#my profile picture and header images across both my blogs are photos of my current work

[eleanorfenyxwrites]

WIP Wednesday

So okay I don't know if this is like...a cool thing to do or not, but there's a fic I claimed from the 2022 kink meme list (I couldn't resist, in large part because Tales From Jianghu Shopping Center was listed by the prompter as one of their inspirations for the prompt) that I'm not sure when I'll actually finish writing but I have started it and I'd like to at least acknowledge that I'm doing it even if the prompter won't see this. But the prompt is something along the lines of anything highly specific and niche (like my strip mall AU lol), and I actually happen to have a growing little stockpile of very very niche knowledge about my chosen professional field, which is ceramics! I specialize in wheel-throwing (though I'm also a...passable hand at plaster mold-making/slip casting and handbuilding, I just don't enjoy them nearly as much) so I've started a little something from Lan Wangji's point of view that's a love letter to throwing ♥

--//--

As is tradition, Lan Wangji works in porcelain.

The Lan family have been respected masters of porcelain for centuries, generations stretching back, back, back nearly to the beginning of the imperial kiln production in Jingdezhen. They once produced the enormous pots that adorned emperors’ palaces – there are (very distant) cousins of his in Jingdezhen who still do so for wealthy patrons.

It’s easy to forget such a background when he enters his personal studio on the other side of the world and flicks on the lights to begin the day’s routines. It’s precisely what he wants – a quiet life like this, simple and unassuming, is much more suited to his desire than the weight of tradition that could otherwise press him and his work down into something he would never want to be.

Not that he deviates very far from tradition anyway, but it’s the principle of the thing. Lan Wangji takes quiet pleasure in simplicity, in function that is beautiful in its hard-won mastery. There are very few non-traditional ways to accomplish this that he’s interested in, but he likes having the option should he want to take it. 

Lan Wangji had learned to throw at his uncle’s knee as soon as it was possible to do so. He has continued to do so since childhood with a single-mindedness that once surprised even his uncle. All he’d ever wanted to do was to sit at the wheel for hours and hours on end, only pausing to warm the water in his bowl with a fresh influx from the kettle and to transfer full wareboards (once he was strong enough) to the drying racks in the corner of his uncle’s studio.

Lan Wangji has always struggled to find the words to convey how integral the motion of the wheel and the smooth slip of clay through his finger and against his palms is to feeling like he fits into his skin properly, but his family seems to understand just the same.

Yesterday, as the sun was westering, Lan Wangji had weighed up a few bags of fresh porcelain. The lumps are waiting for him now, tumbled together under their protective sheets of plastic, ready to be molded and shaped by hands and hypnotic motion. There’s enough of a chill in the studio this time of year that there isn’t any condensation on the plastic when he lifts it, so he folds it away neatly and settles into the easy rhythm of wedging his clay to prepare it for the wheel.

There is, in the middle of the studio, a sturdy butcher’s block workbench. He built it himself right there in the studio, the first piece of furniture that had filled the space even before he’d purchased his Shimpo wheel. It’s very likely too heavy to lift – it’s certainly too big to ever get through the door – but he has no intention of ever leaving this studio to begin another, so it suits his purposes just fine.

Wedging the clay on this sturdy, hip-height table is nearly as meditative a process as all the rest of it. A bit more of a workout than sitting at the wheel, but it’s a good way to warm up in the morning, his muscles well accustomed to the push-turn-push-turn-push-turn of spiral wedging that it’s gone beyond second nature, it simply is. His mind wanders pleasantly as he watches the misshapen lumps of pure porcelain become smooth and rounded beneath his palms. Perhaps he’ll spend the day on bowls. They’re quick and simple, suited to his mood today, and he’ll have plenty of them done by lunch when he already knows his typical solitary routine will be interrupted (and can therefore plan for it so far in advance). 

The sun is up properly by the time Lan Wangji finishes his wedging, and once he’s transferred the first batch of prepared clay to the wheel he pauses to stand in the open doorway and look out over the garden that sits between his studio and his home. The grass and the flowers are glittering fresh and dewy in the sunlight as he rolls his shoulders, stretches out his back in preparation to be seated for long hours.

When he returns, the wheel welcomes him, familiar and comforting. He fills an old bird seed bucket with warm water from the tap and arranges the small mirror at the back of the wheel’s tray to the perfect angle to watch his own hands before he settles in and takes a deep breath, sleeves rolled up and apron cinched comfortably tight around his waist as an unnecessary reminder to keep his back as straight as he can while he works.

The first ball of porcelain hits the perfect bullseye of the wheelhead and Lan Wangji leans in to begin centering, the porcelain buttery soft where it runs under his hands. Porcelain, he knows, is notorious for being difficult to work with, particularly for beginners. This far into his career, it’s simply polite and responsive to each confident press of his palms. He cones it first, hands curled around it to coax it in and up; presses it down again with the flat of his hand, every movement focused on the centerpoint of the wheel gliding silently through magnet-powered rotations. 

Up. 

Down again. 

Up.

Down.

Push.

Press.

Lan Wangji loves every part of the throwing process for what it is, but if he were to have to choose only one, this would be his favorite: the moment he can feel the clay running smoothly, perfectly centered the whole way through and ready to become whatever he will tell it to be, the possibilities – for this moment – endless.

