Perfect Media Productions, LLC is a media production and digital marketing service. We produce audio for radio, podcasts, and voice-overs. We also record and/or edit video for websites and social media.
This is the production home of the Billy Dees Podcast and other great podcasts.
Our blog section features a variety of topics including media, business, and pop culture.
On this episode, I speak with Jim Kleiger, an author and mental health professional with extensive experience in psychology and psychoanalysis.
We discuss Jim’s new book, “Tears Are Only Water,” and how his professional interests influenced his creative writing. Jim shares his background growing up in Denver and his journey into psychology. We also talk about the stigma surrounding mental health, noting that it has improved but still persists.
Jim delves into his foray into creative writing, which began in 2019 and gained momentum during the pandemic. Jim’s novels explore themes of trauma, madness, psychological intrigue, healing, and transformation. “Tears Are Only Water” is described as a psychologically textured suspense and mystery with a hopeful ending.
J. Herman Kleiger
Jim shares a fair amount of light on his background, writing process, and the themes he explores in his books.
J Herman Kleiger, the author’s name otherwise going by Jim, discusses the plot of the book “Tears Are Only Water,” during the episode. The story revolves around characters coping with trauma and a crime investigation. Jim distinguishes his book as a psychological mystery and suspense rather than a typical thriller.
Jim mentions where readers can find his book and his upcoming audiobook release, which will feature multiple narrators and different character perspectives.
You can find the episode on your favorite podcast platform.
On this episode of the Billy Dees Podcast, we have Chloe Klaus, a first-time children’s book author and illustrator. Chloe discusses her book, “The Treasure of the Reef,” which she began writing in 2017 while in Australia. The book is inspired by Chloe’s love for mermaids and her passion for environmental education.
Chloe talks about her background in mental health and environmental studies, as well as her involvement with the nonprofit organization Green Allies. She explains how her book combines her passions for writing, art, mermaids, and environmental issues, using a simple story as a metaphor for her beliefs and values.
Chloe Klaus
The story revolves around a mermaid and a pirate who must find common ground to save the coral reef and their own survival. Chloe emphasizes the importance of finding good in others and overcoming polarization in today’s world.
The book is targeted towards children aged 8 to 9 but can be enjoyed by all ages. Chloe hopes that children who read her book will take away the message of finding common ground and seeing the good in others.
The podcast also discusses Chloe’s writing process, her use of social media platforms to market her book. The conversation provides insights into the writing process and the role of social media for authors.
In this podcast episode, author Peter King joins hosts Billy Dees and Kristy Mickelsen to discuss his career, travels, and writing.
Peter has written several books including, “Gold Among The Trees” and “Life’s but a Poem,” and has traveled extensively due to his career and involvement in sports. He shares that his writing process involves postulating a problem and solving it, often with unpredictable endings. Peter draws inspiration from current events and historical occurrences. He also mentions his publisher, Lizzy Campbell from Elite Lizard Publishing Company, and expresses his satisfaction with her assistance.
Peter King
The conversation delves into Peter’s experience of self-publishing his books after facing rejections from agents and publishers. The hosts and Peter discuss his reluctance to do in-person events like book signings and his self-doubt as an author. They touch on topics such as imposter syndrome, the importance of discipline in writing, and the impact of feedback from beta readers.
The podcast was recorded December 6th 2023 and they mention celebrating Christmas in Holland. The conversation is light-hearted and entertaining, showcasing Peter’s wit and humor. This podcast is important as it provides insights into the challenges and experiences of a self-published author, exploring themes of self-doubt and the creative process.
Occasionally, an idea comes along, and it is one of those things where you can try to research the concept, but you just don’t know until you try.
I’ve done discussion shows before, and the dynamics of them are not as easy to formulate as it may seem. The people involved must be well-informed, good communicators, and opinionated enough to make their position clear without sounding over-bearing.
I have hosted and been a part of ensemble shows before. Sometimes there is a good mix of personalities and other times not so much. Additionally, the levels of dedication from the participants can vary greatly. Frankly, as with bands and other similar collaborations, these projects are often short-lived.
I was sure there was an appetite for balanced discussion of various topics in the news and current events in the podcasting and streaming world.
Cynthia Elliott (Shamanisis) and I decided to try a live show on X as an experiment several weeks ago. The on-demand replays of our episodes are available as a podcast on your favorite platform. So far, the listens and streams have been in the multiple thousands.
This is a perfect example of things just coming together nicely.
Now, these things can drop off the radar just as quickly. How sustainable this show will be is a question with an answer that will only come with time.
We certainly want to invite you to listen in. We are live on Thursdays at 8:00pm EST / 5:00pm PST on X (Twitter).
You can find that link here @BillyDees this is where the Live-Stream will come up.
“Cindy, you asked me to warn you if anyone ever came looking for you. Now might be a good time to get lost,” starts the astonishing new self-love memoir Memory Mansion: How To Glow The Fu%k Up by philosopher and mystic ShamanIsis, who pens a powerful and inspiring story of resilience, healing, and transformation.”
ShamanIsis
On this podcast episode, ShamanIsis shares how this book came together, both in terms of how it is a memoir built from a diary of a lifetime experiences and how she brought the entries from her diary together into a story.
