Times for May 10th Author Appearance and Signing

I now have a time for the New England Horror Writers group book-signing event on Saturday, May 10th. We'll be at the store from 2:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. The location is Pandemonium Books & Games, 4 Pleasant St., Central Square, Cambridge, MA. The store's phone number is 617-547-3721. Additional information, including directions to the store, may be found at www.pandemoniumbooks.com.

Other participating authors include: Scott Goudsward (Trailer Trash, Shadows Over New England), Henry P. Gravelle (Ten Wide), Nate Kenyon (Bloodstone), Alisa M. Libby (The Blood Confession), Jennifer Polmatier (The Madness Within), L.L. Soares (published in Cemetery Dance, Horror Garage, Lullaby Hearse, and others), and Morven Westfield (Darksome Thirst, The Old Power Returns)

Get a signed copy of Mortal Touch at Pandemonium Books!

On Saturday, May 10th, I'll be appearing at Pandemonium Books in Cambridge, Massachusetts to sign copies of Mortal Touch. I'll be participating in a group event with other members of the New England Horror Writers. We're still waiting to be assigned our time by the book store, but it will be afternoon or evening. I'll post an announcement of the time as soon as I have it. Come and support local writers and get personalized copies of some great books!

My Broadsheet Article and Locus Online

My name is on the home page of Locus Online! I sold an article, "Think Outside the Coffin: Writing the Vampire Novel" to Broad Universe's online magazine, the Broadsheet. The Spring issue is now up. Locus picks up the Broadsheet in its "Blinks" column on the left side of the main page. The new listing reads:

"The Broadsheet for March has an inteview with Beth Massie, art by Jill Bauman, advice on writing a vampire novel by Inanna Arthen, and more."

I needed that!

Reading from Mortal Touch on Saturday, March 29

I'll be reading a short excerpt from Mortal Touch at ConBust in Northampton, Massachusetts on Saturday, March 29 at 11:00 a.m., as part of the Broad Universe Rapid Fire Reading. Broad Universe will also have a dealers' table, where I will be spending some time if anyone wants to stop by and schmooze. Look for the blue hair.

As a special bonus, anyone who buys a copy of Mortal Touch at ConBust can sign up for a free, three-card, five-minute Tarot reading!

By Light Unseen Media is now listed as a writers' market on the excellent website Ralan.com.

Upcoming author appearance and P&E Readers' Poll

My next author appearance will be at ConBust, March 28-30 at Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts. I'll be doing a reading along with other women authors in the Broad Universe Rapid Fire Reading. I haven't yet heard which day and time we'll be given, but when I know, I'll post it here. ConBust pre-registration is closed, but attendees can register at the door. Students at the five-college system will receive a discount on registration. Hope to see you there!

Thanks to everyone who voted for Mortal Touch in the Preditors and Editors Readers' Poll. We made the top 25!

Rapid Fire Reading at Boskone 45

For everyone who may be attending Boskone 45 this weekend, I will be doing a reading from Mortal Touch during the Broad Universe Rapid Fire Reading on Friday evening at 9:00pm.

I'm also organizing the Rapid Fire Reading, so I'd appreciate your support even more! A Rapid Fire Reading is a way of showcasing a group of writers who read short excerpts of their work in quick succession. It's varied, entertaining, and fun! If you'll be at Boskone, stop in and hear some excellent women writers perform their work!

The squeeze on independents--Salon.com

There is an interesting article on Salon.com about the independent film industry. Although independent filmmakers deal with different problems than independent publishers, there are parallels between the two groups. The article discusses how "independent" films are being taken over by subdivisions of the same megaconglomerates that pump out the blockbusters (and own most of the big publishing houses), and how new digital delivery systems are changing the way films and television are experienced. These are the same megaconglomerates that make up the AMPTP, and the sweeping change to individual digital consumption of media is the major focus point of the ongoing WGA Strike.

Some quotes from the article:

"Nobody has a clue how audiences will be watching adventurous, modestly scaled, sub-Hollywood films in five or eight or 12 years, but everybody's pretty sure they won't be watching them the way they are right now."

"Nobody disputes that the Hollywood studios' boutique wings produce, acquire and distribute lots of worthwhile films, but they're simply not playing in the same stadium as genuine independents like IFC or Magnolia or THINKFilm or Samuel Goldwyn, not to mention the many smaller companies clinging to the fringe of the business. As First Run Features vice president Marc Mauceri told me last year, the mini-majors and their upscale, awards-ready product should be understood as 'a side strategy of the Hollywood conglomerates.'"

"The studio specialty divisions, he says, 'release a lot of good movies, and that's terrific. But they are the big gorillas in this little pond, and the way they can play the economics is very different. If something doesn't work, they can absorb the loss. When something does work, they can maximize it and reap the payoff. Their business model is very different from anything a true independent with meager resources can muster.'"

"Over the past year or so, IFC has committed to a refined version of the controversial "day-and-date" release strategy, whereby films are released in a handful of theaters and simultaneously become available via video-on-demand (VOD), or pay-per-view, to cable TV customers."

"'You have to look at how our consumption of media is changing: I watch TV shows on my iPod Nano now, and then there's the YouTube universe and the whole notion of making things for cellphones. It's not up to us to decide what a movie is or how people watch it.' For an entire generation of younger viewers, she adds, watching movies on some version of the small screen has long been the primary mode, and going to a movie theater is a rare and special event."

"'I think we have a new audience and their attention span is different. It might be a cliché, but I really think it's true. There's this social-networking mentality; they're Twittering, they're blogging. There's more commitment to, you know, the experiential moment, and not much commitment to longer moments.'"

With the recent FCC decision to further enable megaconglomerates to monopolize media in whole regions, by removing barriers to companies controlling both broadcast and print outlets in the same city, independent publishers have even more reason to "think outside the box." Like independent filmmakers, we're going to have to be nimble and resourceful, and ready to exploit new avenues of distribution as fast as possible, or the Big Guys will bully their way in first.