This applies to trying to "make it" (whatever that means) as a fiction writer. Don't do X to get Y. Do X because you love X. If Y comes along, good. But you can't control that. Still, it's good to eat and enjoy the miracle of electricity in your home . . .
I think many aspiring artists and writers don't understand these factors, especially that "fame is not transferable." They want to connect with notables, without realizing that those people are also just trying to make ends meet financially. The Wannabes think that connecting to A Name somehow gains them access to the "higher realm."
But you are so right that it is not so. And I am always thankful that I knew that from the "start" (such as it was).
To me, the pros that I know are people I like and care about. I always wish the best for them, and I'm always interested in their various projects. I may hope to gain that sort of esteem myself, but that has to be under my own steam, not because I "know someone."
Making one's way in any creative field really is about one's own persistence and commitment to their craft.
Anyway, Colleen, I always love the way you lay out the reality of the professional creative life, with your dashes of humor and sarcasm. You communicate as well with your writing as you do with your artwork. And I am so pleased to know you, even at a distance.
And the part that gets me: the consolation prize that somehow posthumous fame is almost as good. I’m sure that millions of dollars spent on merchandise made from his characters and situations has done HP Lovecraft a whole world of good. (Wandering through the flagship Half Price Books on a Thursday night after the shelves are restocked for the weekend is a feeding frenzy for Colin Robinson types like me: I almost want to bring back, a la Joseph Curwen in “The Case of Charles Dexter Ward,” a certain particularly obnoxious and arrogant editor and writer who died a few years back, just so he can see the piles of his books and anthologies dumped in the Clearance sections and finally face that he was only tolerated by transactionalists and not loved.)
I frequently got booked for standup comedy gigs based on my social media following, which was substantial, because I was on radio and television very regularly. I would explain that I was not a big drawcard in clubs, which people always mistook for modesty, but came from producing my own shows for decades, and I would try to impress that upon them. Then they’d try to stiff me on my fee because they’d not had the crowd turn up that they were expecting, the crowd I told them would not appear before they agreed to the booking or the price. Social media companies have sold people on false data; as you say, they’re the only ones benefiting from all this digital labour.
I see this constantly in the music business: venues that book a band based on their online following, in complete denial that those numbers are based on WORLDWIDE appeal that probably won’t translate to enough people in a particular city putting down their phones and going to a live gig. I’m a big fan of the band Ego Likeness, for instance, and I grumble into my Alpha-Bits every morning about how they’ve passed through Dallas on their way to other shows but have never played here. The reality for the band, though, is that while they have hundreds of thousands of followers worldwide, the total audience willing to drive into Dallas for an Ego Likeness show would be me and about eight others wanting to see what the big deal is about. That’s just reality, and it’s aggravated by the fact that likes are not commitments. (I wasn’t surprised a few years back by a convention organizer who actually called and emailed people who had liked Facebook posts about his show, whining about why would they like the posts if they weren’t going to attend. I wasn’t surprised because I had already seen that so often from music venue owners, show organizers, and band sycophants who didn’t like being the only faces in front of the stage.)
50,000 followers, maybe 200 that actually see your posts, and 100 constantly complaining that you're not giving them enough free entertainment. (Lately, I've been getting a lot of what people in the horticulture trade refer to as "perpetual service plans": I shut down my carnivorous plant gallery two years ago, but I get people who want to follow me because they bought a plant from me 15 years ago and want to make sure I'm available for free and immediate assistance if they have any problems with it. Naturally, suggestions on online resources and excellent books that could help them, and which helped me when I first started, are rebuffed because "But I want YOU to help me!", and I recently got one who wants me to make YouTube videos on my time so she doesn't have to read.) There's a reason why I'm shutting down all of my Meta accounts tomorrow morning.
This reminds me of a friend who asked me to look over a book he was trying to write (it wasn't bad, but needed massive editing, and he was unreceptive to that). He asked me, "If I can place this with a publisher, what can I expect as an advance? Fifty grand?"
I met a young woman who enthusiastically asked me about how to make money doing art. She had decided to make a painting one day, and it took her a whole seven hours. She was upset when she asked friends what they would pay for it. They said about $20. She said that wasn't enough for the seven hours she worked on the piece. So how do you make money at art? And then she told me it was the first painting she'd ever done. This, in a nutshell, is the cognitive disconnect between professional artists and everyone else.
This applies to trying to "make it" (whatever that means) as a fiction writer. Don't do X to get Y. Do X because you love X. If Y comes along, good. But you can't control that. Still, it's good to eat and enjoy the miracle of electricity in your home . . .
"Don't do X to get Y. Do X because you love X."
Words of truth succinctly said!
