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Saturday, 12 December 2015

One More Down, Lots More To Go!

Today I wrote the script for the six page preview of Daughters of Darkness, a series that I'm looking forward to writing in 2016. It features five female protagonists, all of whom possess supernatural abilities, and their stories- which I'm not going to give away just yet.

Why not?

Well part of it is that I do not have an artist as of yet and I don't want to get you all excited for something that is most likely a year off from seeing print. So why bring it up at all, you ask?

The script I just finished marks the twenty-third completed script (LEGACY #9 and New Guard #4 are 2/3 done so they don't count) for the S17 Universe. Nearly two dozen stories written with, to date, only half seeing print. The rest are coming, it'll just take some time for the art to catch up.

When you work (regularly) for one of the larger comic book companies, you can expect to release a dozen or more books per year. Indie? Well that's all about budget- both dollars and time. Most indie folks have a couple releases per year at the most.

So why write so far out?

Why not? One of the things I like best about the world I'm creating for S17 is that i can tell any type of story. Horror, sci-fi, historical, whetever. All of that and more has a place within the pages of S17 comics and novels.

LEGACY was always viewed as a weekly drama/action show, The Sentries as a big blockbuster movie, Troubleshooters as something akin to The X-Files or Fringe meets The Authority. While those titles are mainly science-based, titles such as Daughters of Darkness, Arcane and Magistrate deal with the magic side of things- each in their own way.

Metal Monk scratches any sort of marital arts or post-apocalyptic itch you might have while Auroraman, in conjunction with Jeff Burton, is the perfect call-back to the Silver Age zany adventures of comic books past.

So why bring up Daughters of Darkness? Because I just like throwing it out that there that while you may THINK you know all the cool stuff we're doing at S17, that we've only just begun to show you what we have lined up. There is much, much more to come.

Tuesday, 6 October 2015

Cool Canadian Creators Part 1: My Local Scene

So the other day I posted on my Facebook that S17 has had a crazy amount of support from other Canadian creators and that I wanted to take some time to recognize them and their efforts to promote our books.

As I sat down and started making a list it became very apparent that there were too many people to cover in one post and that breaking it down to my local scene (Winnipeg and surrounding area), Western and Eastern Canada was the only way to keep it short enough but still give everyone a fair shake at hearing about how great they are and why they are.

Of course I cannot just stick to Canada, as there have been a number of American creators that have been just as great and that will be the fourth such post.

It's only fitting that we start with the guy who showed me that a local guy could actually make his own superhero stuff and get it published and out there for folks to read, Mr. AP Fuchs. His Axiom-man series was one of the (as I've mentioned before in several posts) influences on me going the whole self-publishing route and still remains one of the books I look forward to with each new volume. AP has been extremely encouraging as S17 has grown and not only have I been lucky enough to have his support, but also to count him among my friends. On my first Free Comic Book Day as a "pro" I was seated next to AP and he was cool enough to sketch out Paragon (from LEGACY) and write a little blurb to "keep the stories coming", something I fully intend to do. That sketch is now framed and hanging on my office wall. Find out more about AP Fuchs here:

 Rod Salm was a guy who's book I came across when he ran a Kickstarter for it and was drawn in by the title, Death At Your Door. The quick pitch on it is Death decides to... Well, here, check out the very first strip for yourself:

 Anyhow, I was intrigued and I finally got to meet the man behind it at one of the single day comic cons we have in Winnipeg. Right away I could tell Rod was a great guy- friendly, out-going, quick to show an interest in what I was doing... Just a really cool dude. I was able to get to know Rod a bit more and, when I knew I was going to need a letterer for Canadian Corps, he was my first and only choice; I wanted to find some way to work with him and luckily he agreed. Because Rod is such an awesome fellow, not only did he join as letterer, he took it upon himself to put together a new, fancier website for S17, and it's going to be SO COOL when we go live. Who puts together a wicked website for someone else without even being asked? Rod does because Rod rocks.

Donovan Yaciuk was introduced to me by Canadian Corps penciller/inker Justin Shauf as someone that he had worked with and said was a "good guy" who might be the solution for our search for a colourist for the book. I was hesitant at first because I'd had a few people in mind for the job already but once I met Donovan... One of the best things ever to happen to S17. His enthusiasm for creating comic books in incredibly infectious and I've always believed passion sells people on projects- with him I expect C.Corps to hit the New York Times Best-Sellers List. Whether it's him chatting up people on the digital colouring process or saying far too kind things about me, Donovan is really one of the good ones. Much like Rod, Donovan has gone above and beyond the call of duty several times as a member of the S17 creative team and when he's not rocking the pages of C.Corps or The Sentries, he's busy being a great dad (a common them among the C.Corps crew) and doing his own fantastic book, Spacepig Hamadeus.

Speaking of people that I met at conventions, GMB Chomichuk was a gentleman that I met at the same show as Donovan, when he came around to my table and introduced himself. He was very friendly and asked about my books and, while not in the same vein as what he created, he seemed quite happy to listen as I stumbled over my "elevator pitch" about the books. While we were talking, a local podcast interviewer came up and asked him if he'd be able to be on their show- without missing a beat, this man who had just met me, who had plenty of his own works to promote, turned to them and said "It's new local creators like Andrew here who you should be interviewing". I was floored. This guy had literally JUST met me and was pushing my books? But that's what GMB is about. He lives for the community of it all. When the Canadian Corps Kickstarter happened he quickly volunteered some of his art to be used in any way I saw fit. Like I said, he is a true gentleman and I appreciate the things he has done when he has not had to. His website has a ton of cool stuff on it- you can find it here:
As James D. Miles said, "You can easily judge the character of a man by how he treats those who cannot do anything for him". Mr. Chomichuk is a pretty classy guy, indeed.

Lytwyn Studios is a local comic studio that, once again, I met at that very same comic con (hint, those are a GREAT place to meet cool people) and since that time I've gotten to hang out with a few of them and talk comics and such. Matt Lytwyn, the head honcho there, has been a very vocal supporter of S17 and he and I have developed a sort of one-upmanship that I quite enjoy as I think it's pushed us both to do more and be better. Jake, one of their artists, was the guy who first came up to the S17 table at the con, and besides having a beard of epic nature, is a super friendly guy with whom I love talking comics. I'm excited to see their books when they are ready to launch them- once again, very different from what I do, but they still sound pretty cool. And, as per Matt's repeated demands (it's not even requests anymore, he's sending goons to my door) I will be working on a few projects with them in the next year. It's very exciting and flattering when people dig your stuff enough that they ask to work with you. Their website is still under construction but they are on the Twitters, as the kids say.

Now for a couple folks that I "met" while doing the Canadian Corps Kickstarter and have since met 2/3 of in person- Chadwick Ginther (author of the FANTASTIC Thunder Road trilogy- if you dig urban fantasy or Norse mythology you HAVE to check it out), Sean Trinder (also an author, his book The Guy Who Pumps Your Gas Hates You is a must read for anyone who has ever worked in that, or any, customer service industry- it's easily one of the best standalone books I've read) and Greg Waller (creator of the comic book Magnitude, a cool book that came out from Ape Entertainment in the mid 2000s).

All three of the aforementioned gentleman were names that were familiar to me before I launched the Kickstarter but their support and kind words for a fellow local creator was very very cool. They had no reason to invest in the book (beyond all being comic book fans themselves) but they did and I appreciate that. Mr. Ginther even took it another step and interviewed the C.Corps team about the book during the Kickstarter. Greg and I spoke on Facebook about his time and some of his experiences creating Magnitude and I'm looking forward to meeting him in person at the C4 Comic Con later this month. Sean and I got to speak at (because it IS a small world after all) Chadwick's recent book launch and I am pleased to report that he is a super nice guy. How nice? He went straight home and read Canadian Corps after the signing and tweeted about his love of the book. That's pretty nice, I'd say. You can find out more about Mr.Trinder on his Facebook page and Mr. Ginther on his website here:  I strongly encourage you to buy their books- both guys tell great stories and I am a fan of whatever they do next. Greg has sworn me to secrecy but I would say you will hear more from him in the future.

I'm going to lump two more people together because, well I'm the one writing this damn it, and that's what I'm going to do. Besides those reasons, I'm doing it because they are both Young Adult authors who are, to my knowledge, some of the sharpest ladies you'll meet. Seriously they are both a hoot (ya, I said it) to talk to and while I've only met one face to face, the other and I have engaged in many a conversation online and found her to be quite fun.

Melinda Friesen and I first met when she (along with AP Fuchs and S17 editor Christine Steendam and myself) embarked on a writer's retreat this past June. Here's a fact you need to know about her: she is a writing machine. Not only did she beat the rest of us word count-wise, she DESTROYED us, cranking out a ridiculous amount of words. Another fact: she is FUNNY. You know that friend you have, that quiet one that just seems to pick their moments to give a friendly shot or wry observation? Ya, that's her. She's always quick to support a fellow creator though- and has always been good enough to share all my posts and tweets and stuff, as well as that of many other local talents. Her novel, Enslavement, is sitting on my bookshelf waiting for me to have some free time to read it (I've read the first 40 pages but haven't had a chance to continue yet) and you can find out more about her on her website:

The other lady is Jessica Gollub, author of the Hummingbird series, of which I have read the first of the trilogy, The Mark of the Hummingbird. If you like post-apocalyptic style stories this will be up your alley- but it's not like anything you've read before in that sub-genre, or at least nothing I had read. Check it out and you'll see what I mean. What you WON'T see, at least not just yet, is Jessica at a launch or book-signing. Despite being a hilarious and fun person to talk to online, she informs me that is where she prefers to interact (or maybe she's just worried I'll show up and start literally singing her praises in public) but we're working on that. Signing or not, Jessica has become part of this little writer's collective that I am fortunate enough to be part of as well and every one of them is talented and supportive of each other. Even if that support sometimes reaches harassment levels in the vein of DO A SIGNING ALREADY, JESSICA!

