Some time in January of 2010, I’ll write a post detailing how 2009 treated me as an indie artist and freelancer. First, though, I need to satisfy the increasingly nagging urge to write about this last year from a more personal perspective. There’s a lot here… and tuck in your toes, I might be stepping on them.
Writers Are The Niggers Of The On-line World
Apologies and thanks to Yoko Ono for the perfect line to paraphrase. It’s true, too. In 2009, I considered writing for several “article farm” companies and individuals. You know the type:
“Need 500 300-word SEO’ed keyword heavy articles on mortgage repair in the next two weeks.”
“Write about topics you’re interested in and events in your area and earn a percentage of ad revenue every time your article is read!”
Thing is, my time and effort is worth quite a bit more than the less-than-minimum wage (or no wage) rates offered for this kind of writing. Pound for pound, I would have lost money if I’d spent the time and energy writing for these sites.
As long as writers agree to work for promises and dogshit in the writing job market ghetto, the article farmers will be justified in thinking that’s all writers are worth, and where they belong. Not only will I never do this kind of writing for such degrading compensation, I urge other writers to refuse it as well. It’s the only way things will change.
Podcasting Is Not All That, And Neither Are You, Podcasting Author
Look, I owe a lot to podcasting and to the decision to podcast my first book. I would never downplay the important role podcasting had in developing my early audience, or the treasured friendships and relationships I enjoy as a result of my involvement with the podcast fiction community.
I was one of the first podcasters, period. Later, I was one of the first to podcast their fiction. I stood with the passionate and dedicated folks who held up podcasting as the thing that was going to democratize the creativity of the masses and force “old media” to change or die.
Fuckin’ hippy. Seriously.
In 2009, I recorded just two original episodes of my personal podcast, Sonitotum. I listened to only two podcast novels and very little podcast short fiction. For me, 2009 was the year podcasting finally became Just Another Thing in my mind, and a not very important thing, at that.
I admit that part of my fatigue stems from seeing so many of my friends, peers and colleagues act like podcast fiction is the whole of podcasting, when realistically podcast fiction makes up a very small percentage of the medium’s output. I have to wonder if the tech podcasters act like tech podcasts are the center of the podcasting universe. Or wine podcasters, and so on. Maybe it’s an ego-bubble thing.
I listen to several podcasts dedicated to the writing craft and life, but this year I really noticed how many of them spend so much time on authors who podcast their fiction. It’s either that the whole community has become more incestuous than ever before, or I just couldn’t ignore it any longer.
Worse still, probably because the podcast version of my own “Brave Men Run – A Novel of the Sovereign Era” enjoyed early success in the tiny niche that is podcast fiction, in 2009 I encountered more than a few people who automatically assumed that any fiction I released would be in podcast form, weren’t interested if it wasn’t, and gave me attitude for not podcasting it… as if had an obligation to do so.
I probably sound like an asshole, and I bet these words will alienate a few people. I can’t help how people respond, though it’s not my intention to upset anyone. If anything, my irritation with some podcasters’ skewed world-view is probably simply a sign that I need to expose myself to people who are creative in ways that don’t involve podcasting. I’m doing that, and it’s going to be a big part things in 2010, as you’ll learn in a bit.
Social Media Hillside Saturated, Bullshitslide Threatens
A good portion of what little money I made in 2009 was earned teaching people about social media. More accurately, it was earned sharing my philosophies and opinions about social media — folks could (and can) take it or leave it. Once I made it clear that social media strategies both (a) Took Work and (b) Didn’t Guarantee Anything, clients usually turned toward easier and, I believe, less ethical and ultimately counter-productive measures to try and reach their goals. Just remember, every time an auto-DM is sent in Twitter, an adorable baby lemur turns into a soulless bot, so choose your path with care.
There’s a video making the rounds wherein a “social media guru” lays it on thick in order to get a client. This video is hilariously on-target, and not only because it exposes the scam of the so-called Social Media Guru / Expert / Authority. It also shows how lazy, gullible companies and individuals attract these types when they’re not willing to do their due diligence and would rather seek out the path of least resistance. They’re of a piece, the guru and the guru’ed (rhymes with screwed, kinda.)
The last business cards I had printed up, way back in 2007, say, in part, “Social Media Authority.” Boy howdy, do I ever need to get new cards made. I knew not. Meanwhile, I’m going to make you an authority, or as much as I am one, anyway, and I going to do it right now, so listen up:
Be Human.
