Tips on self-promoting your work

The thing about self promotion is that you have to be savvy and make things work for you even when you are not around to speak in support of it.  I do several things to promote my work, some of it uses technology, some is social media, some require me being physically present and others are just plain old business marketing.  Because I have a day job that takes up most of my conscious hours ,  I have to financially and strategically plot on what I will do for the next month or year.  I can only travel 3 or so times a year, so I have to choose which things will maximize my experience.  Below are some things you can try to consider when promoting your projects.

• Tell your story as much as you can.  Usually people are doing, as Bruce Lee says, "concentrating on the finger" but try to find that balance between being humble and hungry. You want as many people talking about you, so that you don't have to, and if people believe in you, they will support you.  I learned this in a very short time.  Use whatever platform you have to tell your story, but speak to the souls of the people first.  Speak to them and not their pockets.   You want to motivate them to feel like they should follow your work.   If they like your product they will buy it, but the key is to make them feel like they matter buy investing in them and giving them gems of truth to walk away with. 

• Tap into your contacts.   I did work as an movie extra in my area.  Doing that, I met a lot of cool contacts, and found out about a site called www.withoutabox.com.  Basically it's a listserv where you can locate all of registered film festivals in the country and submit to the ones of your interests.  Even if you don't submit, it's good way to update your calendar, and map out which ones you should go to.

• Register to attend the comic conventions as a booth holder.  Give people a chance to see your work and talk to you about your journey.  I was working a booth at the Chicago Comic and Entertainment Expo (www.c2e2.com) and met a guy who has a list of all the major comic conventions in the US and Canada.  His job is to work the circuits each year.  He hits up about 10 conventions in a month, there are over 300 conventions a year.  What a fantastic way to get expose, if you were to go to just every six months.  ReedPop is an organization which basically plans many of the major Comic Conventions.  Go here to see their list of upcoming conventions: http://www.reedpop.com/en/home/

• Go to the Film Festivals, use Withoutabox to find out which ones are the big ones to attend.  When selecting try consider the reputation of the festival.  Although many of the major cities (LA, New York, Vegas,)... have very popular festivals, that is slowly not becoming the case. Places like Seattle, Arizona, Texas, Portland, Atlanta, are all hot places to promote your work too.  Just go with the intent of enjoying yourself, but have business cards handy.  When given the chance, just talk a bit about your work.  Try to do it in 20 seconds or less.

• Go to the Pitch Festival,  You may not be a screenwriter, but this is an excellent way to partner and gather intel on what's happening in your industry.  Who knows, they may not be looking to buy your script, but to hire you as a staff writer.  Again there are major ones that you'll want to consider.  Hollywood Pitch festival(http://www.fadeinonline.com/events/hollywood_pitchfest/) , Inktip Pitch Summit(http://www.inktippitchsummit.com/), and The Great American Pitchfest (http://pitchfest.com/).  There are others, but these are the main ones.  I found out that they are doing a World of Warcraft movie, so knowing that before it gets out is a good way to get you bid in.

• Speak with computer science students and get up on the latest online sites and software that they use or go to for information.   I found out about a site called www.vworker.com, which allows you to post a project you need done, and independent techies will bid on who can do the projects with you for an affordable price.  It's good because they will send you portfolios for you to see and decide if they want to hire you.  They even have a ranking system, so you can see who's handling some major projects.  Many are freelance and will do anything from redesigning your website, to graphic illustrations, to motion comics in Adobe After Effects or Flash, whatever you need really, and it won't break you like many of the bigger companies.  I found my design team on there, and we created a motion comic together. I wrote, and they illustrated.

• Have other visual components of your work.  You have the comics, but maybe working into having sculpture work done on some of your characters.  I got two contacts that will do it for a decent price.  Sean Buford of (www.SkbOriginals.com), and Sheridan Doose (http://doose-ex.blogspot.com/).  This will be good if you decide to hold a booth at the conventions too.

• Get your material on multiple platforms for people to see. Deviant Art (www.Deviantart.com) is a place with illustrators go to promote their work.  Have your information there for people to follow you.   The Nerdist (http://www.nerdist.com/)is a place where people go to keep updated with latest stuff. 

• Get on the list serve of many of the sites.  This is so they can help you keep events on your radar.  I'm on a site called Inktip (www.inktip.com)  and they send me weekly lists of Production companies script seekers

• Get your own business as a sole proprietorship.  This helps me look more legitimate when I approach groups , and plus I can run my transactions through my business and not my personal info (excellent tax incentive too).

• Also if you are a legitimate business you can hire college interns to do a lot of work for you, as a form of professional development.  

• Get tech'ed up.  Get a Blogger account along with the social networking stuff.  Blog about everything you can.  Emails that you've had with people, things your thinking about, what you areup to next.  The reason is because Blogger is a part of Google, meaning that you. 

• Get and Internet Movie Database (IMDB) account.   You might want to get your name added to that list, that way you can update your account with all the other things you've done.

Anyhow, I hope any of you find this helpful,

Romeal W.

The full article from C2E2

Kind words from Sheridan Doose

In a recent article, Sheridan was able to talk a bit about working on the sculpting portion of the Reclamation project. One thing about me is that I'm often accused of being modest, and so I'm not used to discussions about this. Nonetheless, very kind words.

Tune in Thursday to view the complete article (Courtesy of Desiree Hood, staff writer, The Easterner):


 Describe what it is like working with Romeal on the project? 

Romeal is awesome to work with! It's clear that he has put an immense amount of energy into building the world of Reclamation, and he is extremely enthusiastic about what he is doing. He is engaged in the entire sculpting process and has a good idea in his head of the visual direction things should go in. That being said, he's open to artistic interpretation and creative development by the artist, and I got to do a lot of conceptualizing during the sculpting process - the ideal working conditions! It's a great feeling knowing I've helped to flesh out the image of one of the baddies in the world Romeal has created.