Last, but certainly never least, is Christine Steendam. Christine and I have only known each other a few short years but have quickly become close friends and I admire her talent and knowledge to the degree that I hired her as editor for S17. Don't hold it against her for agreeing to such a terrible task; she's very generous that way. As I mentioned, Christine and I are good friends, and because of that friendship (one based on brutal honesty and lots of jokes at each other's expense) she has always been one of my biggest supporters and I hers- with each book she turns out I can see her writing getting better and better (I hope the same can be said of mine!) and I am excited to see where she will be five or ten years from now. Here's a hint: get to know her name- I fully expect it to be gracing the Best-Sellers lists for some time. I always have said that the S17 books are good because of the artists I work with and that rings true of Christine as well as editor and, for the first time ever for me, co-writer, as she joined me on New Guard #2. There's no one else I'd rather work with to make the stories better in S17's books.

Christine's website is What's with these writers having such unoriginal sounding websites? Get CREATIVE, people!

Seriously though this is but a fraction of the talented and supportive people that I have met since starting out on this comic book writing journey. Tune in next time to find out about all the cool Canadian creators West of Winnipeg!

Saturday, 26 September 2015

Kickstarter Tips

Ever since I first backed a Kickstarter, I've been a fan of the crowd-source funding site. Not only is a great way for us indie guys to fund a project, it's even better as a fan, for discovering all sorts of cool things that you might not have ever heard of otherwise.

To date, I have created one project on Kickstarter (Canadian Corps- 173% funded) and backed 45 projects (unfortunately having had to pass up at least another 15 or 20 that I wanted to back).

Let me get this out of the way first: I am by no means an expert on running a Kickstarter. I have run exactly ONE. It was successful, yes, but that doesn't make me an expert. What it does mean, is that I have at least a SENSE of what does and does not work.

Since running the Kickstarter for Canadian Corps, for some reason I've taken to reading through all of the other comics projects that hop up in there- sometimes to make sure I'm not missing out on something cool, sometimes to make sure I pay forward the success that we had with ours, and sometimes because... well, just because.

While reading through them, I started taking them apart- seeing what I like and didn't like about them. What works and what doesn't. And sometimes getting a little outraged over the stuff that people put out there thinking that it is ready or should be on there.

Things that drew my ire included a supposed novelist who wanted to raise $30,000+ for his book (which is a LOT of money to produce a novel) and did not capitalize the "i" when referring to himself; among at least two dozen other errors in spelling and grammar. Now in this day and age of texting and messaging, I can understand a slip or two- we're all guilty of that. I can handle that. But when you are asking people for money to help fund you for a WRITING project and you do that? Really? REALLY?? I just can't deal with that kind of thing.

Running a Kickstarter is asking people to invest in you and your idea. Not to hand over money because you are poor or cheap and don't want to do it and you're going to take it and forget about them. Some treat it like that, unfortunately, but they should not. You are asking your backers to take part in this journey and, whether you like it or not, that means you are beholden to them for a few things. Like proper spelling. A clear message of what you are trying to achieve and what they will get in return for helping you reach your goal. Kickstarter is a business venture and should be treated as such.

Part of any business venture is doing research- knowing who your audience will be, what you can offer them, and how you will go about doing that. If you cannot answer those things, you are not ready to launch your Kickstarter.

For the Canadian Corps KS I looked at the levels that people pledged at on other Kickstarters- what sort of things they wanted and were willing to pay for them. Easy enough, right? A quick look at what's on Kickstarter right now will tell you that there are many who have not done that. When in doubt approach your reward levels as a fan- would YOU be willing to pay $10 for that PDF copy of a 20 page comic book? I know I wouldn't. $5 and we're talking. It's about value to your backers. Make it worth their time. And still worth yours- after all you are trying to raise money, not give things away. It's tricky but it can be done.

Research everything that you can think of that you might need to tackle- production/printing costs, shipping costs (which is where a LOT of projects run into problems), how long it'll take to finish the project (and it's always safe to assume it'll be longer by a month than what you think it will) and then ask friends and family for any questions that they might have. Get all your stuff lined up before you launch- if you don't, it'll fall apart fast.

Once you are set up and running the campaign, make sure when people back you that you thank them. When I ran the CC one I made sure to send every backer a personal thank you message- if you're able to do that, do it. It takes literally a minute to do so and that's the least you can do for something throwing $40 at you to make your dream come true. People work hard for their money and they want to know that their pledges are appreciated. And if they take it upon themselves to tell others about it, you HAVE to thank them. That's above and beyond and should be recognized and appreciated as such.

The real key to running a Kickstarter that performs well is to do all the little things right that you would want to see as a fan- interact with backers on social media, be polite and friendly to those that show an interest in it (I mean you should be those things as a default but...) and show that you've done some work on your project.

I understand that sometimes the cost of a project is so insurmountable that the only way to do it is to seek outside funding, but do SOMETHING to show people that you've at least STARTED working on it. If you're funding an album- have a song for people to hear (even if it's just you in your bedroom and an acoustic guitar). If it's a comic book, have some pages for people to look at. A board game? Samples or mock-ups of what it might look like. This should be common sense stuff, but so many people drop the ball on this. If you're not willing to invest a little time and money into getting your project ready, you can sure as hell bet no one else is going to be willing to either.

Use common sense, think like a fan, be polite and engage those who show an interest. It's not hard stuff, though it does involve a lot of hard work. If you're willing to do it however, you'll succeed.

Or you can hire me for cheap and I'll look it over for you- odds are that I'll be checking out anyhow if it's a comic book, and be ripping it apart. For a small fee, I'll tell you how to fix it. ;)

Best of luck!

The Challenge of Creating Indie Comic Books In Canada

Wow, that sure sounds like a fancy title for one of my blog posts, eh? Usually it's things like "Why I Like Cheeseburgers" or "Neat Things You Should Read".

Either way, it's accurate and what this post is about.

This is not a knock against indie comics creators anywhere else- I know for a fact many of them face quite a few of the same challenges that we here in the Great White North have, but that's for them to write about, and this is what I am doing. I can say one thing- no matter what country you make indie comics in, you work your ass off to do so and you have my respect for that. As you should everyone else's that has ever made anything- the effort and time required to create is not something that you can quantify as anything more than "a lot". Even when things come easily, there' the journey that took you to that point. Alas, I digress.

Creating comic books in Canada is full of many challenges that are unique to living here. First and foremost is that for independent creators, there are very few places where you can get your work actually printed. True, there are many quality printing companies throughout the country, but very few of them offer traditional comic book printing and those that do expect BASE print runs of 10,000+. Even at $1 each, that is far more money than most indie creators have. You're going to sit on most of that, even if the book sells well, for awhile and that is a ton of money to invest.

Solutions to that come in one of three ways: don't print and stay strictly digital, find a different format (usually fancier and costing more) to print in, or go with a printer from either China (takes forever and quality is inconsistent) or the United States. Which brings us to the next challenge: paying in US dollars.

Anytime you source out of Canada, whether for printing or for talent (aka artists), you pay in US money. Three years ago when I started making comics, it wasn't so bad- $1 Canadian was equal to $0.92 American. This has changed considerably since then, with the Canadian dollar averaging only 70 CENTS over the last year.

What does that mean? It means when you pay an artist $300US you are actually putting out nearly $400 Canadian. 25-30% above the actual "cost" of what you are paying. If you average an indie comic's cost at $4000US (it's quite often higher), that means that, for a Canadian publisher, that book is setting them back over $5200. BEFORE it goes to print.

Following that math, let's say we print with a US company, 200 copies of said book. Not a lot, but good enough for a decent selling convention. The average price for printing a 24 page comic book is $2.75 per book. US dollars. Two hundred books at $2.75 each, after exchange, comes to roughly $715 Canadian. Plus shipping.

In the past three years, shipping from the US to Canada (and vice versa) has tripled in cost as fuel prices have gone up. Paying close to a dollar per book for shipping is not unheard of- and that's just regular no-frills shipping. With shipping thrown in, this single book has cost roughly $6000 for 200 copies.

Unless you're able to sell those 200 copies for $30 each (good luck on that!), you clearly will not make money back this go around on it, and will have to continue to print books to start making a dent in the costs. Indie comics typically sell between $5-$10/copy, so assuming a price of $8 each means you will need to sell 1600+ copies to break even.

Why so many? Why, that brings us to challenge number three! Getting the books out there.

Many comic stores are run by awesome people who want nothing more than to help comics creators get out there and show off their stuff. Those same awesome people unfortunately work on very tight budgets with even more limited room to showcase their goods. What does that mean? It means that if you are lucky and have a great shop to work with, you may get a small space for your books and will sell them on consignment. If you are unlucky, you'll have to find somewhere else to sell your books. The most popular place to do so, of course being comic book conventions.

