Hey gang-

I’ve been invited to participate in a book signing at the M.R. Davis Public Library in Southaven, MS on Sunday, January 31st from 2:30-4:30pm.

I’ll be singing/selling copies of my comic series “Bushi Tales“.

Other authors in attendance will include  Mark Grisham (John Grisham’s brother) and Daivd Donaldson- authors of “Bedlam South“, and Suzanna Maddox one of 150 teachers who contributed to “Teaching Hope: Stories from the Freedom Writer Teachers“.

The library is located at 8554 Northwest Drive, Southaven, MS 38671, and you can get directions here. Phone number is (662) 342-0102.

Hope to see you there!

Lin

Tags: book signing, Bushi Tales, comic books, Comic Whore, David Donaldson, John Grisham, Lin Workman, Mark Grisham, self-publishing, Southaven Library, Suzanna Maddox, writing comics

Twas the week or so before Christmas and all through the house, not a creature was stirring…

…well, except for a couple geeks.

Welcome to the crazy world of Geek Syndicate. Geek Syndicate chronicles the adventures of Dave and Barry, two British geeks who love themselves some comics, sci-fi, and anything else geekworthy! Geek Syndicate is based on the podcast of the same name, and features art by Harold Jennett.

Their Christmas special is underway so grab a cup of cheer and head on over!
Comic link: www.geeksyndicatecomic.com
Podcast link: http://www.geeksyndicate.co.uk/
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Looking for something fun to do on Friday night? There will be an art show on Friday, December 11, 2009, at the studio of Adam Shaw featuring some of his art in a show titled “The Heidi Series.” There will also be other artists on display, so be sure you show up! The show is at 2547 Broad Avenue, Memphis, TN 38112.

www.abshaw.com

But, the “Adam” fun times don’t end there! On Saturday, December 12, you can meet and greet with Adam Shaw, the artist of the new graphic novel, HARPE (about the first serial killers in the U.S.), at Comics and Collectibles from 2 – 4 p.m. Comics and Collectibles is located at 4730 Poplar Ave. #2 Memphis TN 38117.

http://www.memphiscomics.com/

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But, wait! Your Saturday fun isn’t over just yet–you can also see Kevin Williams performing as Riverthing, the favorite mascot of the Mississippi Riverkings at the Desoto Civic Center. The game begins at 6:30 p.m. on December 12. If you’ve never been to a Riverkings game before, you should. Skate on down to the DCC and watch an awesome game, and if you show up and find Riverthing that night and mention you’re with the MSCA, you’ll get a special photo opportunity!!

http://www.muleythemule.com/

http://www.riverkings.com/

Watch the MSCA site for frequent updates, like this week’s very fun text version of “Mule on the Street” when Muley the Mule interviewed none other than our own Sam Ray!  Ever wanted to know more about an original member of the MSCA?  Sam Ray is one of the guys to talk to.  If you missed his talk at the December dinner meeting, this is your chance to get caught up.
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More PKD!

The second part of the interview Wonton and I did with Shawn Pryor and Jon Carroll for The Black Box podcast is now available. We talk more about digital comics, distribution, web comics, Jetta, Bushi Tales, my B/W art show and Comic Whore site.

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KOTOR Kitties

Our recently adopted kitties Zayne and Jarael were recently mentioned on Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic author John Jackson Miller’s webiste “Faraway Press”. JJM is a former Memphian and is a comics/writer guest each year at Midsouthcon. He’s written for things like the Comics Buyer’s Guide magazine, comics (Star Wars, Iron Man, Indiana Jones), role playing games, and does a web comic called Sword & Sarcasm. If you get the chance to catch one of his panels do, or if you see him running around with his short box of comics at a con stop and pick up a few issues from him. Be sure to tell him Lin and Nicki sent you!

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That’s all for this week’s Pimp It Friday. Stay warm!

Lin

Tags: Adam Shaw, art show, Christmas, comic books, Comic Whore, comics, Geek Syndicate, Harold Jennett, HARPE, John Jackson Miller, Jon Carroll, KOTOR, Lin Workman, Memphis, Memphis Mafia, MSCA, Nicki, PKD Media, podcast, self-publishing, Shawn Pryor, Star Wars, The PKD Media Black Box podcast, UK

Episode 4: Indie Creators, a Black Man and a Peacock.

The second part of the interview Wonton and I did with Shawn Pryor and Jon Carroll for The Black Box podcast is now available. We talk more about digital comics, distribution, web comics, Jetta, Bushi Tales, my B/W art show and Comic Whore site.

Click here to go to the Black Box Podcast site.

I’ve got some news about mine and Nicki’s recent adoptions, last Friday’s art walk and George Hunt art show, Adam Shaw’s upcoming art show this Friday and more on my LinWorkman.com site. Check it out if you get a chance. Pics from last night’s Hernando Christmas parade will be up there later this week.

