Greetings Gunn Runner
It’s hard to believe we’re entering the final month of the year. Where has the time gone? What will next year bring?
I suppose it is time to start planning for 2020. It’s time to settle on the next CDs. Time to review all that I have accomplished this year. And it’s time to decide what changes to make.
I don’t ever remember doing that when I was younger. I focused on creating. I never understood how important it was to truly review my successes and failures. I’ve been doing it for a decade or so. But I still felt like I was flying by the seat of my pants.
I am nearly done with the audiobook, Getting Things Done. I am trying to unlock all of the ideas and thoughts that are in my brain, get them down on paper, and figure out what I will do next.
What about you. What kind of future planning rituals do you do each year?
All right, let’s get on with the monthly news, starting with…
PODCASTS
The Pub Songs Podcast is doing pretty well staying on schedule. The new simplified format works for me. Hopefully, it works for you too.
I announced my new CD in November. I shared a cool way to vote, be it for the Celtic Top 20 or in general. And I encouraged listeners to remember success is best measured by how much you help others.
I have two episodes planned for December. Both have Christmas names. But I haven’t solidified the themes yet.
Stories from the Road is successfully coming out twice a week. I feel eventually I’m gonna get behind. That seems like a LOT of content. But so far, I’m ahead. And I have lots to talk about in the run up to the Selcouth Kickstarter.
Irish & Celtic Music Podcast is doing fantastic as usual. I have so much feedback. I did a two hour special to highlight all the feedback I missed over the past couple years.
I’m ending the Year of the Celtic Woman on that show. However, I decided I will not stop my quarterly Celtic women episodes. I feel that’s important. So it will be a regular part of the content that I release into the future.
The first episode of the Celtic Christmas Podcast is now online. And I put it into the hands of listeners as to whether there will be more than one.
That’s because I started a Patreon page for the podcast. You see, I’ve been losing money with the Celtic Christmas podcast for as long as it’s been running. And I was OK with that. It was sort of like my gift for the holiday.
The trouble is I spend a lot of time and mental effort to create and release episodes, especially in December. That takes me away from things that I should be doing. Ultimately, it was not a smart marketing move to run that podcast, even if it made me happy.
And so in comes patreon once again. I started a new fundraiser for the show to help pay for the production and my time producing the show. Patrons sponsored the first episode of the season. If we hit our next goal, then we will get either one or two more episodes this year. Depends on when or if the next milestone is hit.
There is a new episode of In the ‘Verse with Mikey Mason. We discuss themes from the episode, “Out of Gas”. It has one of my new favorite songs to sing. That's a song called “Breathing”.
The next one will tackle the episode “Ariel”. We are also going to try to get back onto a monthly schedule. So this episode will come out on December 1.
8:04 – VIDEOS
Season 4 of Coffee with the Celtfather comes to close on December 11. The show did does not have a huge number of viewers. But it seems a favorite nevertheless. There's a steady stream of 15-20 people watching each week. So I’m going to run it for at least one more season, restarting in January.
The show will continue at 10:30 AM Eastern on Wednesday. However, It will be exclusively available on Facebook.
I tried a web service that allowed me to broadcast on Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter. I was hoping that would increase my reach, which would also mean more tips or more patrons signing up in the Gunn Runners Club. It didn't make an impact sadly, at least not enough to really justify paying $20 a month.
It was a good test nevertheless. I learned that Facebook is a good busking platform. And YouTube is probably better for video singles. So next season, I might try release one video every week or two and make them line up with the coffee show.
Oh! And Patreon Heroes get the full audio recordings of the coffee show. I also record a couple extra songs for that audio. I will continue to do that next season. But I’m not sure if anyone enjoys that. The feedback has been limited. So if you like it or if you don't bother listening, especially if you don't listen, let me know. That will help decide if I should keep it going.
10:05 – MERCH
Selcouth is the name of my next album. I’m planning a kickstarter for January. The CD features my uniquely strange yet marvelous mode of music. You will enjoy many of the songs that I have played but not released over the past year.
There will be several Firefly songs, some traditional Irish songs and tunes, some comedic songs, some sci-fi and fantasy and cats, and some uniquely Marc Gunn songs. This is the mixed bag that I promised myself for a long time.
I will have more details coming on future podcasts and definitely in January.
I skipped the Black Friday sales this year. Even though I have a bunch of new products in my store at magerecords.com. I also have some great special offers. Visit my home page for details.
I also have THREE NEW SINGLES that you can look for in the days to come.
The first is the Brobdingnagian Bards' “The Last Jedi Drinking Song”. That comes out on December 13. Just in time for the release of the last Star Wars episode.
The second is “Slainte Mhaith Christmas”. Basically, I re-recorded my song “Slainte Mhaith” and gave it a Christmas twist when I realized it could easily work for that. I don't have a release date yet. But it'll be ASAP.
The last one was an even more last minute Christmas release. That is “Hero of Christmas”. This is one of the songs that Mikey Mason and I wrote last year for our Blue Sun Holiday Tour. It's a parody of “Hero of Canton” all about Santa Claus. Again, I don't have a release date for that. I'm gonna aim for December 15th. But I should've released these two songs sooner. Oh well…
TRAVEL
I still have space for my Celtic Invasion of Venice. You can listen to the Celtic Invasion Vacations itinerary. To find out how amazing this trip will be. Email me if you have questions.
13:00 – SHOWS PLANNED FOR NOVEMBER
Dec 12: Public YouTube Show
Dec 14: Tucker Brewing Company, Tucker GA
Jan 10-12: GaFilk, Atlanta, GA (not a guest)
Jan 24: Interstellar Ginger Beer & Exploration Co, Alabaster, AL
Jan 25: Maggie McGuinness Pub, Huntsville, AL
Mar 20-22: Cleveland ConCoction, Cleveland, OH
May 14-17: California Autoharp Gathering, Dunlap, CA
Sep 30-Oct 4: ALEP 5, Shakerstown, KY
Dec 4 & 11, Weds 10:30 AM EDT: Coffee with The Celtfather, Facebook, YouTube
14:20 – STATS
Mailing list subscribers = 1077 is up from 1015
YouTube Subscribers = 4324 is up 39 from 4285
YouTube Watch Time = 27.1 is up from 26.3
YouTube Views = 11.6K is up from 9.4K
Facebook Likes = 3646 is up from 3642
FB Page Views = 434 is down from 481
FB Reach = 5684 is down from 5808
FB Video Views = 1883 is down from 3386
Spotify Latest Single Stats: “When She Held Me in Her Arms”: 661 is up from 647
Spotify followers: 1400 is up from 1375
# Number of listens on Spotify: 4237 is up from 2053
Most-popular songs on Spotify: Christmas in the Shire (1.4K), The Widow and the Devil (1.3K), Frosty the Irish Snowman (1.2K), Jingle Bells (707), Celtic Christmas Elf (451), Scottish King of Christmas (400)
Top Irish & Celtic Music: 416 is up from 398
Fun Christmas Songs for Kids & Families: 1573 is up from 1433 (already more than 1539 in February)
Firefly Drinking Songs: 99
Joyful Celtic Christmas Music: 58
Christmas Drinking Songs: 24
Patreon Subscribers: 158 is the same
Patreon Monthly Income: $968 is up from $962
Thanks as always for supporting my music. Remember. You can help me create and release more music. Join the Gunn Runners Club to step behind-the-scenes with bonus podcasts, new music, videos, and live concerts.
Slainte!
#CFMonthly
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