A strong shift toward new media marked fourth year
MOUNT VERNON, VA – aois21 media, LLC celebrates its fourth birthday on May 8th and looked back at the accomplishments of the past year in an event at Walls of Books in Washington, DC on May 4th. The independent media company’s fourth year included these accomplishments:
- Changed course from books to expanded media under a new name. At last year’s birthday party, we officially became aois21 media, signaling our growth beyond books and increased focus on audio and video content. We are a storytelling company and want to help others tell their stories.
- Released the fourth aois21 annual. After forgoing another crowdfunding campaign, we continued the annual in an all-digital format. The launch event was held at Walls of Books in Washington, DC, and broadcast on Periscope and later on YouTube.
- Signed two new Creatives. We announced a moratorium on new Creatives, allowing for only those we were currently in negotiations with, including Tommy Reynolds, author of a forthcoming novel telling the story of an American family told through the history of baseball. We also signed podcast host and writer Evan Tucker as a Creative, showing our shift in focus away from books alone.
- Released new titles. We released the third book in the HIVE series, HIVE: A Matter of Gravity, by James D. King, as well as the long-awaited American Presidents at War, by Thomas P. Athridge, which led aois21 sales for several months.
- Launched three new podcast series and joined new networks. Our audio series continued to grow, first with a new website, audio.aois21.com. aois21 Creative Evan Tucker launched his third podcast series, the first educational series from aois21, History of the Symphony, recorded live at Grace Methodist Church in Baltimore, MD. This 10-week course will be running monthly through 2018. After putting her original podcast on ice last May, aois21 Creative Aylin Vega returned to the airwaves with cohost Drusilla Vincent in the new sexuality podcast Two Girls, One Joint. Stepping into the world of politics in this midterm election year, aois21 Creative Deepan Chatterjee, PhD, and his wife, Shreyasi Deb, PhD, launched Between the Beltways, sharing political news from the central Maryland counties of Howard, Montgomery, and Prince George’s. Several series are also now available on Spotify.
- Organized and participated in many events. We hit the road and took part in book fairs in Fairfax, Falls Church, and Charlottesville, VA; Gaithersburg and Kensington, MD; and in DC for DC Author Fest. We partnered with Walls of Books in DC for a series of popular events in December as part of our #GiveABook campaign. The most popular of those events are now held monthly at the independent used bookstore, with aois21 Creatives and staff stopping by.
- Hired new staff. With the increased podcast production, we welcomed Gareth Phillips as audio consultant, helping to produce History of the Symphony and Between the Beltways. John Mulcahy, Chief of Visual Design, has also taken on some duties for video production.
- Explored new opportunities. We worked with a new vendor, National Pen Company, to acquire three popular giveaway items: pens, monthly planners, and phone stands. We took part in the Fairfax County Book Club Conference and met prospective readers. We also helped with the launch of the Possibilities Conference in April, organized by the Possibilities Publishing Company and Social Media Rescue.
"Each accomplishment is an opportunity to do something more," said Keith F. Shovlin, aois21’s publisher. "I’m amazed by everything we’ve been able to achieve, and excited by everything that is yet to come. Here’s to a fifth lap around the sun!"