Andrew Chapman An Authors Life, The Other Stuff, TikTok

Using TikTok to Build a Readership. #1

TikTok is a social media app that mostly involves lip syncing teenagers and dance routines. It is not a place for literature… Seems like the perfect place to chisel out a niche.

If you are unfamiliar with the format, here are the basics:

There are three ways to post content; a 15 second video, a 60 second video, or a photo montage.

You can easily add special effects and filters. You are limited to 100 characters in your description, which must include your hashtags.

You film your short video, post it, and with any luck you start to amass likes and followers.

I am new to TikTok but I thought it might be interesting to share any insights and tips that I glean along the way.

Here is the first TikTok I made with my manifesto –

https://m.tiktok.com/v/6781552820412763398.html?u_code=d75g03f9lil9kf&preview_pb=0&language=en&timestamp=1579162652

I’m writing a dark fairy tale horror based on the Brothers Grimm story, Gnome. I will be documenting my progress and process regularly.

I will also be posting writing tips (sometimes serious, and sometimes not so serious, as in the TikTok below).

https://vm.tiktok.com/XwphSb/

It is important as authors that we experiment with different ways of reaching and interacting with readers. This TikTok thing might crash and burn, but it might not. Either way I’ll be doing weekly updates with stats right here on my blog. So please follow me if you are curious about how this goes. Maybe you’ll decide to take to TikTok too, in which case you must let me know; we’ll do a duet.

I’ll get into TikTok duets in another post but, should I gain momentum, a duet is a way of giving new TikTokers an introduction to like minded followers. We’ll grow together.

The link below will take you straight to my TikTok profile. Feel free to cringe at my early attempts at content. Eesh. It’s a learning process, right? And don’t forget to press that follow button!

https://m.tiktok.com/v/6781552820412763398.html?u_code=d75g03f9lil9kf&preview_pb=0&language=en&timestamp=1579162652

So, I’ve been on TikTok for three days so far. At the bottom of each TikTok update on this site I’ll publish my stats so you can see my growth and decide if it would be a worthwhile venture for yourself.

I’ll share my failed posts, my successful ones, everything; the good and the bad. Things are going to get experimental and weird. Until next time.

Andy

Andrew Chapman 2A1J, Podcast

2A1J Episode 2 – The Rambling Sickness

In episode two of the 2A1J Podcast Andy and Rachel are very sick. But they persevere against adversity to bring you another brilliant, thrilling, funny, and all-round okay podcast.

We talk about the progress of our novellas, we answer listener questions, talk about moths and Blackadder, and generally make each other laugh.

Andrew Chapman 2A1J, Podcast

2A1J Episode 1 – The Plan

In Episode One of 2A1J Andrew has a rant about novellas and puts forward his case for why they are brilliant and should be read by all. Rachel and Andrew discuss what makes a novella a novella. They outline their plan for the podcast moving forwards and, at the end of the episode, reveal the ideas for the two novellas they will be writing over the next three months.

Find us on Twitter @2A1Jpod for updates, and be the first to hear about new episodes by heading over to 2A1J.wordpress.com and signing up as a member.

You can follow Rachel on Instagram and Twitter @RachyPetalFace

And Andrew can be stalked @AndyChapWriter on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

Andrew Chapman 2A1J, Podcast

2A1J episode 1 coming on Twosday…

Two Authors One Journal (2A1J) podcast is nearly here! Tune in on Twosday (haha) 25th June for episode 1.

Me and Rachel Howells have been recording the sounds of a typewriter and layering a guitar over it for our opening jingle and it sounds bloody brilliant.

On Twosday’s episode we’ll be talking about novellas and inviting you to write along with us as we start to come up with ideas for the two novellas we will be writing over the next 3 months.

Two authors, two novellas, three months to write them and three months to edit, create book covers, and build up to an Christmas release in paperback and Kindle.

We can’t wait to start writing our new novellas and bring you into our creative writing process.

Follow me to keep updated. If you want to be the first hear about new episodes you can send me a private message with your email address and we’ll be creating a mailing list where you’ll get a weekly message saying, “It’s here, check it out!”

You can follow Rachel on social media. She is @rachypetalface on Instagram and Twitter.

I am @AndyChapWriter on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

We’ll have a proper sign up page set up soon for the mailing list but for now you can message either of us on any of our social media accounts.

Andrew Chapman Wode House, Words and Writers

The Proof is in the Post-it Note!

Holding the proof copy of Wode House by my beautiful and talented partner, Rachel Howells (@rachypetalface).

