I am in the process of making another video post for y’all, but in the meantime, I wanted to announce a few things and discuss a few questions I was recently asked.
SHORT STORIES AND THE STORE:
First off, I’m happy to announce that my short story, “Tom’s Sweaty Headphones,” is now available for download in the Brown Tie store! Just click on the store button above and download the story. Any format is accommodated, so whether you just have a computer or laptop, or if you have an Ipad, Nook, Kindle, and so on, we’ve got the format for you. The price is $2.49 for the download, for which you get a great story!
The t-shirts are also available for purchase in the store. Hats will be made in the next month, and when they are, they will be available for purchase in the store as well.
FREE DOWNLOADS:
My intention is to release one or two short stories a month for download. Occasionally I will offer downloads for free, and the more you check in on this website, the more likely you are to get a free short story download. Just to give you a HINT: people who post comments on my blog are ESPECIALLY likely to get free downloads. Just sayin’…
COMMON QUESTIONS:
Since the release of Confusing the Seasons, I get asked a lot of the same questions, so I wanted to address them here. One of the most common questions, usually from writers, is whether I use an editor or not, both on the book and the short stories. The short answer is yes and no. The book was edited by Cat Morris, who did a fantastic job with it and motivated me to finish the four-billionth revision to get the book in print.
The short stories are sometimes edited, sometimes not. These are stories I decided to release to get them seen, heard, or otherwise off of my hard drive and into your hands. Some have already been published, most have not. A few, such as “Tom’s Sweaty Headphones,” were read at public readings and were received with enthusiasm. This is why I chose to release this story first.
Professional editors have seen my work, and some of the stories will be edited by them. Others will not; the reason I chose to release some of the unedited stories is to bring light to a common problem among writers: the blindness we are subjected to in regard to our writing. Most writers write a story, revise it, edit it as best as they can, and then they send it out to magazines, who almost always have no time to offer critique or feedback. What little feedback we writers get, well, we obsess over it and try to make our stories better.
So, you readers will, in part, be my editors. Tell me what you think of the stories: the good, the bad, ESPECIALLY the bad, so you can be entertained and I can become a better writer. I’m not afraid of harsh feedback, as long as it’s honest. I want to hear it. I need to hear it. And I want to entertain you better. Tell me how.
The other two questions I get asked most often are these:
WHY DID YOU CHOOSE TO SELF-PUBLISH? ISN’T THAT THE KISS OF DEATH?
WHAT THE HELL IS BROWN TIE PUBLISHING? ARE YOU SIGNED TO A CONTRACT?
Okay, let’s start with the self-publishing thing. Kiss of death? Yeah, sometimes. For most people, at least. Maybe for me, we’ll see. Here’s the thing: I’ve been writing a long time, and while I know I still have a lot to learn, I know I wrote a good book. Confusing the Seasons was the fourth novel I wrote, in fact, and the first three, my “warm-up” novels, were mediocre at best. I learned a lot writing those novels, and I made changes accordingly. Confusing the Seasons is the culmination of those changes, and when I decided to go the route of the query letter to agents, I found out something surprising.
Agents seemed to really like the book.
Whenever an agent responds with something other than a form letter, you’re on the right track. A few agents requested manuscript samples. Three requested the full manuscript. All three had good things to say about the manuscript.
They all also said they were not confident they could sell the book because of a decline in readership of literary fiction.
Well, I’m confident.
So after four years of query, revise, query, revise, beat head against wall, query, revise, I decided to try self-publishing because this book is good enough to be in print, and I know there’s a readership out there. I just need to find them. And I will.
Okay, so now let’s talk Brown Tie. Brown Tie Publishing is me. It is not a major publishing house. I decided to brand myself as Brown Tie Publishing because I am not just a writer, but also a photographer, a musician, and, hey, just a swell guy. So Brown Tie is the collection of the projects I am doing, from the novels to the short stories, from the photography to the literary magazine I edit. It’s all Brown Tie. It’s all me.
I have a sometimes-collaborator in Joe Arthur, a photographer out of Connecticut. Joe and I grew up together, and we came up with the Brown Tie moniker when we were putting Waterlogged August magazine together. We went to a Catholic school growing up (we are both subsequently recovering Catholics) and the uniforms at our school included brown slacks, white shirts, and, you guessed it, brown ties. We thought it would be a nice homage to our shared past to name our shared future after the uniform that so defined us during our youths.
