n quentin woolf

on self-publishing and storming amazon

storming amazon a beginners guide by kyle wallace

Kyle Wallace, author of Dial M for Mascara, was on fine form again this week as he returned to Tiffinbites to talk about Storming Amazon. One week previously, he’d been discussing the ins and outs of self-publishing; working on the presumption that his audience now had the published book in hand Kyle this week led them step-by-step through the Amazon jungle, highlighting the many opportunities there are to make your book a success. But this makes it sound rather more mundane that it actually was. In a previous life, Kyle was a magician, and it’s easy to see how years of thinking wee outside the box informed his approach to the sales and distribution of books. Indeed, listening to Kyle unveil the process he used was exactly like watching a magic trick be explained, and his approach was carefully thought out dynamite-effective and simple. Now, I couldn’t promise that his method would work for everybody, but, rather than simply make assertions, Kyle did talk attendees through the reasons behind each stage of choices so that they could customise the idea.

The evening was full of valuable stuff; it made one properly consider a number of Amazonian features that can all too easily be taken for granted. Put it like this; if in the future I were planning to self-publish a new book onto Amazon, I would most definitely follow the steps outlined by Kyle, with every confidence that they would make my book sell more copies, achieve a high exposure, and generally improve my life.

We’re hoping to make the transcripts of this week’s talk, and last week’s available for sale. If you’re interested in these, and would like notification when they’re ready, please drop us an email at kyle@nquentinwoolf.co.uk

self-publishing a beginners guide by kyle wallace

On Thursday August 12th, it was my pleasure to host the first of two talks given by the author Kyle Wallace about the ins and outs of self-publishing.  Thanks to the generosity of those lovely people at our venue Tiffinbites, we were poppadom happy as Kyle launched into an engaging, honest and fuss-free explanation of how to take your book from final draft to bookshelf. As we know, those in the literary world are not always renowned for their stage presence, however, as an ex-magician and stand-up comic, Kyle had no problem holding his own. Kyle used the lessons learnt the hard way when he self-published his debut novel Dial M for Mascara, to deliver an engaging, thoughtful and extremely informative hour and a half of information gems and insider advice. From page layout to pricing, spine design to Amazon-readiness, Kyle was generous with his knowledge and flagged up a great many potential pitfalls for the newcomer to self publishing.

As attendees discovered, there is a great deal more to self-publishing than one might imagine. Throughout the talk, Kyle kept one eye firmly on the bottom line, offering great tips (all field-tested) on how to bring down suppliers’ prices, how to think through your cover design, and even how to sell copies of your book using the dedication’s page. Along with the factsheet of shortcuts for obtaining ISBN numbers and registering your book correctly, Kyle addressed those perplexing matters such as how to ensure that your book is properly registered with National Libraries, and how the colour of your cover can cost you more in postage. Feedback from the evening was very positive and we’re looking forward to Thursday the 19th of August when Kyle’s subject will be how to crack that massive, yet daunting, sales portal: Amazon.

making changes

Elephant Foot

I went for a wander around the Olympic site in Stratford before this week’s show. It was a sunny day, a glorious taste of spring, and rather than scurry to the studio, running a neck-and-neck race with the second hand of my watch, I instead left home an hour early and strolled. If you haven’t been over that way yet, it’s well worth a look. The main structures are in place; it seems like they’re putting on the finishing touches already (although with two years still to go, there must be plenty more to do). General consensus seems to be that the works are ahead of schedule, much to everyone’s surprise. As it is, you can wander around a pedestrian track and get a close-to view of the giant cranes, the peculiar industrial beasts, and the army of workers dressed in fluorescent clothes who remind me of the Dozers from Fraggle Rock. We’ve been off-air for six weeks and I fear that this jaunt is the sort of thing one only does when one is coming fresh to the work routine; it’s frightening how repetition makes you blind. So one of my resolutions for this new season of The Arts Show has nothing to do with the show itself at all, rather that my tos and froms won’t be conducted in the tie-over-the-shoulder fashion of season one.

We kicked off in our new slot (6-7 on a Tuesday evening since you ask) with a selection of guests each of whom is contributing something important to our understanding of our fellow wo/man. The directors of Elephant Foot, Ben Charland and Laura Burdon–Manley, are opening their new show “Wealth” in the coming days: it’s a show about nothing less than the end of money and about the effects of wealth and indeed greed (which recent economic events may have allowed us to forget are in fact very different things). They take, as one of their characters, someone who’s been directly affected by the Rwandan genocide, a topic which must be handled skilfully and with great sensitivity if one is to avoid accusations of exploitation and sensationalism. Having spoken to the Elephant Foot guys, I’ve no doubt that there’s an intellectual rigour behind their use of this event and that they don’t select their themes fancifully. It seems odd then, to remark that we had a lot of fun making the interview – which had more to do with my inability to deliver an introduction line (oh boy, how fast one gets rusty) than the subject matter of the interview itself. Laura and Ben are both well able and keen to articulate their art form (handy for a radio show) nor have I seen two people better able to provide a selection of dramatic tableau when asked to pose for a picture. If you’ve half a mind to go and see “Wealth”, give it a go and expect to be challenged.