We are one day away from the big launch! Tomorrow, Monday, 3/6/19, is the day. Write it in biro on the back of your hand so you don’t forget. Put a post-it note on the foreheads of your children (in case the ink rubs off your hand). Spray paint the side of your vehicle so you are reminded on the way to work. Whatever you do don’t miss the opportunity to be one of the first to read this highly anticipated debut novel.

Click on one of the link below to get your copy.

Or, if link-clicking isn’t your thing, search for Wode House Rachel Howells, in the Amazon search bar.

Andrew Chapman An Authors Life

I’m back…

sheep

I couldn’t afford the next yearly payment for the andychapwriter.com domain name so I haven’t had access to my own site for a while. Finally things have reverted to andychapwriter.wordpress.com and I’m back in. In the new year I will pay for the domain again but for now we are slumming it.

So what’s been happening, I hear you ask? But of course you’re not asking that because you’ve probably never been here before. I’m going to tell you anyway. Much has changed. I won’t tell you about the awesome life changes that have happened. The woman who has changed everything. A move into the home of my dreams (if you are imagining a mansion you are on the wrong path. If you are imaging bookshelves stuffed with books, a globe bar, brown leather seats, a writing desk, then you are on the right track).

This is a website about my writing, so let’s talk about that instead. This woman I mentioned earlier, she’s the catalyst. She’s a writer too. We sit there, both of us, at night, she has a coffee, I have a glass of wine, and we write. Side by side. When we are done with our evening’s writing we read it to each other. And then we high-five and dance around laughing and shouting things like, “We are so fucking great!” and “This is going to change literature forever!” and then we cry because we are afraid that we might be just a bit too great. Genius s a burden, dear reader.

There has been a big change in my writing. My first two books were 40,000 word novellas. They were comedies. That’s what came out naturally. The books were well received and praised for their effortless humour (I’m in a bragging mood), and so I did what any good author would do when he’s on to something, I completely turned my back on it and started writing horror.

It’s my first attempt at writing a full length novel and it is flying out of me. I’ve never had so much fun writing. Those previous two books took well over a year to complete, in fact it was closer to two years. I started my current novel in September and am already at 35,000 words. And, if I can credit myself with some objectivity, they’re pretty good words too. The characters are strong, the story is good, the fear is working. I discovered that making someone laugh, and making someone afraid, are very closely related.

I haven’t just opened a word file and thought, what can I write that will really scare someone? I had an idea. It was to do with an old game’s console. I won’t go into what the story is about, not yet, but it is set in 2002 and is connected to events that happened in 1992. It has given me a chance to play with my own nostalgia in the writing. The characters took over the book completely. I barely have to write them, they are real and alive.

I know how the book ends but I don’t know exactly what’s happening from here to there. I’m halfway through. The story seems to know where it’s going. The characters seem to know for sure. It’s not like making something up. It’s more like excavating a story that’s already there. It’s like an archaeological dig. It is revealing itself one careful brush stroke at a time.

This post is getting a bit long. I will write more, the more I write. I’ll tell you about my partner and her book. I will reveal more about my own. Until then, farewell!

Andrew Chapman Author Interviews, Uncategorized

Author Interview – James Blakley

James Blakley AuthorQuestion 1: Who are you and what have you written (Most recent book, no synopsis).

I’m James, a fellow mystery writer who lives in The States, specifically Kansas. And my most recent novel is The Diamond Head Deception.

Question 2: If you had to paint a portrait of any author who would it be?

I’d probably do a self portrait. (lol) Not out of narcissism or solipsism, but because I was an assistant public librarian for over a decade, and as such had to constantly promote and protect hundreds of other authors’ writings. So, now it’s my turn to earn “15 minutes”, to borrow from Mr. Warhol.

Wuestion 3: Why did you start writing?

I started writing because that’s one of my talents. I began at about 7 years old, writing mostly action and adventure stories on notebook paper and illustrating them with colored pens or pencils. Then, I would staple the pages together and voila, I’d published a book! I wrote easily 100 such “paperbacks” into my early teens.

From 16 until my early 20’s, I wrote for and section edited my high school and college newspapers–and they were still paper back then, no online edition. I win local and national awards for journalism, but went into library work for nearly 12 years. I only picked up the pen again about 7 years ago and wrote a string of multicultural mystery novels.

Kwestion 4: Where do you write? Do you have a shed like Roald Dahl, or a special room away from the other people in your house. Maybe you write at work when you should be working like that Terry Pratchett did. You should be careful, if your boss catches you you’re done for. Personally I write in my pajamas.