Conventions are a great place to get your books out for people to see. Often folks are there looking for that kind of thing when they go there, though in recent years I, personally, have seen less and less people buying and more just checking stuff out as the emphasis has shifted away from comics and more to pop culture celebrations. I have a blast either way, but as a publisher, I want to see people spending money. Preferably on my books.

There are always costs that are incurred in doing conventions- the tables, hotel rooms if applicable, travel to and from, and of course food and drinks. None of that comes cheap. Even if it's a local con, you can expect it to run you hundreds of dollars. Luckily these days we seem to have more and more conventions across Canada. I just got back from the fantastic SaskExpo last weekend and am very much looking forward to doing the C4 Comic Con in Winnipeg at the end of next month.

The only problem with doing conventions in Canada, and it's also the same problem as generally getting your books out, is the distance. Canada is not a small country and getting across this great nation is time-consuming and expensive. It's also what you have to do if you want to build a following for your books. You might be able to get great digital sales (and more power to you if you can) but nothing sells a book like the creators getting to talk to the fans and general public about it. I've said it time and again, passion sells projects. Even more so than talent.

So, so far we've covered the actual costs of making a book, the printing and shipping the book and the getting it out there. All of this is true of any indie comic book, all made a little harder due to the Canadian dollar these days, and I'm going to touch on one more; being a CANADIAN creator.

As I said, I attended SaskExpo this past weekend, and one of the things I was able to do was take part in a Canadian Comics Creator panel alongside Justin and Donovan (my Canadian Corps creative partners) as well as Kurtis Wiebe (Rat Queens- great book, buy it) and Ed Brisson. One of the things that came up during the panel was about identifying as Canadian comic book creators and how, yes even though we're living in a global community now, that many creators don't make it a point that they are from here.

In fact, many of them seem embarrassed to admit where they are from (nothing that is unique to comics, many entertainment industries seem like that) and yet some of the biggest names in the field are from Canada- David Finch, Marcus To, Jason Fabok, Ty Templeton, Fiona Staples, and many more. Jeff Lemire too, but he's from Toronto and well all know Toronto doesn't count itself with the rest of the nation. (I kid, sort of.)

Being a Canadian creator has a variety of challenges because people have certain expectations of what you should do or be- they want you to acknowledge your routes/where you are from but not in a way that is TOO Canadian (no Tim Horton's jokes apparently) but at the same time they want all the bombastic action and adventure one might find in an American production. It's a fine line to straddle. American enough for commercial success but Canadian enough that you aren't too American. Crazy, right? It's tough but it can be done. If you're willing to put the work in and if the audience is willing to give it a chance.

A quick little story about that- at SaskExpo I broke one of the rules of selling as an indie comics guy. I had a guy come up and tell me how great it was that we were putting out this Canadian Corps book and how we were all-Canadian creators doing a book about all-Canadian heroes. He went on and on for about five minutes about how him and his friends are always saying that "this is exactly what we want and need more of" (I remember it very clearly) and I thanked him for his interest.

This is where I made a mistake, however. It was clear that despite his supposed interest, he wasn't going to buy, and I made a comment along the lines that "lots of people say that they want more Canadian content but aren't willing to help support it". Without a doubt part of it was due to frustration, but part of it was merely stating a fact- there will be TONS of people who SAY that they want to support indie comics, but not actually DO it.

Was I wrong to say what I did? Maybe. It was the truth, though I suppose I didn't have to say it. At the end of the day, all of these are challenges that any creator will face- be it comics, novels, music or art; only you can decide if it is worth it to you to do so.

I know my answer and I look forward to seeing you at a convention sometime down the road. Maybe you'll buy something, maybe you won't, but maybe you'll have a greater appreciation for the hard work people put in to their projects. It's not easy but we think it's cool and fun and hopefully you will too. On behalf of all my fellow Canadian indie comics creators, thank you for your support.

Saturday, 12 September 2015

S17 Series Profile: LEGACY

This is the first of a series of profiles that I'll be doing about each of the September17 Productions comic books that will go into the origins of the book as well as the direction of each title going ahead.

To date six issues of LEGACY have been published and with a seventh on the way in-production, we're only just scratching the surface of the story. For those not familiar with the book, LEGACY is the story of the city of the same name, and its citizens, among them the costumed hero known as Paragon.

The ideas for LEGACY came to me in 1993 and evolved over the years, but the base concept of the exploration of the city's people as much as the city's hero, stayed the same. This was well before I'd even hear of Kurt Busiek's Astro City (first published in 1995) or read James Robinson's Starman which became a huge influence for the book, not that I'd in any way ever compare LEGACY to either book... Yet. Here's hoping one day, right?

Anyhow, the ideas sat there and I picked away at them over the years, many of the characters and storylines stayed the same, until I began finally writing the scripts back in the end of 2011.

The first LEGACY script was completed January 6th, 2012. I know this because Cass made me an awesome little congratulations certificate. For close to ten years I hadn't written a story and finishing it was a huge accomplishment and mark the first step to founding S17.

In the first issue I introduced the star-chested hero (who at the time was not given a name- I knew it but I didn't want the readers to- I wanted them to discover him as though they were part of the citizens of Legacy, slowly learning about him and the other characters) and a small number of the supporting cast. The idea was to use the first issue as a trailer of sorts, a hint at what you would find going forth in the series and introduce some of the "cast" as it were.

As we moved on into the next few books, we got to meet some of the cast- the members of the District Attorney's office whom Paragon (our aforementioned star-adorned superhero) works with in his secret identity, as well as some of the other players of the city. Going ahead, we'll learn more about the other characters that populate Legacy and more about the city itself- its history and its future.

I've always been a fan of generational stories- ones that take place over decades, if not centuries, and LEGACY (and the city the book is named after) is my take on that sort of story. We'll jump to the far past, the near future, and perhaps the far future, all the while exploring and getting to know the characters of the "present".

Some issues will be large action-adventure types, with sprawling super battles that affect the entire city, and some will be "quiet" stories that dig into the history and lives of the citizens of Legacy- and not just our main cast, but smaller characters who play roles that affect the larger stories- because after all, each and every life matters and impacts the world around it, whether we realize it or not.

LEGACY #4 was the first issue to really delve into Paragon's past; we saw some of the reasons he does what he does and who he was before gaining his powers and donning a costume to protect the city. We'll revisit his past again in future issues and see why Alex was chosen to be the man who would lead Legacy back to the shining example it once was.

I've often compared LEGACY to that of a weekly TV show- each "episode"/issue adding to an overall story, building the world that the characters inhabit. As with TV shows, LEGACY is broken down into "seasons"- in total 10 such seasons are planned- for a total of 120 issues. Ambitious, for sure, but with enough support (and some time to tell them all) there's no reason we can't get through them all. Not all seasons will be 12 issues long though- the first season, in fact, is 15 issues.

New characters will be introduced along the way and over the course of the series we'll see the different neighborhoods of the city- from the Art Deco buildings of the Robinson area, to the seedy streets of Parker Hill and the struggles of the reigning high school football champions from Delsante Heights. Each character has their own story that will add to the overall depth of the stories and, if all goes as planned, they'll become people whose lives draw you in and maybe that you can even relate to.

Though hopefully not in the way that a supervillain blew up your car with an energy blast while attempting to take over the city.  ;)

Legacy is about the life you lead and what you leave behind- who you were to the people in your life and what stories they remember of you. This is the story of the people of this city, this is their LEGACY.

Sunday, 16 August 2015

Names Names Names!

Without a doubt, the thing I hate most about writing is coming up with names for characters. I'm terrible at it. Not codenames- for the superhero stuff, etc., that's easy. I see a word and go "oh that'd be a cool villain name"; no I'm talking about real every day name-names.

There's a whole bunch of schools on this (not real schools but schools of philosophy- writing philosophy) on how to come up with names- I even have a book called the Character-Naming Sourcebook that goes into each of those different ideas and provides a great list of names and their meanings. It's author, Sherilyn Kenyon, is a fan of that kind of stuff. Lucky her.

I say that because damn near every character will have a name when you write. Sometimes you can get away with a single name (for throwaway one appearance characters or for truly bad-ass folks- I'm looking at you, Hawk) or a descriptor of the character (example, Robin Hood's Little John) but for most of the folks that populate your fictional world; they're going to have a first and last name. Jerks.

Sometimes I find a name that I really like and run with it (example Steven Kincaid) other times I find a neat looking name of a real person and change it- which is where I got the name of the Armenetti crime family that controls the Mob in Legacy. Often I think about who the character is and try to find a name that I think suits them as a result. Some names just bring to mind certain characteristics for whatever reasons, and I try to incorporate that.

One thing I've started doing (it was always the plan in some parts but not as prevalent as it's becoming) is naming after friends or family members. According to that book I mentioned, it's called Tuckerisms, after science fiction, Bob Tucker. I've always enjoyed small inside jokes/nods to things and, what I've also taken to using it in LEGACY is as a way of remembering/honoring loved ones that are no longer around.

LEGACY especially seemed an appropriate place to do it- that way they still live on in some form- their name and some of the traits that I associated with them. Their legacy lives on in a book called just that. Pretty meta of me, eh? But really it comes down to it being the only way I really know how to honor those that matter/are close to me- with my writing.

There's a character who you'll first see in LEGACY #8, that is based off of my grandfather, who passed away some years ago, and in fact whose birthday would be tomorrow, the 17th. I have a space station named after my good buddy, Charlie McElvy and a publishing company named after my good friend and editor, Christine Steendam, Steendam Press.