That, my friends — those two words — are all the social media training you will ever need or should ever pay for, and I just laid it on you for free.
I read so many blog posts and books about social media in 2009, I’m at the point where everyone sounds the same, white hats and douchebags alike. They’re all (the good ones, anyway) saying the same thing I just told you.
I’ve yet to hear anyone boil it down to two words like I did, though, because it really cuts into your billable time if you’re as straightforward as that.
Anyway, I’m not reading the social media blogs any more. I bet I won’t miss anything.
I Am A Creator
This year, charting my own successes and misses and watching my friends and colleagues learn their own lessons on their own artistic paths, I gradually came to realize a few of related things:
- I don’t think of myself as a writer or musician or voice actor or podcaster or web guy or artist. I just make things. I’m a creator.
- Responding to a core vision and making things born of that vision is the most fulfilling thing — both artistically and financially speaking — that I do.
- I think this transmedia approach is the best one for any creative person in the second decade of the 21st century.
You’ve heard the phrase “personal brand.” I’ve got a new one for you:
I’m going to give a lot of attention in 2010 to the idea of the personal franchise, first with The Shaper’s World, and then later with The Sovereign Era. I suspect you’ll see other independent and forward-thinking creative people exploring this model as well.
I’ll have a lot more to say about the personal franchise here and elsewhere in the weeks and months to come. Right now, though, I gotta say I feel like it’s the most important thing to come out of my experiences of the last twelve months.
The Fallow Field Is Ready For A’Planting
For me, 2009 was a year spent largely in isolation. It was a year of increasing pressure and stress. It was a year of re-setting, re-evaluating, and, if you will permit it, re-alizing. I’m very, very glad it’s drawing to a close. Even though a good portion of this post might sound curmudgeonly and grouchy, everything I’ve experienced and learned in 2009 has put me in a very positive place.
I usually don’t mark the end of the year with any kind of significance — I think the personal landmarks and milestones in one’s life are better markers. This year, though, a feeling of transition, new beginnings and doors opening just happens to match the change of the calendar. I am optimistic, and I feel good.
What were your lessons from 2009, and how will they shape your passions and pursuits in the coming year?
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It sounds like ’09 kicked both our butts with steel-toed boots. But, it also propelled us forward! I’m excited to see what you do with your newfound momentum!
Tell me about your butt-kicking, Jon — and what’s on deck for 2010 for you? I know you’ve been hard-and-heavy into the film-making…
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Great post! Although I am more of an observer in the creative online world that you describe, I definitely could identify with a lot of what you wrote.
I was desperate enough to try writing for a couple “article farms”. I stopped when I realized that none of these sites were ones that I or my friends ever read. The chances that I would get paid from heavy traffic finding my articles was pretty slim, so I went back to writing my little blogs for fun.
Podcasting does seem to be a rather insular community, and once you are a part of it you can forget that the world at large knows nothing about it. Podcast authors are celebrities within the community, but that doesn’t necessarily travel with them. When I started writing a book blog I noticed that other book bloggers never mention podcast novels, even the bloggers that regularly listen to and review audiobooks. Those of us who have been online for many, many years know that this happens in other communities, too. I can go to a knitting site like Ravelry and post that I am knitting the 5HBS or Clapotis and will be treated as a knitter in the know. If I walk into my local knitting store and say this same thing, all I will get is blank stares.
Anyway, I applaud you for taking the time to reflect on your year and the improvements that you can make. I’m usually not that introspective — it gives me a headache :-).
Thanks for your kind words, Dani! As for introspection, I have the opposite problem… I can get lost in it! Another note-to-self for the coming year, and beyond, I guess!
I enjoyed your post, Matt. Some very accurate observations about podcasting and social media. They remind me of an Einstein quote – “The release of atomic energy has not created a new problem. It has merely made more urgent the necessity of solving an existing one.”
Podcasting and social media are new tools for something very old: human interaction and communication. They are not magic.
Regarding 2009, for me it was a year with relatively little change on the surface, but it started some things moving underneath that I expect to pick up speed:
1.On a personal level, I had my first real experience with the dying process (not me) and I don’t expect that I will ever look at life the same way.
2.On the writing level, I discovered that I can complete a finished draft book a year if I choose to do so, even with everything else in my life. No longer having any doubts about that will serve me well going forward.
