Comments on: Everything is still biased against the lone artist.

By: Joe Konrath Needs To Shut The Fuck Up « Mike Cane's xBlog

Joe Konrath Needs To Shut The Fuck Up « Mike Cane's xBlog — Wed, 29 Dec 2010 20:56:17 +0000

[...] Response to bestselling author J.A. Konrath’s foggy portrait of the “confident” writer Everything is still biased against the lone artist There is no such thing as [...]

By: Wendy Drolma

Wendy Drolma — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 17:43:48 +0000

What a nice surprise this morning to read your blog entry and come across a response from my husband Brent in which he mentioned my work and website (thank you for posting a link to it on Romance Divas). I enjoyed reading the thoughts you shared about your life as a “Lone Artist”. There can be so much pain around the issue of making a living from the work we create and so I’m glad to hear your optimism. Whether one is signed by a big publisher or is standing on the sidewalk, watching the faces roll by, patiently waiting for someone to take notice of them seems like one in the same experience. It’s about making a living and doesn’t have much to do with our relationship to the creative process. I believe the quality of that relationship is what gets us through the details of making a living out of it or not. What fortifies me against the disappointments that arise around selling my work is to bring integrity to my creative process. Actually, it’s that and keeping my expectations low that gets me through. In truth, it seems to go against some fundamental law of nature for me to call myself “Lone” anything when I see everything as so inextricably linked.

How many twists and turns were needed to bring that five dollar bill (paid for origami magic) back around and tucked neatly into your pocket once again? Thinking in this way helps me loosen my grip on outcomes, to simply trust, and stay close to what I find most nourishing–to create.

By: MoJo

MoJo — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 06:14:30 +0000

Brent, apologies for not answering sooner, but then yesterday, WOW! The world exploded when Harlequin announced its vanity arm. Your comment takes on a whole new level of meaning.

[I]have been amazed at the vitriol directed at those few of us who speak in favor of self-publishing…repetition of the same mantra: self-pubs are losers who can’t get into the club

Another way to say it is, “You’re cutting in line!”

She’s made a living for 20 years by bringing her art, leather masks, directly to her audience — http://wendydrolma.com .

OMG those are GORGEOUS! (And normally I hate music on a website, but this worked.) I’ll post your wife’s link over on Romance Divas. I know a few ways those would be appreciated.

By: Brent Robison

Brent Robison — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 13:22:22 +0000

Yes, and the prejudice against DIY in the arts is nowhere greater than in the book world. I’ve been contributing to discussions on the writer’s colony http://litopia.com and have been amazed at the vitriol directed at those few of us who speak in favor of self-publishing. The idea that we might, as sound-minded adults, make a well-considered decision to self-publish is so far outside the conventional wisdom that it brings up some sort of elemental fear that stops up the ears of those who’ve invested their careers in the employee mentality, and their response is an angry repetition of the same mantra: self-pubs are losers who can’t get into the club (even though 99% of them are not in the club either).

Both my wife and I have sold our visual art on the streets of NYC and other places. She’s made a living for 20 years by bringing her art, leather masks, directly to her audience — http://wendydrolma.com . It’s a model that can work, although with a low-ticket, low-margin item like a book it’s more a labor of love than money. But nothing wrong with that. Up with the lone artist!

By: MoJo

MoJo — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 16:12:39 +0000

There are simply days where the space between clinking pennies is so long that it all seems useless. There’s no remedy for it. Just keep going, right?

Yes.

Was it Churchill who said when you’re going through hell, just keep going?

By: Will

Will — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 19:28:14 +0000

“I count up those emails and screen shots and snippets of conversation here and there, and I keep them, put them in my hard drive bank like coins in my hat.”

Amen. The thing, though, is not to read too much into obscurity. (For me, at least.) There are a lot of reasons that people don’t drop pennies in a hat, even if they enjoy the work. We must find the balance between the work that is purely our intent and the work that gets through to the part of the audience that does drop pennies. Because we need to eat, right?

But that’s not to say the lone artist shouldn’t be a lone artist. Good with the bad. There are simply days where the space between clinking pennies is so long that it all seems useless. There’s no remedy for it. Just keep going, right?

By: Tweets that mention Everything is still biased against the lone artist. | -- Topsy.com

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 23:43:23 +0000

[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Guy L. Gonzalez, Moriah Jovan and Tim Baran, revolucion0. revolucion0 said: loved the post! i left a comment RT @MoriahJovan @glecharles BTW, did you see? http://snurl.com/t26l5 @revolucion0 BTW [...]

By: MoJo

MoJo — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 21:31:14 +0000

I think so. It’s unfortunate that the book I dedicated to her has an underlying theme of mothers v daughters—and not in a good way.

Oops. Weird reverse serendipity.

By: jenn topper

jenn topper — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 21:27:32 +0000

Your mom is pure rock n roll.

By: uberVU - social comments

uberVU - social comments — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 21:24:28 +0000

Social comments and analytics for this post…

This post was mentioned on Twitter by redrobinreader: RT @MoriahJovan

NEW POST: Everything is still biased against the lone artist. http://hoa6k.th8.us...