#the untamed fanfic #WIP Wednesday #Lan Wangji #If I'm not mistaken the name of the prompt in the list is 'Bring Your Yiling Laozu To Work Day' or something to that effect #and I do plan on WWX showing up later in a way that's inspired by some of my friends in the studio #who work MUCH more chaotically than I do #(ie one of them currently goes mudlarking and digging for wild clay then brings it all in to chuck it in the kiln just to see what happens) #the other one can't remember anything that they do because they take no notes and treat highly precise chemical processes like they're #still a chef adding a dash of this and a dash of that to whatever's in their mixing bowl #and then there's me with my extensive notes and thoroughly researched glazes and all being like #'.....sometimes I don't mind if my glaze ingredients are a gram or two off' #anyway for anyone who didn't know I'm a ceramicist and it's one of my special interests lol #my profile picture and header images across both my blogs are photos of my current work #oh and the Shimpo wheel?????? IT'S A FUCKIN DREAM #the museum I sometimes teach workshops at borrowed one from a different college than mine in town and it was just #so fuckin NICE. It's DEAD SILENT and smooth as silk #and the pedal stays where you put it so if you're doing something large scale you can stand up to get your arm down in it #without having to balance on one foot or sacrifice speed or anything #it was like heaven #it's also like 4k to buy new so LOL NOPE

[caminoprovides]

Hola amigos! ‘Tis the season to share a selection of Camino-inspired gifts for the holidays. There are offerings from pilgrims who have been so inspired by the Camino that they have created books, customized maps, music, and more. New this year, a few things that pilgrims crave: Camino beer, Jamón Serrano, and Tarta de Santiago. Add them to your shopping list and you will be set for your upcoming fiestas and pilgrim gatherings. I’m also happy to announce that the Camino patches for 2020 finally arrived and are pictured at the end of this post. So, browse the gifts for the pilgrims on your list, and perhaps pick something out for yourself. You’ve been a good pilgrim all year, haven’t you? If not, I won’t tell St. Nick, or St. James.  😉

Custom Camino Maps

‘A Road To Santiago’ creates one-of-a-kind custom Camino maps showing the village names, custom text in the header, choice of decorations, optional photos and trail profiles. 

These 24″ x 36″  or 18″ x 24″ custom maps are a great memory piece.  Starting at $55 for the digital-only version and $80 and up for printed, rolled and shipped versions.  For more details, go to ARoadToSantiago.com. These are very customizable by a graphics designer – many options available. Designed, printed and shipped within a week.

Trailhead Music

My favorite Camino-inspired gift of 2019 is the music by a German pilgrim and singer-songwriter Tobias Panwitz, who fittingly calls himself Trailhead.  I played the “Keep Walking” CD at our chapter’s St. James Day event and ordered a few copies for our raffle at the welcome home event.  And now, he is giving away a free copy of his latest CD with every purchase!

Get the CD “The Road to Salamanca” free with every purchase, for a limited time.

Panwitz wrote some of his songs while walking on the Camino, on the streets of Madrid, walking towards Salamanca, or arriving in Santiago de Compostela.  Other songs, such as “Volcano Ground”  is about embracing life’s unpredictability, and “White Flag“ follows the footsteps of those who attempt challenges such as climbing Mount Everest. He’s a talented guitar player with a folksy voice. To hear a sample, listen to his song “Walking the Camino” as background music on my latest video, Pilgrim Welcome Home Event Highlights.

Vinyl Trailhead “Keep Walking”

Just order what you like and Tobias will send you a free CD “The Road to Salamanca” with your order.  I’ve ordered twice from Trailhead and can say that German mail is speedy! But you can decide if you want to expedite your order.  Order at: http://www.trailheadmusic.com/

Tarta de Santiago Gift Box

Whisk and Spatula’s Tarta de Santiago Gift Box is the perfect gift and/or entertaining solution for this holiday season. Each gift box contains a delicious, fully baked Tarta de Santiago. Just add the finishing touch before serving!

Each box includes: • 1 fully baked 8-inch Tarta de Santiago (serves 6-8) • 1 card stock stencil of the Cross of St. James • 2 ounces of powdered sugar • Instructions on how to stencil your tarta!

Each box is $30 plus shipping. This is a great deal for those who are too busy to bake or are traveling for the holidays. Order at: www.whiskandspatula.com/tartadesantiago

  Camino Brewing Co. San Jose, California

Silicon Valley pilgrims can treat friends and family, employees, and colleagues to the unique experience of locally made craft beer from Camino Brewing Co.

Camino Brewing Co., a community-based brewery located near downtown San Jose, makes award winning craft beverages inspired by the founders 1,900 mile cycling pilgrimage across the Camino de Santiago. Their Camino-themed beers include the Café con Leche Stout, KM 0.0 IPA, and La Rioja Belgian Ale. See what’s on tap.

They currently have an offer that includes beer on draft, 4-pack canned beer, 32 oz To go containers, and great looking merchandise. Plus, $25 gift cards available at discount when purchasing 10 or more. Click to see prices and ordering information.

Bay Area Pilgrims: I will be planning a beer pilgrimage to Camino Brewing Co. sometime in summer of 2020. The “Rails to Ales” event will involve a train ride, urban walk, beer tasting, and pilgrim camaraderie with the fun pilgrims in the South Bay. Date will be announced in a few months.  Stay thirsty, my friends!

Jamón Serrano

What do you get the pilgrim who has everything but craves the thinly sliced cured ham Spain is known for? A gift box of of Jamón Serrano, complete with a stand and carving knife!

A pilgrim friend brought one of these to our recent Camino Welcome Home event and it was a big hit! It came with a knife, stand and cutting board.  If you want to spurge and get the best quality Jamón available in the Bay Area, The Spanish Table in Berkeley has Cinco Jotas (for around $1200), considered one of the top Iberian ham producers in Spain.  If you want to save a few bucks,  check your local Costco or order one from Amazon.com.

The Camino Voyage Film

This film premiered in Dublin, Ireland in March, 2018. Since then, it has been released in Cinemas internationally and played at International Film Festivals from Moscow all the way to Hawaii and won five awards along the way.

I hosted a screening of this film in Berkeley in October and everyone enjoyed it. While I don’t recommend rowing an old boat to Galicia (talk about blisters!), I do recommend this film.  It is now available worldwide via DVD and streaming. Purchase at: www.anupictures.com/project/camino/ 

“Returning From Camino” Wristbands and Poster

Alexander Shaia, author of the Returning From Camino book (details below), has a couple of unique gifts for pilgrims. The wristbands would make excellent stocking stuffers. They’re small and lightweight enough to give pilgrims on the Camino. Wear these bands as a reminder that you are on the path of Return. With a glance, remember your desire to enact new attitudes and behaviors (wisdom) and to serve Higher Self and others. Embossed with two phrases: ‘Return From Camino’ and ‘Wisdom & Power To Serve’.

