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    0 Mission, Music and People: The Author Speaks

    Life is hard. Success is difficult. Learning from your experiences is a challenge. Why, because focus and commitment is what it takes to move forward despite difficult odds. These barriers may work against you. Mission, Music, and People In this video, I talk mission, music, and people. Mission inspired me to guide my professional broadcasting career along a straight path. Great music was a discovery experience across genres and cultures. People provided continuous inspiration to believe in the goodness of humanity. Discover some of my teachable moments in this "author speaks" story. Support us, and get your copy of my Powerhouse Radio paperback, eBook, or audiobook now from Audiobook.com, Amazon, Audible, Bookbaby, and other retailers. Thank you! Previous Post | Next Post

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    0 Hard Times for Radio Talent

    Another one of my former Philadelphia on-air broadcasting colleagues has had his position eliminated. First it was André Gardner. Now, it's Eric Johnson. These sad events all happened at the same highly successful Philly FM radio station during the past four months. Eric was not only on-air, he is what's called today a content officer or content manager; traditionally known in radio as a program director. These folks control the day-to-day broadcast operation. Personnel decisions effecting André and Eric hurt. The circus of revolving door talent, orchestrated by ring master management, is unfortunately a fact of life. Facts of life revelations compelled me to civilly spill my guts about my own professional experiences travelling up and down the radio highway. I amassed an eye opening forty-three years of frequent travel miles! I was lucky. I started as a seventeen year old, and bailed using my own exit strategy when I reached sixty-five. It was clear when I left, big industry transformations were coming. The winds of change were reaching gale velocity. Powerhouse Radio: Rough Roads, Radiance, and Rebirth, walks you through my own story and my love of my profession. Don't just take my word for it! There are dozens of verified reviews that have been posted about the paperback, eBook, and audiobook at Amazon. Here are just three of them that I selected at random:  My final thoughts The paperback and eBook are recommended, but if you favor an audiobook, that's also suggested! I read it myself. For a limited time only through February 28th as a Black History Month special, Audiobooks.com (you'll go to their website) has the audiobook for 50% off. All three versions of the book are also available at Amazon. Thank you radio for your experiences. Thank you radio fans past and present for your support! More about the book at KingsleyHSmith.com Photo of me taken at United States Ambassador Philip D. Murphy's residence in Berlin, Germany. After his Ambassador duties ended, Phil Murphy would eventually be elected Governor of the state of New Jersey. Previous Post | Next Post

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    0 Powerhouse Radio Audiobook Deal

    As you kick off the New Year, here's something that may inspire you to be nothing but your best. Before heartless consolidation and idiocy on the airwaves, radio was locally authentic for the people, that's you and me!   My 2025 gift to you is the Award Winning audiobook of my story. I read it myself.   For a limited time, only with Audiobooks.com, you get 50% off. Read the book summary for the scope of my adventure at audiobooks dot com. This is a great memoir.   Get this Winter special now before the deal is pulled. Thank you. Amazon has the paperback, eBook and audiobook too but not with this 50% off deal for the audiobook.   I'm holding the paperback in the photo. You asked for this special, so here it is!  Previous Post | Next Post

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    0 Google Salute to Kingsley H. Smith and his NJ Library Appearance

      In May I was contacted by Google. They interviewed me for 45 minutes on a Zoom call. The conversation was to be used for a future publication. Google requested that I not mention any details until the July 23rd publication date. #WeArePlay features stories about people from all over the United States and the world who build apps and game businesses. In the Google Play story, my Powerhouse Radio book is mentioned. I'm holding an actual circulating library copy standing in front of my regional county library. Thank you libraries for adding the book. Thank you Google for featuring my work after thirteen years of Android app development! I represent New Jersey along with other Garden State developers in the Google feature. Previous Post | Next Post

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    0 QBR Thoughts About the Powerhouse Radio Book

    I'd like to thank my editor, proof reader, publisher, special family members, and wonderful friends who provided sparkling feedback after reading copies I provided to them of Powerhouse Radio: Rough Roads, Radiance and Rebirth. Today, the paperback becomes available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Book Baby, and other retailers. The audiobook dropped in December, 2023 on Audible and iTunes. EBook launched in Fall, 2023. Here's a part of what QBR, The Black Book Review had to say in a commissioned review: "Racial discrimination in commercial radio in America has been a persistent issue throughout its history, reflecting broader societal inequalities having broader implications for communities, as it affects the types of stories, music, and cultural content that reach audiences." "Lack of diversity in content creation result in a limited representation of the tapestry of American culture. But Smith allows little of this to thwart the passion for his work or his persistence in achieving his measures or learning from the greats in the business on either side of the microphone." "He is technically astute – generously sharing hard earned "how-to's" – and is gifted in his craft. And he spills tea on music artists and influencers, known and lesser known, giving backroom details that only an insider could know." Previous Post | Next Post

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    0 Writing Powerhouse Radio Step By Step To The Finish Line With Bonus Interview

