We all dream of it, don’t we? Living the life of Mozart, Michelangelo, or Moliere, practising our culture under the beneficent patronage of some European noble. Only of course it wasn’t like that. It was more like being George Michael working under Sony.
What I want to do is breathe new life into the patronage model, and see if I can make it work for 21st century producers of culture. There are models that come close: bursaries awarded by bodies like the Arts Council, or private institutions pay someone to do their stuff out of the public or private purse; laureateships empower someone to work on behalf of the people; many august cultural bodies – theatres, orchestras etc. – allow donors to become members.
But none of that quite does what I want to do. First and obviously – er, they don’t pay me! Second, and most important, they don’t match the ideological principles of my personal manifesto: Free is good; Culture is a direct conversation between artist and audience.
So this is what I’ve come up with.
1. Decide the amount you need to live on. In my case, with my debts and commitments, I think I could live more than comfortably on £35,000.
2. Work out what your working year is in terms of hours. I make my working year 2660 hours.
3. Make all your work available for free.
4. Allow people to make payments should they wish, and show the running total on your website.
5. Devote half your working hours to taking up commissions from your patrons, and the other half to producing the stuff all your fans love. Effectively, let your patrons buy you by the hour. Make sure they understand you will keep writing your kind of thing, but that you will produce shorts, poems, etc on subjects of their choice, or go and speak at their events, give them writing lessons, produce blog copy, edit their work, whatever you want to offer! My only rules would be my ideology’s mine, and I will only promote what I really like (I won’t do my patrons’ PR).
6. Keep a record of what you do, for how long, online – which in itself may be of interest
So that’s the model. Who’s up for tearing it down?
Wednesday, 15 July 2009
Monday, 13 July 2009
The View From the Shoe: Penny Goring
This week, I’ve been talking to writer Penny Goring. I met Penny through The Man Who Painted Agnieszka’s Shoes, and since then we’ve been bumping into each other on various writing sites, as well as in the twitterverse. Her writing is both brilliant and utterly unlike anything else. She also took me at my word when I said if the questions weren’t the ones she wanted to be asked, she could answer the questions of her choice, without specifying what they are.
In her own words:
I make odd machines called stories.
e-mail: pennybibi@hotmail.co.uk
twitter: @triplecherry
facebook.com/penny.goring
And without further ado:
Thank you so much for your time. So, Louboutin or Converse?
Styrofoam cup with a dog-end in it.
Why is there no one in the world who does it quite like you?
Cinema usherette, deep-sea diver - I'm interested in how we think. Sniffed glue on trains after the police raided No.4, fifty black eyes, one cauliflower ear, dodgy photographs of pieces of her: her first love, her last drink, her ambition, her ear lobe, her shame. Bag lady, suit of flesh, prison issue bra. Her Dad a sex and love addict, her mum a sacrifice.
What do you really, really love about it?
Stealing moments in the correction cell, what I love is what escapes me. She patrols the swamps by night, her saving grace in the room with tiled floor and custard-coloured walls. You moved to Upper Street so we hung out in Highbury Cemetery. I've still got the round satin cushion with pom-poms sprouting from it's plump centre. Waifs and strays, London slums, malevolent, copulating insects with teeth.
A bit more time in the day, or a bit more money in the bank?
On my way home from the underbelly I saw faulty-six blue things, four legs and a fantasy. This was after thirteen years of rejecting a world which anaesthetises minds to optimise profitability. I hit rock bottom, a washed up tantalus in the crab position courting a storm-tossing merman, supine with multi-dick, paddling in the overflow of an ultrascan.
Imagine you “make it”. You wake up, and imagine the day ahead. Tell us about breakfast.
Invalid Dessert No.1
Liver Souffle
Half cup stale breadcrumbs
1 egg yolk
2oz sieved raw liver
Lemon
1 tbspn cream
Mix crumbs with liver in basin. Stir in a few drops of lemon juice.
Beat in egg white, place in buttered mould.
Cover with buttered paper.
Steam for 20 mins.