Returning From Camino 18″ x 27″ Poster with Mailing Tube

This commemorative poster is a powerful piece of art work to hang in your home or office. Adorned with hues of blues, purple, gold and green, the image brings alive your Camino and reminds you that the journey continues. The many symbols in the print beckon you to deeper reflection. What story do you see here?

Available on Quadratos website, orange remembrance bands (five for $10) and posters of the book cover ($32).  See details and purchase at: quadratos.com/store/items/

Note: Most of the items featured in this post are linked to the merchant’s shop, but some items below are available through affiliate links or blog sponsorship. As an Amazon Associate, I earn a small commission from qualifying purchases, which help to cover my costs of hosting  and maintaining this blog. 

Camino Books

Camino de Santiago: Sacred Sites, Historic Villages, Local Food & Wine by Beebe Bahrami

Beebe Bahrami’s book about the Camino Francés is in a class all its own. It’s part Camino guidebook and part cultural history—packed with with practical tips for pilgrims and gorgeous full-color photos. I love the fold-out map with the stages and elevations. The book is a little heavy for an ultralight packer (I delivered one to a mutual friend in Spain before I walked my Camino Invierno this year). You might consider reading it cover-to-cover before you go on the Camino, and have something to refer to when you get back home. Fortunately, there’s a Kindle version that won’t weigh pilgrims down on the Camino.

Order paperback or Kindle Edition on Amazon.com.

Returning From Camino by Alexander John Shaia

Whether you are a pilgrim on the Camino, or elsewhere in the world, this is the first guidebook that physically, mentally and emotionally prepares you to return home.

Alexander spoke at our chapter’s St. James Day event and many of us pilgrims could relate to the four-part journey: hearing the summons; enduring tests  & obstacles; receiving the gifts; and returning to serve community.

Available in paperback and Kindle on Amazon.com.

Your Inner Camino Your Pocket Guide to Inspiration and Transformation Along the Camino de Santiago by Karin Kiser

Some walk the Camino as an adventure or physical challenge. To make it a pilgrimage requires something more – the inner journey. With Your Inner Camino, you’ll discover how to let go of the thoughts and behaviors that limit your growth and happiness. Use it to inspire you along the way. You’ll discover how walking the Camino is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to clean the slate and start anew.

After the Camino Your Pocket Guide to Integrating the Camino de Santiago into Your Daily Life by Karin Kiser

The real Camino begins after you arrive in Santiago, when you take your experience home with you. How will you keep the spirit of the Camino alive in your daily life? After the Camino will help you avoid returning to the old habits and routines of your pre-Camino life. You’ll discover how to simplify your life and live the pilgrim way at home.

Both books for $14.95. Part of the proceeds from the sale of each book goes toward keeping the Camino clean. Paperback editions are available at CaminoChroniclesPress.com. Digital editions are available at Amazon.com.

The books are also available in Spanish! Conjunto de 2 libros: El camino hacia tu interior y Después del camino

It’s About Time: A call to the Camino de Santiago by Johnnie Walker

I just received this book and haven’t had a chance to read it all yet. The pre-intro has an excellent and brief history of the pilgrimage and a decent map of European Caminos. There are beautiful full color photos throughout.  I will do a full review after I have a chance to read it. I loved meeting Johnnie Walker in Santiago after my 2017 Camino.

Available at the Confraternity of Saint James or Kindle and Paperback on Amazon.com.

A Special Place on the Camino Francés

The Stone Boat in Rabanal del Camino B&B Gift Certificates and Poetry on Slate

Kim is an artist, writer, “mentor specializing in pilgrimage as rite of passage” and most recently has become an innkeeper on the Way. After many years as a pilgrim and then guide, in the true spirit of ‘the Camino provides’, she has recently opened a unique bed and breakfast named “The Stone Boat” in Rabanal del Camino on the French Way. I had the opportunity to stay there for a night in May 2019 and I thoroughly enjoyed the space and Kim’s hospitality (and her homemade banana bread!) The place has great energy, and the village of Rabanal is very quaint and peaceful. I highly recommend staying there on the Camino Francés.

Kim is offering these beautiful gifts of poetry written on slate from the mountains in the area and also gift certificates from The Stone Boat. She will continue to hold intimate group quests, mentoring, as well as Camino writers’ workshops in Rabanal.

If you would like to know more about the poetry slates, The Stone Boat and other offerings, you email Kim at [email protected] or visit www.thestoneboat.com and www.facebook.com/soulful.road.

Camino Patches

The Camino Provides 2020 Patch

The rainbow design patch is back! This time with 2020 date in yellow, with a black twill background.

Available for $4 at etsy.com/shop/caminoprovides

I, too, was inspired by the Camino when I started designing patches five years ago. I currently have three designs available: Original with no date, 2019, and 2020.. You can add a sticker to your order for just $1 each. Buy at etsy.com/shop/caminoprovides.

Visit https://www.etsy.com/shop/CaminoProvides

Organza gift bag

Instant ornament!

Packed and mailed with love, from my kitchen

I have made a Camino connection with all of these pilgrims who’s items are featured above, either in person or online. Some have been interviewed on Project Camino so you can hear their voices.   By supporting these artists, you are supporting the Camino creatives tribe. I see this as a way pilgrims can share their talents in a way others can enjoy, and possibly, also be inspired by the Camino! You can also find Camino gifts featured in 2018, 2017 and 2016.

