Uhuruland

Just this past weekend I had the opportunity to meet with the Just Us Girls Book Club to discuss Meji Book One. The ladies selected my book for their October read. I was nervous; this was my first book club meeting  when my book was the center of attention. I’m happy to say they loved the book. It was a great meeting with seven lovely ladies (my wife included). We had good food and good conversation. I’m always fascinated by what people gain from a story and these ladies were no exception. I was flattered by their interest and enthusiasm. I made a promise that I would debut Book Two with them. If any of my new friends are reading this, thank you for taking the time to read my book. I’m looking forward to our next meeting!

Just a quick note; I’ll be signing copies of Meji Book One at Medu Book Store in Greenbriar Mall, Atlanta, GA Saturday,  October 18th from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. I’ll be giving away free Meji posters with purchases. Come on out and meet your favorite sword and soul author. I’m looking forward to it!

Well it’s October and the oven we call summer is finally beginning to cool down. The economy is in the tank, gas is not (at least in the ATL)  and I’m still selling books. I have a busy October; I’m the featured guest at my daughter’s high school writing club, I have a book signing at Medu Books in Greenbriar Mall and a meet the author session at the local Starbucks AND a meeting with a local book club that just recently purchased eight copies of Meji. I’m seeing more interest on the internet, but I’m still waiting on the sales. It’s progress, and based on the economic climate I guess I shouldn’t complain.

Anyway, I’m also making progress on future projects. Meji Book Two is in the editing phase and I’m close to completing my latest WIP, A Debt To Pay. I have two manuscripts waiting in the wings. Changa’s Safari is the first book of a trilogy following the exploits of Changa Diop, a 14th century merchant/adventurer. I’ll be posting a prequel story about Changa soon on my site. The other manuscript, The Possesion, is an introduction to the world of the Sivads, the main characters of A Debt To Pay. It’s a medevial type fantasy set in the Southeastern United States, so the background weighs heavily on my personal experience growing up down south. It’s a fun piece that I think you’ll enjoy.

That’s it for now. Stay tuned for further developments.

So it’s Wednesday after work and I’m rushing to meet my printer to pick up my second printing of Meji Book One. I’m in a hurry because I’m trying to make a book signing by R.A. Salvatore at Wordsmith Books in  Decatur, GA, which is across town from where I’m heading. I pull up at Starbucks early, order a mocha Frappicino and wait.

I call Thomas to let him know I’m waiting. He calls me back and says he’s going to be late because of traffic. So I wait as the time winds down. It’s 7:00 pm, the book signing starts at 7:30 pm. Finally Thomas pulls up and I go outside to meet him. I back my Honda up to his van to transfer the books. I open the box to check out the books and then I take one out to sign for Thomas. I forgot to do that on the first run. Just as I’m handing Thomas the book a young brother runs up to us and speaks to Thomas. He asks Thomas if that is his book and Thomas points at me.

“You’re the author?” he asks

“Yeah,” I replied.

The brother gets excited. “I’ll be right back.”

Thomas gets excited, too.

“Milton, that’s Relentless!”

“Who?”

“Relentless Aaron! This brother is the biggest Street Lit author out there. He just signed a major six figure book deal, and started just like us!”

You can see the rest of the story here: http://urbanlit.ning.com/video/video/show?id=2264198:Video:2092

Well it’s been a while so I thought I’d update you on what’s going on with Sword and Soul in the ATL. We sold our first 200 books, a significant milestone. I’d like to personally thank all my family, friends old and new, and new fans for purchasing and I hope you are enjoying Meji Book One. Our next 200 books are on the way! To celebrate we’re running a September special. Order during this month and shipping is free for domestic orders. If you join the Black Science Fiction Society (www.blacksciencefictionsociety.com) you get a free Meji Poster as well. We only have 75, so don’t waste time because it’s first come, first served. The sale of the second printing will finance the publishing for Meji Book Two. I hope to have Book Two available before Christmas.

I attended the Decatur Book Festival and enjoyed the experience. I was actually suppose to be a participant at the Emerging Writers Tent, but my application was lost. To be honest, I’m glad it was. The ‘tent’ turned out to be the gazebo behing the old Decatur courthouse. The site became the rest stop for folks to eat while barely paying attention to writers reading sections of their books. Kind of a captive/disinterested audience. Sometimes bad things happen for the good reasons.

If your looking for Meji in bookstores, try Medu Books in Greenbriar Mall, Atlanta, GA and Nubian Bookstores in Southlake Mall, Morrow, GA. I’m working on other locations as well, two in Decatur and one in Cobb County. Of course you can always visit our site, www.mvmediaatl.com. If you have any suggestions for us, please let us know. In my next blog I’ll let you in on some new projects I’m working on. In the meantime, Peace!