Serve with sauce if allowed.
This recipe is for one person.
What’s your Jimmy Choo? And what’s just cobblers?
Wish box, witch box, addict box, lunch box, shoe box, black box, the history of orgies, stacked. Things that are difficult to grasp and easy to imagine. Sky is always a fiction.
Tell us about the last time a fan made you feel 100 feet tall.
God's gilded bollock's and the best snog ever. All those out-moded words looming like the block of flats he fell from, sporting red devil headgear. Death too big and too stupid to argue with. Armies of soft toys, mountains of dogs, barrage balloons floating with ducks in the shape of swan songs.
Independent and poor, or under contract and rich?
Crowding the edge of vision, framed by symbols - tiny block-capitals on thin paper, squashed in desperation, frantic, insistent, alone in a cloud of smoke. Fishing for an alter ego, mind boggling with the amazing glut. Is it true I don't feel anymore? Role-play aspect important, but I'm still a woman on her knees.
Do you remember that bit on Play Away where Brian Cant stood behind people and did the actions whilst they spoke? If you could choose anyone to stand behind you and do the actions to your sales pitch, who would it be and why?
I don't have a sales pitch. For my sins, I would have the monolith from 2001 behind me, Enid Blyton and Joseph Beuys either side of me and the ghosts of my friends and lovers right up front, because there's no safety in words.
Frocks or socks?
Evasive adopted evacuee shivering at the zebra-crossing.
Thank you SOOO much
In her own words:
I make odd machines called stories.
e-mail: pennybibi@hotmail.co.uk
twitter: @triplecherry
facebook.com/penny.goring
And without further ado:
Thank you so much for your time. So, Louboutin or Converse?
Styrofoam cup with a dog-end in it.
Why is there no one in the world who does it quite like you?
Cinema usherette, deep-sea diver - I'm interested in how we think. Sniffed glue on trains after the police raided No.4, fifty black eyes, one cauliflower ear, dodgy photographs of pieces of her: her first love, her last drink, her ambition, her ear lobe, her shame. Bag lady, suit of flesh, prison issue bra. Her Dad a sex and love addict, her mum a sacrifice.
What do you really, really love about it?
Stealing moments in the correction cell, what I love is what escapes me. She patrols the swamps by night, her saving grace in the room with tiled floor and custard-coloured walls. You moved to Upper Street so we hung out in Highbury Cemetery. I've still got the round satin cushion with pom-poms sprouting from it's plump centre. Waifs and strays, London slums, malevolent, copulating insects with teeth.
A bit more time in the day, or a bit more money in the bank?
On my way home from the underbelly I saw faulty-six blue things, four legs and a fantasy. This was after thirteen years of rejecting a world which anaesthetises minds to optimise profitability. I hit rock bottom, a washed up tantalus in the crab position courting a storm-tossing merman, supine with multi-dick, paddling in the overflow of an ultrascan.
Imagine you “make it”. You wake up, and imagine the day ahead. Tell us about breakfast.
Invalid Dessert No.1
Liver Souffle
Half cup stale breadcrumbs
1 egg yolk
2oz sieved raw liver
Lemon
1 tbspn cream
Mix crumbs with liver in basin. Stir in a few drops of lemon juice.
Beat in egg white, place in buttered mould.
Cover with buttered paper.
Steam for 20 mins.
Serve with sauce if allowed.
This recipe is for one person.
What’s your Jimmy Choo? And what’s just cobblers?
Wish box, witch box, addict box, lunch box, shoe box, black box, the history of orgies, stacked. Things that are difficult to grasp and easy to imagine. Sky is always a fiction.
Tell us about the last time a fan made you feel 100 feet tall.
God's gilded bollock's and the best snog ever. All those out-moded words looming like the block of flats he fell from, sporting red devil headgear. Death too big and too stupid to argue with. Armies of soft toys, mountains of dogs, barrage balloons floating with ducks in the shape of swan songs.
Independent and poor, or under contract and rich?