We pilgrims are not selling our creations to make a profit. Rather, it brings us joy to share a little bit of the Camino with the world. We offer our gifts to support our craft, and any proceeds go right back into our creations. My mission is to celebrate the Camino de Santiago and the pilgrim’s journey, from the Calling to Compostela and beyond. I do this by sharing informative tips on training, gear, and routes; by organizing and promoting Camino-related events in the Bay Area; by interviewing pilgrims and sharing inspiring stories; and by curating content relevant to the Camino. Sales of my patches, and purchase through my Amazon affiliate links, help to defray the costs of hosting and managing this blog. It’s a win-win, and a sustainable way to keep sharing the Camino love. Thank you. Gracias. Obrigado. Merci.

I wish you all a blessed and peaceful holiday season, and a wonderful new year.

Camino-Inspired Gift Ideas 2019 #CaminodeSantiago Hola amigos! 'Tis the season to share a selection of Camino-inspired gifts for the holidays. There are offerings from pilgrims who have been so inspired by the Camino that they have created books, customized maps, music, and more.

#Beer #books #Camino de Santiago #documentary #Films #gifts #Hiking #Holidays #patches #Pilgrimage #Spain #The Camino Provides

[avaliveradio]

Musicians guide to promoting new music

Do you have a plan for your music release but you don’t know how to promote it? 

Planning a music release can be a very intimidating thing when you haven’t done it before. Even when you have, getting eyes on your music isn’t as easy as google searching cold contacts and begging them to listen to you.

It actually doesn’t work that way. PR takes time and effort to execute well.  Sadly, many artists believe that PR is done by blasting a press release out to the top 100+ music sites that they Googled. This never works, because PR placements start with people you already know and have a relationship with. You can’t expect to get results with cold contacts you get from a stock list or google search. It’s a waste of your time and efforts. Especially if you have to buy your press list.

As a member of the press, I can assure you that I have never discovered an artist from a mass mailing. Even if they get through my spam filters, I never read them because I never signed up to receive the information and I don’t know the credibility of the person mailing me without permission.

On those two reasons and so many more, cold mass mailings don’t offer value to me as a press agent nor do I consider them an effective .

A quality list must be developed over time. I always say that if you don’t know each person on your list by name and qualifications, don’t bother emailing them.

Instead, I recommend working with a qualified team that can help you promote your music professionally. A team that gets proven and time tested results. Track record is everything in this business.

We have been promoting artists for 10 years, you can Read the FEEDBACK here: https://www.avaliveradio.info/feedback

Now let’s go down a solid list of strategy that you’ll need to know for a successful Music Release.

Pre-release Guide:

Here’s my break down for releasing new music so you don’t miss a single opportunity. What we noticed that separates the best artists and teams who get results vs. those who are floundering is planning. Follow our lead and you’ll be gaining exposure and seeing results like a pro. 

Register with a Performing Rights Organization. to collect your royalties you’ll need to sign with a both a Performing Rights Organization (“PRO” for short) as well as SoundExchange. The three options in the U.S. for PRO’s are ASCAP, SESAC, and BMI. For live royalties, BMI and ASCAP both offer portals to collect royalties from playing live. Once your songs are registered on the PRO database, you log in and enter any dates you have performed those songs, where they were performed, and which songs. The PRO companies payout quarterly so be sure to enter the performances soon after they are through, otherwise, you could miss a deadline! You also have to register with SoundExchange, which focuses on royalties for your recording (mechanical rights), while your Performing Rights Organization focuses on royalties for your song (performance rights).

** If you do not yet have your music streaming across all platforms, you can use a service like Tunecore to distribute your music to all digital stores and streaming services in preparation of our package.  I recommend making sure you will be released on Spotify, iTunes and google play at the least for best use of our marketing packages and for the success of your release.

When to release? Releasing on a Monday or Friday gives popular artists the best chance to maximize their chart potential. Billboard tracks sales from Friday to Thursday each week, so a song or album released on a Friday has the advantage of being tracked for all seven days of the weekly cycle. Try releasing something new at least once or twice a month for optimal growth. You Get Paid More often and have more music for your new fans to listen to.  This helps you generate alot more streaming revenue from every mega fan. If you are willing to put in the time and effort, releasing singles is a great strategy when it’s done consistently and often.

Gather Images: Hopefully you filled up your cell phone with good quality images that can be used on your social media and in your music promotions with us here at AVA Live Radio.  We recommend filling a drop box or google photo file with at least 10 high quality studio photos that help to track your journey to this new release. They can be full color, or black and white images.  They can also be a mix of in studio pictures, playing your instrument, official art work for the release, play date posters, band photos, or even photos of the band hanging out together. Get creative and think like a music fan. What kind of pictures help to document this time and tell the story through visuals. What kind of picture will draw someones eye to the fact that your a musician and you are living that life.

Fill in our New Single Release form When you get on board to work with our marketing team, make sure you fill in your form. The New Single Release form will help you pull in the information about your single that will best represent you on promotion days. You only have to fill this in once, so do a great job. The more details we have to work with, the better your visual story and digital foot print will turn out. We want this information to work for you past the release date, so everything you can tell us about bringing this single to the public will be helpful. Try to tell a story. Mention details on writing, recording, mixing, mastering, being in the studio, etc. All these details can be really exciting for your fans to discover.  Taking them on a behind-the-scenes journey of this music release is a great way to form a stronger bond with your current and growing base. If you have a website, a blog or even an instagram page, you could tell this story with great visuals that we can use to help people walk that journey with you. It’s important that we map this journey out to the press as well. This way we can ensure that your music makes a solid impression on the people that matter most. When documenting this information for your fans, send updates on how the recording, mixing and mastering is going using videos and photos via your socials, plus capture longer-form stories for Instagram Stories and for your newsletter.

Up to 1 month before your release, engage with your following on milestones through multiple distribution routes. This can include: Your own newsletter, website, blog, instagram, Facebook, youtube, linkedin, etc.  Share versions of the artwork you are considering and song titles by polling your fans and holding contests to select what cover or title to go with. Have your fans weigh in on photos, graphics and get them involved with the process. The goal of all this activity is to get people excited so they are engaging and thinking about your progress. When you order one of our packages, we can use the pre-release time to support your content and start telling more people about you through social media. Our artists have found it very helpful to have our assistance during these days prior to any release.