So no, I am not signed to any contracts. No blockbuster deals (please offer if you have one), nothing like that. Just me, a writer trying to make it in a tough industry. I’ve got the talent, and I’ve got the drive, I’ve even got the product. Now I just need you, and all your friends, to get excited about the words I’m producing at an alarming rate as of late.
Best to you.
Dan
One of the most frustrating aspects of being a creative professional is the notion that our services are not worth paying for. I think that if our services disappeared, people might realize how much they rely on them. Television and film go away. News goes away. Ads go away. Anything worth spending time on really goes away.
I found this video on Facebook. It was posted by Von Wong Photography (whose work I think is phenomenal), and I think it hits the nail on the head. If you only have five minutes, just watch the first five minutes. If you have a few more minutes than that and are in the creative field, watch the whole thing. It’s important.
2011/03 Mike Monteiro | F*ck You. Pay Me. from SanFrancisco/CreativeMornings on Vimeo.
Hey Folks,
As many of you know, in addition to my photo duties, I am also a photographer. I did a really fun shoot yesterday with Kathleen Raye, and the pin-up shots came out amazing! You can check them out in a few days at D2 PHOTOGRAPHY, as well as on FACEBOOK or FLICKR.
You can also see the FULL SIZE VIDEO.
If anyone reading this lives in the Pittsburgh area, you should really consider checking out this cool event:
Fleeting Pages
Direct link HERE
The most exciting part: Confusing the Seasons will be stocked there! I sent off five copies today, so they should be there when it all starts! Go by the store and pick up your copy.
I love the concept behind this: they are taking one of the closed Borders bookstores and reopening it for a short period of time, stocking indie and self-published authors, among other things. What a fantastic way to support literature in a tumultuous time in the industry. Please go support this if you are in or near Pittsburgh.
In other news, many of you know I am also a photographer. I’ve got a really fun shoot lined up tomorrow with a great model. We’re going to do some pin-up shots with a cool Harley motorcycle as a prop. Really looking forward to it!
The reason I bring it up is because as a photographer and a writer, I always feel that pull to do something meaningful with my talents. That’s why I came up with 21st CENTURY ARTISTS. I’ve gotten a few e-mails that are very supportive of the project, which I certainly appreciate, but the project won’t happen without your donations! Even small donations help, so please click on the link and donate now.
If I reach my funding goal, cool rewards are available for those who donate. Check out the kickstarter project page for details.
OTHER THINGS COMING UP SOON:
—The store should be up and running on Monday. T-shirts will be for sale, as will the book (of course) and my favorite, a PDF download of my short story, “Tom’s Sweaty Headphones.” Keep an eye open!
ONE LAST THING before I go:
If you haven’t done so already, please become a fan on Facebook. You can click HERE to do it. When I reach 200 fans (I am currently at 140) I will PERMANENTLY drop the price of the Kindle version of Confusing the Seasons, and I will be giving out discount codes for the hard copy. In addition, fans number 200-202 will receive FREE SIGNED COPIES of the book.
Howdy all, here’s a video of me! I’m talking! Like a real person!
I promise video quality will improve once I get my hands on an HD camera, but here’s a basic intro to the site. More videos to come (with some interesting and fun content, of course!).
Brown Tie T-Shirts
Until the online store is up and running, the best way to get one is to e-mail me through the CONTACT page and ask for one. I will give you instructions from there. The cost is $19.
FEEDBACK:
I’ve been getting a lot of good feedback about the book lately, mostly from folks who have read it and contacted me via e-mail to tell me how much they loved it. That’s great! That makes me happy to hear.
But now I need your help: please tell people about the book! Review it on Amazon! Make your Facebook status a link to my website for a day! If you loved the book, help me spread the word about it so more people can love the book.
DONATE:
I have also included a DONATE button at the bottom of the home page. The money I get through those donations will go toward further books, stories, and projects, as well as paying for web design and hosting, and other items such as t-shirts and hats. The more you donate, the more I can write and make available here on the site.
Scroll down. Click that donate button…you know you want to. Every person who donates will have their names listed on this site as a patron of the arts.
SPEAKING OF PROJECTS:
I got approval from Kickstarter.com to move forward with my project, “21st Century Artists.” The project went live today and can be found by clicking here: 21st CENTURY ARTISTS! My goal is $7500 to publish a book and make a short film with original music performed by yours truly. Please check it out, and spread the word. Tell all your friends about this project; it has the potential to be really great.
