Thank you to everyone who stopped by and chatted with me. It was a pleasure to meet all of you. I'll see you soon :)
Warner Robins Comic Con1/16/2017 Thank you to everyone that came out this past Saturday. I seen so many friends that stopped by to show support and so many old and new fans that stopped by. So may awesome stories I got to hear. One that stood out was from a guy named Kamron who built Star Wars diaramas and collects memorabilia for fun and with no intent on selling. He has two awesome kids he enjoys introducing them to collecting in hopes it keeps them out of trouble when they are older. Truly inspiring. So I can say this was a lot of fun and a super success.
Barista Life article that never made it4/24/2016 I'm a few months ago I submitted an article for publication through a coffe community called Barista Life. In. Case the article never made "the cut" I worked too hard to see it passed.So here I present it to you.
Being an established barista in your store means.... You are trusted When most people apply for the position of a coffee slinger its to add another stepping stone to their wants and goals in life. In the first few months its no different than a fast food restaurant. People zipping in and out of the café with ease and confidence that they will get what they need to start or finish their day. Its hard to remember names when you are still learning the craft of brewing and beverage making. But as the months continue to build so does your knowledge as a barista. You come to realize that your regular customers trust your craftsmanship and know you will make it right for them. You are no longer the barista that ask all the questions as much as you are the baristas who now answers most of them. Your managers, co-workers, and customers look up to you and your decision making. They trust you to make the right choices to enhance their day. You watch people grow Its a no brainer you get a daily dose of chit chat with your fellow co- workers and thier everyday lives. But the generic customer service you provide eventually turns into small talk. Then you start noticing things. In those 2 minute conversations you learn of the good and bad in their lives. You learn about their children. Their struggles. What they ate last night and why that determined to downsize from a 20 oz white mocha to a 16oz. You'll see customers coming from just starting high school to seeing them on their way back from graduation. You will see your regular customer in a strong relationship getting their usual everyday with their loved one to walking in solo after the decision to have a divorce BUT only to see them again finding love and happiness with someone else. At some point you are almost like the old oak tree that some make it a routine to pass by everyday. You see people grow from some of the trials and errors in life. Most importantly you're family And this part!! This part right here! Hits you harder than watching Mufasa falling off the cliff in Disney's The Lion King. So think about the following I mentioned above. Its your job to provide amazing service to customers. Some you see once year, once a month, once a week and sometimes once a day. In the few minutes you have with them you exchange words of life from both sides of the handoff counter. When neutral people you know come to pass, get married, or have children that news is brought to you immediately. You all exchange gifts during Christmas, attend their son's or daughter's wedding, graduation or birthday. When people come to see you for your its no longer JUST for the beverage....but for you. You are apart of their life. Being established in a store is an amazing feeling and I really hope when you are standing behind the espresso you have been operating for the past 1-10 years you reflect upon how many people you have made smile. By Chris Garrett 9 year Starbucks LS partner Certified Coffee Master 2015 LS Barista Championship area winner i know it's been a while since I've updated my blog. I usually don't Ike to unless I have more than a couple sentences to share. But to catch you up. I decided to participate in National Poetry Month. The first big announcement was that I am finally releasing" The Stupid Nerdy Notebook Presents: Mosh pits And Banana Splits" this will be out late this year. Ghost songs will be one of the new poems debuting on the book. Unlike a lot of my work in th series, this will be the one a few written this year. Th poem is about making a song your personal hav n. Your unwritten anger not meant for entertaining. Sometimes we want to unleash our frustration through another channel. Some do it his th ought dance, writing, etc. but to create a ghost song is special. It can only be a few things mes. You,love never get th same thing twice. But it's for you and no one else.
Felan Magazine issue 1 out now9/21/2015 My poem Idependate Symphonics is featured in Felan Magazine issue 1. http://www.blurb.com/b/6462843-f-lan-issue-1-love?ce=blurb_ew&utm_source=widget
So the first year my book came out I gave away more copies of my book than I actually sold. That first year I only received two reviews (both of which were people I knew) and had very few interest towards my direction for contest and give aways. I would book physical appearances only in my state and surrounding states at conventions. While most of those were semi successful I lost more money than I made sometimes. I would pay 25-50 for a table. Spend 25 - 50 for gas and food. And barely make enough to cover the table cost. Local and neighboring conventions and book festival were doing well for me but I wanted to expand my book to readers across the world. I have an amazing family to take care of so financially anything costly to promote my book was out of the question including out of state conventions and hotel cost. Online advertising and promoting like facebook worked ok but also could be costly. There is no set budget just strictly click and pay. Depending on how many clicked on your link and visited your site would debate on how much you payed. My book is targeted for a specific audience. Finding honest and excited readers for my book through sites like facebook and comicbook conventions sometimes felt like finding a needle in a hay stack. For about a year I tossed around the idea to hire someone to book a blog tour/virtual book tour. Sweet candy distro and press opened me to the idea. Here are my thoughts on virtual book and blog tours.
The Prices Different tour organizers have different prices and perks that go with them. This specific package I got was around $75 and included..... -A group dedicated in hosting contest along with promoting and booking my featured post ,interviews ,blogs and book reviews for 2 weeks. -My custom tour page and tour schedule -Custom designed digital tour banner -All reviews posted publicly including big retail book sellers like Barnes and Noble. It may not sound like much but usually I pay about that same price to sit at a convention for 8 hours and that's it. Its a good deal. The Tour In this specific book tour I had several site host pick up my tour. A host site is a web site that will be featuring you or your work on their page in some form. Some of the pages focused on featuring the book, Others reviewed it and some sites would even post a quick Q&A from the Author. Most host who reviewed it were more than kind to post their review on other sites as well. Was it worth it? I believe that a book tour is a tool you can use to POSSIBLY expand your work to new readers and even boost your sales. Book tours do not guarantee increased sales but expose you and your book to a different and more distant audience. I can only reach people I know or people that may know people that I am friends with through social media. I call this a dead end circle. Conventions are a great place to sell your work to a targeted audience but you will only reach those who are attending and have interest in what you are selling. The book tour has the benefit of being online where people can stumble across articles and reviews of your work 24/7. If the cost is under $100 its worth looking into. Spending money is the risk you take when advertising. If you see no increase in your sales look at it in another angle. You now have more references and featured segments online permanently to help you as an author. If use the tools given you can accomplish anything. Comic book signing event June 13th5/23/2015 While issue one of The Finleys is exclusively available at any convention me and J.R Mounts are attending.It will be available online where books and comics are sold. We are working on having it available on Comixology as well. While J.R will be traveling heavily on the weekends on the Scairy Tales tour I will be doing a signing at Vigilantes comics and café on June 13th. We will have issue one available. Come get your copy before it hits stores.May 06th, 20155/6/2015 BIG NEWS!! Me and J.R Mounts of Scairy Tales Noir are excited to announce the debut of The Finleys. Issue one will be available in select comic book stores ,select retailers and digitally JUNE 1ST!!! The Finleys are a strange breed of shark with many awesome adventures. If you love sharks and horror then you will LOVE issue #1 for its fintastic parodies. More info as it comes in. Please share with your friends.
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Next appearance
Feb 28th Columbus Ga Archives
April 2016
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