Tue, 28 June 2016
The wonderful Jamie Cordero and Christal VanEtten from Espionage Cosmetics return to the Nerd For A Living Podcast! Espionage Cosmetics is a nerd makeup company based out of Tacoma, Washington. They make a line of beautifully designed nail wraps and makeup products, and have been adding a number of really cool licensed properties to their offerings, including Borderlands 2, Clive Barker’s Cenobites, and The Wicked and the Divine. Jaimie is Espionage’s co-founder, CEO and Glitter Jedi. Christal is their PR and Social Media Oracle. When we last talked to them, they were in the middle of a giant Kickstarter campaign that eventually raised over $144,000. That crowdfunding success paved the way for a new bi-monthly subscription service, Boom!Box, and a brick-and-mortar retail location, the Geek Boutique. Now Espionage Cosmetics spreads their nerd domination with an additional subscription service, Nexus. And they’re appearing at pop culture conventions around the country, bringing the joy of glitter and the best squad of nerd ambassadors around. Adron talks with Jaimie and Christal about the expansion of the Espionage business model, the power of a great team, how they leverage social media, and the excitement of creating a product that makes their customers so happy.
Direct download: n4al68-espionage-cosmetics-returns_02.mp3
Category:Business and Marketing -- posted at: 12:36pm CDT |
Tue, 21 June 2016
Adron talks with New York Times Bestselling author Dayton Ward. A prolific writer with dozens of books, novellas and short stories spanning a twenty-year career, Dayton is probably best known as one of the core writers of the Star Trek novels. Along with his frequent co-author Kevin Dilmore, Dayton writes within the canon continuities of the original Star Trek series, Next Generation, and more. He has also developed new crews and characters to boldly explore the well established Star Trek universe with fresh perspectives. We talk about how Dayton kickstarted his writing career by entering a publisher’s contest back in the ‘90s. We explore the pros and cons of writing licensed work, while having to please the fanbase and the protectors of the intellectual property. Dayton explains how he works with a co-author while balancing numerous projects, and we talk about Twitter and the social media styles of professional creators. |
Mon, 13 June 2016
Adron and Wendy talk with Sam Coster and Seth Coster from indie video game studio Butterscotch Shenanigans. Together with their brother Adam, they created the hit platform-crossover game, Crashlands. Crashlands is an outlandish, story-driven action-adventure set in a world of hidden magic and high technology. The game combines classic RPG elements with crafting mechanics with vibrant, whimsical characters and a distinct sense of humor. Available on both desktop and mobile devices, Crashlands took iTunes, Steam, and Google Play by storm, with great reviews and instant popularity. We talk with Seth and Sam about the two-year development cycle for Crashlands, a project they estimated early on would only take them a few months. We discuss how their studio came together, and all the ways their college educations did NOT put them on the path to careers in video games.
Direct download: n4al66-butterscotch-shenanigans.mp3
Category:Gaming & Game Development -- posted at: 11:41pm CDT |
Tue, 7 June 2016
Adron talks with author Todd McCaffrey, son of science fiction / fantasy legend Anne McCaffrey (Dragon Riders of Pern novels). Todd’s latest release is City of Angels, a near-future sci-fi thriller available now from WordFire Press. We’re also joined in this conversation by City of Angels editor Bryan Thomas Schmidt, who was an editor on the breakout Andy Weir novel The Martian. We discuss Todd’s new book, working with his mother and taking over the Pern legacy, and the many iterations a book takes before it finally lands at a publisher. |