Crowding the edge of vision, framed by symbols - tiny block-capitals on thin paper, squashed in desperation, frantic, insistent, alone in a cloud of smoke. Fishing for an alter ego, mind boggling with the amazing glut. Is it true I don't feel anymore? Role-play aspect important, but I'm still a woman on her knees.
Do you remember that bit on Play Away where Brian Cant stood behind people and did the actions whilst they spoke? If you could choose anyone to stand behind you and do the actions to your sales pitch, who would it be and why?
I don't have a sales pitch. For my sins, I would have the monolith from 2001 behind me, Enid Blyton and Joseph Beuys either side of me and the ghosts of my friends and lovers right up front, because there's no safety in words.
Frocks or socks?
Evasive adopted evacuee shivering at the zebra-crossing.
Thank you SOOO much
Friday, 10 July 2009
Free is not a Four-letter word
Well, I couldn’t really stay out of the debate, although I’ve already blogged at length about the value of giving writing away for free. The release of Chris Anderson’s “Free” and resultant hoo-ha (http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6670080.html?desc=topstory) is too much of a happening for me not to write again. I’ve already posted a few thoughts on
http://loudpoet.com/2009/07/06/free-is-wrong-for-writers-freemium-might-not-be/#comment-12230088
I’ll keep this brief as a result. The last thing I want is “Dan going on about free stuff” fatigue. I’ll also try and keep it opinionated because facts seem to be out of fashion in this debate. Personally, I just don’t understand the objection as a business model to so-called “freemium” promotion – offering a basic version of your product for free, and charging for a premium version. Music practitioners have used the model so successfully I’m not sure I can see the negative argument.
Which suggests to me the argument is ideological. People who are excited about the freemium model are, by and large, people who have day jobs and want the chance to give them up and be paid for doing what they love. People who object tend to be those who are already paid to write. I understand that people don’t want to lose their livelihoods. Of course they don’t, and of course none of us wants them to. But protectionism isn’t the answer.
Literature is a breeding ground of innovation, and should remain so. And the public should have access to as wide a range of culture as there is out there. I believe they should be able to access it for free, and decide, from a position of knowledge not ignorance, which of it they want to spend their money on.
The argument that this will pollute the cultural world with rubbish is just nonsense. If what’s offered for free outside the establishment is junk, the public will discard it, and no one in the mainstream will lose their paycheck. If some of it DOES turn out to be better, then why shouldn’t some on the “inside” take a pay cut so that some on the outside can have a slice of the pie?
My call to action is simple. Make your work available to the public for free download. Let readers decide what they want to pay for. It’s not the end of the world. It’s the beginning of an aspiration to take culture seriously. That’s why I started Free-e-day (www.freeeday.wordpress.com) as a platform to bring together givers and takers of free cultural content. I also see it across the web in great initiatives like www.jet-pack.net
Free isn’t a four-letter word. Free is good. For the producers of culture. For the consumers of culture. For culture itself. Come and embrace freevolution
http://loudpoet.com/2009/07/06/free-is-wrong-for-writers-freemium-might-not-be/#comment-12230088
I’ll keep this brief as a result. The last thing I want is “Dan going on about free stuff” fatigue. I’ll also try and keep it opinionated because facts seem to be out of fashion in this debate. Personally, I just don’t understand the objection as a business model to so-called “freemium” promotion – offering a basic version of your product for free, and charging for a premium version. Music practitioners have used the model so successfully I’m not sure I can see the negative argument.
Which suggests to me the argument is ideological. People who are excited about the freemium model are, by and large, people who have day jobs and want the chance to give them up and be paid for doing what they love. People who object tend to be those who are already paid to write. I understand that people don’t want to lose their livelihoods. Of course they don’t, and of course none of us wants them to. But protectionism isn’t the answer.
Literature is a breeding ground of innovation, and should remain so. And the public should have access to as wide a range of culture as there is out there. I believe they should be able to access it for free, and decide, from a position of knowledge not ignorance, which of it they want to spend their money on.