Even with all that though, I still find names to be the trickiest part of writing. Hopefully one day I'll get the hang of it.

Where All My Posts At?

I had said awhile back that I wanted to get more consistent with my blog posts- my goal going into 2015 was to do one per week. That fell apart pretty quickly. It's been a busy year and I haven't made writing the priority that I had planned on. Which is ok.

I know, right? A writer saying that it's ok that they AREN'T writing? Craziness.

The fact is I've had a lot of things happening away from the keyboard and, as awesome and fun as it is to live in these imaginary worlds I come up with, the real world matters more. Real people are more important than the citizens of Legacy or Grenfell or wherever else I'm writing about. So because of stuff like that and a general inclination to spend my time on other things, it slipped.

More and more however, things have gotten back to a normal pace (well, they haven't but I'm doing better with my time management) so my aim is to get back to what I'd said back at the end of 2014- a blog entry per week. Or more.

To hit that goal, a fair bit of this may dive into journal-like stuff instead of whatever format I've done until now. Ok, so there hasn't been a set format- I find that way too restrictive and quite frankly, boring. If I'm going to do this, I want to have some fun.

Sometimes I'll talk about what I'm currently reading, what's going on in my writing life, music, movies, sports, whatever. And you're welcome to read or not as you please. If you could care less about hockey; skip that one. If you're dying to know my thoughts on the Big Two versus the rest of the comics industry- tune in.

I'll give on quick warning/disclaimer. Since this isn't a formal sort of thing, expect there to be rambling. I will literally be sitting at a keyboard and typing out whatever the blog is about and posting it- I don't do second drafts on here. Spellcheck, sure, but that's it.

The series profiles that I had mentioned doing awhile back ARE still coming. I'd wanted to do them sooner but, again, it hasn't worked out yet. More interviews are also coming- since I did the original batch I've met a TON of awesome writers, artists and whatnot- people whom you really should get to know. They're cool as can be and super talented as well. Who doesn't want to get to know people like that?

If there's anything that YOU want to see me write about in here- drop me a line! I am more than happy tackle pretty much anything you can think of. And if I don't know anything about the topic, I'll research it! It's good practice and always fun to learn new stuff.

Well, that'll be it for today. I'm not going to have a set day (I don't think, anyhow) that I'll be posting new entries, so we'll see you next time.

Oh and I still plan on knocking out those 52 posts this year. 4 down, 48 more to go. Luckily it's only halfway through August, huh?  ;)

Monday, 6 July 2015

Writing Schedule For the Second Half of 2015

I've always found I get my best writing results when I throw them out there for everyone to see what I'll be doing so that's what I'm doing here. This way if I don't get things done (don't worry, I will) then you can all call me out on it. So here's what the rest of this year's writing schedule looks like.

New Guard #3

Troubleshooters #2

8 page pitch for Sci-Fi project

Canadian Corps #3

New Guard #4

Metal Monk: Kung Fu Heavy Metal chapter 2

Canadian Corps #4

TBD (short comic script- 8-12 pages)

NaNoWriMo novel
(toss-up between something from the Grenfell trilogy or the Kincaid series)

TBD (comic script, possibly Bystander)

September is a little light because LEGACY #12 is slated to be 36-48 pages (still haven't decided how much room I'll need for everything) and for November, NaNoWriMo is going to be a marathon of writing- you need to average 1670 words per day to finish a 50,000 word novel in a month. Since I lose the first day being at the C4 Comic Con in Winnipeg, I'll have to average over 2000 words per day to stay in line for completion in time. I've tried to do NaNo a few times now but it's an incredibly busy time of year at the day job and I've never managed to pull it off. This year, however, I will finish, and on time.

December will be a bit of a "cool down" month as I recover from writing the NaNo novel and get prepared for the new year- I like to have the plan for the year ahead (in terms of what books are being done and who's doing them and when) well in-place before Jan.1 hits.

In theory I could do it sooner but due to everyone's schedules that's not always possible. It's good to have a plan in place but I find planning too far out gets you in as much trouble as not planning at all. I have a 5 year plan in place and so far, so good. A few bumps along the way but that's to be expected.

Anyhow, that's what you can expect to see me tweeting/talking about online and in-person over the rest of the year!

FYI: LEGACY #6 is set for release the last week of this month.

Sunday, 1 March 2015

Often I write these blog entries about things I'm working on or experiences that I've had since undertaking this comic book making journey. Sometimes I throw in an interview or two (and if you haven't read them, please go back in the archives and check them out, there's quite a few cool people that I've had the chance to talk to) to shake things up or just rant about something that I feel I should talk about for whatever reason.

This is one of those.

One of the most over-looked aspects of any creative endeavour is the support that the creative person (in this case we're talking me, the writer) has as they toil away at their craft.

Man, that sounded fancy, didn't it?

The fact is, while I've got my head buried in research books, online doing an interview, prepping files for the books or staring at my laptop's blank screen for hours on end (aka writing), someone needs to make sure that I'm not neglecting the basic day to day things (such as eating or going to bed at a decent time) because it's incredibly easy to get lost in what you're doing.

Writing, to me anyhow, is a drug and when I get really into it, I don't want to do anything BUT write. I fall into my fictional world and everything in the "real" world is an unwanted distraction from the story that I'm trying to tell.

Now this isn't true of ALL creative people, I should make that clear. For most that I know of though, it has at least a kernel of truth.

So what happens while we're lost in these worlds? Who takes care of things like making sure the household bills are paid on time as we're trying to figure out the history of our fictional world? Or reminds us that we're awesome and WILL finally figure out a way to get our protagonist out of the corner that we've written them into?

Well if you're one of those lucky people, like myself, you have a Cassandra.

This is essentially my long-winded way (surprise! whoever thought I'd be like that?) of saying that without my wonderful lady, there is no way ANY of this would exist. No, I'm not saying she actually writes the stuff and I just slap my name on it (boy would that save some late nights fretting over scripts!) but without her I wouldn't be able to get this done. Or even would have started writing again.

I first met Cassandra back when I had picked up a part time gas jockey job to help out my buddy David who was running the place. He hadn't been able to find anyone reliable and had asked me to work even just two shifts a week. Begrudgingly I accepted. I didn't need the money, nor did I really want to do the job, but he gave me my pick of shifts and, at the end of the day, I was helping out a friend.

I took the closing shifts on Sunday and Monday nights, spending the weekends with my kids was more important and during the middle of the week was hardly ideal considering I had an early starting day job. It was on those shifts that I first met Cass.

We hit it off right away and found that one thing we had in common was a love of comic books, the 90s X-Men cartoon being her introduction to her two favorite characters- Gambit and Rogue. To this day they are still her favorite characters, as the many statues, pieces of art and t-shirts will attest to.

Another co-worker of ours, Mike, had discovered that I used to write/work on my own comic book universe and between the two of them, they convinced me that I should start it up again. I had never published anything with my comic universe, despite having begun work on it over ten years before taking that job. I used those shifts to get back into it and, what started off as picking away at ideas, quickly turned into an avalanche of characters and ideas, all fueled and pushed ahead by the people I worked with, particularly my own personal cheerleader, Cassandra.

Several times over she would deal with a customer and tell me to just keep writing when I was in the midst of an idea- essentially doing the job I was paid to be doing so that I could work on something that, at the time, I never thought would exist beyond the walls of the gas bar and my own brain. Having completed my eighth comic book story (with 6 officially out there and published) I can happily say that I was wrong. I never believed in it, or really, myself, but SHE did.

Perhaps if she had known what the odds were of finding artists to work with, the money involved in hiring them and printing a book, and having any sort of success as an independently published writer... She might have encouraged me to get that next customer instead. Or to buy a lottery ticket.

Knowing her, however, she would have told me to do it anyhow- her belief in myself and my stories borders on... Well let's just say she's my number one fan. Which in itself would be enough of a reason to thank her, but that's just where it starts.

Along the way we started dating, and nearly five years later, things are still going strong and we've finally moved in together just a few months ago. I can only imagine what she thought living with me would have been like... I'm sure that she never realized that being a self-published comic book creator, that I'd be on-call/working more or less 24-7. That my phone would be going off with emails and messages all day and night and that the financial cost of producing as many books as S17 is would have an impact on vacations together and the like. Vacation time is another thing, as the two weeks I get from my day job are centered around comic cons and other writing events.

Speaking of cons... Last year at the C4 Comic Con, Cass was an invaluable asset for not only myself, but writing friend AP Fuchs and Canadian Corps artist, Justin Shauf. She watched the tables when we needed to take a bathroom break or just to get away. She made regular food runs so that we didn't have to starve or eat the over-priced and less than stellar convention food. She chatted up customers and made the entire process a thousand times easier than it could have been. Without getting paid a dime. Though, to be fair, I did buy her a few things as a way of saying thank you. Hardly sufficient to make up for everything she did though. She checked us in to the hotel so that I could get a jump on setting up the table even.

And that kind of support happens every day. When I get home from the day job the first thing I do is fire up my laptop and address any emails that I wasn't able to get to during the day, and unusually as I'm doing that, she starts making supper. More often than not, by the time I'm done going through them, checking over art that's come in, etc., supper is ready and we eat together (usually while watching hockey- we ARE Canadian after all) and then sometime later I'll duck in the office to or fire up the laptop again to poke away at this story or that or to talk with a fellow writer about what we're working on (which is a always a great motivator).

