We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful James Turner. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with James below.

James, appreciate you joining us today. Let’s jump right into how you came up with the idea?

My first experience was behind the scenes. I was fortunate enough to get a job with one of the first Urban Fiction Publishing companies, Triple Crown Publications (TCP).

At the time I was incarcerated serving a ten year sentence. Ms. Vickie Stringer the founder of TCP came into the institution as a guest speaker being that she had once been incarcerated and her publishing company was in the same city as the facility I was in.

She spoke about finding success as author and starting her own publishing company after being incarcerated herself. At that time I had already served five years of my ten year sentence so, I had read a lot of urban fiction books which had became very popular genre. At that time TCP had published 34 books by 26 authors and I had read all of them.

During her presentation Ms. Stringer talked about the plot of some of the books her company had published and I would tell her who the author was before she could finish.

Ms. Stringer was amazed that I was very knowledgeable and familiar with TCP and it’s roster of authors and offered me a job with TCP as a reader while being incarcerated.

TCP would send me manuscripts that inspiring authors submitted to them in hopes of getting their books published. With be being aware of TCP novel standards and story structure, my duties were to read the manuscripts and see if they should be advanced to TCP’s in house readers.

During my time as a reader with TCP I learned what a strong story structure was and how to put a well rounded novel together. I also saw some of the manuscripts I reviewed go on to be published and do very well.

I was released from prison and went on to do other things and try to figure out how to live life on life’s terms after being incarcerated ten years. However, I still read books of a variety genres here and there.

I never desired to be a author, I wanted to be behind the scenes and become a publisher or maybe a literary agent. But fate would see otherwise. I say that because, years later I had this story that kept popping up in my mind. I would play with it and the story line would continue to grow. I really liked story so, I began to write it. I let a few people read what I had so far and they encouraged me to finish it. I am the kind of person who prides myself on, finishing what I start so I accepted the challenge and over the next several months I completed my first novel Hanking In Love With The Game.

James, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

After I wrote my first novel Hanking In Love with The Game, I wanted to grow my brand so, I decided the first thing to do was create the Hanking definition t shirt to inform people what the word Hanking meant, because the word Hanking derived from the streets and hoods of Dayton, Ohio. If a person had not read my book outside of Dayton or the surrounding area they would not know what the word Hanking meant.

Hanking is, another word for hustling and means. When you can supply the demand and consistently turn a profit. So if a person is handling their business they’re Hanking. I felt like it was a good time to push the Hanking brand because new businesses and brands were being born daily and people were vastly embracing entrepreneurship, exemplifying the true definition of Hanking.

It was at that time I expanded my reach with social media. With people being in their phones all day on social media sites I had to get innovative and find a way to capture their attention and entertain them at the same time. I wrote a treatment for a trailer but it was for my book instead of a movie. I also done the same thing recreating a movie poster that matched all in efforts of promoting my book and at that moment I had then crossed over into the promotions world expanding the Hanking brand.

It was difficult to find someone to bring my visions to life because, they were some of the first or very few that were being produced at the time so, I had to learn how to do a lot of things myself. The main things I needed to learn were, graphics and video editing so, I enrolled into and graduated a 29 month Filmmaking Bachelors Course at Full Sail University where I learned some graphic design skills and how to produce visual content from beginning to end. That opened a whole new creative door for me expanding the Hanking brand even more because content creators are in high demand and that was the catalyst to starting my YouTube channel Hanking TV.

Hanking TV is where I am currently focusing a lot of my energy and time. Hanking TV streams on YouTube and Facebook. It allows me to promote my book, and t shirts. I also interview independent music artist, business and brand owners who are trying to gain exposure and reach a broader audience.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

I have found that to build your audience on social media, you have to be consistent, be yourself, and to pay attention to what is trending in the algorithm.

Social media can be hot or cold and hit and miss at times but, I have found out that being consistent pays off. Reels and shorts have been the tools that have helped me to gain followers, subscribers, and views. Reels and shorts gives you the opportunity to display your creativeness and capture your audience attention more than a post does.

If you are just starting to build your social media presence or rebranding an existing one, it is a great tool to promote your business or brand when you apply the basics to promoting your business on social media.

The more you post and upload reels the more people you reach. Use your social media to educate people about you and your business.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

The goal that is driving my creative journey is, to shine light on the talent and businesses in my hometown Dayton, Ohio. Dayton, Ohio is a small town and the home of aviation, funk music, and the popular Dayton wire wheel and is full of talent.

One of my goals is, to provide a platform that shines light on those who are Hankin. Supplying a demand and consistently turning a profit, especially those in Dayton.

I believe that if one person makes it, we all make it. Because that one person will encourage others to follow their dreams and open the door for more people to be discovered.

Dayton, Ohio has fueled the Hankin brand because as I mentioned earlier the word Hankin derived from the streets the Dayton and there are so many people here who are Hankin and just need that little push.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://hankingthebook.wixsite.com/jamesturner
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hankin_tv/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000826388067
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@HankinTV