In other news, it’s snowing here in Flagstaff, AZ. Last weekend it was 75 degrees and sunny. Today it is 30 degrees and there’s a foot of snow on the ground. That’s spring in a mountain town for you, I suppose. I spent all day inside writing and reading today. Not a bad consolation prize…Tomorrow, a day on the slopes for AZ Snowbowl’s last day of the season!
Just got the proofs for the Brown Tie Publishing T-shirts, which should be available in late April. Here’s what they look like:
Now you can look smart by wearing a shirt that says “Publishing” on it!
Some of you may be confused as to exactly what Brown Tie Publishing is. It’s not exactly a company; it’s sort of what PUSCIFER is to Maynard James Keenan, for any TOOL fans out there. It’s an imprint I use for all the projects I do, the books I publish, the photos I take…it’s sort of like my creative cave, where I crawl in to scrawl on the walls and come out a better person. My good friend, JOSEPH ARTHUR, often crawls in there, too, and our first joint effort under the Brown Tie label was an online magazine called WATERLOGGED AUGUST.
So there you have it. If it says Brown Tie on it, either Joe or I created it…and we will probably continue to do so. Enjoy the Brown Tie, and all the mustard stains, wrinkles, and creases that come along with it.
…I just have too many blogs to write for.
But I’m starting here! I’ve been writing a lot about what’s going on with the book, and while that’s important of course, I thought it might be more interesting to see what else is happening as I plug away at marketing.
So here are a few updates in general about writing, photographing, and other things big and small in my world.
Let’s start here:
This here is the new logo for Brown Tie Publishing, which is the imprint I used for the book. It was created by FILMOSITY PRODUCTIONS. It is the parent “company” for all of my projects, written or otherwise. The story of Brown Tie Publishing goes back to my childhood in Connecticut, and my best friend Joe and I decided this was to be our imprint. Here’s a link to a poem I wrote about Brown Ties growing up.
Some of you may know this already, but I fancy myself a fartographer as well. This here’s one of my photos from a shoot I did last fall with Maraka. I would encourage you to check out my PHOTOGRAPHY WEBSITE as well, or my FLICKR ACCOUNT. Photography’s a relatively new passion for me (within the last four years), and I am currently working on a few photo projects that I’m pretty excited about. One is a shoot coming up in two weeks in which I will be shooting a model named Kathleen who is interested in doing a pin-up shoot. I have lined up a motorcycle and a vintage car for backdrops and props, and Kathleen fits the part of a pin-up model exceptionally well.
The other project I am excited about is a combination of writing, photography, and music, all of which I will be combining to create a multi-faceted publication—or, publications, I should say–that will ultimately end up for sale on this site as well as another that I have in mind. I can’t give you too many details at the moment, but I’m hoping to have the idea up on Kickstarter.com fairly soon so it can be funded. Suffice it to say that it’s ambitious, and it will be well worth the low cost for the final product(s).
Photo courtesy of Kusha!
See? That’s me, fartographing. I have spared you the photo taken shortly before this one, in which my butt crack is on full display. No need to thank me.
A few other things you might like to know about me:
I ride bikes.
Fashion Statement.
In fact, much of my life has been dictated by bikes, where I can ride, when I can ride next, and what injuries I have suffered while riding. I tell you this because it is likely I will mention a great ride I had, and it is important that you know what kind of ride I am talking about. This will prevent misunderstandings:
Me: Just had a great ride.
You: On what?
See? I am giving you useful information for navigating my extremely complex life. Take notes.
Something else you should know about me: I used to be a high school English teacher.
Mr. Cavallari, or Mr. Kotter?
I really enjoyed the time I spent in the classroom…I enjoy them more as memories. My blood pressure thanks me every day for not teaching anymore.
So, to boil it all down, I am and have been many things, and through it all I have been a writer. This website, this book I’ve been trying to foist upon you, is an intersection in the middle of a long road, and I’m glad you’re standing at the crossroads with me. Perhaps you can help me decide where to go next…
Howdy folks.
If you live in Flagstaff, you have three new ways to purchase my book. The following businesses now have copies in stock, so you can save money on shipping by buying there:
—Starrlight Books
I’ve been working on several short stories, and many of them will be available for PDF download very soon!
In other news, I am putting out the APB for a good voice actor who would be interested in reading the audio book version of ‘Confusing the Seasons.’ If you are interested, please get in touch with me through the CONTACT page on this website.