The other night I got together and did a Google Hangout with some writing friends until after midnight- even though she was home from the time I got there, and only a room away, I saw her for maybe five minutes the whole evening. A less understanding and supportive person would have been miffed by being ignored for that long but, great supporter and person that she is, her first thought was to ask if I had as much fun as I thought I was going to have.

Of course I did.

Those are just some of the examples of how fantastic and invaluable Cassandra is to me and, if I were to list them all, I'd be writing this every day, 24-7, for the next few months. In other words, anytime you pick up an S17 book, keep in mind that there's no way you'd be reading it if it wasn't for her and everything she does.

My cheerleader, my friend, my love. Thank you for everything, Cass.

Thursday, 1 January 2015

That's something you're going to see of a fair bit in 2015 from me.

What's it all about?

So often we hear people talking about how "if only" they had the time to do something they'd have it done. Or "why isn't" such and such a thing better? We all at one point or another just wait for good things to happen to us instead of going out there and making them happen. Or we wait for someone else to make the changes we want to see. Or pick a random date (example New Years) to enact resolutions that really we could have done at any point.

#BringTheAwesome is a reminder to stop sitting around wishing and saying "if only" or whatever other excuse you can come up with to tell yourself, and to get your butt in gear and start DOING. Bring that awesomeness to life. Be that agent of change. Do that project you've been putting off. Show the world, and more importantly, yourself, that you CAN do it.

That's it, that's all. There is no magic behind the words, it still means you have to do the work- just reading it won't make it happen. Now get out there and #BringTheAwesome. Can't wait to see what great things we'll all accomplish this year.


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vietnam airlines, you left me impressed

Posted in japan by

When I was looking at ticket prices for our Japan trip, the cheapest ticket that jumped out at me was Vietnam Airlines. Before we booked our tickets, I shot off a message to a friend and asked if the airlines was ‘okay’…the friend said it was fine. And so I booked.

I had no idea what to expect from them as there wasn’t much reviews online. But I thought that it would be alright enough seeing that it was a national carrier. Thus, unknowingly having very low expectations, the sisters and I boarded the plane and were blown away. There is nothing bad I can say about the airlines. Perhaps we were lucky to have the good planes or maybe all their planes are that good but I’m nothing short of impressed.

Let’s talk about the seats. We took the 3-3 configuration plane (don’t ask me what kind of plane it was) from Singapore to HCMC. When we got to our seats and settled down, we wriggled around for a while, awed by the spaciousness of the seats. I could even sit in my favorite position without bumping knees with my sister – the ever so comfortable cross legged pose. Then we took a few selfies and shot off the pictures to the family group chat and raved about the airlines, even before taking off. It didn’t matter that there was no seat entertainment (aka personal screens) the flight was short enough for us to read an ebook or two.

Sorry for the faces but we’re quite protective of our faces. Besides, the hearts look way better than us. Trust me.

We landed in HCMC soon enough and grabbed a bowl of pho to eat. Then we became vagabonds and sprawled on the chairs – waiting for our next flight.

Time passed. We nua-ed for a while and read more ebooks. Then at 12:50am, we took off for a 5 hour ride to Tokyo. This time, the plane was the Airbus A321. The plane was wider but the seats were narrower. Not that much of a problem because we are small-ish Asians.

The flight wasn’t full and we saw some people sprawled out on all three seats. Unfortunately, the three of us were seated together and could not do that. It was okay, since we were tired and ready to crash.

We snuggled into our jackets and blankets and fell asleep. The plane was quiet and all was calm.

Before I touch on the flight back, we need to talk about food. The sisters’ colleague told them that the food on Vietnam Airlines was blend so we set our expectations low. The food was meh-ish. Nothing much to rave about – but aren’t most airlines food meh-ish? The bread was warm though!

What about the staff? I’m not a fan of air stewards/ess dropping by our seats every so often. The staff were unobtrusive and polite. Much better than a certain airlines that starts with S and ends with T.

On our flight back, we experienced turbulence like I’ve never experienced recently. Being a fan of turbulence, the almost 3-4 hours of rocking didn’t bother me much. However, Sister #5 had a terrified look on her face the entire time. Poor girl. The seat belt signs were on for prolonged periods of time and I saw green faced humans near the toilets. But the crew (and pilot) handled it perfectly.

Would I ever take Vietnam Airlines again? Yes. Any complains? No. And what was the worst airlines I’ve tried? Asiana. Please avoid it at all cost.

April 4, 2017
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Monday, August 13, 2007

So behind...

I'm so behind on posting about sessions on the blog let alone putting any new stuff on the website. Summer's are crazy busy! Just a reminder again that I no longer have any appointments for seniors. All my after school appt spots are gone in Sept and the beginning of Oct. SORRY!

Also a heads up - I still have some Wed and Friday morning appts available in Oct. BUT I will only be taking limited weekday appts in November and NO appts in December! That is my month off- we travel and celebrate our anniversary and take family time. I may squeeze a newborn in if it works out and I'm able.

Enjoy the heat!

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Friday, 3 August 2012

An end, a beginning, an anniversary and a cake

So I've been blogging at Cardigangirlverity for over three years now; I remember reading early on that the average life of a blog is 18 months, so I have more than doubled that. The blog started out as a way for me to talk about books with other like minded people, it moved on into baking, and more recently I've talked about gardening and sport. It's become a bit too much of a miscellany really and I think the fact that I haven't been happy with this is partly why I've been absent from the blog so much recently, along with the fact that work has been so super crazy that I have no headspace for bookish thoughts, and my increasing focus on swimming and now triathlon. I have exciting plans for the latter in 2013, so have set up a new blog to record my progress and thoughts on this topic; of course I know that a lot of my readers here have absolutely no interest at all in sport/triathlon so it seemed sensible to start a different and separate blog, and focus my time on that.

Of course it would be lovely to see readers from here over there too especially as I'll not be deleting any of the blogs I currently follow from my Google reader. So without further ado, I introduce you to Tuna To Tri, the explanation for this name is on the blog!

I couldn't possibly close without some cake, so here is a rather wonderful cake that I have made to celebrate one year of being married to Mr W (yesterday) and five years of being together (tomorrow). It's an Austrian hazelnut cake, given our nuptials in Austria, how could I resist choosing this from Peggy Porschen's latest book "Boutique baking". The cake is made from ground hazelnuts and dark chocolate (and butter, eggs, sugar) and topped with marzipan and chocolate ganache. Definitely one of the most involved cakes I've made so I got out the gold leaf that Hayley gave me for my birthday and used it on the top! Thank you very much for following me over the last few years :-)

  1. Happy anniversary both with Mr W and the blog - I hope this isn't the end of the road for cardigan girl, I would miss the baking and gardening posts as well as the odd bookish ones (though I never know how people who work with books manage to blog about them too - I couldn't write about wine when I get home at the end of the day). Cake looks and sounds amazing, pleased you got to use the gold:)

  2. Happy 1st Anniversary Verity! Truly beautiful cake to mark it too! I hope you'll keep sharing your lovely cakes and garden whenever you feel like it on facebook at least! Your bookish blogs and your lovely Persephone weeks with Claire have been so much fun too. I understand how you want to concentrate on what's inspiring you the most in your training, but huge thanks for the 18 months of baking/bookish delights!

  3. Hello Verity, Happy Anniversary to you both hope you've had a lovely day. I shall miss your baking & books corner of the www it's been enjoyable, interesting & welcoming reading it.peeps speed with your swimming & triathlon, shall pop over to understand the title. Thank you for your welcome when I started blogging & organising of Persephone weeks. May your love of reading increase & over spill to others.

  4. Happy Anniversary! I'm sorry you won't be blogging about books anymore but I've enjoyed reading both this blog & the Virago one over the past couple of years.

  5. Happy Anniversary. I was thinking of you on the 2nd as we also got married on that date - but in 1976. I'll miss cardigangirlverity.

  6. Happy Anniversary and I hope you come back to this one at some stage if you want to - but I'll also be following your triathlon training adventures with great interest! I have some friends from other bits of my life who do tri, too - must introduce you on fb!

    Liz x

  7. Happy Anniversary! I've really enjoyed reading your blog over the past few years and look forward to following your triathlon and sporting adventures. I've become a tri fan, sort of by default. Good luck, Verity.

  8. I'll miss you and thank you for being so good-mannered--letting us know that you are signing off. Your blog has given me a great deal of pleasure. and I wish you all the best in everything.

  9. Verity - I can't comment on your new blog as I don't have any of the profiles required and there's no 'anonymous' to select from the drop down list- not sure if that was intentional or not. (or even if you'll read this!) I just had a question about your swimming! Helen

    1. Hi Helen, I've just changed the defaults which I hadn't realised were causing issues! Hopefully it'll work now and you can be anonymous (no idea why it should be different from here!) if you
      Don't have the right profile! Thanks so
      Much for the message and for alerting me!

  10. Mmm. Love the look of that cake!

Do leave a comment - I love to hear from people who read my blog.


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Monday, April 23, 2018

Can You Be a Successful Entrepreneur and Lead a Happy Personal Life Also?

As an entrepreneur who aspires to take your business to higher levels, you may always be busy and therefore, there are chances of you ignoring your personal life. But the good news is that you can achieve your entrepreneurial goals and at the same time, lead a happy family life as well. You may wonder how this can be possible. Let us find out.

