“His Assitant”, Dark Fiction by Patrick Crossen, is now live at The Chamber.
Patrick Crossen is a writer living in Pittsburgh, PA trying to balance reading, birdwatching, writing, and breathing. When he’s not writing, he’s eagerly checking under bushes and stones for the pixies he knows are watching his every move. But he’s not paranoid.
I have developed a new, inexpensive way of advertising The Chamber.
I am always for new ways to advertise The Chamber, especially if they are free. Over the last few weeks, I have been toying with one and it seems to be working. I haven’t noticed any significant increase in traffic yet, but I do get reports that people have been reading the so-to-speak ads.
For some time, I have had an account at Google Maps to review certain restaurants and other public venues I attend. Now and then, I get a note that someone liked my review. It dawned on me that if I create an account under The Chamber’s name, I will get a little free advertising for the magazine, especially when someone follows the link from my avatar to the website.
Advertising little mom-and-pop shops in south Arkansas will not garner me a lot of attention. However, I often travel between here and Midland, TX, passing through Dallas-Ft. Worth when I do. There are a lot of very big establishments along the route (think Buc-ee’s Travel Center). I also occasionally stay at La Quinta and dine at big chains. A lot of travelers check the Google Map reviews for info on these places.
Therefore, I review every place I can, but the larger the venue, the more I focus on it. Two people may read my review of El Toro Mexican restaurant in Dumas during a month, but 200 may read my review of Buc-ee’s along I-30 east of Rockwall, TX.
So far, I get notified now and then that someone liked my review. So I know people are reading them.
Stay tuned. I will provide updates on this strategy when something of note happens.
The Chamber Magazine publishes new dark stories and poems every Friday at 10:00 a.m. US central time. Take a moment to check out what is now online at The Chamber Magazine…
The Chamber Magazine publishes new dark stories and poems every Friday at 10:00 a.m. US central time. Take a moment to check out what is now online at The Chamber Magazine…
The Chamber Magazine publishes new dark stories and poems every Friday at 10:00 a.m. US central time. Take a moment to check out what is now online at The Chamber Magazine…
The Chamber Magazine publishes new dark stories and poems every Friday at 10:00 a.m. US central time. Take a moment to check out what is now online at The Chamber Magazine…
The Chamber Magazine publishes new dark stories and poems every Friday at 10:00 a.m. US central time. Take a moment to check out what is now online at The Chamber Magazine…
The Chamber Magazine publishes new dark stories and poems every Friday at 10:00 a.m. US central time. Take a moment to check out what is now online at The Chamber Magazine…
The Chamber Magazine publishes new dark stories and poems every Friday at 10:00 a.m. US central time. Take a moment to check out what is now online at The Chamber Magazine…
The Chamber Magazine publishes new dark stories and poems every Friday at 10:00 a.m. US central time. Take a moment to check out what is now online at The Chamber Magazine…
The Chamber Magazine publishes new dark stories and poems every Friday at 10:00 a.m. US central time. Take a moment to check out what is now online at The Chamber Magazine…
The Chamber Magazine publishes new dark stories and poems every Friday at 10:00 a.m. US central time. Take a moment to check out what is now online at The Chamber Magazine…
Yesterday, I remodeled, so to speak, the Chamber Gift shop by eliminating all the dozens of individual items and installing six collections, which is a feature Zazzle has, in which merchandise is grouped around a theme…
Yesterday, I remodeled, so to speak, the Chamber Gift shop by eliminating all the dozens of individual items and installing six collections, which is a feature Zazzle has, in which merchandise is grouped around a theme. Now instead of having to scroll though scores of individual objects, a reader can choose one of the six collections (The Chamber Magazine Collection, Famous Authors Collection, Quotes from the Darkness Collection, Cyberpunk Collection, Steampunk Collection, and The Dark Collection) and go directly to the page for that them. Alternatively, he/she can just follow the link in read above the collections to the homepage of the The Chamber’s Zazzle page and peruse everything.
I also added a block below the collections to my books (both fiction and blank notebooks/ journals) on Pinterest. Clicking on a book will take you to the Pinterest entry on that book. Click on the Pinterest image and you will be taken to the Amazon page for that book, where it can be purchased. This is just a short, easy way for visitors to see the works available and to go to Amazon while I develop something a little grander and easier to use.
I also took all of The Chamber’s cover art, which is that widget in the upper right of the website, and collected it onto another page. Although I have fun creating these covers, it does take some time and effort and I hate to see each of these viewed by the public for only a week or two and then to disappear forever. So, I put them all in one page, which I will update periodically. I also linked this page to The Chamber, so they can be found there also.
Hopefully, I will be making a few more changes soon.