Focus on Increasing Your Audience : If you have been recording new music you may have taken your eye off of your fan sites but it’s time to get back in the swing. You need to grow your social and email list during these pre-release time. This takes some thought so get your team on board. Use my Social media Tune up list to get your pages up to date. I have s section filled with ideas. If you have not kept up consistently find your friends and people you admire (bloggers, other artists, venues, local spots you like to hang out in, etc.) on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook and friend away!  This will increase your audience because many of the people you follow will follow you back. Also, start reaching out to people in your inbox and outbox and get them on your list (remember it’s illegal to just sign people up, so do this with integrity and ask each person to stay in touch through your newsletter). Your newsletter is the place where you will be able to monetize so, don’t skip this step. Also look back through all your previous post comments and try to reactivate all those conversations. It helps to feed the algorithm some targeted followers to show your future posts to. This also reminds those top fans that you are still around. These are the people who are most likely to play and share your new music.

Prep Your Website and social skins: Change the artwork on the landing page to announce the new music and b sure to add those same images to all your social media banners and thumbnails. The key here is to accomplish a unified look for everything public. Canva is a great free resource to create art at the right size for all your social media pages. Change your bio to announce the release on all social pages.

Update Spotify:

Header and Profile Photo: Keep these up to date and in line with the rest of your social profiles.

Image Gallery: Choose images most aligned with your brand and recent music.

Social Media Links: Add links to your socials.

Update your spotify bio> With 1500 characters to share with your fans, you can update this whenever it makes sense for you. Keep your bio updated, include shows, notable press, and new singles.

Add an Artist’s Pick: You can designate a song, album, or playlist as the “Artist’s Pick.” This will appear at the top of your profile with a note from you. You can add a custom image to your Pick or share tour dates if preferred.

Release Week Checklist:

Make sure your New Single Release form is filled in and completed in full at least 1 week prior to your preferred launch date. Pick a package and get started: here

Start a Spotify playlist that includes your new single along with 9 other songs that are more popular (both indie and mainstream) and closely related to your theme, genre. Think of songs that come from artists with similar fan bases to your own. You can create additional playlists as well focused on themes such as wedding, romance, travel wanderlust & adventure, an activity, or event.

Update your fans with a countdown posting a great new photo or video clip each day for 7-10 days leading up to your release. Include this on social media, send a newsletter with that story at 10 days in, 5 days in, and 24 hours before the launch.

Plan your content calendar. Write down what things you are planning to post this next 7-14 days. It’s so helpful to have a plan down. Consistency is key to seeing post growth and social potential. You should have already started activating your pages during the pre-release week but it’s never too late. Include video clips, live stream, photos, play dates, and links to upcoming reviews and articles in your content calendar.  I love using hootsuite to set up posts ahead of time but facebook also has a creator studio that allows you to set up posts for instagram and facebook ahead of time.

Release Day:  Set aside a few hours to support your own release on those first few hours it goes live. You will want to get the release into as many hands as possible even if that requires personal messages, live streams, links and newsletters. Also don’t forget to send your release to your most active fans and ask them to share it for you. Remind them that your first goal is to get to 5k streams and you need their help to meet that milestone. Getting people on board with a target goal, is a great way to activate your fan base.

Social Media: Create a post for all your social media pages that offers a streaming link. I recommend using a landing page on your own website that offers all your links from spotify to apple.  I use http://wavve.link/avaliveradio to include links to multiple pages. Create a release tile and post with the album / single art and say “out now”. Instagram: Create an Instagram Story video and post by 9 am. Go to Instagram Live and talk about the fact that the music is available and ask for fan feedback. Facebook: Post a status update announcing your release, and pin it to the top as a timeline feature. Go to Facebook Live and talk about the fact that the music is available and ask for fan feedback. Twitter: tweet out your release announcement. Pin the tweet to the top of your profile page Go to Hootesuit and program the tweets for 1-3 times a day for the next 10 days. YouTube: Customize the top banner, profile picture to announce the new music. Add your wavve link and mention of the release to the “About” section. Upload cover art and have track streaming in the background. Newsletter: Send out a newsletter announcement to your mailing list.

Now that you have a plan and strategy for releasing new music, come sign up for a promotion and let’s start making a difference.

Let’s look at a sample promotion package:

Included in this package:

A press release about your music and interview

SocialMedia Marketing using images you provide & professional art created by our marketing team.

Spotify music ads created and run for 2 weeks to promote your interview and Spotify music stream to 175,000 people

Featured article including a Q&A for the interview, audio and links to your interview on our network as well as 15 other broadcasts, your social links and important information people need to know about you. 

2 Newsletter mailings and press releases to industry, other stations, press core and music fans.  Media, podcasts, websites, bloggers, and social pages.

Radio rotation across 15 broadcasting channels. 

ART: digital poster with release date of single, art for your press release and feature page on our website.

We have been promoting artists for 10 years, you can Read the FEEDBACK here: https://www.avaliveradio.info/feedback

CONTACT with questions..

#music marketing' #music news #music business

[kidsviral-blog]

Facebook For Felons

New Post has been published on https://kidsviral.info/facebook-for-felons/

Facebook For Felons

Kamaal Bennett built a social platform for incarcerated gang leaders. It’s already changing how they see themselves, and the outside world.

View this image ›

Chris Ritter/BuzzFeed News

Early in 2014, Jacqueline Nugent came across an online profile written by Roderick Sutton, her ex-boyfriend and the father of her teenage daughter. Hosted on a website called Live From Lockdown, the profile featured much of the personal information we now regard as the web standard thanks to Facebook: a head shot, a hometown, a nickname, an institution, some groups, an inspirational quote. It also included a long “about me” section that ended with an old social media refrain: a bitter recrimination of an ex — Jacqueline.

