Author ~ Echoes of Avalon

It seems like everyday your email is filled with requests from friends and colleagues to join this or that social network, creating an alphabet soup of social sites clogging your inbox: Flickr, Reddit, Google+, Twitter, Digg, and LinkedIn.

It was the latter that caught my attention when I found myself out of work some years ago, casting my job-search net as wide as possible. I decided to investigate. I had heard it was more like Monster or CareerBuilder―someplace to post your resume. At first glance it looks just like that, your resume on screen. But a closer examination quickly shows that it’s more like a Facebook for professionals. Sure, it has all the classic elements of your resume―objective, work experience, education, skill list―but it’s no static document. It’s a living and dynamic page going more in depth.

If anything, the one page resume you send to a potential employer should be crafted to interest them enough to go to your LinkedIn page (if a business accepts electronic resumes, you can facilitate this by having a live web link on your resume).

Once at LinkedIn, there are the classic resume items as mentioned, but you are able to expand them into larger paragraphs. Using key words and phrases that succinctly express skills and experience at the beginning of each paragraph, you can draw readers in further and elaborate your abilities that you couldn’t on a single page resume.

Likewise, you’re able to elaborate on your hobbies and how your personal life skills can compliment job requirements. In an age where there are increasing numbers of qualified applicants, you need to differentiate yourself from the other drones by proving you’re interesting and well rounded.

This is made easier by LinkedIn’s ability to display your blog posts and Twitter feeds which prove just how interesting you are.

Proof that LinkedIn is the love child of Facebook and Monster.com include job boards showing jobs based on keywords in your profile, recommendations to connect with members in your industries, and suggestions to join groups that revolve around your interests. Like Facebook, you can insert a profile picture to put a face to your skills.

Quid Pro Quo is made easy. You can give and receive recommendations with your connections, making it unnecessary for potential employers to ask for them since they are publicly posted.

Now the fun stuff.

What sets LinkedIn apart is the option to include up to 16 apps on your page, enhancing your profile. These applications not only make you more marketable, but also help you learn, collaborate, and be informed. Examples include showing how smart you are by posting your Amazon reading list, and your corresponding book reviews. And if you’ve written your own book, it’s easy enough to make sure the book that shows up at the top of your reading list is your own.

There is an app to post documents that are samples of your work.

If your career involves creative arts, consider a slideshow app that visually displays your crafts. The slideshow can also be used to walk a viewer through scenarios (either with simple text or a full blown multimedia presentation) related to your work experience.

You can see my profile as an example: http://www.linkedin.com/in/adam1copeland

LinkedIn isn’t just about getting a job. It’s also about keeping a job while networking, keeping current/relevant and growing. A necessity in this day and age.

Yours truly will be an author presenter at Kalama’s Word Catcher Literary Festival Saturday, April 21st. I will be hosting a workshop on “Making Magic in Your Fantasy.” The idea is to analyze the various ways magic is portrayed in fantasy novels (from the visual presentation to the mechanics of how magic works and exists in the story), and how you can make magic happen in your own writing.

There will be many other interesting writing topics presented by other local authors on a wide variety of subjects, there is bound to be something that speaks to you so don’t be shy about signing up for a fun filled weekend. Find all the info in the following attachment: word catcher 4 web 2012

MARCH 31, 2012 – SILVERTON, OR–The Silverton Green Store, Wolf Building, 201 Main St., Silverton, OR, will host a book discussion and signing with Northwest Independent Writers Association (NIWA) members on March 31 between 1 and 4 PM.
Discussion will center on independent writing, publishing and promoting. Slated to appear are Pacific Northwest authors: Luke Alistar, Pam Bainbridge-Cowan, Mike Chinakos, Adam Copeland, Tonya Macalino, Cynthia Robbins, Brad Cameron, and Lizzy Shannon.

Local Authors Brad Wheeler, Adam Copeland, Pam Bainbridge-Cowan, Cynthia Robbins, Mike Chinakos, and Andy Bunch

For a limited time this weekend, March 2nd through March 4th, my novella The Tower that appeared in Chaos Theory Magazine will be available on Amazon as a free Kindle eEook ( http://www.amazon.com/The-Tower-ebook/dp/B007DMIK7I ). The Tower came about as a need to give substance to the villain in my novel Echoes of Avalon. My wise editor, Sarah Cypher, insisted that my villain was two dimensional, a card board cut-out and stereo type of bad guys. She said he needed motive. A history. People needed to understand him and find him believable. Thus was born The Tower, a flash-back sequence on the life of Loki. The eBook novella ends with bonus material, the first chapter to Echoes of Avalon, and a fantastic piece of art work by artist David Greene. And if you miss the free promo it is only $0.99. Also, you can find it in Amazon’s Lending Library.

