"regularly" scheduled programming

Pushing through the state of things

Hello, my dear friends. I have written and rewritten this edition at least 15 times. I’m going to leave a section below that was written back in January, just shortly after the US inauguration, but my god, so much has changed. Please understand the POV following is from me to my fellow Americans.

I simply cannot return to regularly scheduled programming right now. SO - if you are an indie author and you are struggling with a specific marketing issue, please email me directly at charliesbookrecs@gmail.com and I will help you 1:1. I don’t want to leave y’all stranded so this is my solution so that I don’t have to pretend everything is okay when it’s not :)

So beyond that offer, and following, you’re going to see a message about marketing even during uncertain times - spoilers, DO IT. Pay your bills. Tell your stories. And then after that, I have some information on calling your senators. I hope you read it, and if it’s helpful, I hope you’ll let me know. We’re in this together my friends.

Also - I’m really super active on threads these days so connect with me there if you want more on current events and marching orders!!

---

Marketing in the midst of ~ all this ~

(Written January 23rd) I know so many of us are so scared. I feel silly typing this - I’m not a leader, at all, let alone your leader. I’m a gal with a corporate marketing position and the knowledge and stubbornness to try to help you with it where I can. But it would also be absolutely crazy for me to not acknowledge that this “administration” is rapidly trying to remove the rights of women, BIPOC, the LGBT+…not to mention what they say they’d like to do about publishing, literature, libraries, etc.

But even when LA was first on fire and we weren’t even dealing with that yet, I saw authors saying how awkward and bad they felt to market their books while people’s homes burned.

My friend, let me be the one to free you from that, if you need it. We all need to eat, to pay bills, to support ourselves and others. And even above and beyond that, we readers need you. We need your stories. Not just for escapism, though many of us readers will be reverting to childhood protective measures of getting lost in a book until our eyes close against our will just to go to sleep.

We need your books because you are telling stories about the very people and romances at risk with the current administration. Every book that tells a story about the communities that the new government is trying to destroy is an act of rebellion. Writing those queer romances, those BIPOC-led epics, hell, even just women having consensual sex on page. These are the stories they want to take away from us, so these are the stories we need to be reading and writing.

I think, if it would make you feel better, that you should go ahead and use portions of your platform to speak out. Share resources or even just let your readers know that you see them & you stand for justice, equality, and democracy. But please also know that your marketing of your book does not take away from what’s going on. We are all in this crap together now and you missing sales, missing cover reveals, etc, helps nobody, least of all you or your readers. They want us disrupted. Don’t give them your livelihood.

Now….. that all being said, I also know there’s a huge number of you who cannot bring yourselves to post/advertise/market at all. That’s okay too!! I just need, and want, you to understand that you can and should do what’s right for YOU. If you’re beat up about this and unsure, again - please feel free to drop me a direct line via email - charliesbookrecs@gmail.com. I am happy to chat through this with you and help you get back on whatever track you need or want to be on.

---

How to make a difference in the next five minutes

(for my US babes)

Have you learned how to call your senators and representatives yet? I cannot possibly tell you how easy it is these days!! I do it every single week day, selecting whatever fresh hell - executive order or Musk-action - that’s most recently happened to bitch to them about. Below is why I rec this and step-by-step of what it’ll be like so you’re informed.

At time of writing, Elon Musk’s illegal, unconstitutional, and frankly evil power grab via the Treasury, Social Security, USAID, etc - is ongoing and frankly most pressing as it threatens every social safety net in this country. I called my rep and senators this morning to demand action and it couldn’t have taken more than five minutes total.

The link I recommend using - that I tested and used myself - is

https://5calls.org

The specific link for the script about Elon can be found here.

Why am I suggesting this method?

1. We need to work within our system as well as outside of it

2. It’s well within our rights to hold our representation responsible for accurately representing us and our interests - and DOING something

3. Being difficult - a squeaky wheel, a broken cog - is hugely effective and helpful in resistance. We need our legislature to make things as difficult for this administration as humanly possible.

4. and to do 3, we need to ask our Congress and Senate to do just that!

