Children of The Universe

The Unknown Appointment

I'm in the process of editing a project that everyone involved, except me, has lost faith in.  The thing is that I see clearly what is there – which doesn't mean that I know where the editing is going – or even that I have a clear picture of how to proceed with the editing -

What it means is that I can see the greatness in the performance, the footage – the emotional impact of what we have – and I have been given the great gift of seeing something profound in what we are doing, that no one else can see.

The Hive Episode 8

The audio drama, The Hive Episode 8 is now available on MusicDistributors.com as a Windows Media Audio (.wma) file.  30 minute audio drama that takes you through space and time for only $1.10.  It's also available on Lulu.com as a mp3 file for the same price.

The Physical CD of The Hive is still $9.95 (also available at Musicdistributors.com) so the digital download is a fabulous value.  This is what happens when you don't have to duplicate, label, package and ship physical CD's.

Episode 8 "The Hive and "SAVAGES" selling as Digital Downloads

It's finally happened and it's working.  Children of the Universe Episode 8 "The Hive" and the Stage play, SAVAGES are now available as digital downloads and already selling.  Whoa!!  Imagine that.  Take a look - there are previews.

No more CD's of "The Hive" and no more hard copies of the script for SAVAGES to produce, mail, ship or otherwise fool around with.  What a relief.  You don't know until you've mailed a CD to someone in, say, Australia, or New Zealand, or even England - off it goes into the postal system and then just disappears into the void... perhaps to turn up at some unknown and unknowable time where you want it to.  Now, at the pace of a speeding electron there they are.

I just got them set up and the sales have already started.

People have the work immediately.

It works.

Yes!

In the meantime, as I find other ways to do this, I'll try them.

I Bought and Sold Radio and I Know it's Dying

I was living on the Navajo Reservation (Navajo Nation) in 1998 and decided to resign an advertising account that I had had in California for eight years.

They were a good account and I had seen them go through explosive growth during the time that I handled it.  There were thirty something stores and after about five years of my handling their advertising for the first time individual stores started breaking the million dollar barrier.

I remember when FCC ownership regulations were going to change and I knew that a few big players were going to strangle radio just as sure as a noose around some poor souls neck as the trap door beneath him flips open.

What I couldn't see then, was that that trap door was the Internet.

"Word of Mouth" Rocks! Keep it Up

We have been getting emails about our new program to digitize written, graphic, video and audio files and offer them for sale as digital downloads.

You have also let us know that you are talking to your friends and associates about our project and there couldn't be more exciting news.

A couple of questions have come up concerning copyright and file formats for written works (books, magazines etc).

If you are in the United States you can check out the U. S. Copyright Office website.  Richard Schulenberg's excellent book (in the sidebar) will really open your eyes about copyright, especially as it applies to music - but writers will also learn more than you realized was possible.  Of course, you should also consult with an attorney familiar with the copyright law, if you have legal questions.

After you submit your work for review, we will require that you attest that you have the right to publish the material before we post it on our site.

At this time we will require that written work be delivered to us as Word, Open Office, or other Word compatible files.

Keep talking to your friends and associates!  We want to be ready to go live with this soon.

If you have questions, please email me.

They say You're not legitimate because you're not one of them

Book Publishers, Newspapers and Magazines say you're not a real journalist/writer because you don't have an editor looking over your work and telling you if you can write about it.

Record Labels say you're not a real recording artist because you don't have a Producer telling you what to record and how to mix.

Television and Film Studios say pretty much the same thing.

All of these industries are in serious decline – so  why would you want to be part of a dying media model?

Well, You don't, but they don't want you to know that.

The real issue is Control.

No More Fear

If you are an author, musician or artist and have written a book, publish a zine, have a collection of art, photos, videos or original music that you would like to publish and get paid for, Click on about to email me after you read this.

I was thinking about the many positive communications that I have had in the last few days about the digital download opportunity that has opened up for all of us who create books, zines, sounds and videos that can be digitized and produced for a fraction of the cost that was involved in the past.

Everyone is quite excited - I think because
No More Fear - because of the following:
No huge financial outlay to pay for physical merchandise
No waiting for a Publisher or Label to "give you permission to offer your work"
No physical inventory
No packaging
No shipping
24/7 sales
No middle men or complex distribution channels

But there is the Fear that we still have to address -

Better Digital Book Format

Thanks for all the feedback.

Today I just learned about a digital formatting system for books that will allow the buyer to either read the text or have the digital book read to them which will be great for buyers who want an audio book to listen to and those with visual impairment, dyslexia or learning disabilities.  We are looking into using this format either in addition to or instead of PDF files.  It also works with audio files to make it easier to move around in audio as well.

This just keeps getting more interesting and exciting.  Keep spreading the word - we want to get to the first 100 titles as quickly as possible.

Don't Spend Ten Thousand Dollars

I talked with a musician friend today that I have known for many years and respect very much.  He told me that he has worked on many independent projects and the artists who are recording and reproducing their own CD's are saying that by the time they are finished with the project it often costs them around ten thousand dollars.

I've spoken with people who publish their own books and they spend that kind of money too.

I'm familiar with the costs of doing things that way.  The good news is that we don't have to do it that way anymore.

For a writer, when the book is completed it is usually already in a Word file  that can easily be converted into a PDF file, ready for downloading.

The same holds for musicians and video artists.  Their files are already in a digital format that can easily be converted for digital download.

Now comes the really good part.  Instead of spending thousands of dollars to reproduce physical books or CD's we can make those files available for sale via digital downloading.

The writer and musician can spend $75 to $100 to get the file set up and then get 60% of the sale price - and they set the sale price.  Then they can get on their next project with thousands of dollars still in their pockets.  If they have been held back because they didn't have thousands of dollars to start with, they now have their project out in front of the world so that people can listen or read a sample and then decide to buy if they like what they see and hear.

A musician could put up ten projects for a fraction of what the old way would have cost them, and then watch which songs are selling.  A writer can get several books out there and see which ones sell.  Then if they still really want a contract with a label or publisher they've got a track record and some leverage.  Chances are, they will decide that they don't really need that contract - the best bargaining position of all to be in.

This is not pie in the sky - we have this technology now and we want creative people everywhere to know about it.  Now someone in Europe, Africa, Asia or anywhere in the Americas or anywhere else can get their work out where people can see and hear it.

If your've got projects that could be sold as digital downloads and you can't decide to move on this now, please let me know why.  I'd really like to know.  My friend says that people just don't realize that they can do this without waiting for the giant download companies to let them in.

We're ready.  Are you ready?

Take a look at the posts below and lets get started!

Another Million Downloads

Another month, another million downloads.  As an independent artist have you tried to get in touch with Apple to be included?  Try it.

But everyone is doing it - buying digital downloads, that is.

Books - Music - Videos

We can do it too.

Technology is a great equalizer.  You or someone that you know has work that can be converted for digital downloading.  We don't have to wait until Apple or anyone else decides that they will give us permission to do so.