    In January, 2023 I offered an update about writing my radio memoir: Powerhouse Radio. This book project was completed June 27! On March 4, I displayed the book cover, (not the version below), on one of my social media channels. Once the cover was out there, the incentive to finish writing went into overdrive! Sixteen thousand words were written in the first two years of the project (2021 - 2022) while I was still working full-time in my app business. That business is still rolling along. Since January of this year, I wrote another twenty thousand words in 5 months. The final unofficial word count is 36,741, or approximately 172 paperback pages. Many people I talked to said that 150 pages was the perfect length that they wanted to read. Using the iOS Books app for the e-book, there are 231 pages on an iPhone, and 118 pages on an iPad. The Kindle Previewer software app doesn't give a declarative real world page number total I would want to quote. You can't use the regular Kindle app that is on Android phones and Fire Tablets to test e-book design formatting. Once the audiobook is finished, I'll let you know how many hours it is. I've been promised a mid-August 2023 completion date. Frankly, while writing Powerhouse Radio: Rough Roads, Radiance, and Rebirth; My True AM - FM - Satellite - and Audio Streaming Survival Story, I focused on writing for the page. Nothing is the matter with that, except presenting the same story in an e-book or audiobook requires some changes! With your e-book, these elements may flow differently on screen: Text Wrapping Fonts Drop Caps (fancy styles for first letters of a paragraph) Justification Image Captions Individual devices, (your e-reader), will dictate how each of these elements are handled. Note that print book back covers are not included in e-books. For your audiobook, I had to lightly re-write certain references of the paperback text. "You'll read in the next chapter" changed in the audiobook to "you'll learn in the next chapter." There are other similar examples. My grammar, spelling, and syntax is pretty good so I didn't use a line-by-line professional editor to review the manuscript. However, it was money well spent to use a professional copy editor to go through the manuscript and catch a relatively small number of errors. The copy editor also encouraged me to further explain a few sections that could use more clarification. Lastly, I also used a professional proof reader to go through the book as the final step. In broadcasting jobs, I was used to the AP style, which is the Associated Press guide for grammar and citations. My proof reader was a Chicago Manual of Style expert. Really good. This person was more valuable in suggesting grammar changes than the copy editor! Publishers dictate what style you need to use when writing a hardcover or paperback book. My hardcover Chicago Manual of Style Seventeenth Edition is a massive brick weighing 4 pounds with 1,152 pages. It's very difficult to find what you are looking for in this reference! I would not write a book without using a professional copy editor AND a professional proof reader. You want to select someone who does this work full-time. My publisher selected both for me. KingsleyHSmith.com has more info about the book including some of the retailers you can preorder it from: Amazon, Barnes & Nobel, Books-A-Million, Walmart, and BookBaby. Note that the eBook and paperback are available right now from BookBaby. Official launch dates are January 3, 2024 for the eBook, and January 10 for the paperback. You can preorder Powerhouse Radio right now. Follow the links above. Audiobook availability date is to be determined. It might come sooner than the e-book and paperback. I could have gone with an almost human sounding AI 'robot voice' to read the audiobook, but I feel this would have been a cheap mistake and a disaster. An audiobook that is about general broadcasting  - performing arts - and is additionally slotted as a 'Black and African American memoir' needs to be read by an authentic human being. You'll love the guy I selected to read the audiobook. I could have read it myself, but I wanted to give a younger 'voice actor' a chance to shine the way I was given opportunities when launching my career many years ago.  A special bonus for you! Here's my very first interview recorded on the enclosed front porch of radio station WWRL AM in Queens, New York City with DJ Gary Byrd when I was a student at NYU. I've freshened it up with some new millennium visual appeal. Discover how this New York Radio legend writes his prose. You'll learn his secret. I also re-recorded my questions in a studio for better audio quality. Previous Post | Next Post

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    0 Powerhouse Radio Book

    How do you write a book in reverse order? Follow along as I sketch out what's been happening for this memoir of mine since early 2021. The first thing I did was to recreate the Powerhouse Radio website that was using older technology. Read why we were forced to shutdown the website in 2016 and take it out of service  when Live365 stopped their streaming service. After five months of work in 2021 the website was ready to resurface in September, with several new features, including an aircheck section. Then the serious writing began in the fall. Here are the 15 chapters in the book: Preface College Radio Craft: WNYU and More Orange County Giant: WALL From Trailer to Motel: WUSS The Rhythm of South Jersey: WAYV On the Road Again: WKQV and WSSJ Drama in the Big City: WIFI Passion for the Public: WHYY Commercial Radio Fast Lane: WSNI, WZGO, WUSL Creating My Own Space: Powerhouse Radio Online Satellite Radio and NPR, Washington, DC NPR Berlin, Germany Battle of the Radio Conferences New Horizons and Radio Today The Power in the Powerhouse Dirty Deeds and Risky Business A Hard Habit to Break How Is Radio Doing? Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is? Bring On the Noise What It Takes to Move Ahead Recommended Reading and Acknowledgments Booked and Hooked on 5-Star Artists Notes Index   Yes, I worked for all of those radio stations and network. The book cover you see is for the audiobook and e-Book and shares the same style as the paperback cover. Digital versions will come first, the paperback last. My hope is that the digital versions will be available by late summer 2023. Early January, 2024 is the target date for the paperback book. Obviously, it's the same book regardless of the media framework, so the complete book must be finished first! I'm not really writing the book backwards, but I thought to tell the story efficiently, a solid digital foundation was needed first to represent various elements in the book. This website work helped craft an effective book outline. Note I did not want the website added as a last minute after thought. So how am I doing? Sixteen thousand words have been written to date. That's not a lot. Much work is ahead. My target word count is forty thousand words. About 80 percent of the book has been written at home, 20 percent in my local regional public library using a laptop and headphones (no music) to block out noisy people. Everyone has a favorite place to write. I know one author who wrote her book sitting on a park bench close to her home using a laptop. Follow the updates as I occasionally keep you posted on book writing progress heading toward the goal of completing the manuscript on time! August 22, 2023 Update KingsleyHSmith.com has more info about the book including some of the retailers you can preorder it from: Amazon, Barnes & Nobel, Books-A-Million, Walmart, and BookBaby. Note that the eBook and paperback are available right now from BookBaby. Audiobook date to be announced. Previous Post | Next Post

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