different setting, the band would have done a much better job. Kudos to the the guys for sticking it out.
The suits came up next with Junior vocalist Criston Moore. Backed by piano accompaniment, the two performed the eternal, "Over The Rainbow." With a combination of lights, clearer sound, and matching suits, class was Moore's game.
After hearing "Rainbow," a million times over the course of my lifetime, I had to force myslef to listen again. Reminding myself this is high school and to be nice again, it was refreshing to hear a soulful rendition of the song with a little RnB influence, even a little falsetto during one of the songs two endings. Bravo! The kid won me over!
Next, it was the dancers turn..
Latin Mix are two BHS couples who combine Broadway inspired choreography, with some added nightclub flavor. Performing a song called, "Cha-cha," this was not your parents version of the dance. As soon as the song started, the dancers tore it up! This was original, and something the audience and myself had been waiting for, real energy! Sliding, swinging, smiling, they had my vote.
A couple more quality singers, and it was time for the moment we had come for, Dirty Spanglish!
Now, I've been in high school talent shows before, and they're not always fair. The bands usually don't get the best attention from the "stage crew," and because musicians don't usually associate with the cheerleaders, they are often considered the outcasts of the "popular" high school social scene. For them, it's all about the stage....
Not this time.
Just the mention of the name, Dirty Spanglish, drew roars of applause. A band finally more popular than the prep scene? Things sure have changed since my day (No, I'm not revealing my high school years,) because the Dirties were throwing down. Performing a tribute to BHS alumni, The Filthies, the quartet could easily be your favorite band,based on the "coolness" factor alone. Good job, ye olde punks of yore!!
Finally the votes were tallied, the hosts took a bow, and the awards were handed out. I can't remember all the winners, but I will tell you this, Dirty Spanglish won "Judges Choice," and crooner Cristin Moore won the top prize.
Great job by the hosts of the evening Sherece Stancil and Tyrone Brazzell, who kept the lengthy show going with their wit and great stage presence. Also, the funky back-up band who performed between acts. Those guys were the BHS's answer to The Roots!
Good job, kiddoes!
-Matt Munoz
www.bakotopia.com
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