Roisin Murray

We’d tried to get Roisin Murray onto the show last year, and had booked her in just moments before learning that the station needed some revamp time. She made her belated appearance this week, and it was well worth the wait. All of this week’s guests had uncomfortable truths to discuss and all of them emphasised the connection between the large scale of the topics they were examining – from the Rwandan genocide to Downs Syndrome to the Palestine-Israeli conflict, and the personal aspects of these various challenges and tragedies. Roisin talked about the immediacy of the act of telling a story, the importance of being able to look your audience in the eye; her words resonated with the observations of the others – Ben Charland’s that a theatre actor is playing his part just a few feet from the audience, Fiona Yaron-Field that healing can come from looking in the eyes of your supposed foe and seeing that he is indistinguishable from you. I was struck by the way that irrespective of the age of the art form, from new-fangled photography to the age old oral story form, these people are using art to engender understanding where other modes of communication have broken down.

Fiona Yaron-Field

I guess I’m predisposed to finding an earnestness for one’s art charming. Roisin, I found, had something of the worldly, quirky charm of Pam Ayres, although she looks and sounds nothing like her; Fiona Yaron-Field’s charm works in a very different way. Unlike Roisin, Ben and Laura, who are forever in the lime light, Fiona shudders at the thought of being in front of the lens rather than behind it – she just about tolerated me taking a publicity shot for this page. Fiona has, for me, the air of someone with a mission to accomplish from which she will not be deterred, but there is none of the steeliness that that observation could imply, nor do I think  she conceptualizes herself in that way – she is much humbler than that. Fiona’s photography is stunning. I would definitely recommend you get hold of a copy of Uncertain States - you will be impressed. The pictures from the Shifting Perspectives exhibition, too, are captivating. I recall that one of Fiona’s influences is Nan Goldin; a leaf through the images here shows that influence at play in one of two of the portraits, to exciting effect. Fiona’s current show is on the South Bank, which would make it an easy diversion the next time I’m wandering back from giving a class near Waterloo; indeed, it could form part of my new project of being a little more alive to what’s around me. As this week’s show reminded me, what’s around us is at times truly remarkable.

Listen to this edition of The Arts Show

portraits of the artists

landscape by David Harker

The first day back at work is always a sobering affair. Those oh-so-familiar surroundings, the problem with the desktop you hoped might have done the decent thing and gone away over the Christmas break, but for all my bleating there is a reassurance in the solidity of objects; the heavy presenter’s mike on its articulated arm, the frequency graphics on the computers, the (squeaky) office chair. The station was a buzz with an early spring clean underway. There is a glass panel through which I can see into another studio and I was treated to the sight of one of the station techs, a fairly burly fellow it must be said, hoovering to Queen’s I Want To Break Free.
Our first show of the year started as I hope we’ll carry on. The musical contributions were as varied as they were original; I particularly enjoyed Model Society’s ‘City of Romance’ a salute to a variety of British influences from the past 20 years and yet idiosyncratic and full of energy. It reminded me a little of the Stone Roses epic adolescent lust for life and the Smith’s Urban spirit was in the mix as well. I am looking forward to hearing more from this band. ROPHONE, meanwhile, offered an entirely different musical experience. I like being challenged – I don’t mean trying to get past piss-poor pop lyrics (the linguistic contortions song writers put themselves

Telegraph by David Harker

through to come up for a rhyme for ‘self’ are usually hilarious and pitiable, and invariably result in some variation of ‘don’t leave me on a shelf’, a weak metaphor if ever there was one). No I mean coming ear-to-track with a piece that doesn’t do what you want it to, makes no apologies for the situation. ‘ROPHONE Raveup’ is a harsh alarm of a piece which seems to test the listener, and yet I found myself liking the subtleties of the evolution of the song. I remember Bjork singing along to a car alarm; that piece shared some of this track’s qualities. I am looking forward to more from ROPHONE. Geoff Cotton gave us a comic swipe at anglo-franc relations, which I must admit had me on the edge of my seat somewhat. Was he going to cross the acceptability line? Was the talk of mistresses going to be suitable for broadcast? Where was it all going? Happily there were some very funny moments in Geoff’s track, not least the invitation from his Gaelic alter-ego to f-off on the Eurostar (context is everything for that gag) and I was really rather taken aback by the authenticity of his French accent, which seemed all to plausible. You could almost hear the Gaelic shrugs.
The guest list was one-third shorter than usual, owing to a snow related