You can find the Billy Dees Podcast on your favorite podcast platform. For your convenience there is a preview below along with the listing for the episode on Spotify and the video version on YouTube.
You can find ShamanIsis on X (Twitter) @ShamanIsis
I have been a user of Twitter for a long time. I believe it is going on 14 years. This period covers the two full terms of Barack Obama, the term of Trump, and now the presidential cycle of President Biden.
As someone who, to one degree or another, has been involved with media since the mid-eighties, this period has been the most transformative, not only in terms of how we regard legacy media, but also how we get and process information. The striking rise and changing role of social media, especially in the pandemic laden last few years, has been a game changer.
Twitter has always been a great source for trending topics. In the early days, tweets were short. This had the platform termed as “micro blogging.” This combination of trending and short blasts of information made the platform fast and interesting. As my podcasting grew, it became my platform of choice.
However, for most of its history Twitter was not a huge financial success, especially when compared to the Facebook giant. Simultaneously, let’s say during the past five years, the old social media models began to change. Setting up the user base of a given platform to be targets of advertising was starting to become too familiar. Users had few rights to the service as “consumers” and popular creators were getting little recognition for playing a large role in the success of certain platforms.
If you miss the old Twitter, let me just say that its days were likely numbered had it stayed the old Twitter. Something had to change. TikTok was taking the world by storm. YouTube started “Shorts,” Instagram kicked off “Reels,” and so on. Facebook rebranded itself to Meta. Twitter was starting to lose its shine and was loaded with bots.
Enter Elon Musk. Twitter is now “X” and there is much talk of an “everything app.” I won’t go over “everything” but there are a few key changes that has me very hopeful for the future of the platform.
The following is from my perspective.
X is still very much real time regarding what may be termed as “breaking news.” There is a great deal of latency with other platforms. If your thing is showing pictures of your backyard barbecue this doesn’t matter and X is likely not the place for you. However, if you follow trending topics, X is a great place to be.
If you blog, podcast, or create video your audience is there. Authors, artists, musicians are all there in force. Do you have something you would like to raise awareness about? Influencers are there. I could go on.
Tweets, or posts as they are called now, can be much longer. For me, another big change is that long-form video content is also now possible on X. This is a very recent development.
Although I help others produce video and love the medium, for me and as a creator I have concentrated on podcast/radio styled content. Audio has been a passion of mine for my entire career.
When my podcast became successful enough for guests, especially authors and publishers, to start seeking me out, a common request was that they wanted to be seen in a professional forum and could share those links to their fans. YouTube was the obvious choice. I found the best software and developed techniques to facilitate good video interviews. However, I always made sure that audio quality remained a constant for the podcast platforms. That is where the listens happen for me after years of building a reputation. A quality shift can be a problem for multi-format creators.
My attitude was that YouTube was good supplement to the podcast. It is a search engine as well. This is all good, but it was never a strategy of mine to grow my YouTube channel.
In the past with Twitter, I would tweet out my episode YouTube link with all the appropriate hashtags and window dressing. Anyone interested in checking out the episode would have to click on the link and go to YouTube.
Enter Tucker Carlson on X. Not your cup of tea? No worries keep reading. This has nothing to do with politics. What is relevant is that his entire interviews are posted on X in video form and the views bury all the cable news channels combined. More media figures are now joining the club. The trending audience has always been native to X and now do not have to go off-platform to view video. Better yet, the video is in pre-roll as they are scrolling and is not just sitting there as a pasted link.
Live video is highlighted at the top of the X app. Live content in the form of Spaces is also a popular feature. Spaces are live audio sessions and presentations. Spaces started being a feature during the old Twitter and have now grown with the news-driven content on X. Live Spaces are also listed separately. This is clearly designed to use live content as a driver of the platform.
As a verified user of X, I began posting video interviews in long form and was very happy with the results. Recently, an associate of mine, ShamanIsis, suggested that we do a live video podcast on X. On Thursday Oct 12, 2023, we went live with the show and the results blew away any live-stream I have ever done on YouTube. The views and audience reach were in the thousands. Now, keep in mind I have a presence on X and am established as a podcaster, so these results aren’t necessarily to be expected starting out. None the less, these results spoke volumes about the platform.
Produced as we were streaming live on X (Twitter) Thursday Oct 12, 2023 at 7:00pm EST
I don’t know what your social media needs or expectations happen to be. However, if you are dismissing X because you feel it is just a place for people to post stupid stuff, or you have been dissuaded by negative things that you have been told, you are missing a possible opportunity to shape your brand and build a community. X has become more of a hybrid of media and social media.
Gina Ramsey author and humorist, is known for her on- demand singing impersonations of Ethel Merman and Tommy Boy tunes. She lives in Superior, Wisconsin, with her husband Paul, a former poultry whisperer a.k.a. King of the Flock. Together, they have become gurus of finding the funny while navigating life’s ongoing crazy mishaps and blunders.
During this interview, Gina talks about her background and how she balances writing/publishing while keeping a day job. We also discuss how humor can play a key role in wellness.
It is a fun and upbeat conversation. You can find out more about Gina at her website GinaRamseyAuthor.com.
The full interview is below – the streaming version on YouTube and the radio/podcast version Spotify.
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