5. Finally - nothing on earth so far has felt better than hearing a staffer confirm my message, name, and address. Those reports go to the reps and senators at the end of every day and I know I’ve done what I can to make my voice heard.

“But Charlie I hate phone calls! I can’t even make appointments!” bestie SAME lol but I mean, for one, democracy is at risk and this is a life or death situation for everyone who’s not a straight white dude. Especially our BIPOC and LBGT+ brothers and sisters. So I’m going to need you to be brave. But also - this is literally easier.

If you use the five calls system, it’ll go just like this:

• You put in your address and select an issue, which gives you a “script”

• Your first representative will automatically pull up and you’ll have a big phone number to click. Click & confirm to call the number.

• The phone will ring! It’s very likely it’ll go to voicemail. It’s even possible the voicemail will be full. Today those voicemails have been really staticky sounding, I assume because so many of us are calling.

• If not voicemail, someone will go “Thank you for calling the office of Senator Blahblah” or similar, and you will just read the script. No need to freestyle! Just read it word for word, no need to pause.

• They’ll probably ask you to confirm your name and address - you have to do this for them to record you as an actual constituent.

• THAT’S IT!! All of my recorded calls are under 2 minutes. The person on the other line is not there to chat with you - they’re just a record keeper. It’s like calling to leave a message for your doctor. It’s honestly less back and forth than any phone call I have probably ever had to make lol.

So that’s all there is to it!! It’s the best thing you can do right now and I promise you, you will feel BETTER for having done something. It’s like taking back a little bit of agency.

Here are some other little things I’ve done in the last two weeks:

• Indivisible emails - I already got them, but if you don’t, make sure to subscribe! In addition to their heads up to call senators on specifics, they also have an email option - I usually call AND email

• Local charity - don’t worry about the big groups right now. Look to see how you can help in your community.

• Direct giving - I’m in a position to do so, so I sent a big ol Venmo to my mom for her and all her fellow elementary school teachers to get coffee and breakfast. Her school has independently decided to use their active shooter training to keep ICE out and it broke my heart as much as it made me proud. I sent them that small gesture to let them know we see their work and we appreciate them for it.

• Book related goodness. I culled my entire book collection basically in half to donate to the local charities helping folks who’ve lost their homes next door to me in Altadena California. We evacuated for the Eaton Fire but we were so lucky to get out unscathed. Many didn’t. My books will do more good in someone else’s freshly re-built library.

  • Think about how you can bring the joy of reading to others! Even if you can’t donate books, try focusing on making recs or supporting authors of marginalized stories, especially for Black History Month. The sad truth is that many readers are not reading Black all year, so our inviting them to dive in can make a huge long-term difference .

• Personal advocacy - aka, bothering all my friends and family. I make sure they know what’s going on, that they’re informed, that they’re safe, that they have what they need. I have driven my threads followers probably nuts. Spreading the word can be just as important.

• Devote more time to fact checking & critical reading! This sounds so silly, but one of the biggest issues we will have in our resistance is going to be misinformation. Carefully examine any breaking news and ensure a third party can verify it - preferably a large news agency from outside the United States.

• Buy Less. While I support boycotting legit republican businesses, I think harm reduction is more important than a total buy-nothing in many cases. See where you can shop local, see how and where you can shop less, and see how you can be more intentional with your purchases - like in supporting indie authors!

  • (Like, you can pry Amazon out of my cold dead hands - he makes all his money from the data centers anyway - I need my indie author goodies!!! lol)

Okay so this is probably enough info. I’m going to stop blabbering now and tell you that if you also have any questions about any of THIS stuff, I’m your girl. I am so (overly) dialed in, I am and always have been News-Obsessed, politically minded, all that jazz. So you can also ask me for direction or clarity or anything else you need. I’m here for you guys and over here getting to work :)

Lots of love to you guys. Thanks for hanging in while I got my shit together over here, lol. PS - if you have any topics you’d like to see me cover, as always, pop them in the comments below. Hope you all have a great week!! xoxo Charlie