I am the father of two queens (daughters). I lost total correspondence with one due to the fact her mother was responsible for my incarceration. She snithched [sic] to the F.B.I because she was scorned about my relationship and fathering a child with another female.

Nugent was shocked: It was the first time she’d heard anything from Sutton in eight years, since her testimony at a 2006 trial helped put him in federal prison for armed robbery. Sutton’s Live From Lockdown profile gave all the details of that incarceration: His sentence (17 years), his time served (eight), his inmate number, and his institution (Allenwood, a medium security prison in Pennsylvania). Angered, Nugent responded to Sutton’s post in the comments:

Take responsibility for you own actions Roderick and stop blaming me for your incarceration! You have learned nothing from your incarceration! Grow up! Honestly you don’t deserve freedom! Your daughter wants nothing to do with you! When you were in the free world you didn’t care about her so don’t write this bullshit on here acting like your some saint that should be granted clemency!

View this image ›

If the shape of this confrontation — a digital reconnection, old grievances opened, an angry back-and-forth — feels familiar, its specifics are anything but: Live From Lockdown is the closest thing on the internet to a social network for federal inmates. Unlike the immediacy of the online networks that have come to dominate American life, Live From Lockdown might best be thought of as slow social, each post a several-stage process that is both ingenious and a reflection of the vast communication barrier between our silent incarcerated nation and our hyperconnected free one.

“Network” is something of a misnomer — federal prisoners have no direct internet access and so the “users” can’t interact directly with each other — and the site’s founder, Kamaal Bennett, calls it a “platform for social engagement.” But in its structure, its aesthetics, and its dissemination, Live From Lockdown looks and feels like any fledgling social network.

Except it’s very small. Right now, Live From Lockdown is comprised of 28 profiles of male inmates in maximum-security federal prisons around America (some, like Sutton, have been moved from maximum- to medium-security facilities). They run the gamut of ages, ethnicities, offenses, affiliations, attitudes. Each prisoner has a simple profile — a picture and identifying information — on top of a feed of blog entries. These entries, which range from dozens of words to many hundreds, tackle subjects inside and outside the prison walls: corrections officers, special housing units, and gangs, but also faith, family, current events, and psychology. Save the focus on prison and gang culture, there isn’t a huge difference between these posts and the kind of long bloggy posts, perhaps written by an eccentric relative or a friend from middle school, which show up in your Facebook feed. Many of the Live From Lockdown posts are uncommonly reflective, self-lacerating, clear-eyed, and eloquent. Some are moving.

Other websites that feature the unedited writing of prisoners exist, notably the Voices From Solitary project, by the anti-solitary-confinement advocacy group Solitary Watch, and Between the Bars, a blogging platform for people in prison that started at the MIT Center for Civic Media. But Live From Lockdown feels different: first, in its lack of an obviously stated advocacy or social justice position; second, in its attention-grabbing aesthetic and tone, from the giant, steel-colored header to the austere prison yard photos, to the rusty bevels that surround them; and third, in the composition of its “users,” who are mostly gang leaders in federal prison.

That’s deliberate. Live’s mission is “to utilize gang leadership as credible messengers to provide an unvarnished view of prison and the harsh reality facing gang members who are behind bars. A message delivered by those best equipped to deliver it to our youth in a way that will ensure the message is received, believed and heeded.” But the self-presentation of the inmates — as complex and weird and vain as anything you’d find on Facebook — makes it much more than Scared Straight.

The site is run entirely by Bennett, a 35-year-old New Jersey nonprofit executive. It’s a part-time job but a painstaking process: Bennett receives profile information and blog entries via traditional mail and CorrLinks, the Federal Bureau of Prison’s proprietary email system, then inputs them manually to the site. Bennett says he tries to add at least one new post a day; he also prints outs and mails the profiles and as many of the posts and comments as he can to the inmates, who have no other way of seeing them. In that sense, it’s an online social network that seems to exist (for the ones who rely on it most) primarily offline.

Some of the posts — which are all embedded with social media sharing widgets — receive hundreds of Facebook likes and dozens of tweets. Others receive dozens of comments. The comments are frequently encouragement from people around the world, but sometimes they come from people who know the inmates quite well.

View this image ›

Chris Ritter/BuzzFeed News

Jaqueline Nugent and Roderick Sutton met as teenagers in Easton, Pennsylvania, in the mid ’90s and fell in love; they had their daughter, Destiny, when Nugent was 18. Sutton sold crack cocaine and ran with a local gang, the Yootie Yoo Crew, and when Sutton went to jail for a few months for threatening a police officer, Nugent sold for him to support Destiny. In 2003 Sutton had a daughter with another woman, and lived a secret double family life, to Nugent’s growing suspicions.

On Jan. 30, 2004, Easton police arrested Sutton outside the condo he shared with Nugent, who, furious at Sutton’s disloyalty, had offered to incriminate him. At trial, Nugent was the federal prosecution’s “star witness,” according to Sutton. Such were the accumulated bad feelings surrounding their first communcation on Live From Lockdown.

Still, Nugent, who had since married, sent Sutton a letter. While Nugent castigated him for refusing to take responsibility for his crimes, she also included a picture of Destiny, and went into detail about their new life. She felt responsible to tell Sutton “what was going on with our daughter.”

Sutton addressed the letter in a series of Live From Lockdown posts called “Understanding,” condensed here:

Just recently I received a kite (letter) that made my understanding much more clear. It also showed me how much this one person had such a profound affect on my life; and I’ve come to– Understand that justification is a way of life in our culture. Something will happen, and we’ll spend endless days, months, even years justifying why it was right or wrong!

Understand YOU are currently acting more as a problem-maker rather than a problem solver. Understand, how can amends be made among ourselves if one is trying to one up the other by throwing shade and things in their face to stir-up emotions and humiliate?

Nugent responded in the comments to one of the posts:

Understand that time is passing and we have all changed. Understand that some wounds have not healed and probably never will. Understand that you have hurt me far beyond your understanding. Understand that I can try and forgive but can never forget.