The argument that this will pollute the cultural world with rubbish is just nonsense. If what’s offered for free outside the establishment is junk, the public will discard it, and no one in the mainstream will lose their paycheck. If some of it DOES turn out to be better, then why shouldn’t some on the “inside” take a pay cut so that some on the outside can have a slice of the pie?
My call to action is simple. Make your work available to the public for free download. Let readers decide what they want to pay for. It’s not the end of the world. It’s the beginning of an aspiration to take culture seriously. That’s why I started Free-e-day (www.freeeday.wordpress.com) as a platform to bring together givers and takers of free cultural content. I also see it across the web in great initiatives like www.jet-pack.net
Free isn’t a four-letter word. Free is good. For the producers of culture. For the consumers of culture. For culture itself. Come and embrace freevolution
Wednesday, 8 July 2009
Banksy
The photos have been removed. Sorry, not trying to break anyone's copyright, guys, but best to be safe. Er, if Banksy really does mind people putting casual snaps from his official exhibition when there are no postcards it's a bit rich. Especially as I bought the book and would urge others to do so. still, I hate plagiarism and copyright theft as much as the next person, so down they come
Thsi is little more than a few photos from Bristol Museum vs Banksy. I am sure he's one person who won't mind photos of his work appearing online. I am happy to attribute everything though. This is all the work of me me me, er, I mean Banksy.
If you haven't been to see this exhibition, go. I don't pretend to know enough about street art to say where Banksy fits into the scene, but I know I loved it. all of it. And he was, of course, the inspiration for Ludwig in The Man Who Painted Agnieszka's Shoes. Hope you enjoy. I'm sure he would also approve of Free-e-day and Year Zero Writers.
Show Them What You've Got: Behind the Year Zero anthology
I was very much against an anthology at first. I thought it was too passé, too much the same as everyone else did, would be impossible to make stand out from the crowd. My fellow zeros, some of them quite vociferously, disagreed with me. So I said OK, I’ll think about it and tried to prove them wrong.
My plan was to have a website where the first 3 chapters of all our forthcoming novels were pasted up so people could get a taste for our work, and to direct traffic there (which, of course, is about as passé as it gets). My reasoning was readers needed to know exactly what they were getting, and see I they liked it. My critics reasoned I’d struggle for content as not all of us were ready to release something just yet, and so we wouldn’t give a real representation of the group’s style and ability.
It was actually a Sunday Times article that changed my mind. I was reading about special editions, and some of the amazing things rock stars do for their fans, and I realised, if we were really taking our commitment to our readers seriously, then what better way to kick of than to give them something standalone, of the very highest quality, for free. Of course those of us releasing novels could upload their opening chapters – and even put those in the anthology – but it was so important to give people something more than just another catalogue.
And that’s how Brief Objects of Beauty and Despair was born. I was, as usual, wrong, and my colleagues were, as usual, right, and the result is the beautiful anthology we’ve put together, with 13 of us submitting the pieces we think best reflect our writing.
So why Brief Objects…? That was another humdinger of a debate, and it’s still not fully resolved. For me, it sums up a commitment to quality and culture; for some of us, it’s just too college art project, and Zero Cuts better represents our radical stance. Only time will tell who’s right.
There isn’t an official “book” of the anthology – for all kinds of logistical and financial reasons. Maybe if we become famous we can bring one out as a retrospective. But we have taken it every bit as seriously as we would have done a printed book – from Larry’s beautiful cover to the hours of editing. Just because something’s free and a pdf, doesn’t mean we should be any less committed to giving our readers the very best we have to offer.
I hope they’ll appreciate it. Most of all, I hope they’ll appreciate both our ideals and our prose, and come back when our books hit the shelves.
My plan was to have a website where the first 3 chapters of all our forthcoming novels were pasted up so people could get a taste for our work, and to direct traffic there (which, of course, is about as passé as it gets). My reasoning was readers needed to know exactly what they were getting, and see I they liked it. My critics reasoned I’d struggle for content as not all of us were ready to release something just yet, and so we wouldn’t give a real representation of the group’s style and ability.