In general this year, I started seeing less black and white and more shades of gray. I started feeling a more personal connection to the things in my life, while at the same time being able to let go of disappointments and things like publisher/agent rejections much more easily. I turn 40 in 2010, and bouts of adolescent intensity rarely catch me unaware any more. But I can still harness it when I need to.
As for 2010, I’ve come out of 2009 not wanting to think too far ahead. Oh, I’ve got goals:
-write a third novel
-see my first or second novel in print or at least scheduled for publication
-place well at a national masters championships in running or duathlon
-yell, less especially at myself and those close to me.
I have myself invested in the pursuit of those goals, but I don’t have myself invested in the details of the outcomes. Because for the most part I can’t control the outcomes.
One thing is for certain – I know I will look back in December 2010 and be surprised by much that happened.
Sounds like you get it regarding social media, Ed.
As for your goals, I like “yell less, especially at myself…” Here here!
I also like your view on goals in general — invest in the pursuit, not the outcome or the details. I subscribe to the idea of personal mission statements over New Year’s Resolutions and the like. Tends to keep you on the road but still allows the road to bend…
Thanks for your comment!
This post really resonated with me since I’ve been working hard on the podcasting thing, both audio and video for the past year. I also feel like I have a handle on the whole social media thing. That knowledge is great, but it is quite hard to take that to the next level. Especially when you work really hard, then place one ad and someone gets in your face for placing advertising. Freaking podcasting hippies! We all have to pay the bills and things are hard enough without some (a small minority) of the audience getting upset when everything isn’t free and without advertising to boot.
As for your insights towards social media, I agree wholeheartedly. It’s not rocket science, but it takes a lot of work. Unfortunately, everyone wants a shortcut.
Good luck in 2010. Like you, I’ve gone introspective towards the end of the year. I’m rethinking things and hoping to change direction in 2010 for the better. May this be a better year for all of us!
The Problem of Free is a big one, David, that’s for sure. I haven’t done my official end-of-year analytics yet, but it feels like compensation for my art has dwindled since I’ve made versions of everything I do available for free as well. One possible solution: do more. There has to be a tipping point and I’m sure I’m nowhere near it, just yet.
Happy new year! Thanks so much for your comment.
Sorry Man, I respect you and all, but I must object to your and Yoko’s use of the N word. Not cool.
Podcasting is still cool. But online video is also cool, blogs are cool, webcomics remain super cool. Then there’s the maker’s and crafter’s movements, diy is still going strong, and a bunch of other cool stuff going on online. Podcasting is just one thing, not everything.
I still think if I were to ever write a book, it’d be foolish of me not to podcast it, and that would be my advice to anyone I talk to who was an author. I’ll also admit it’s easier for me to get into fiction if it’s an audio book. I love audio books. But you don’t sound like an asshole for saying you don’t think podiobooks are all that.
The potential for social media as a way to interact with fans is exciting to me. As for your advice? Be human? hmmm. Interesting idea. I’ll consider it. :P
Personal franchise? I think I’ve been thinking that way without having that phrase to describe it. I definitely want to break down the barriers between creator and fan, and get fans in the act as much as possible. My personal experiment in this direction is to use the CC attribution Share alike license, dropping the Non-commercial part, commercial is ok by me. I think the most awesome thing ever would for others to take what I’m doing and make something of their own with it, I’m betting that kinda thing helps me rather than hurts me.
What have I learned? hmmmmmm… Actually I have more questions than answers. I thought I wanted to be a programmer, then an animator, now a comic artist and fiction blogger. I feel, more than ever, that I’m in an exploratory phase, but that I also want to take on and finish, yes finish!, my creative projects and share them with the world.
I also have been slowly learning that my trust in “isms”, first with Christianity in my youth, then Objectivism in my college years, then Liberarianism until the recent financial crisis, limit my thinking and disconnect me from messy, uncertain, reality. That’s a big personal thing I’ve learned. I want to believe in a system, I want to make reality adhere to it rather than see what is really there and deal with things pragmatically. I think the final nail in that coffin (I hope!) was when I recently read Logicomix, the story of Betrand Russel’s search for absolute truth, which spoke to me more than one level.
My personal thoughts on the problem of free? The same as Yogurt’s, “Merchandising!” T-Shirts, books, calendars, Mugs, etc. It works in the Webcomics world and I’ve always wondered why the podcasting world hasn’t done this more.