Type at ya later,

Lin

Tags: Adam Shaw, arts and crafts, Broad Avenue Art Walk, Bushi Tales, CGS, Comic Whore, Dave Beaty, Denny O'Neil, Diamond Distribution, digital printing, free, haunted house, HauntedWeb.com, Indy Planet, Jetta, Jon Carroll, Ka-Blam!, Lin Workman, Memphis, Morgan Printing, MSCA, Nicki, Phoenix Cactuscon, PKD Media, print on demand, self-publishing, Shawn Pryor, The PKD Media Black Box podcast, writing comics

Web Wednesday with Nicki

Ask Friends and Family for Help

Ask friends, family and co-workers for assistance.  You never know when your girlfriend will offer to build you a website for free.  You may be able to barter professional services such as graphic design to others in exchange for web development.

Borrow Ideas

Look at other websites for inspiration.  Note what you like and dislike about these sites, and incorporate the things that you like into your site.

Update, Update, Update

Don’t let your website grow mold from inactivity.  You should update no less than weekly; I encourage Lin to update at least twice a week.  A static site that hasn’t been updated in 3 years doesn’t do you a lot of good.

Content

Snazzy layouts and pretty pictures are really cool, but content is king in promoting yourself.

The following items should always be included in some manner on your website:

• Contact information – You must provide at least an email address that you check regularly.  I wouldn’t recommend publishing your home address and phone number on your website.  You may consider renting a post office box for business correspondence, and publish this address on your site.

• Experience – What have you done?  What have you published?  What are your credentials, be they work experience or education?

• List of former or current clients if you freelance – This may seem like a “duh” statement, but do not list disgruntled or unhappy clients.  You may have designed a killer logo for ABC Company, but do you want potential employers or clients possibly contacting a client who was not happy with your work?

• Examples of your work

Consistency

Establish a look and feel for your website and keep it consistent throughout.  Your website should tie into your business cards, banners, and other promotional materials.  You are trying to build a brand, and that brand is YOU!

Promoting Your Site

Promote your website on social networking sites like Twitter, Facebook and MySpace.  They are great lead and traffic generators.

A word of caution – social networking sites are not a substitute for your own website or blog; they are complimentary pieces.  Many employers, libraries, etc. block access to these sites, and others are simply do not like these sites and avoid them.  You are limiting the number of people who can see you and your work.

Include links to your site in message board profiles and signatures.

All promotional materials should have your web address plainly visible.  Duh, right?  Even the best of us let that slip by us sometimes.  Lin recently sent me the proof of the postcard and poster for his art show, and I didn’t notice that he hadn’t included his website.  Thankfully, he caught the error before we ordered 1,500 postcards.

Be Realistic in Your Expectations

It takes time to build your website’s traffic.  You are not going to achieve 1 million hits per month unless you are selling porn, so be patient and persistent.  You can use Google Analytics to determine how much traffic your website is receiving and where the traffic is originating.  I’ll discuss Google Analytics in more detail in future posts.

Make your site search engine-friendly

This is often referred to as search engine optimization (or SEO), and people make careers out of specializing in this area.  The search engines use programs called bots to map or index your site.  If the bots have trouble navigating your site, then your site will not be displayed correctly in search results and people will not find your website.

This will be a topic that is discussed in future articles, but the Big Three of search engines – Google, Yahoo and Bing – offer free webmaster tools that allow you to analyze traffic to your site.

Nicki

Tags: comic books, Comic Whore, comics, internet, Lin Workman, Memphis, Nicki, promotion, self-publishing, Web Wednesday, websites

Here’s the 10th installment of Denny’s writing blog

Denny’s favorite mantra-

“There is seldom any one absolutely, inarguable, unimpeachably right way to do anything.”

“There’s just the way, whatever it might be, that’s okay for here and now.”

A final observation from Denny: “Practice makes…well, not perfect, but maybe pretty good.”

Read more from Denny here.

I’ve got another Web Wednesday from Nicki for you, but I can’t find it on my computer. I’ll look again when I get home tonight. Stay “tooned”.

Oh, and don’t forget to check out the latest episode (#3) of “The PKD Black Box” titled: “Roger Corman & The Memphis Mafia Battle Ninjas“. You can get it at http://pkdmedia.com, http://pkdmedia.com/thepkdblackbox, or via iTunes. Since we discussed so much Shawn Pryor split our conversation into two parts.

Lin

Tags: comic books, Comic Whore, comics, Dennis O'Neil, Denny O'Neil, free, Lin Workman, Memphis, Nicki, PKD Media, pod-people, podcast, self-publishing, Shawn Pryor, The PKD Media Black Box podcast, writing comics