No Kind of Life Movie Trailer

I spent some time this weekend working on the movie trailer for No Kind of Life, and I got it done. I posted it on YouTube, and though I tried to upload an AVI for better quality, YouTube wouldn't have it.

Visit the Project Links for sites to order from.

Distribution of Fempiror through Ingram Distribution

I found out what the "thousands" means in this Expanded Distribution Channels. It appears that books that elect to be distributed through this additional channel are added to the database for the Ingram Content Group depending on your election (http://www.ingramcontent.com/default.aspx).

This is a huge distribution company that does supply physical book retailers, libraries, educaitonal institutions, etc. Not sure how they'll catalog all of Createspace's content, but they have physical and online catalogs available as well as a host of other services for their buyers.

Hence, yes, we will definitely be electing these additional services despite the fact that it will increase the price of the book. However, we will have a code available to reduce the price if you elect to purchase the first Fempiror book or any future ones through Createspace. Can't do anything about the increase on Amazon or across the world.

Oh yes, Ingram does have international distribution as well.

Now, this does NOT mean that it will be instantly shipped to outlets across the world. What it does mean is that roughly six weeks after I make the change, you can walk into Barnes & Noble and ask if they'd be willing to order my book. They'll look into their database of available books, and see it as an option to order, since (according to Ingram) Barnes & Noble uses them as a distributer.

A Necessary Price Increase for Fempiror

So CreateSpace has a new program to expand the distribution of The Fempiror Chronicles: The Initiation of David. Here are the details as given by CreateSpace:

What is the Expanded Distribution Channel?

The Expanded Distribution Channel (EDC) offers you the potential to distribute your book to a larger audience through more outlets including: retailers, bookstores, libraries, academic institutions, wholesalers, and distributors. Through the EDC you have the potential to distribute your work to thousands of retail and wholesale outlets throughout the U.S. Regardless of whether or not you include your title in the EDC, all CreateSpace titles can be distributed through both the Amazon.com and eStore Channels.

How does it work?

Most online retailers, bookstores, and libraries find books through purchasing relationships with large wholesalers. If your book is not listed with these wholesalers, some retailers may not be able to buy your book, even if a customer specifically requests your title. Through the EDC you can make your title available to these wholesalers who in turn make your title available to thousands of online retailers, bookstores, and libraries.

There are three distribution outlets available through the Expanded Distribution Channel:

• CreateSpace Direct - make your book available directly to certified resellers through our wholesale website.
• Bookstores and Online Retailers - make your book available to major online and offline retailers.
• Libraries and Academic Institutions - make your book available to libraries and academic institutions throughout the U.S.

--End quote of other site.

This is a very exciting development, and there is no up front cost to do it, but there is a catch: there is a higher backend cost associated. At the current book price, we would actually lose over $2 per copy to do it. Hence to go this route, the book price would need to go up from it's current list price of $9.68 to $12.99. The Kindle version can remain priced at $7.99, and we'll probably add an additional discount to Willson Projects to allow a lower purchase price, if you go through CreateSpace, since the actual manufacture cost of the book isn't increasing. It's the new channels that are expensive.

This change will be implemented at the end of the year, so going into next year, this book might be a bit more widespread. The current discount code for 15% is still good, so feel free to use it on any of our projects when you get them through CreateSpace. You can also combine CD and Video orders to help with shipping. Strangely, you can't couple these with a book order. Don't know why...

No Better Loved Than Lost Short

I forgot about this one. This is the first film I ever shot. It's a short I did with a friend of mine that I hope to work with again at some point. It's been out on YouTube since 2007, and it definitely belongs here. This short is also on the DVD for No Kind of Life.

The plot synopsis goes like this: A woman tries to come to terms with her man jilting her...or is that what really happened?

It's sort of my nod to David Lynch, though it's too normal for Lynch. I mean, it has a decipherable plot.

No Kind of Life Soundtrack

This album is now available. It is primarily aimed at anyone who did watch the movie and wanted to get the music. The whole album feels like a demo as opposed to a polished album. It contains five songs that were in the movie, the majority of the instrumental music, and four additional demo songs that add a little extra value to the disc.

The 15% CreateSpace discount is valid on this item as well.

Links:

No Kind of Life Soundtrack on CreateSpace

No Kind of Life Soundtrack on Amazon

Genesis of the Mutation Draft 1

The second installment of The Fempiror Chronicles is coming along just fine. I completed the first draft of chapter seventeen, which according to the current layout, means I just have chapters eighteen and nineteen to go along with a prologue. From there comes the dreaded rewrite phase, which can easily take as long or longer than the first draft because I have to read it so many times, and then I hand it to my wife to read as well.

She's a big reader and was invaluable in editing the first book. It's coming though. Still a few months off, but it's coming.

No Kind Of Life Soundtrack Proof Shipped

One step closer to the release of the soundtrack to No Kind of Life. I've been notified that the proof copy has been shipped to me. Once I receive it and confirm that it plays without incident, then it will be live. Should be available within a week after that. That'll be my first album that's just me. It's exciting.