David Harker Himself

disaster in the West Midlands; happily this resulted in a longer interview with artist David Harker. It’s one of the most satisfying I’ve done so far for the show. At the beginning of the interview I knew embarrassingly little about the genre of landscape representation and through considered responses and careful explanation of his craft, Harker led me through perspective, pointillism, Peter De Wint, Constable, architecture, Japanese and Chinese graphic art, and the challenges facing the emerging artist. I

landscape by David Harker

found him thoughtful and engaging. Some of his work, including the picture ‘telegraph’ which we discussed on the show, are included here. Harker, resident of Pinner, is planning exhibitions later in the year, I will keep you posted.
The big project for Fat Content Theatre’s Daniel Holme is The Man I Cure. My imagination has been captured by the idea of using a smell in theatre and also by the concept of institutionalising the theatre audience prior to the performance. For a show set in a hospital these seem like both clever shortcuts and powerful locators; oftentimes a smell can act as a memory trigger in a way that no

Daniel Holme

other sensory data could. You’ll have to listen to Daniel’s explanation of the show to learn more as its complex plot and ambitious thematic concerns don’t bear summarizing here. Suffice to say that The Man I Cure sounds as though it should be a thought provoking, diverting and surreal experience. I wish it the sweet smell of success.

And so 2010 is underway, I hope you’ll join us through the year as we probe the arts world and bring you the inside track.

Listen to this edition of The Arts Show

spaces

I’m going to be working with Tempered Body Dance Company again soon, collaborating on the Body Language workshop and performance. The project, supported by Chisenhale Dance Space in Bow, is an exploration of movement and words for dance artists, culminating in a performance that puts into action the discoveries made during the day, embracing the collaboration dance and writing.

group crope

 The space between words is both crucial for understanding and for effect and yet goes largely overlooked. I’m going to be looking at contact between words and particularly what happens in the spaces between words. How can a supposedly empty space have meaning? How can a space mean more? Do words – and people – ever truly touch one another?

The workshop runs from 10:30 – 5:00 on December 11^th, with a performance open to the public at 7:00. Housed at Chisenhale Dance Space, 64-84 Chisenhale Road, E3. For tickets or to sign up for the workshop please contact admin@temperedbody.com For more information on this project http://www.temperedbody.com/News.html

building conversations

Ken Worpole

What a glorious day and what a crime to be stuck inside a recording studio! Ordinarily we snap a few guest shots in the studio over the course of the recording but Rehan Qayoom mentioned that he has an interest in churches (all tied in, of course, with his travels in the footsteps of Betjeman) and the studio backs on to a beautiful church. The autumnal sun had that honeyish quality and, along with the easy freshness of the day, was truly invigorating.

Even with this wonderful weather, it could not really be called a coincidence that we had a guest on the show called Sunnie Dae. If that were a coincidence then even in the gloom of Britain Sunnie would spend about half of her life being coincidental; but never was a person so aptly named.

Sunnie Dae

I never cease to be bowled over by the enthusiasm and encyclopaedic knowledge of their form displayed by the majority of guests on the show, Sunnie was no exception, both off-air and on-we talked around plantation songs and blues music of all kinds. The twelve-minute slot felt very restrictive.

Ken Worpole was our headlining guest of the week. Anyone familiar with his work will know he’s one of the authorities on architectural writing and his formidable knowledge and no-nonsense demeanour are combined with a big physical presence: I see eye-to-eye with him, and I’m six-six. Ken mentioned that many moons ago he’d been involved with The Basement Writers, a literary circle which nurtured talents such as that of Alan Gilbey, with whom I’ve worked several times, the novelist Roger Mills, ditto and Tony Marchant, he of TV fame. It seems appropriate that keys to Ken’s past should be so neatly figured in the stories of a building.

Rehan Qayoom

Rehan’s poetry is tender, frank, considered and beautiful. None of thesequalities unbalances the poetry by being greater than the others. I wasn’t at all surprised to hear Rohan has been very widely published in literary magazines but was astonished that he is yet to publish out a collection of his own. I hope that that time won’t be long in coming. After the show I was also delighted to discover that Rehan was a letter writer (of course he is). I wasn’t sure that species had survived. Definitely a repeat guest.

Jemma Skidmore

Jemma Skidmore’s fantastic museum, in which both the museum and the curators (four people sharing a single name and no reality) is an umbrella for her vast array of projects, in which the actual is combined with Pythonesque absurdisms. I think it’s a smart idea keeping it online; these pieces work so well as ideas that it would be a shame to see them realised. We talked for a while on the subject of a bus station in Gloucester and I realised that having talked for so long to Ken Worpole about architecture and Sunnie Dae about prisons, to say nothing of Rehan and his churches that the show had been dominated, unintentionally, by the built.