UK blogger, and devourer of books, Eloise Hopkins honored me by reviewing Echoes of Avalon. I’m always surprised at the many ways people will describe my story. What impressed them, what could be better. She didn’t disappoint and introduced readers a perspective I did not consider. See it here: http://elloisehopkins.blogspot.com/2012/02/book-review-echoes-of-avalon.html

New copies of Echoes of Avalon are available at Vancouver’s most venerable independent bookstore, Vintage Books. The paperback is on the shelf and on the counter is a display holding author-signed souvenir bookmarks that can be bought with coupon codes for downloading the eBook.

eBook Purchase Display: Get an Author-Signed Souvenir Bookmark

Jacobsen’s Books of Hillsboro now carries copies of an epic historical fantasy, dark

eBook Purchase Display: Get an Author-Signed Souvenir Bookmark

but with promises of hope and tinged with romance. The paperback is on the shelf. On the counter is a display holding author-signed souvenir bookmarks that can be bought with coupon codes for downloading the eBook.

Jacobsen’s Books
211 E. Main St.
Hillsboro, OR 97123

(503) 681-8243
http://www.jacobsensbooks.com

This coming January 14th, Saturday, from 2- 5 PM Vancouver Washington’s premier Sci-Fi Bookstore, Interstellar Overdrive, will host Northwest Independent Writers Association who will be presenting 6 + writers who have self published. Come and learn how they did it, the pros and cons, and maybe pick up a new signed book, or a classic tome. Guaranteed to be an interesting time!!

Location:

Interstellar Overdrive Bookstore

7732 N.E. Hazel Dell Ave.

Vancouver, WA 98665

I mentioned in my earlier blog, the Modus Operandi for creating a specific image that will appear in my movie trailer blog follows a certain process. That includes previewing rough drafts of the image, suggestions for changes, stamp of approval on a final rough draft, then the final completed image.

I’d like to walk you through that process for one image here.

When working with the artist, David Greene, I first emailed him a list of descriptions – one for each image – and then I sat down with him and verbally clarified what I’d like to see for the image we were currently working on. When necessary I even drew very rudimentary stick figures for him, but mostly he was keen enough to understand right away what I was looking for.

After the first image he made for me, I had a good idea how fast (and talented) he was at making the rough drafts and how he could adjust on the fly. That filled me with enough confidence to be fairly demanding when making suggestions for changes.

For the most recent image we were working on I sent him the written description: “Image1 (Black and White, pencil/charcoal): Patrick is on his knees before a burning Jerusalem circa 1099 AD. He is wearing chainmail with a white surcoat over it. The surcoat is smeared with soot and blood. It also has a red cross emblazoned on the chest (classic ‘Crusader’ style). The cross should be bright red and the only color in the image. Patrick has a ‘What have I done?’ look on his face and his arms hang limply at his sides. A Norman style helmet (conical cap with nose card, a la ‘Bayeaux Tapestry’) rests up-ended on the ground near his knees as if he just took it off, set it down, and it is in the process of rolling away.”

After a brief discussion, David took the idea and ran with it. Within a couple of days he had these rough drafts for me:

Image "A" Provided by David Greene

Image "B" Provided by David Greene

Both were great starts, but I did not like the angle. I did not want to see a full frontal image. I suggested that I’d like to see the character more at an angle. Soon David had this image to show me:

Kneeling-Face Covered

I liked it much better, but now I was concerned about the character covering his face. I wanted a viewer to see the pain on the character’s face, imparting the significance of the moment. Again David adjusted and came up with this:

Kneeling, face exposed-but now not enough of an angle

Closer. I suggested a compromise between the last two images – the previous image’s angle, plus the exposed face. Also, I made the final suggestions of having the character looking skyward. David excitedly accepted the suggestions and in a few days I gave the stamp of approval after seeing this:

Final Rough Draft Approved for Green Light

My final input was to point out that I envisioned the character having an appearance similar to that of Brandon Lee, the actor and son of Bruce Lee who tragically died while filming The Crow. I even emailed links of Google images of Brandon. That turned out to be unnecessary, as David was already familiar with, and a fan of, the actor.

After all this back-and-forth, all the nit-picking on my part, and the tweaking. David came up with this final awesome image:

Final Image - "Patrick at the Fall of Jerusalem"

My friends and colleagues were just as astounded as I was (though, due to technical difficulties, the image here is blurry and does not do the final image justice). I received a print out of the image just in time for a book signing where I put it prominently on display. I’m fairly certain it went a long way towards selling more books than I normally would have. Customers are much more willing to buy a product when they have a clearer image of what the product has to offer – in this case a clear image of what transpires in the pages of Echoes of Avalon.

Which brings up an interesting point: Even after these images have been used in a movie trailer, they still will be quite effective by themselves as promotional tools for all sorts of occasions for a long time to come. Money well spent.

These images, and future ones, can be found on the Echoes of Avalon Facebook page. Check them out here: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.247839491948866.60569.196323337100482&type=3