You should first stop brooding over how you have all along been behaving.  In fact, there is no use thinking about your past behavior because “The past cannot be changed. The future is yet in your power” is an old adage that is always valid.

Among the terms that are doing the rounds, "Work-Life balance" seems to be the most popular one nowadays because not many people are able to achieve this balance. Of course, official work is taking a lot of people's time. This may all the more be true in your case because you are an entrepreneur who aspires to succeed. You may expend a lot of your energy that includes your physical and emotional energies on your business-related tasks and on making your business plans. So, when you reach home, you may be too tired to spend time with your family members.

Remember the opinion of psychologists who firmly point out that over-working or concentrating too much on official work that is euphemistically called as workaholism is a behavioral defect that you do not develop and learn overnight. In fact, you have been developing this behavior gradually without even being aware of it.

The main reason why you are spending more time at your workplace.

One of the main factors that has been influencing your desire to spend more time at your workplace is that you may be enjoying the adrenaline rush you experience when you confront various types of challenges during the course of your entrepreneurial journey.  But when you are enjoying the process of tackling the challenges in your business, your family members are getting restless. They may become unhappy and disappointed as well.

You may also become unhappy.

Psychologists suggest that after some time, you yourself will start getting restless and unhappy. Once you reach this stage, your output and performance will take a beating. Since you will not be able to do your tasks as efficiently as you were doing earlier, you will experience a lot of stress and anxiety. This will result in you being affected by stress-related ailments. In short, you are punishing yourself by focusing more on your business and not bestowing enough attention on your personal life. The following tips may help you.

1. Even if you have unfinished tasks, you must never bring them home. This will make your family members more unhappy.

2. Whatever may be your busy schedule, allocate some time for spending uninterrupted time with your family members. If you and your family members discuss and decide on a social cause, you are certain to derive a lot of satisfaction out of it. You can choose a common hobby and pursue it together also so your stressed-out mind will get the much needed relaxation.

3. Schedule holidays and vacations once in every three or four months. This will re-energize you and you will be able to work more efficiently.

4. If you observe those successful entrepreneurs who enjoy a great personal life as well, you will find that they delegate most of their tasks wisely. You should learn this habit also. Apart from getting you a lot of free time, this will help in molding second-line leaders in your company. Of course, you need to hire efficient and self-driven employees for achieving this aim.

5. Experts are right when they say that a perfect work-life balance is a mirage. So, instead of aiming at this impossible goal, you should look to achieve a better equilibrium in your life.

To summarize, destroying your personal life just to achieve entrepreneurial success can be perilous. So, you should create ways that can uniquely be suitable for your life and for the type of business you run. As Philip Sidney says, “Either I will find a way, or I will make one."

Friday, December 15, 2017

Put the "No Entry" Signage for Failure in Your Copywriting Career

You may be struggling to succeed in your copywriting career and during the process of investigating the possibilities available to you, you suddenly stumble upon a client who is equally struggling to promote her business. You justifiably assume that if you utilize this opportunity, it will be a step upward and will restore your confidence and career. You offer your services to the client by convincing her that you will craft sales copies for her and improve her business.

Though you get a nod from the client, you are not very much sure as to how to go about this. At the same time, you believe that this approval from the client can turn out to be the straw that can firmly put you on the path to success in your copywriting career. Remember that no desultory ways will provide you with any clues as to how to proceed with the task on hand. The following few tips will help you. Read on.

1. Be restrained but be clear.

It is not necessary that you should show the breadth of your knowledge in the copies you are trying to create for your client. The language you use should be simple and should just be representative of the business of the client. Prospects who read the copies should get valuable insights and get persuaded so chances of they becoming loyal customers for your client are high.

Of course, you may be tempted to use a flowery language for mouthing the details you have gathered from your client. Avoid this tendency. Of course, being a creative person that you are, you may not be able to parrot exactly what the client has told you. Further, the contents should not sound awkward and the ideas should not turn out to be a jumble of words.

2. Be truthful.

Make sure that the contents of your copies fill the minds of the prospects with excitement. The excitement should result from the expectation of enjoying the promises you make in your copies.

At the same time, remember that customers have no patience for deceit and are not likely to be amused if your words ring false. In fact, prospects who read your sales copies will understand that with your charades, you are trying to rationalize the empty promises you are making. So, their reaction may turn out to be sardonic. Your words may repel them also. This means that the righteous wrath of these potential customers will make it difficult for your client to win them back.

3. Be unique but be authentic as well.

You will have a tendency to have a look at the copies of the competitors of your client before trying to craft copies for her. If you are not careful, your mind will unconsciously pick or borrow ideas from those copies. The main danger is that these ideas can replace the buoyancy of your own original ones and can spoil your creativity by their conformity. Of course, you can gather insights from those copies or the ideas in them can help in triggering your creativity. Never forget that your aim is to get your client better results than what her competitors are able to get from their copies. So, the contents you create should be original, unique, and really authentic which means they should be unsullied and your own.

4. Be unafraid.

If you always keep your focus on helping the client realize her dreams, you will work with determined practicality and try to come up with unique ideas in your copies. In fact, you will have your own perception once you discuss with your client and gather all the details you require for creating copies for her. Having a perception of your own will liberate you from whatever inhibitions you may have about the brand and the products of your client. You need not hesitate to use this perception in your copies nor you need to worry if you will be startling or shocking the prospects of your client with the candor or bluntness that has grown from your perception.

Your aim is to touch the emotional chord in the prospects and so, a little bit of bluntness while you discuss the issues they face is good. But avoid being overly sentimental. Do not also sound defiant while countering the apprehensions you assume these prospects may have.

5. Be sincere.

Try to eliminate the suspicions the prospects may have. Ensure also that the prospects know the truth about the industry or the field in which your client operates, the real truth, not the competitors' truth that may be ridiculous or false. But you should reinforce your statements with proper, satisfactory explanations because emotions such as fear and suspicion will never atrophy in the minds of customers regardless of the fact that not all the providers and suppliers are insincere and deceitful.

6. Be purposeful.

Your intention is not to invade the minds of these prospects and unsettle them. But your aim is to make sure that that the brief of your client is so well explained in your copies that these prospects are completely convinced. The details should get recorded in their minds so they are able to retrieve and pluck your name from their memory especially when they need the products your client has to offer.

7. Be confident and firm.

You have voluntarily chosen the copywriting career and this client has assigned to you this task of preparing sales copies for her. Of course, you have gathered all the inputs you require from the client. You have to now use your brain and its creative power for crafting these copies and cannot expect that some extra minds will supplant your mind. You cannot afford to falter also because the client has relied on you and entrusted the task to you. Therefore, find out the barriers that stand between you and the task of crafting a great and effective copy and try to eliminate them.

8. Be wise.

Nowadays, customers are unsentimental and almost all the marketing professionals are aware that there is an increased barter mentality in customers. The general question almost every customer asks is: "What is in it for me?" Your copy should therefore make potential customers be aware of what they will get by opting for the products your client is offering.  So, regiment your thinking process suitably and sort and choose the right words wisely so your copy achieves this aim.

9. Get ready for success.

The best way to become super-qualified so you can achieve guaranteed success and prosperity in your copywriting career is to keep learning on a continuous basis. You should never allow yourself to get complacent. You should also be open to new, unique and innovative ideas. If you adopt this approach, you will not only be able to enhance the quality of your copies but will inspire more and more clients to approach you for promoting their brands and businesses.

Monday, July 10, 2017

Lost Your Job? No Worries. Deal With It Sensibly.

Unlike in the past, people do not stick to the same job in which they join. They keep looking for greener pastures and once they find a higher-paying job, they do not hesitate to leave their earlier job. Similarly, unpredictability is ruling the roost in the job market because a number of employers have started adopting a "hire and fire" approach. This means that if they find that a particular employee is not useful to them any more, they will ask the employee to leave. If you face such a situation and your employer has asked you to leave, you may wonder as to how to handle the situation. The following tips may help.

Emotional, financial and social impact

It is true that loss of job may impact you emotionally, financially and socially. The first step you must take is that you must stop living in a make-believe world. You must accept the reality and remain composed. You must not react immediately also. In fact, your immediate reaction may be out of frustration. According to the Kübler-Ross model, there may be 5 phases of emotional swings you may be subjected to. "Denial”, “anger”, “bargain”, “rejection” and “acceptance” are those five phases. You must never react or make a decision when you are emotional because the decision may certainly be wrong. So, instead of allowing your emotions to take over, it is better not to react immediately.

You have lost your job. So what?

Though losing a job is a major set-back, that is not the end of the world. You have the rest of your life with you and you can accomplish a number of things even without being employed. Remember that Twitter and Facebook rejected Brian Acton when he applied for a job with them. He later co-founded WhatsApp and sold it to Facebook itself for a whopping $18Bn.

The time after you have lost your job can be extremely useful because you can do an honest assessment about your capabilities, your attitude and the areas in which you should improve and try to effect the required corrections for enhancing your worth.

Get rid of your negativity

There are chances you may lose your confidence and may wonder how your future will be. But remember that only during such occasions, you must believe in yourself. If you are of the best employees of the company that has laid you off, other companies may be ready to take you in. When Askme and Flipkart laid off a few of their employees, there were many companies that immediately took in some of the most skilled employees.