 What future do you see for "Reclamation"? 

I see Reclamation going far! Romeal's multimedia approach to sharing his vision of Reclamation has the capacity to go beyond and make it big. I'd love to see it on the big screen!

Will you continue working with Romeal on this project? Why or why not? 

Most definitely. I'd love to get my hands on some of the other characters Romeal has cooking up, and Romeal's enthusiasm about the project gets you seriously amped! He's got a great vision in his head and I consider it a privilege to be able to shape those visions into tangible reality.

What is your job title and contact information? 

I'm a character/creature concept sculptor on the project. My email is SheridanDoose@gmail.com. My portfolio page can be found at http://doose-ex.blogspot.ca/p/portfolio.html and you can follow my blog at http://doose-ex.blogspot.ca! Check 'em out for samples of my work.

It's finally here, be sure to get your copy

Some of you may know of my ongoing pursuit to promote my screenplay (Reclamation) to major production companies. Over the course of a year, I've attended pitchfests, submitted to film festivals, created a motion comic, and art sculptures; and now finally is the release of my comic book.

Definitely get a copy if you are interested in following the storyline and supporting the project. Go to: http://www.comicfleamarket.com/servlet/the-106/Reclamation/Detail Price: Hard copy $5.00 Digital copy: $2.50 Also be sure to check out my website to view my trailer, screenshots, and any updated material. Check you all later, Romeal Watson www.wats-onproductions.com

An interview with Blythe Meyers at C2E2

Blythe was super cool coming to talk with me at the convention. I appreciate the dedication.

C2E2 Convention

The Chicago Comic and Entertainment Expo was fantastic.  This is the first time I've attended an event like this to promote my motion comic and screenplay.  The people there were so supportive of me.  I honestly didn't think they wouldn't like the work I was doing; I guess I was wrong.

Next stop, New Media Film Festival, and Wondercon.

To see the rest of the picture, visit my Facebook page.

Behold the Digital Revolution

I've been listening in on various discussions and talking with artist from all over, and it's seems that the economic slump we are all experiencing is beginning to take it's toll on people's time and energy.  If it is any ray of hope, I would like to say to you all, "get up you SOB, because Mickey loves you" (Rocky 5 reference).
  
Try like hell to keep your tools polished. If you can for just a little longer, you'll see a trend begin to pick up. Up-and-comers like myself who have decent jobs and love to dream big, will start venturing out on their own and finance their own private work. People are beginning to realize that the best way to find meaning in their 9 to 5 is to complement it by incorporating the work they love along side it.  The administrative assistant works in order to promote his/her online scrapbooking website, the janitor put 50% of his check to purchase molding resin for his sculptures.  So essentially, their job becomes motivating, as it becomes the means to support, and hopefully have a career in what they truly love.
  
I'm currently an internship coordinator at a 4-year accredited university, and over the course of about three years, I've a trying to hone my craft as a successful screenwriter.  Over the course of this journey, I've noticed that I'm having to go beyond just writing and trying to sell a script.  I have to be more of a commodity now. So that means having other revenue streams like artbooks, sculptures, live action or animated shorts to accompany my writing. I hired voiceover actors to help with my motion comic. I'm just a city guy with a dream of one day telling a story to millions.  To do this I'm making my own "roster" of talent and together we all promote each other's work.  This is where you come in.

The big movie execs are scared of confronting the financial burden of nurturing new talent with fresh ideas, so people are going more independent. We will see lots more in the upcoming years, and it won't be just live action movies, it will be motion comics, animations, puzzle games, online tutorials etc. All of the artists in those areas will be looking for various talent. So if you are making yourself known to these folks, and you name a good price, you'll have an opportunity here. It's already beginning to happen, and the pieces will come together even more.

We are waiting for the "Digital Revolution" to come full swing. All the tech savvy students and neighborhood wiz-kids who can't find jobs will eventually decide to revolt by creating their own software programs and selling them cheap or free online. It's been happening for some time now, but it hasn't come full swing just yet. As more jobs go overseas, and Microsoft and others turn down more applicants, people will come up with their own solution.  Even though some computer science majors are not graduating due to early job offers, this doesn't happen for everyone.  When this becomes more apparent, you will see even more people using affordable software to do their projects, which means more people will be in the market for you to work with. You just have to hone your craft and be flexible on price. If you nurture that relationship, and some of these folks become successful, hopefully they will reach for you. But you have to show that you love their work or else you might be "just another person they worked with."

So there are still other avenues to check, if you can find a second wind. Low-level game developers at the University looking for affordable talent, digital comic artist looking for help, Screenwriters at the pitch festivals and film festivals looking to add elements to their script. Smaller audiobook companies. Hell, I work at Career Services, and it would be much easier if we had a voiceover actor for our online resume video, 

With that I say, sand up your surf board, and prepare to follow the digital wave.




Other things you can investigate:

• Alternative Press Expo - OCT 13-14, San Francisco,  http://www.comic-con.org/ape/
•  www.vworker.com (use it as a marketing tool to locate, and pitch your talents with digital companies).
• ComicCon - July 12-15 (Just attend, but bring business cards and pitch your talents to booth holders, be willing to negotiate a price. (have a website ready and listed on the business card). 
• Work with the marketing team at your local University, maybe they need VO for their education or promo videos.
• Another way to market is to do pro-bono for non-profits organizations in your area, as they will talk endlessly about what you did for them.

There is more that I can say, but I'll stop for now.    :)

Just my 2 cents,

RW