Great post!
Hi Steve!
I used the word because it’s the right one for the point I was trying to make — just as Yoko did, and just as John Lennon did years later when he wrote the song “Woman is the Nigger of the World.” (Find it on “Shaved Fish” from John Lennon and the Plastic Ono Band.) To my limited knowledge, no other word conveys the sense of being devalued, minimized, marginalized and taken total and complete advantage of while being expected to do work no one else wants to do. If you’re offended, that’s precisely the right reaction.
I agree that podcasting a book that you write is a great strategy for building audience and market for the eventual sale of that book and other works. My point was that folks who achieve some notoriety as podcast novelists sometimes seem to act as if their “fame” is worth more than it actually is… or worse, they become satisfied with that and the means becomes the end.
Interesting that you should mention the Share Alike license from Creative Commons. A major project of mine in 2010 will depend very strongly on the Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 license.
I’m confused by your wondering why the podcasting world hasn’t embraced Free… isn’t that exactly what many podcasting novelists do?
Thanks for the extensive comment, Steve!
I was going to comment again but I figured I really ought to blog it instead since I’m going a bit off topic.
http://nerdcoresteve.wordpress.com/2009/12/30/reply/
Excellent! We’ve got ourselves a real cross-pollinating blogtastic discussion going on, here! I commented on your post-comment, over there.
I’ve never understood people paying the social media \experts.\
Earlier this year, after hearing J.C. Hutchins say \follow me on Twitter\ at the end of his podcast one too many times, I decided to sign up and see what it was about. Within minutes, I had an account, rudimentary info posted in a profile, and was following several people. I don’t remember ever having a question more complex than \What does RT mean?\
I think the idea of a business using Twitter to get customers is doubly stupid. Yes, Twitter does help people sell things on occasion. I’ve seen a few authors use Twitter to promote books. Their followers typically re-tweet, and they usually end up with some measure of success. However, the success is not because of some marketing strategy or the advice of a guru. It’s because they do as you suggest by being human.
If somebody who has been cool to me asks for help, I’m more than happy to do what I can. If some douchebag with a slick marketing plan asks for help, chances are I won’t even hear them, because I’m not following in the first place.
Hi Chris!
The best reason for people or companies to hire someone for social media work? Time. It makes sense for a company to assign one person to be the social media face for the brand. I’m less convinced that an individual person should hire someone for any social media task other than rudimentary education: what is Facebook, what is Twitter, etc. I believe social media consulting is very much a teach-a-person-to-fish endeavor. Once you’re educated and have the tools, no one else can do the work for you.
Thanks for your comment!
I love you, man.
No, really. Use of the word Nigger and all, I think you’ve nailed points that need to be discussed, and I want to thank you for bringing them up. In your words I find echoes of what I’ve observed. But that’s for a blog post on my own blog, I think. *wink*
Regardless, Matt, thanks for having the stones to tell it like it is.
Thank you, my friend!
Your perspective is always thoughtful and interesting… I hope you really do do (heh. heh. I said do-do.) a post of your own on any or all of the topics of my little rant.
Man, you just said everything I’ve been feeling about podcasting. Good job!
Thanks! Surprisingly, I’ve been hearing more “yeah, me too!” than negativity on that particular part of the post. Then again, maybe the people who don’t like it are just unfollowing me, unsubscribing from this blog, and burning copies of my book and chapbooks in the street. :-)
Matt I guess I agree with pretty much everything you’ve said.As a consumer of podcast-fiction I’ve definitely found myself pulling back because of the bombastic nature many of its authors have adopted. Its not something I can say so and so did this (OK, well yes it is but I will not name names) because even being just a consumer I found myself getting thoroughly caught up in the whole fracas,but I just got burnt out. I guess I could ramble on about it all day so I will just sum it up your right but what the heck can be done about it?
Hi Brian — thanks for commenting!
What can be done about it, you ask? Well, I think you should directly contact the author(s) whose names you haven’t named, and tell them how their actions make you feel about them, about their work, and how their actions affect how you feel about supporting their work. The best of them will listen, because the best of them will understand that you might be one opinion, but you’re also someone who thinks it’s important enough to talk about it to others. If you can be “won over,” you’re a powerful evangelist.
If they don’t listen… whatever. Disintermediated content rises and falls by meritocracy, and the audience is King. Creatives who don’t at least consider their audience’s opinions will fade away.