I am obviously a teen at heart. (Maybe in my maturity level too.)
Somehow I always fall in love the CW or Fox shows.
Why?
Good question: I will tell you my top 5 reasons (besides #1 these are in no particular order :):
1. Paul Wesley and Ian Somerhalder - Honestly do I have to say any more? All I can say is "Yes please!" OK so who cares if they are dead, who cares if they have fangs, and who cares if they have anger management issues - I say "the more to love them with". (Oh wait, all that stuff is pretend, right?) 2. Vampire Diaries - This shows takes a good bite out of my Thursday nights and I love it! Obviously, a natural follow-up to #1. The show is awesome and follows the amazing books of LJ Smith )who BTW was wayyyyyyy before Stephanie Meyer. Like in the 90s before. This shows manages to get me to have 2 heart stops, 2 jumps, and 1 squeal - in each episode! Yes the jumping out of the trees and popping up in mirrors is probably predictable - but hey call me slow.
3. Glee - This show makes me happy! Why? because I see my life as a musical anyway - really! (check out the post I did on my life's soundtrack). Every time Lea Michele (AKA Rachel) sings - chills run down my spin and goose bumps form on my arms. The inappropriateness of the Principal, Coach Sue, and others crack me up. Yes I love inappropriate humor (as long as it is not about me!:) Mr Shu is a cutie pie, the music rocks, but most of all, Jane Lynch (Coach Sue) is hilarious.
Jane - you had me at Best in Show!!!
4. Dollhouse - All I can say is Echo is a bada$$! I love her guts and the concept is so cool. I mean - a illegal and underground group of people who have their personalities wiped clean so they can get any new personas. Plus they all have eternal amnesia - what a world! How cool is that! Wish I'd thought of it! Oh yeah, and JossWhelon (who wrote Buffy) - can't wait to see your episode on Glee!!! Maybe Coach Sue and Mr Shu can have a rocking fight scene.
5. CW and Fox Reality shows - Give me Top model, Runway, American Idol, or So You Think You Can Dance any day. I love seeing regular people make it. OK OK so maybe it's staged, but I'll take a fake "making it" over no "making it" any day. Makes me think everyone has a shot in this business if you keep pushing for it.
It gives me hope and I love the see the underdog win.
PS maybe tomorrow I will list my next 5! Yes, that's right, the teen list goes on. Maybe Ill even start a feature called Teen Tuesday where I will list another teen thing I love.
Who saw gLee last night? Was it not hilarious? I love those shows where you miss something as you are laughing. Thanks goodness for TIVO.
Favorite lines? (Most are from Sue :) and I laughed just writing these.
Sue: That was the most offensive thing I've seen in 20 years of teaching and that includes an elementary school production of Hair.
Sue: I took the liberty of highlighting some special ed classes. I'm sure you can find some recruits.
Mr Shu: Come up liven up - this is Disco!
Sue: You need 12 kids to qualify for Regionals. You have 5.5 including the cripple."
Sue - Hey buddy. I was just blasting my hammies. You want an iron tablet, it keeps your energy up while you're menstruating.
Principal Figgins: The toilets are broken again and they are being fixed. Let me warn you. We have zero tolerance for anyone soiling on school grounds.
Principal Figgins: I have not seen the student body this excited since Tiffany performed at the North Hills Mall!
Principal Figgins - I have provided a list of family friendly songs that reflect our community's values. Besides Jesus and balloons, there are also songs about the cirrus.
Principal Figgins: The dry cleaners here are just as good as the ones in Europe.
Sue: You remind me of a younger Sue Sylvester. Though you don't really have my bone structure.
In honor of Glee, I am going to do a post for authors on how they can....
Push it Real Good!
So I thought I would get back to doing some marketing posts besides my Marvelous Marketer series on Mondays and my Marketing Roundup on Fridays. I think I've been rambling too much about me lately.
Today, is for authors who has books out in the world or coming soon.
There are many things every author can do to PUSH their book out into the world.
1) The Gab factor-
Look for any place that you can reach kids or their parents. Bookstores, libraries, clubs, churches, chamber of commerce, schools, colleges, PTAs, writers clubs, workshops, seminars, conferences, book fairs, festivals, conventions, .
No matter what, provide an experience. Think about ways to get your audiences attention. For example: Christopher Paolini toured middle schools across the country dressed in medieval garbs as his character Eragon.
The More the merrier - Invite your customers or audience to your speaking engagements. Post them on your web site.
Do interviews on radio, TV, newspapers, and magazines.
2) The Write Way
Write an article for a group newsletter.
Write emails and letters to the media, bookstores, anyone who may be interested, about your book.
Create your own newsletter and send to people you meet (be sure to get permission and their emails!)
Write a series. Get a following.
Blog
3) You can't do it alone
Work with locals- they are generally happy to work with local authors. Especially libraries and independent bookstores. Personal connections always works.
Become a joiner. Join and be an active member in the appropriate trade and social associations. Help others.
Form alliances. Create a buddy system with another writer especially in different locations. Hook up for signings, tours. You can also promise to promote each other's work. For example, when you to a bookstore - you make sure your book and their book is in stock.
Do it for Charity - partner up with a charity you love and offer X% of profits in exchange for advertising, speaking engagements etc.
Be a teacher - teach a class at a college. teach a class to kids. Find a way to teach others about your subject.