All of which provides no respectable link whatsoever to the music of Mooncat and Biggo and Twiggeti whose respective sounds I enjoyed so much that I am hoping to get them in again for next week’s show.

Listen to this edition of The Arts Show.

the dark

Inua Ellams

get noticeably darker in the evenings, arts folk have seemed more subdued, more-stay-at-home; there’s been a definite trend to Get Things Finished, that is, to complete projects started in the sunnier months, as though the night might eventually close in altogether and snuff their creativity out. Various groups I’m connected with always have a low turn-out during these couple of weeks each year, and those who do roll up do so with the air of survivalists, battling through the crespuscular gloom.

Nathan Morris and Daniella Pisani

This week’s show seemed extremely chilled out. All of my guests were a lot of fun to be around. Inua Ellams, whose pluck where embracing new artforms really inspires me, mugged for several photos; I’ve soul-searched long and

Georgia Coles-Riley

hard before uploading only the most sensible to this page. It could all have been so different. Inua spoke eruditely on various aspects of his craft (as you’ll know if you caught the show) and I was so wrapped up in what he had to say that the studio clock hitting changeover took me by surprise. I’m looking forward to seeing the 14th Tale.

Monkeys found their way into my conversation with Cornucopia Theatre

Lingo Scott

Company, and thereupon proceeded to establish themselves as a recurrent theme. This is the first time this has happened on the show, but who knows, perhaps it’s nothing new for Daniella and Nathan. Their show, near Old Street, finishes on Sunday, so you need to get a wiggle on if you fancy a squint.

The studio staff were taken aback by Georgia Coles-Riley’s intimate knowledge of all things chemical and carnal, given that G C-R comports herself with the air of one recently returned from taking homemade jam to elderly neighbours. I’m looking forward to seeing how Georgia packages her beautiful words for the demanding performance scene.

Riz Maslen

The show ended much as it began, with my guest proving so full of stories and projects that time beat us before we got close to discussing everything we’d hoped to. After the show, Riz told me about the differences in attitude of many sound engineers depending on whether they’re dealing with a male or female performer. (You can guess which gender gets treated as though they have no idea what they’re talking about.) I’m glad our sound techs – the competent Stuart and Georgia - are very much of the new breed .

That’s all from me for this week. I’m off to put the finishing touches to a book before the darkness snuffs me out.

Listen to this edition of The Arts Show.

drumroll, please

Nathan Penlington

Our technical challenge on this week’s show was to get a great sound from drums in a very small studio. We were riding the faders as the drums sang. Malik Tebrizli really knows how to play: using the various parts of his hands to coax a beautiful range of sounds from his drum, he drifted into that other place musicians go when they’re caught up in their music. It’s easy to see what Nihat Tsolak meant when he talked about the almost spiritual aspect of percussion. His words linked closely with those of choreographer Maddy Wynne-Jones, who several weeks ago described the natural movement every one of us has in our body. For Nihat, and I think for Malik too, that movement is a rhythm, with which they connect when they drum.

Maddy and Steve

The quantity and scale of Rosie Cooper’s projects interested me very much. She talks about her work with great earnestness and thoroughness. There is no gimmickry in what she does. I loved that she’d turned the Savoy café into a place where art could be ordered from the menu; the idea sitting in a retro joint watching men in brown coats wheel in a Brancusi is exactly my idea of a good time. At the end of Rosie’s interview I went to play one of the station idents – jingles, if you prefer – and instead the studio was filled with the voice of Peter Griffin from Family Guy talking to Meg about something completely indecent. Rosie looked to me for explanation, for which I had none. Thank God for post-production: now no-one will ever know it happened. I certainly won’t mention it.

Incidentally, I meant to ask Rosie why she’d brought a five-metre, four-socket extension cable with her to the show. It seemed a little odd, given that she had nothing to plug in, and reminded me of a man I met, once, at the top of the Empire State Building, who had a goldfish in a bag. No funfair or pet store anywhere close. “He likes to get out and about,” the man told me. My best guess, given all Rosie’s got going on, is that recording the interview was a momentary diversion from a much bigger mission, one requiring power – entirely reasonable. If she’d had a goldfish instead, I’d have started to question myself.

Malik, Rosie, Nihat

Nathan Penlington sounded to me like a good, fresh voice in poetry; not over-stylised as some younger poets can be. He has an engaging, almost confessional quality, both in subject and delivery, and I liked the inventiveness of his experiments on street lighting, as well as the poignancy of that poem’s conclusion. Following Nathan, Steve McGregor was on fine, self-assured form. His war anecdotes – including the story of the time he believed he was about to die at the hands of a suicide bomber – had me so gripped that we almost failed to get around to mentioning his writing at all. A strong guest to round off the show. Now we get to find out whether that work on the faders did the trick.