View this image ›

Kamaal Bennett grew up in East Orange, New Jersey, a gritty Newark suburb known as the birthplace of Blood gang activity on the East Coast. He was the only one of his childhood friends to go to college; one of those friends, a neighbor named Tewhan Butler, eventually became the leader of the notorious Double II Bloods. Butler, who was featured on the History Channel reality series Gangland, is currently serving 30 years in federal prison after pleading guilty in 2007 to racketeering charges that included murder and conspiracy to distribute heroin.

After college and a stint working for the state of Utah during the 2002 Winter Olympics, Bennett moved back to New Jersey, where he started a nonprofit to set up sponsorships for interscholastic athletics in New Jersey cities. That organization grew from four schools in 2006 to a statewide program today.

In 2010, Bennett was spending the day at a program center in Newark, across from a housing project infamous for its gangs, when he noticed adults outside were shrinking away from something. He went outside and discovered what they were avoiding: a group of 11-year-old kids — nascent gang members. Bennett tried to start a conversation with the ringleader, but the boy wouldn’t give his name.

“It was obvious to me what his affiliation was,” Bennett told BuzzFeed News. “I said, ‘Who’s your big homie?’ and he looked at me like, ‘What the hell do you know about that?'”

Despite Bennett’s upbringing, he realized he had no way of reaching the boy, who idolized a local gang leader who had been in prison for years.

“The guy who he was talking about, you would have thought they were best friends — here it was 2011, this kid is 11 years old, how old could he have been the last time this guy was on the street? It’s an urban legend, but that’s who these kids aspire to be. They’re like celebrities.”

For Bennett, that realization was “a lightbulb moment”: The absence of information from maximum-security prisons didn’t erase the cultural influence of incarcerated gang leaders. Instead, it turned them into nearly mythical figures with an incredibly powerful allure for impressionable kids. He reached out to his old friend Butler, by that point serving his sentence at USP Lewisburg, a maximum-security prison in Pennsylvania, and told him that he wanted to reach kids like the ones outside the Newark program center by exposing them to the “authentic and uncensored” voices of the people they idolized, people silenced by, in Bennett’s words, “a dark spot that many people weren’t hearing from.”

Butler agreed, and started writing. His first posts are a series of unsparing essays about his experiences, hopes, and fears as a prisoner. They are harrowing, but not sensational: authentic and uncensored. The third post, “Awakened by Death,” describes Butler witnessing the aftermath of a cellblock murder:

“Stop cuff up now!” yell prison guards.

Though I can’t see, what is taking place is plainly obvious. Understanding that within the confines of this concrete jungle the best line of business is nobody’s business, I stay away from my door and try to begin my daily routine of hygiene etc. Maybe it was the heat, a long-simmering beef, an early morning argument or like the many who now embrace their nightmares because their dreams long ago faded… someone that’s just sick and tired of being sick and tired. Before completing my thoughts, as does the calm before the storm, all stopped- Silence!

Covered in blood from head to toe, out walked a prisoner as reserved as anything I’ve ever seen. What was seen in his eyes said it all and the screams that vibrated throughout the tight-fitted tier confirmed it. Minutes later, a stretcher was pushed down the tier in no hurry for the inmate on top was already blanketed by the sheet that walks you from this life to another.

View this image ›

Chris Ritter/BuzzFeed News

In the months following their reconnection, Roderick Sutton and Jacqueline Nugent kept up their exchange over Live From Lockdown. It followed a pattern: Sutton would write something mixing conciliation and rancor, and Nugent would follow up in the comments in a similar tone. Often, the topic was Destiny, who Sutton refers to by her middle name, Sadesia. In a post titled “Is this woman scorned justified?” Sutton wrote:

I’ve finally accepted my actions and reactions years ago! My hate, bitterness and contempt also subsided years ago! For what it’s worth, I AM SORRY for the hurt I’ve caused others, including Sadesia! MAYBE SOMEONE NEEDS TO DO THE SAME! WHY IS THIS SOMEONE STILL TRYING TO TEAR ME DOWN?! YOU’RE CONTRIBUTING TO THE DESTRUCTION! LIVE YOUR LIFE POSITIVE! That’s what Live From Lockdown is about. This isn’t Facebook, Google+, Twitter, Instagram, Vine, or Youtube. Save all that negativity for those sites!

In the comments, Nugent responded:

Congratulations,but action speak much, much louder than words…. I am happy you received my letter and commenting now on your lockdown live. Nothing in my letter was negative at all make this clear and I wrote you a letter on my thoughts. I am older and wiser now as I hope you are….Oh and btw(by the way) I love your title a bit negative isn’t it? I was scorned by you honestly didn’t I have a right to be? You had almost ruined a very good women! But a great man came along and helped that women be great! Thank my husband for that amongst other things like raising your daughter. She is not a trip in the park but he does a great job as her step father. I truly hope you are a grown man now with all these qualities you say you have and hopefully learned alot about this experience…

Sutton’s next post, “Mission Impossible?” was even more openly contrite:

About seven or eight years into my bid I realized who and what the fuck I had become!! I realized I had put a lifestyle above what should’ve been royalty to me, my family, particularly my daughters!

In the comments of “Mission Impossible?”, Nugent posted a picture of Sutton’s two daughters, standing arm in arm and smiling. Several years after Sutton went to prison, Nugent became friends with the mother of his other daughter, and the two girls became friends. Nugent added a caption to the photo:

Regardless how I have felt about anything you have done to me I made sure they know each other and have a relationship.

Shortly after she posted the photo, Nugent received a letter in the mail addressed to Destiny, from Roderick. It was 25 pages long.

View this image ›

Tewhan Butler’s writing on Live From Lockdown proved popular, and early analytics showed the majority of the site’s traffic came from mobile devices. That was an encouraging sign: Black and Latino kids in the poor neighborhoods Bennett wanted to reach, whose families frequently can’t afford computers, may get their only internet access through smartphones. (It may have also been a sign that inmates themselves, who frequently, and illegally, gain access to contraband phones, were reading the site from prisons.)