Join groups like myspace, facebook, twitter where you can reach a lot of people fast.
4) And the winner is...
Submit your book to the appropriate contests for awards or honors.
Awards are listed in the Literary Marketplace and a book called The Writers Resource Handbook.
Nominations or honorable mentions are just as good as winning.
Run your own contests. Give away books to the winners.
5) Make it newsworthy
Get reviews. Not just from from major national book reviewers. Look for local or special interest media that do reviews. Free magazines in Atlanta can get up to 20,000 issues out.
Use galleys and any copies you buy in A SMART WAY.
Do not send out books or galleys until you have personally contacted the person and they are expecting it.
Have a press/media kit ready to send.
6) Repeat!
Make 5 contacts a day - mail a letter, make a call, send out a press release,
The rule of 7 - Did you know the average seller has to touch a consumer 7 times in 18months to get a sale. This means your buyer sees an ad, reads an interview, sees a review etc. Those are all touches.
To me, as a marketing professional, if your book is published and has not sold, you are either not marketing it right or not marketing it at all.
OK guys. I finally got around to watch last week's episode on GLee. It is amazing.
There are so many things to love about this show!
Top 10 reasons GLEE gives me glee!
10) It's funny. I laughed in alot of places. Some of the comments made me shake my head b/c they are so true, yet so sad to hear. And yes I even got teary at the end when the kids were all on stage dancing and singing. I am a sucker!
9) Love how the show has the same ole stereotypes yet still seems fresh. Agents and editors are always saying "this is a stereotype!" but these types of people still exist and they still work if you do them right. You just have to tie in a little something different. A jock who likes to sing. A cheerleader who likes to pray. A geeky girl who is confident and knows she's talented. And, the teacher who wants to save the underdogs yet instead of a sports team or poor school, it is a glee club. Just goes to show you can still make it work!
8) Emma (the school counselor) is too cute. At first, I did not want to like her - she was all in skirts, heels and silky tops. But I love that she wears plastic gloves when she sits in the teachers lounge. She also draws hearts around Mr Shu's pictures in her school book. A counselor who's a bit nuts is always fun, yet so endearing you already want Mr Shu to dump his phony wife and hook up with Emma! And its only been one show.
7) Terri (Mr Shu's wife) sux! First off, I have never gravitated towards really "crafty people" so the crafty thing bugs me. She even complains about having a cheap glue gun! (sorry to all you crafty bloggers - I love you as long as you are cool about it!) Mostly, I have a HUGE bias against people who try to prevent others from living their dreams in total happiness just because they want more money or a different status.
6) Love the music! They covered many decades of music just in the first show. My fav - the 80s twist! The song matched with the mullet guy. "Don't stop believing" by Journey used to be my favorite song when I was 11. I was in 6th grade and at a private school where kids used to throw rocks at me. I was miserable but only there for a year. It was a traumatizing year for many reasons, but this song (along with Air Supply!) pulled me through. (BTW I love Steve Perry - how can you not? the acid wash jeans, the hair, the leopard shirt??)
5) Poor Artie (wheelchair kid) is adorable. When I was in high school, my best friend Lauren, had cystic fibrosis (excess mucus in her throat body) and she especially struggled when she sang in the Glee/chorus club. But she loved to sing more than anything and fought through it. She deteriorated after high school and died when I was away in college. Poor Lauren. It amazed me (even then) how people would be so mean when they had no idea what a person was really going through. While they were worried about their hair, Lauren was worried at what age she was going to die. Back then in the 80s - the life expectancy was only 18!
4) Rachel - OMG. She has an amazing voice. I mean the kind that gives you chills. It's so clear and effortless. I used to sing in a Jazz band and sometimes wonder if I should have continued onto be a singer. I had so many opportunities that I passed by. Rachel makes me miss singing. When I was in high school, I wanted nothing more than to be on Broadway.
3) Coach Sue - I love Jane Lynch - loved her in Mighty Wind and Best in Show. In Role Models - her best line was "Don't mess with me. I used to have cocaine for breakfast." She's just as funny in this show. She calls her cheerleading squad "the Cherrios", drinks Protein shakes, and is a real meany. But she makes me laugh. The funniest line so far? "You think this is hard? Living with hepatitis is hard!"
2) Mr Shu is Gleeky hottie. Do you know how you know when a man is hot? He's cute. He sings. He play guitar. He loves kids. He wears button down sweaters and gets away with it. Oh yeah - and he makes John Denver's "I'm leaving on a jet plane." sound like a cool song again. I miss my Denver albums: Rhymes and Reasons and Poems and Prayers (yes I said albums!) - used to play them all the time. Yay! All us old people can now be cool again because we know all the words!!!
1) OK confession time!!! The main reason I like this show the most because I was in the Glee Club/Chorus in my high school. (Now lets see how many people UNfollow my blog!!!) Yes I was a Gleek!! But I was also a cheerleader (Don't ask!) and so I was teased about it by football team/other sportzy people. But I loved it and didn't really care.(not b/c of a high self esteen b/c I hated to be told what to do!) I played Rizzo in our school Grease rendition and also one of the leads in "Little Whorehouse of Texas" (which probably was not appropriate for high school???? now that I think about it). So I totally relate to this show. Too much.
You can still watch the pilot episode and the new season begins on Sept 9th (this wed).
If you write for kids, you will love this show. It is a glimpse into high school.