This applies to writing, art, animation, sculpting, creating anything you love.
I think many aspiring artists and writers don't understand these factors, especially that "fame is not transferable." They want to connect with notables, without realizing that those people are also just trying to make ends meet financially. The Wannabes think that connecting to A Name somehow gains them access to the "higher realm."
But you are so right that it is not so. And I am always thankful that I knew that from the "start" (such as it was).
To me, the pros that I know are people I like and care about. I always wish the best for them, and I'm always interested in their various projects. I may hope to gain that sort of esteem myself, but that has to be under my own steam, not because I "know someone."
Making one's way in any creative field really is about one's own persistence and commitment to their craft.
Anyway, Colleen, I always love the way you lay out the reality of the professional creative life, with your dashes of humor and sarcasm. You communicate as well with your writing as you do with your artwork. And I am so pleased to know you, even at a distance.
Laughed several times, I love a good serving of hard truth.
Also, you're famous to me!
And the part that gets me: the consolation prize that somehow posthumous fame is almost as good. I’m sure that millions of dollars spent on merchandise made from his characters and situations has done HP Lovecraft a whole world of good. (Wandering through the flagship Half Price Books on a Thursday night after the shelves are restocked for the weekend is a feeding frenzy for Colin Robinson types like me: I almost want to bring back, a la Joseph Curwen in “The Case of Charles Dexter Ward,” a certain particularly obnoxious and arrogant editor and writer who died a few years back, just so he can see the piles of his books and anthologies dumped in the Clearance sections and finally face that he was only tolerated by transactionalists and not loved.)
I frequently got booked for standup comedy gigs based on my social media following, which was substantial, because I was on radio and television very regularly. I would explain that I was not a big drawcard in clubs, which people always mistook for modesty, but came from producing my own shows for decades, and I would try to impress that upon them. Then they’d try to stiff me on my fee because they’d not had the crowd turn up that they were expecting, the crowd I told them would not appear before they agreed to the booking or the price. Social media companies have sold people on false data; as you say, they’re the only ones benefiting from all this digital labour.
I see this constantly in the music business: venues that book a band based on their online following, in complete denial that those numbers are based on WORLDWIDE appeal that probably won’t translate to enough people in a particular city putting down their phones and going to a live gig. I’m a big fan of the band Ego Likeness, for instance, and I grumble into my Alpha-Bits every morning about how they’ve passed through Dallas on their way to other shows but have never played here. The reality for the band, though, is that while they have hundreds of thousands of followers worldwide, the total audience willing to drive into Dallas for an Ego Likeness show would be me and about eight others wanting to see what the big deal is about. That’s just reality, and it’s aggravated by the fact that likes are not commitments. (I wasn’t surprised a few years back by a convention organizer who actually called and emailed people who had liked Facebook posts about his show, whining about why would they like the posts if they weren’t going to attend. I wasn’t surprised because I had already seen that so often from music venue owners, show organizers, and band sycophants who didn’t like being the only faces in front of the stage.)
OMG, this SO MUCH, yes, 50,000 followers on Twitter, does not mean 50,000 sales or attendees.
50,000 followers, maybe 200 that actually see your posts, and 100 constantly complaining that you're not giving them enough free entertainment. (Lately, I've been getting a lot of what people in the horticulture trade refer to as "perpetual service plans": I shut down my carnivorous plant gallery two years ago, but I get people who want to follow me because they bought a plant from me 15 years ago and want to make sure I'm available for free and immediate assistance if they have any problems with it. Naturally, suggestions on online resources and excellent books that could help them, and which helped me when I first started, are rebuffed because "But I want YOU to help me!", and I recently got one who wants me to make YouTube videos on my time so she doesn't have to read.) There's a reason why I'm shutting down all of my Meta accounts tomorrow morning.
"Comics will break your heart, kid."
This reminds me of a friend who asked me to look over a book he was trying to write (it wasn't bad, but needed massive editing, and he was unreceptive to that). He asked me, "If I can place this with a publisher, what can I expect as an advance? Fifty grand?"
I'm afraid I burst out laughing.
I met a young woman who enthusiastically asked me about how to make money doing art. She had decided to make a painting one day, and it took her a whole seven hours. She was upset when she asked friends what they would pay for it. They said about $20. She said that wasn't enough for the seven hours she worked on the piece. So how do you make money at art? And then she told me it was the first painting she'd ever done. This, in a nutshell, is the cognitive disconnect between professional artists and everyone else.
Great, great, great — and in case the point wasn’t clear enough, it’s not about just comics creators but all things art. All life too, maybe.
Very well put. Now please excuse me, I need to go away for an hour and rethink everything :)
Some real talk there, Colleen! And so true! Great piece.