Still, Bennett knew it wasn’t enough. To effectively reach vulnerable kids around the country, he needed representatives on the site from different regions and different gangs. He talked to Butler.

“I said, ‘Listen, if we’re really gonna have the impact we’re looking to have, we have to get other people from other affiliations here. ‘Cause the kid who’s a Latin King might not tune in to what you have to say.'”

Due to his status as a high-profile gang leader, Butler was being held in the Special Management Unit at USP Lewisburg, which houses, as Bennett told BuzzFeed News, “1,000 or so of the most influential or disruptive inmates in the federal system.” That gave him easy access to important inmates with different stripes. Ironically, this kind of cooperation was probably only possible in prison, where gang rivalries are often put on hold and hostilities frequently take racial dimensions.

That’s how Bennett built out Live From Lockdown: on a referral basis, thanks to the initial efforts of a particularly charismatic prisoner. And it’s still how it works today. Interested inmates send Bennett a request via CorrLink, and Bennett sends approved new “users” a welcome letter and asks them to write a brief biography. Compared to the instant, or near-instant verification processes social media users are accustomed to, this half-digital, half-physical system, built on actual relationships, trust, and discretion seems almost shockingly arduous. Given the degree to which the voices of incarcerated Americans are segregated from the national conversation, however, it feels nearly miraculous.

The initial goal of Live From Lockdown was to bring those voices to at-risk kids — and the site still has that element. But it also proved valuable for another at-risk group: the inmates themselves. Prison reform advocates — and prisoners — frequently point to the act of writing as an invaluable form of therapy for the incarcerated, especially for inmates in max prisons and segregation units, in which programs are strictly limited because of security concerns.

“It is is a source of sanity for people who are desperately clinging to it in an environment that is designed to deprive you of your personality and your humanity and ultimately your sanity,” said Jean Casella, the co-founder of Solitary Watch.

The site’s profiles serve both as connections to the outside world — stories like Roderick Sutton’s are not unique — and, maybe even more significantly, affirmations of their subjects’ existences, rare sources of pride. Some of the inmates involved with Live From Lockdown hang printouts of their profiles on their cell walls.

That self-expression can have consequences. In February 2013, an inmate at USP Canaan, in Pennsylvania, fatally stabbed a corrections officer. Soon after, Tewhan Butler wrote a post for Live From Lockdown titled “Inmate Reaction To Killing Of Corrections Officer At USP Canaan”:

A lot of things transpire between inmate and C.O. as a result blatant disrespect. Just two days ago, I was locked up and going through a normal search, which I had no problem with, when the C.O. demanded that I take my boots off outside. Looking at the bigger picture and not wanting to allow them to trap me off, I complied and began taking off my boots, one boot at a time, and handing them to the C.O.

When done searching my last boot, he removes the insole of my shoe, then throws my boot in a different direction and commands me to pick them up. This was in no way a possibility for me, as I am nobody’s “lil boy”. My refusal landed me in the hole. As you can see I’m out, but I ask- Do you honestly believe the blatant disrespect was warranted? Absolutely not! But we prisoners have nobody to turn to. We can only suck it up and move on, or allow the mental games to be played and find ourselves in more of a situation. This is in no way to say that what transpired at USP Canaan in Pennsylvania and resulted in the death of a corrections officer and Bureau of Prisons employee on Monday was justified. I’m just saying some of these corrections officers lack serious professional skills.

According to Bennett, the post landed Butler back in solitary.

Still, given the sensitive nature of the posts on Live From Lockdown, Bennett has had surprisingly little contact with prison officials. He knows that the Federal Bureau of Prisons monitors the site because his analytics show traffic coming from the Department of Justice. Though the FBOP doesn’t have any kind of official stance on Live From Lockdown, Bennett has heard privately from prison officials. “They said, ‘What you’re doing is a good thing,'” he said.

View this image ›

Chris Ritter/BuzzFeed News

On Nov. 1, Kamaal Bennett published a post by Roderick Sutton to Live From Lockdown titled “A Princess to a Queen.” It was all about Destiny:

On November 3, she will turn sixteen and my little princess who I once knew is becoming a little queen who I barely know anymore. Out of these sixteen years, I’ve only been there for three of them! Her birth year, and her third and fourth years!

We incarcerated “fathers” are mere ghosts. I’m no exception! We are the source of our own destruction, and we are to DUMB, DEAF, and BLIND to that fact because we are immersed in the “street life” and crave “street cred”! Not many will dare to admit if they truly miss or care about their kid(s) because that’s not “KEEPING IT REAL” in prison!

Sadesia, I LOVE YOU, and I MISS YOU MORE THAN YOU MAY EVER KNOW or REALIZE. I JUST WISH THAT I COULD TELL YOU SO! EMBRACE WHO YOU ARE, A QUEEN! WEAR YOUR CROWN WITH PRIDE AND NEVER FORGET YOUR VALUE AND REFUSE TO ACCEPT ANYTHING LESS THAN YOUR WORTH!

Jaqueline Nugent responded soon after, in the comments:

Just to let you know she received your letter and she is still reading it. She told me it has given her a better understanding of a lot of things. She also says thank you for her birthday cards. I guess this is a start for you two.

correction

Tewhan Butler was found guilty of racketeering charges including the Oct. 19, 2000 murder of Robin Dwayne Thompson at a gasoline station in East Orange.An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that Butler was found guilty of racketeering charges including the July 25, 2002 murder of LaQuan Brooks in front of his 8-year-old son. BF_STATIC.timequeue.push(function () document.getElementById(“update_article_correction_time_4535684”).innerHTML = UI.dateFormat.get_formatted_date(‘2014-12-21 14:58:20 -0500’, ‘update’); );

Read more: http://www.buzzfeed.com/josephbernstein/facebookforfelons