I can write business reports on the job, not fiction. When fiction writing, I do it on off work and from an IPad, smartphone, laptop, or desktop. I even revert back to jotting down ideas on primitive paper with dead tree utensils called pencils. (lol)

Question 5: Today a dog untied my shoe laces.

That would’ve been a leading headline back in the day. Now, it would only lead if your dog laced them together so you would trip and fall and sue him in a court case that would get nationwide news coverage.

Question 6: Do you think question 5 needs to be rephrased?

SPECIAL BULLETIN: DOG UNTIES SHOES. OWNER SUES.

Question 7: Forget the last two questions.

What questions? (lol)

Question 5 (again): What is the most interesting thing you have learned recently? (I just heard about an animal called the Tree Kangaroo that lives in trees regardless of it being utterly inept for that way of life and so often falls out of trees. And they are f**ing adorable).

Redux: I’m currently writing a sci-fi novel. And in the course of preliminary research, I’ve discovered a creature whose survival skills and hideousness makes Ridley Scott’s “Alien” look like Jones the Cat. It’s called a “water bear” (technically, a tardigrade). This creature is found in extremes of heat, cold, and even radiation. The Swedes launched 2 species of these critters into an ESA rocket and launched them into orbit. After 10 days of exposure to the hazards of space, 3 specimens of the M. Tardigradum “microorganauts” survived and even hatched healthy eggs! Perfect food for sci-fi thought, wouldn’t you say?

Question 6: Have you experienced what psychologists call “The ultimate experience” ? Which is the frame of mind when you are writing and everything is flowing perfectly and the creative buzz is so great you lose track of time.

That intoxicating sense of writer’s bliss has consumed me many times. When I’m in “the zone”, to borrow the sports phrase, I don’t want to be anybody else. And yes, I’ve written hours on end that have lasted from sunrise to sunset..on weekends usually. (lol)

Last question: Are you happy as a writer?

And that leads perfectly into your last The Diamond Head Deceptionquestion: My happiness as a writer. I’m a peachy-keen writer because I don’t do it professionally. I’m not under pressure to keep up with what’s trendy and create characters and plots that are mimicry or outright rip offs. I can create a brainy American Indian heroine and pair her with a jewelry CEO who’s a Hawaiian hunk and not worry about alienating the WASP buying demographic (who has an embarrassment of representation riches anyway). I can go against tropes like HEA (happily ever after) that a traditional publisher would likely demand be included out of “tradition”.

Fiction writing may not pay the bills, Andrew, but it still gives me thrills. And that’s what it’s really all about…until Tinsel Town makes me an offer for one of my books that I can’t refuse. (lol)

***

James Blakley’s, The Diamond Head Deception is available now on Amazon

Andrew Chapman An Authors Life, Words and Writers

A Morning of Disgrace. Happy Birthday you Beer Addled Word Murderer.

Drunk Polar BearGod damn. Birthdays. Who’s idea was it to celebrate this shit every fucking year? It should be a day of mourning. One year older, one year wiser, and that year always starts with a hangover worse than any that came before. I’ve been staring at the ceiling for two hours trying to work out how to get out of bed. I used to be able to do this. I remember doing it yesterday. But right now it seems impossible. My phone keeps beeping at me, like a terrorist trying to destroy my half-awake dream-like madness. I live in an attic flat so the ceiling is only two feet away from me. I grab on to it, to stop it spinning. The phone beeps again. I turn and look at it. “Alright fucker, you win.” I say, and reach over and grab it. I have the motor skills of a yeti. I unlock the phone and reality crashes through the screen. It beeps again. “Wake up you sonofabitch!” is what that beeping means.

I crawl, in my underwear, to the bathroom and put my head in the bath. I run the tap and frighten myself awake with the freezing water that pounds my skull. Dressing gown, where are you? You genius brilliant peace of attire. I find it behind the door and climb in.

In the kitchen I fill the kettle to the top. It boils. I make one cup of instant coffee, half full with milk so I can down it, and then fill the cafetiere to the top and sit down with it on the sofa. I put sugar and milk straight into it and drink directly out of the spout.

I turn on the TV but Hollyoaks comes on and blazes its tragic fucking nonsense into to mind just long enough to reinforce the fear I have of bad soap operas. A horrible disdain is awaken in me and I am, by some miracle, prevented from throwing the remote at the TV in a bid to kill the drama (it must be the coffee waking up the normal rational man that dwells somewhere inside of me) and I turn the fucker off instead, like any sensible human would.

I open the laptop and start writing about my morning. And now I’m here, typing. And who is weirder? Me for thinking anyone would find this shit interesting, or you for reading it?