Last weekend I had a book signing at Medu Bookstore in Greenbriar Mall, Atlanta, GA. In addition to my books, I took along a few books by some other aspiring writers. I gave the books to Nia, Medu’s owner, to look at while I did my thing. The book signing was slow but promising, and I’m sure I’ll do another one there again. As I packed up to leave, Nia asked me to get in touch with my writer friends to get in touch with her. One of my friends, Ronald T. Jones, has already committed a few books for her.

What’s my point? This is an example of bootstrap marketing. It took little effort on my part to show these books, which resulted in an opportunity for my friends. As a self published writer you have to seek any and all opportunities to promote your work. By networking with fellow writers you gain effective access to their local markets and opportunities. You get the inside track because hopefully your writer friends have just as good relationships with their local bookstores as you do.

Next project? My comic book friends. I hope they’re ready!

I’m in the grind now. I’ve sold books to most of the people I know and people they know. It’s all new now, and it’s tough. This is the part of doing your own thing I apparently blocked out. Victoria Murray made a comment during her book signing that sums it up. I spoke to her before the signing began and told her I was a self publisher. During her talk she told us that she self published her first book, but the problem she had with the process was the first word, self. You have to do everything yourself; writing, editing, cover design, printing, advertising, etc. It’s true, it’s work, but that part I can handle. It’s the feeling of venturing into unknown territory that’s challenging. As far as  I know there are no Sword and Soul fans in Atlanta. I’m creating them with every book I sell, hopefully. So you feel like a street corner preacher sometimes, delivering the word while nobody’s listening. At the same time every book I sell is like a seed being planted. The best reward is when that person returns to buy a copy or two  for a friend or relative. That’s when I know I’m making progress; that’s when the hill doesn’t seem so steep.

The book signing at Nubian Book Store was slow but encouraging. For all those in Atlanta reading this we have 5 books on the shelf. Marcus was a gracious and encouraging host and I’m sure we’ll be doing another one, hopefully around Christmas. My next signing is at Medu in Greenbriar Mall, August 16th from 4:30 pm to 6:30 pm. Come on by, sit a spell, buy a book and let’s talk.

I had the opportunity to go to a book signing for Victoria Christopher Murray, a successful Christian fiction novelist in Atlanta for the weekend for the a national book club convention. I hadn’t planned on going, but I’m glad I did. I came on the urging of Nia, owner of Medu Books in Greenbriar Mall. It was learning experience, indeed. Mrs. Murray was entertaining and candid, and her fans appreciated her words and her wit. Nia introduced me to her prior to the signing and she was gracious enough to share information on her early years in the publishing business, including a stint as a self-publisher. Victoria was already a success in her own business before she sold the business to write; with her intelligence and personality her success as a writer was a given. I would suggest any aspiring writer to take part in one of her book signings, even if your not a fan of Christian Fiction. You’ll learn so much.

The National Black Arts Festival celebrated its 20th anniversary this year. I had a chance to visit the Artist’s Market at the Georgia World Congress Center as well as the Vendors Market at Cenntennial Park. Though I spent less time participating in the Festival, this had to be my most rewarding experience so far. For the first time I felt more like a participant. I talked to many of the vendors about their works and mine, and I met a few kindred spirits along the way. One in particular was Andrea Rushing, a fabulous artist from San Diego. The artwork he displayed was pure Sword and Soul, regal images of Afrocentric kings and queens with expressions that hinted at the stories behind the works. It was as if Andrea had read my stories and illustrated them. We talked for longer than we should; I gave him a book in hopes that we can collaborate in the future. His website is restricted, but do a search on his name and you’ll find some amazing art.

Another amazing artist was Obasogie Aimiuwu, www.oduwaarts.com. Obasogie’s art leaned on more traditional West African themes with beautiful images inspired by the great obas and their courts. I was truly inspired by his work as well, with one particular piece standing out in my mind. It was a long piece of an Oba flanked by his priest and retinue carrying traditional swords.

The two days were so stimulating for me, providing a wealth of images to add to my present and future stories. It’s always disappointing to me not to be able to purchase the artwork I really love. These painting are expensive, but they’re worth ever dime. I’m sure that MVmedia will definitely be a patron of such artists in the future. Our gallery will be a sight to see indeed!

I did my second book signing at the Cascade Road Starbucks last Saturday. The traffic was light, so I didn’t sell many books. However, I did sell 4 books, 4 more than I would have sold if I stayed at home. I also made a couple of good contacts. Allen of Infinite Wisdom Production (myspace.com/Infinite_Wisdom_Pro) holds a spoken word joint at Starbucks the first Saturday of the month. He invited me to come out and read a section of my novel, which I plan to do. I also met Ronnie Houton of Huview Productions (404-808-3795), a young brother that makes video trailers. In addition I met a few folks that are members of book clubs that plan to present the book to their members. So all in all it wasn’t so bad.

My son finally completed our book trailer for Meji. Check it out at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=doUJr8l_j28

I think you’ll enjoy it. Well, back to the grind!