Isolating yourself is not a good thing

You may stay away from your relatives and friends due to the fear that they may ask you about your loss of job. This is not the right approach. Remember that a loss of job is your problem and others have no business to poke their nose into it. Of course, there may be relatives and friends who may genuinely want to help you. Similarly, there may be others who may have a sadistic pleasure in watching your frustration. You can interact with the former group because it may help you in changing your mood for the better. You may get some invaluable suggestions from those friends or relatives for making the next move as well. Chances of developing new contacts through them cannot be ruled out also.

Psychologically speaking also, you can bring down your frustration and stress levels by ventilating your feelings to those who have genuine concerns for you.

Reboot yourself

Since you are now relieved of the cumbersome process of commuting to your workplace every morning, you can use the time to reboot yourself and look at the choices available to you. By reviewing and re-looking at your interests, both professional and personal, you can find out if you can convert the current setback into another viable opportunity. Never forget how Steve Jobs played an impactful role in developing Apple after being thrown out of the same company initially.

Even if you are not inclined to carry out all these exercises, you can enjoy the phase by having a good time with your family or learning a new skill.

Never be hasty and never lie while trying to find a new job

"Once bitten, twice shy" is the saying. So, you must be careful while looking for a new job. Avoid making hasty decisions. Similarly, if you are called for a job interview, speak openly and tell the interviewers that you lost your job. Tell them the correct reason for the job loss also. Remember employers have various sources for checking facts. Employers value honesty more than anything else.

Most of the employers are very well aware that things like a loss of job, etc. keep happening in the job market and hence, they may not look down upon you for that reason.

If full-time job is no more an option, try for part-time or freelancing opportunities. These are certainly better options than making a hasty and wrong choice. Landing in a wrong job will sap your confidence further and it may have cascading effect in robbing your true potential. It is always better to opt for a job that excites or challenges you instead of desperately choosing the job that you stumble upon first.

Lossof job can certainly impact your life. In fact, in the present context, this risk is there for every employed person. Therefore, everyone including you should remain prepared for facing it. If you continuously keep yourself updated about the latest innovations in your field and keep upgrading your skills, you can be confident of landing in a new job even if you face a sudden lay-off.

Sunday, July 9, 2017

Want to have a fool-proof career? Do these things

The past few years have seen a lot of tribulations in the global economy. Due to this, unemployment levels have been increasing in most of the countries. So, it may not be surprising if you wonder whether you will be able to have a fool-proof career. Experts opine that there is no need for you to lose heart because there are ways that may help you have a fool-proof career. They advise that you must take a few steps for it. Let us have a look.

1. The most important step you must take is to keep yourself abreast of the latest innovations and changes that keep taking place in your field. Experts point out at the rapidity at which changes keep taking place in almost every field. It is in this context they advise that you must attend summits, events and conferences related to your field. The main benefit you can derive is that you can get a lot of information from experts in the trench of your industry. You can even ask questions and seek clarifications and advice from these experts. Not only that, these conferences, events and summits may widen your network significantly. When you connect with the top people in your field, chances of having a fool-proof career increase manifold.

2. Explore job titles

There are lots of opportunities in every field but all of them may not be very much visible. This means you should do an in-depth research so you can choose the branch that suits you the best and that interests you. Remember that if you choose a branch or niche that interests you, you will tend to put forth more efforts. In other words, you must explore the various job titles available in your field so you can specialize in the relevant niche you are interested in.

3. Keep applying for workshops or courses

Look for institutions that organize workshops related to your field. Similarly, institutions and universities may offer courses, both online and off-line, relevant to your field. Make it a point to apply for these courses or workshops so you can keep your knowledge level updated. You will get comprehensive details about the industry also. When your knowledge level goes up, your confidence will grow and so, you can perform better in job interviews as well as in those interviews conducted for promotions.

4. Volunteer to offer free service

Find a company in your field that may require interns and offer your services to them. This will be of immense help to you because you will get on-the-job training. Your self-confidence will get a boost and hence, when you attend job interviews, you can communicate clearly. The interviewers will be able to realize about your skills and potential also.

5. Continuous education will always help

If you do not take steps to continue your learning, you may become stagnant. Remember that every field is witnessing rapid changes which means companies are always looking for those employees who keep themselves updated of such changes and innovations

6. Never shirk your responsibilities

Even after landing in a job, you cannot afford to become complacent. Apart from working hard, you must make it a point to remain accountable for your output. Shirking your responsibility is a bad attitude and your management will view it seriously. In fact, every management will like only those employees who "do more than paid for." You can even assist other team members after you finish your own work. You can assist other teams as well so you can gain knowledge about the other operations of your company. Always remember that the management has thousands of eyes and ears and the news about your attitude of rendering a helping hand to other members of your team and other teams will reach them very soon.

Friday, June 9, 2017

Not Able To Land In A Job? Adopt A New Approach For Creating Your Resume

If you have NOT landed in a job despite having great skills and also a very good academic background, you may be wondering what is wrong and what you should do about it. The answer to your quandary can be found in your resume and your cover letter. It reveals that you should adopt a new approach for creating your resume and your cover letter. Let us have a look.

Whatever may be the changes that may have taken place in the job market, resumes still play a key role in the recruitment processes. This means you must improve the way you present things in your resume.

    1. Your resume must contain an objective and a call-to-action

Career experts strongly advise that resumes should resemble sales letters. Just as a sales letter provides the details of the benefits a buyer will derive by purchasing a service or a product, you should tell potential employers how they will benefit by hiring you.

The objective of a resume is to let employers know how your skills and achievements will help their companies. In fact, you should begin your resume by giving these details because it is during the first few seconds recruiters will decide if they should go through your resume fully or toss it into the trash bin.

    2. Understand clearly what the employers want

You must read the job postings thoroughly because only then, you can know the skill sets employers are looking for. If you think that you possess the skills, you must highlight them in your resume.

    3. Let your resume focus on your  skills

There is no point on describing vaguely how you have contributed in your previous positions. Potential employers should know the skills you have acquired by working on those jobs. So, by using specific subheadings for grouping your skills, you must give examples of how you used those skills in your previous positions. Such examples will show to your potential employers that they can expect a similar approach from you.

    4. Incorporate a separate section to describe the skills you acquired externally

You may have acquired a few skills outside your earlier workplaces. If you show them in a separate section, employers can know how you can handle stressful situations. Days of testing the I.Q. of candidates are gone. Employers are now testing the Emotional Quotient and Adversity Quotient of job seekers because in the highly competitive environment that prevails in the present-day world, employees are very much likely to face several hurdles. Only if they remain composed and unperturbed and think with a cool and clear head, they will be able to come out with the right solutions for surmounting the hurdles.

Your resume must reveal your skills in these areas. In other words, you can describe some of the stressful situations you might have faced in your life and how you could handle them successfully for coming out unscathed.

    5. Understand the right meaning of a cover letter

A number of people have a wrong notion that your cover letter must contain whatever you have said in your resume. Instead, the letter should give more details about you  so recruiters can know how you will fit into the role for which you are applying and what you will do for the company.

Experts advise that your cover letter must begin with a strong cut-to-the-chase introduction. You must explain how your achievements and skills will benefit the company for which you are applying and how you will be compatible with their culture.

If your resume as well as cover letter are top notch, you can be certain that you will land in a good job.

Monday, May 29, 2017

What to Do When Your Employer Overlooked You and Promoted Your Junior

Whenyour company promotes a person who has less experience than you andhe moves ahead of you, you may justifiably be frustrated. Your motivation levels may come down as well. Sometimes, the same person may become your boss and may try to guide you or even give you advice. But no amount of fretting and fuming may help. Similarly, ventilating your anger towards the person who has superseded you may not also do any good. Then, what should you do in this context?

Instead of focusing on the reasons as to why the other person has been promoted and you have been overlooked, you must focus on your career. If you do an honest assessment, you will know the areas in which you have to improve. But if you succumb to emotions such as frustration and anger, you may not be able to look at things in the right perspective.

Experts say that the feeling of anger is in general fear-based. Therefore, without allowing yourself to be consumed by fear, you must use the emotion as a fuel for improving yourself.

Experts further say that those who advance in their careers are good in playing the game so appropriately that they derive benefits out of it. They learn the trick of building relationships, they do a little extra in what is expected of them and use these traits for furthering their careers. If you look at companies, they generally have the habit of promoting only those who have these traits. They do not even consider experience. Simply put, these traits are what help these employees stand out from the crowd that may consist of even more experienced people.

So, understand that employers will consider those people with loyalty and tenacity and those who think out-of-the-box. So, if you demonstrate your lateral thinking capabilities and if you prove to your employers that you are willing to travel the extra distance, you may not have any difficulty in going up the career ladder

Michelle Gibbings, a career specialist, also says that it may be futile as well as dangerous if we focus on the success of other employees. On the contrary, we should feel happy that the other person has got a rise and should think that this gives us an opportunity to find out the ways for improving ourselves so we can also move up.

Michelle Gibbings says, "You should not have a mindset where you believe someone else's success means you can't have success. If you do, then you'll shrink the way you collaborate with people and that will negatively impact on your career. Focus on what you need to do, learn something more, shift how you behave and expand your network. Somebody else's success might stop and make you think about your own career path but you should be happy for them and not let it eat you up. It's not easy but see what you can learn from your colleague, use it as a growth opportunity. But that will only come if you are genuinely happy for that person. Change your mindset and figure out what more you can learn and how you can support people because those traits will help build your career and establish what you stand for."

This explains everything.

