Do the Devil's Work for Him

About me:

Do The Devil's Work For Him: Making It In The Music Business is a handy, easy-to-read back-pocket guidebook for how to enter, and more importantly, how to survive in the music business in its current state.

It's 14 chapters of tips, tidbits and real life anecdotes from our own experiences as writers and as music business survivors, as we have traversed this often-crazy business. You'd be surprised at how non-music business folks lack the common sense or the know-how on where, when and how to begin. We get daily emails asking how to follow our career trajectories. Therefore, instead of giving away the secrets for free, we outline it for them, step-by-step. The book is a handholding experience, opening up the world of the music business for those on the cusp. It brings the outsiders to the inside, without resorting to gossip or expose. It’s a humorous, yet informed guide on what to do and what not do.

The reason we wrote the book is due to the overwhelming amount of emails, MySpace messages and Facebook queries that we’ve received asking how we got our starts and how we manage to maintain and keep going in such a volatile music business climate. Amy receives at least 5-7 emails per week asking how to get a foot in the door and how to embark on a similar career path. Clearly, the need for such a book exists. We believe that the online social networking generation will gobble this thing up.

We've made the scope of the book all-encompassing, addressing internships, writing jobs, music business label jobs, radio jobs and even bands. We show readers how to approach the business and the people they encounter.

In effect, we share our trade secrets, which come from experience. Amy Sciarretto and Rick Florino are writing partners who’ve got a complementary style. Over the course of the book, they go back and forth in a "She said, he said." The book has a conversational, witty and sharp tone that's never condescending. We are also compiling quotes from several platinum-selling, culturally-relevant artists "selling" their belief in the book.

Amy is a 15-year veteran of the rock music scene and the most prolific female in the metal scene who was recently profiled in the national trade mag Radio & Records where she was dubbed "The Queen Of Metal." She's a highly respected international rock journalist and bio writer who got her start when she was still in high school. She created columns (and wrote them for five years) when Revolver re-launched in 2001. She has written cover stories for international rock Bible Kerrang!, and through the years, her words have continuously appeared in the pages of Alternative Press, Guitar World, Chord, Sucker, Hit Parader (which she still co-edits), CMJ New Music Report (where she served as Loud Rock Editor for 8 years, in-house and freelance, taking the column for one page and one chart to five pages and two charts), CMJ New Music Monthly, FMQB, Outburn, AMP, Hails & Horns, Ruin, Teen People, Spin.com, VH1.com, music.com, Metal Maniacs, Aquarian Weekly, Rockpile, ARTISTdirect, to name a few. She was a weekend DJ on Sirius Satellite Radio’s 24/7 metal channel Hard Attack for 2 years, and a host of others. A consummate multi-tasker, she also served as Roadrunner’s Director of Hard Rock Radio and Video Promotion for 6 years before being promoted to Director of Publicity/Media/Artist Relations in 2007. She has expanded into the mainstream women’s journalism field, writing cosmetic and fashions stories for the hugely popular blog, www.beautynewsnyc.com, where she was just upped to Beauty Editor. She will also serve on the 2008 Hard Rock/Metal Grammy Screening Committee.

Rick has been writing about music and films since 2004. He single-handedly launched his own successful national hard rock magazine, Ruin, which was distributed in every Hot Topic store in the United States. He oversaw every aspect of the magazines production from conducting interviews with marquis artists to writing CD reviews. He has also freelanced for national publications including LAX, Revolver, BPM, Thrasher, Chord, Metal Edge and AMP. He served as an editor for CitySearch.com, providing celebrity content for the massive site from 2006-2007. Currently, he's a music editor for ARTISTdirect.com. He handles major interviews, and has elevated the site's profile even more with his unique writing style and his relationships. He also works for Emotional Syphon Recordings, the label founded by groundbreaking KoRn guitarist James "Munky" Shaffer. He writes bios and press releases for Munky, and has been an integral factor in the label's launch. In addition, he works with Deftones vocalist Chino Moreno, on ChinoSox, the clothing venture founded by the enigmatic singer. He is prolific, working on scripts and books in addition to his other endeavors.

With these pedigrees comes an infinite amount of insight, inside knowledge and experience. Why not share the secrets to a built-in audience?

Thanks for reading. We look forward to your reply. And as we suggest in the book, we'll be in touch, as well. Life imitating art, you don't say.

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