As you may know, I love YouTube. I watch it instead of regular broadcast TV and even in place of cable/pay TV. Its 10-15 minute programs really appeal to my short attention span that wants to hop constantly from subject to subject.
Just now, I finished watching one of the weirdest yet also one of the best YouTube videos I have seen.
This is on Minty’s Comedic Arts, a YouTube channel based in Australia and which focuses movie reviews, usually along the lines of horror. This is one of my favorite channels. Mark Bishop, the host, does a terrific job of bringing out the fascinating highlights of movies while still being entertaining.
Tonight (I saw it tonight; the video was actually produced two years ago), Minty talked about the scariest/ weirdest commercial he ever saw. Now that I have seen it, I have to say that it is the scariest, weirdest commercial I have ever seen.
I bring it up here, because it is somewhat dark and it was influence by famed horror filmmakers such as David Cronenberg, director of Scanners, Videodrome, The Dead Zone, The Fly, A History of Violence, Eastern Promises, et cetera.
This video is so weird yet so brilliant in so many ways. I love the way Mark Bishop presents this in a way that is quite suitable for the bizarre nature of the film.
I will stop here. Watch the video. Let me know your impressions.
The ad I uploaded recently was too small to work well with Pinterest. Therefore, I created this one. Let me know what you think. I also created a new feature image, which is at the bottom of the page.
The ad I uploaded recently was too small to work well with Pinterest. Therefore, I created this one. Let me know what you think. I also created a new feature image, which is at the bottom of the page. The feature image will be primarily for use on WordPress. Both are currently linked to Amazon. I designed it for maximum impact with the simplest possible design to evoke an emotional impact while getting across the most essential information. In the Internet age, anyone wanting to know more can Google the title or my name.
The other day I was surfing through Pixabay.com searching for header material, when I came across some strikingly beautiful abstract designs. Tonight I created some headers from them. Let me know what you think. I think that by making my website more appealing to the eye, I will attract more visitors and thus more potential buyers of my works.
Because Ingram Spark has a famously huge distribution network, lately I have been searching book retailers worldwide to find out exactly where A Tale of Hell… is being sold.
This in not just out of curiosity. I have a practical angle. I will use the information I glean in publicizing where to find my works (some of the retailers are apparently on Amazon’s distribution network, because I find my Amazon works there as well).
My theory is that it is one thing to say “My works can be found in many retailers.” It’s another to say , ” My works can be found at Powell’s Books”, because fans of Powell’s will key on to that, because it’s a place they like to go for whatever reason. Whereas a Powell’s customer may not like Barnes and Noble, so saying that it can be found at Barnes and Noble will probably have little to no effect on the Powell’s customer. This is a matter of appealing to customer loyalty.
This is also a matter of customer convenience. A Powell’s may be across the street, while the nearest Barnes and Noble may be across town. As I try to utilize the full power of the Internet, mentioning where my works can be found in other nations works on the same principle.
In any case, for the sake of your convenience and/or curiosity, here is my list as of today, November 22, 2020. I will be adding more to it.
Click on the link to go to that retailer. Most of these will take you to the latest print copy of A Tale of Hell and Other Works of Horror. A few retailers will also carry one or more of my other works. I was having problems with the Barnes and Noble link for whatever reason, so it is broken as of this posting, but you can find my works there.
I am keeping a running list of the retailers carrying my works on a separate page on my website now. Follow this link to go to it. Be sure to bookmark it.
Barnes and Noble
Tonight I found out that on November 11, YouTube channel Typical Books mentioned A Tale of Hell and Other Works of Horror among its new releases in November. Check out the clip. My section is probably less than thirty seconds, but it is nice to be mentioned somewhere.
I decided to toy with marketing by creating posters for my short stories. The basic idea is just to quickly create something that will grab people’s attention and get my name in front of them. If they read the story, which can be found online, then maybe they will like my writing style and look up my other stories and buy my books. This particular story can be found in my collection The Scent and Other Stories. Note the link goes directly to where you can purchase a copy.
I can create a poster like this in only a few minutes. So I can create one while on the phone with someone or while killing time while waiting for my wife to finish dressing, etc. Then I put them on this website with the appropriate tags and then on Pinterest where people go to find beautiful posters and art.
The original photo is by Ashley from Pexels.com. I photoshopped it in a few minutes to give it a haunting, dreamlike feel, which is appropriate for the story.
Note also that I used the poster to create a header for another little bit of advertising.
Comments?
I am looking for reviewers who would be interested in reviewing any of my works, but especially A Tale of Hell and Other Works of Horror and Nocturne: Poems of Love, Distance, and the Night, a callous and disinterested lover. If you would be interested or know someone who would be, please let me know in the comments. I prefer to send paperback copies.
Phil Slattery, Writer, Publisher 