No Kind of Life Soundtrack Status

I checked on CreateSpace this morning, and the status for this item has been updated to "A proof copy of your title is being created using the same process as the production version." So sometime in the next week, I'll get the CD in the mail to listen to a couple of times to make sure it worked out all right. This makes my fourth item with them, and they've all turned out real well.

Here's to number four.

Plans for the Future

So from here, we have several projects that are written and lined up, just waiting for the time to get them done. Here's the calendar as it stands right now. There are no dates here as we plan on going onto the next project as soon as the previous is done.

1. No Kind of Life Soundtrack - This is already done. I'm just waiting for the proof to test and approve before it's available. It's mostly therein case you thought the music in the movie was cool, and couldn't live without it. The songs are really good, but it sounds rushed (which it was).

2. One Night - a concept album for a musical. Backgrounds are coming from a sequencer with excellent sound quality and mixed by Robert, my brother and sound guru.

3. Inexplicable - our next feature which is a collection of four horror tales

3a. Soundtrack for Inexplicable depending on how the music turns out.

4. Amehr - another concept album for another of my musicals. It needed a lot of work story-wise when we did it, but the music was really good.

5. Feature Number 3 - This was going to be a script called Jagged, but I'm not sure about that at this point since Jagged needs a lot of work. I might get it done before we get to it though. Otherwise, I'll see what else I have.

5a. Soundtrack for Feature 3 again depending on how the music turns out. Gotta be worth an album.

6. Ron and Julie - This would be a concept album using ALL of the music from the show and putting together what we have for this show in its most final incarnation. It's last on this list because I'm not sure how much work it'll take.

7. The Fempiror Chronicles - the novels will be written during the rest of the projects and come out periodically over the years. Several of the stories are already written so it's just a matter of converting them into novels.

8. Solo/Band Album - This is something I've been thinking about for awhile. I have a lot of songs I've written here and there and it might be nice to take the best of the best and record them.

That's the plans. You can see that the product list will grow little by little, but we're not one hit wonders. I'd also like to point out that this is just my material to get us started. I'm not opposed to doing stuff written by other people as well if it works for me. We'll see what happens, but I'll keep blogging progress on everything so if you happen to read about it, you have something to keep up on. This is probably the only place that everything will be until the site comes up. Even then, this'll be the main place for updates.

That's it for now. Keep you in the know though.

Ron and Julie

While not strictly a Willson project, I did co-write this one some years ago, and the guys in Sweden put together this preview album in 2000. It has languished in obscurity for years until I fond CreateSpace and put it out there. If you want any reason to get this album, it would be for the song, More Stars Than In Heaven, which is the best song, by far, that I've ever heard. I love it.

Beyond that, it's still very good. It's very much a concept, but they did a good job on it.

Links:

Ron and Julie on CreateSpace

Ron and Julie on Amazon

No Kind of Life

In November, 2008, we wrapped our first feature film, but it took another year to work out the post-production difficulties, mostly related to sound. We found that if we'd just redubbed it all immediately, it would have been a hundred times easier. Oh well. Live and learn.

This film is out on Amazon and CreateSpace now as well. The IMDB listing is forthcoming as is the listing for Willson Pictures as a motion picture company.

Links:

No Kind of Life on CreateSpace

No Kind of Life on Amazon

Trailer:

The Fempiror Chronicles: The Initiation of David

Into the novel foray, we have The Fempiror Chronicles. The first book, The Initiation of David, was published in August and is available on Amazon.com and on CreateSpace, which is the outlet we have for all of our materials. Because we're just getting started, sales are very, very slow, but those who have read the book have really liked it. They've said it's original, easy to read, and draws you in at a certain point to where you just have to finish it to see what happens.

The second book is underway. I'm fifteen chapters into the first draft, so there's still time there before it's done.

Genre: Science fiction, Fantasy, Adventure

Logline: A young tailor evolves into a different person and finds himself in the midst of an ancient war.

Links:

The Fempiror Chronicles: The Initiation of David on CreateSpace

The Fempiror Chronicles: The Initiation of David on Amazon

Introduction

Hello and welcome to the blog for Willson Pictures, Willson Records, and occasionally progress on novels by George Willson. It seems like a self-centered blog, since I'm George, but at the same time, I figured it would be nice to have a progress report somewhere to sort of have accountability for what we're up to in the Willson Companies.

Now, to get one thing out of the way. There is a reason I decided to choose what appears to be the egotistical company name approach. I will admit that I have an ego. I'm a writer, and writers have enormous egos. I'm also a musician which only serves to compound the ego problem. however, if you know anything about the legal side of creating a company, selecting my name for the company name makes perfect sense.

I am the main producer and guy-in-charge when it comes to everything, but I am perpetually broke until one of these projects actually takes off. Well, guess what? My use of my name as a company name places my companies as legal sole proprietorships that are little more than an extension of myself while having a company name instead of pulling a Jerry Bruckheimer and just being me. It holds a little more weight if you have some kind of noun after your name, you know? Legal company shifting takes place when there is some reason to shift it (i.e. having some actual assets and the income to justify it).

So this blog will tell you where we are on our projects. I'll have some quick posts after this one to give you a couple brief bits of what we've done, and then move forward from there.