Thursday, March 30, 2017

A Sound Advice to Ensure Your Career Growth

Careergrowth is what everyone is aspiring for and you may not be an exception. But do you have one of the key traits that can help you have the growth that you are aiming at? We are talking about what is known as "active listening." If you think that the process of active listening is to just pay attention to what the speakers and more particularly, your boss, peers, co-workers and subordinates are uttering, you are terribly wrong. In fact, the process of active listening mainly consists of being very alert while listening. This is much more than just paying attention to what others speak. The process actually involves showing verbal as well as non-verbal signs so the speakers know that you are not only paying attention but digesting and assimilating whatever they are uttering.

Researches have proved that on an average, a person can talk 225 words a minute. But all of us have capabilities of listening up to 500 words a minute. This means we allow 275 words from various other sources to fill our minds. This is what distraction is. If you want to actively listen, you must make purposeful efforts to avoid succumbing to such distractions.

Of course, there may be another reason that may be preventing you from listening actively to others and the reason is our "ego." Many of us want that we should be in the spotlight and hence, we try to speak more than we listen. In this process, we do not allow others to speak. But how can active listening help you? Let us have a look.

1.When you are actively listening, you will be able to come out with apt responses to what others speak. Speakers and especially, your boss, may appreciate you for your feedback. In fact, your feedback will prove to the speakers that you are able to understand and assimilate what they speak. So, they may think that you are smart.

2. In addition to being considered a smart person, you may earn the reputation of being a charismatic person as well. As the saying goes, “The irony of being a good conversationalist is that talking isn’t the most important piece; listening is what makes you memorable.”

3. Sometimes, peers and subordinates may approach you with their issues. Though not all of them may want you to provide solutions, some of them may expect that you should be empathetic towards the issues they face. You can lend your empathetic ears only if you actively listen to them and understand their issues in the right perspective.

But how can you become an actively listener? Here are a few tips.

1. Once your boss, peers or subordinates finish talking, you can paraphrase whatever they have spoken and repeat it. Your summary need not be elaborate. It is enough if it is brief. Experts point out that when you attempt this, the creative part of your brain gets triggered and so, you may be able to come out with new ideas and suggestions. There is another advantage as well. Your boss and others will come to know that you have understood their points in the right manner.

2. Another approach is to ask relevant questions about the topics about which people speak. This will also show your enthusiasm and interest. It may help you in getting clarity about the topics as well. More particularly, your boss will appreciate that you have understood the importance of the tasks that are being assigned.

In this context, it is pertinent to imagine a particular scenario. Let us assume that your boss assigns a few tasks to you and while discussing about the tasks, he appears to lay emphasis on a couple of tasks by repeatedly mentioning about them. By asking your boss if you have to accord priority to those specific tasks, you can clearly show to your boss that your line of thinking is in tune with what he thinks. Apart from helping you in strengthening your relationship with him, this may pave way for a quicker career growth also.

3. In addition to the above verbal responses, you should have natural eye contact when your boss or others speak. Other non-verbal responses are keeping an appropriate posture, nodding, smiling, etc. These responses should show to the speakers that you agree with the views or points put forth by them.

In a nutshell, active listening is certain to help you in your efforts to impress your boss and so, you can rest assured that it will accelerate your career growth.


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Frequently asked questions

Questions to ask when choosing a prospective service

The choice of care service needs careful consideration. You need to have confidence in the people delivering the care and feel a happy and warm atmosphere.
As the choice of care service is often made at a vulnerable time, the following frequently asked questions may be useful.

Q: What is a Care Home?
A: The term Care Home is used to cover any home that offers accommodation and personal care. Some homes also provide Nursing Care.

Q: What type of service is best for my relative / friend?
A: It is vital to choose the right type of care service. If a home cannot offer the level of support needed it will not be suitable. If a home that usually looks after people with more intense needs than your relative / friend they may feel out of place.

Q: Can I ask for an assessment?
A: The local authority social services department has a duty to assess the needs of anyone who might need its services. So if you are considering the move to a care home, supported living or domiciliary care, you are almost certainly entitled to an assessment. The local authority will then suggest what level of care your relative / friend requires.

Q: Who is responsible for paying for the Care service?
A: Each individual’s circumstances are different.  (See below)

Q: How can I find out if the local authority will pay / contribute to the cost?
A: After the assessment your local authority social services department will advise what if any financial assistance will be available to you.
Factors such as your relatives / friends income, savings and other assets will influence the potential contributions made.
The local authority should look at your relatives / friends finances after it has assessed their needs. You should not be denied a needs assessment because your relative / friend has too much money.

Q: Should the NHS pay my fees (Nursing Home)
A: The NHS is responsible for meeting some care home fees in full. It should pay the full cost if you have been assessed as having needs that are primarily health based. Residents in care homes that provide nursing care are most likely to qualify for full NHS funding but residents in other homes or their own home can be asked to be assessed.

Q: How do I find a suitable service?
A: The following links will take you to sites that provide a list of homes in your preferred area.
The local authority
The Care Quality Commission who are the national regulatory body
The Elderly Accommodation Council

Q: Once I have found a care service how do I make sure its right for my relative / friend?
A: Always try to visit a care service before deciding to place your relative / friend there. Take a list of points that are important and specific to you. Below is an extensive suggested list, not all of the points mentioned will be of significance to you.

  • Will it be a private room?
  • If the room is shared do we have a choice of who it is shared with?
  • Is there a toilet close by or en-suite?
  • Are there communal sitting areas?
  • Are there private areas where I can be with my visitors?
  • Is the home warm and well aired?
  • Are there any unpleasant smells?
  • Can I bring personal mementoes for my room?
  • Can I bring personal furniture for my room?
  • Are there fire regulations addressed and are there provisions for wheelchairs in the event of a fire?
  • If there is more than one floor is there a lift?
  • Are the rooms well decorated and clean?
  • Is there a garden for the residents to use?
  • Can I have a telephone installed in my room?
  • Are there plenty of bathrooms and are there hoists available to help me into a bath if needed?
  • Can I have my own television in my room?
  • Are there plenty of experienced staff available?
  • Are the staff friendly and welcoming?
  • Are the beds of variable height with adequate pillows and linen?
  • If my relative / friend needs a specialist mattress would it be available at no extra cost?
  • Is there an activity programme?
  • Would my relative / friend have a choice about when they got up and went to bed?
  • Can my relative / friend bathe when they please and is there a choice of bath or shower?
  • Can my relative / friend choose whether they go to the communal area during the day or stay in their room?
  • Can my relative / friend wear their own clothes?
  • Is their a laundry for personal clothing?
  • Is there someone I or my relative / friend can speak to in confidence if necessary?
  • Will my relative / friend have easy access to a doctor if required and can they keep their own doctor?
  • Are there specific visiting hours?
  • Can my relative / friend remain in the home if their mental or physical condition deteriorates?
  • Can the care service care for my relative / friend until they pass away?
  • Will my relative / friend have access to:

    A dentist
    An optician
    An Audiologist
    A chiropodist
    An occupational therapist
    A physiotherapist
    Visiting Clergy
    A hairdresser

  • Does the care service have a pre admission statement / service user’s guide?

  • Does the care service offer a trial period?

  • What is the homes policy on pets?

  • Does the home offer a varied diet and alternatives?

  • Can my relative / friend see the daily menu?

  • Can my relative / friend have an early morning hot drink?

  • Can my relative / friend have breakfast in bed or do they have to go to the dining room.

  • Is lunch and supper served in the dining room or can my relative / friend eat in their room if preferred?

  • Can my relative / friend get drinks at any time of the day?

  • Does the home cater for special dietary needs and would there be any extra cost?

  • Could you look after my relative / friend if they were blind or deaf?

  • Would my relative / friends visitors be able on occasion to join them for a meal?

  • What are the care service fees?

  • Can my relative / friend afford the fees on a long term basis?

  • How often do the fees increase?

  • What is not included in the care services fees?

  • Are the fees payable in advance?

  • Is there a contract?

  • Is there a notice period required on leaving the care service?

  • Is there a complaints procedure?

Q: What if we choose a care service in a different area?
A: You may wish your relative/friend to go to a care care service in a different local council district to the one where they currently live. This could be because you would like your relative / friend to be near relatives or the place where they grew up.
If they have been assessed as needing care and your local council has agreed to pay for them, then they are normally responsible for your relative / friends fees if you choose a care service somewhere else.

Q: Our decision is made – what do we do now?
A: Contact the care provider to tell them of your decision. They will arrange to carry out a pre-admission assessment. If you are funding your own care seek independent financial advice.
Notify your social worker of your decision.
If you are moving from a hospital to a new home the hospital will make arrangements for your move.
If you are moving from your home to a nursing or residential home ask a friend or relative to help pack your possessions and organise transport.
If you have no one to help you, your local social services department, health visitor, Help the Aged, Age Concern may be able to suggest someone to assist you.

Q: What to do if I have a problem or complaint?
A: If you have a problem with a care service, first try to resolve it through informal discussions or, if necessary, through the internal complaints procedure.
Where the dispute relates to the standard of care you can raise the matter with the regulatory body for care providers. If the local authority arranged your relative / friends care, it retains responsibility for ensuring that the received care is suitable.
Each local authority is required to operate a complaints procedure and to make available information about how to complain.

We hope your relative/friend settles quickly into his/her new environment and that these Q&A’s have helped you to make an informed and positive decision.

Elsmore Social Care Marketing