Art and Obligation

Wil Wheaton vs. the Internet

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WIL WHEATON: You deserve to get paid when you make something with your mind that other people will use to make money.

INTERNET: No! We demand that you retract that statement because many of us have made a career of giving things away and getting Amazon Affiliate click-throughs on our free content blogs.

WIL WHEATON: I’m okay with giving things away to fans. I just want to get paid when a $50 million company asks for my content. Can they not spare 6-cents per word?

INTERNET: You should love what you do! Demanding money for Art is venal!

WIL WHEATON: How do you pay the rent?

INTERNET: If you write it, they will pay you. Somehow. Somebody.

WIL WHEATON: Really?

INTERNET: Yes!

WIL WHEATON: Really?

INTERNET: No, not really. Do you want to guest-blog on our site this week?

WIL WHEATON: Probably not.

 

(confused? See you can’t pay your rent with “the unique platform and reach our site provides” and Oni Harstein, who politely disagrees)

Russel Blake’s Craft Tip #3 – How To Write More, Faster

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Craft Tip #3 – How To Write More, Faster

An inspiring post from crazy-productive indie novelist Russel Blake. Read it all!

My favorite is Tip #10:

The power of questions: Ask yourself, “How can I make this the best chapter I have ever written, and be excited and have fun doing it?” before you sit down to write. Asking yourself questions that empower you determines your perception of what you do, and will affect how you do it.

Ask good questions.

“How can I turn out the best book I’ve ever written and do it in less time than I dreamed possible while enjoying the process” gets you a different answer than “Why can’t I keep up with those other authors” or “What am I thinking even doing this?” If you believe you can, you’re right. If you believe you can’t, you’re right. If you believe, “I’ll find a way,” you’ll have a different career than “This will never work.”

Craft Tip #3 – How To Write More, Faster.

Why you should care about the Hachette – Amazon dispute

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singI feel reasonably well-informed about the recent Hachette-Amazon fracas, as I should be—my sales through Amazon represent a substantial portion of my income as a writer and any event that might adversely affect the ‘Zon affects me. I peruse the Gaughrans, Howeys, and Konraths of the indie world with enthusiasm and often break into a rendition of “Do You Hear the People Sing” while sitting at my desk after reading one of their blog posts.

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A Colossal Waste of Time

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In preparation for promoting some upcoming titles, I wanted to check in with the giveaway page on Librarything.com and see if anything had changed since I ran some giveaways of my own back in November and January.

Things have changed all right. Imagine my surprise when I saw this news blurb on the LT homepage:

There are 11,007,517 copies of 85 books being given away.

Err…what?

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The Price of Art

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I’m friends with a musician (not Vince Gill) who is considering throwing in the towel or at least going on strike, until he can find a way to support himself through his art. This isn’t a debut; he’s been playing and touring for thirty years. He’s had no illusions about his chances of hitting it big, but he’s persevered for a very long time by working hard, growing his talent, and creating a following.

But it’s not enough.

He’s sick of social media, he’s sick of planning his life out 16 weeks, he’s tired of having to do online shows for Paypal “tips”…in short, he’d like to pursue his art, entertain some people, and not starve doing it.

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