It was actually a Sunday Times article that changed my mind. I was reading about special editions, and some of the amazing things rock stars do for their fans, and I realised, if we were really taking our commitment to our readers seriously, then what better way to kick of than to give them something standalone, of the very highest quality, for free. Of course those of us releasing novels could upload their opening chapters – and even put those in the anthology – but it was so important to give people something more than just another catalogue.
And that’s how Brief Objects of Beauty and Despair was born. I was, as usual, wrong, and my colleagues were, as usual, right, and the result is the beautiful anthology we’ve put together, with 13 of us submitting the pieces we think best reflect our writing.
So why Brief Objects…? That was another humdinger of a debate, and it’s still not fully resolved. For me, it sums up a commitment to quality and culture; for some of us, it’s just too college art project, and Zero Cuts better represents our radical stance. Only time will tell who’s right.
There isn’t an official “book” of the anthology – for all kinds of logistical and financial reasons. Maybe if we become famous we can bring one out as a retrospective. But we have taken it every bit as seriously as we would have done a printed book – from Larry’s beautiful cover to the hours of editing. Just because something’s free and a pdf, doesn’t mean we should be any less committed to giving our readers the very best we have to offer.
I hope they’ll appreciate it. Most of all, I hope they’ll appreciate both our ideals and our prose, and come back when our books hit the shelves.
Monday, 6 July 2009
The View from the Shoe: Janet Law
I discovered Janet Law and her two wonderful businesses making customised jewellery and accessories on twitter. I am a starving writer and rarely even buy a fellow writer's book because I can't afford it, but I so fell in love with Janet's rice'n'roll bags, I bought one for my wife, and it was even lovelier in the real than it looked online. This week, I asked janet life's most impotrant questions. First, a little about her from her own keyboard.
Janet has two businesses:
Little Pearl Button - My first baby - Quirky, beautiful handmade sterling silver jewellery collection (http://www.littlepearlbutton.co.uk/)
Fortheloveoflaw – Handmade bags using a variety of by-product materials. This label will be evolving into clothing (which is what I studied in & what I really love – Fashion!)… happily sewing away… (http://www.fortheloveoflaw.com/)
Without further ado:
Thank you so much for your time. So, Louboutin or Converse?
No contest! Louboutin not only because each piece is like a work of art but Converse actually started giving me bunions!!! Weird as it may sound I think this is due to the fact that I wore heels most of my life & when I took up waitressing (again) at 24 I brought some Converse… my feet did not like them!!!
Why is there no one in the world who does it quite like you?
I have been known & still do, plan or make outfits to go with shoes! I always decide what shoes I want to wear first, then outfit. I have woken up thinking of the shoes I want to wear that day even if I haven’t worn them for 3 years! I have also made clothing especially to go with amazing shoes I have brought! Shoes excite me to create a complete look!
What do you really, really love about it?
They way it makes me feel. Especially on days when I feel low, I will dress up to the nines, just because I feel down – no one else needs to know! Of course it cheers me up when people gives me compliments especially if I have made it myself!
A bit more time in the day, or a bit more money in the bank?
Always a bit more time in the day, when I feel creative I will work until dawn breaks but suffer later as I NEED my sleep too!
Imagine you “make it”. You wake up, and imagine the day ahead. Tell us about breakfast.
I will still brew fresh coffee every morning so my flat smells lovely… to be honest, I think I will just be so happy & grateful that people are recognising my work & enjoy wearing it. I probably won’t be able to stop smiling! Of course I have so many goals; I think I will be just excited that I can move forward with my plans.
What’s your Jimmy Choo? And what’s just cobblers?
Even though I don’t actually own a ‘Choo’ (I have my reasons for this) I have many designer shoes that make me feel amazing in! It’s like an extra ego adding to my height! (hee hee I’m 4’11”!) Cobblers are my ballet flats (I still have quite a few though) the shoes I chose if I know there will be a lot of ‘walking’ involved!
Tell us about the last time a fan made you feel 100 feet tall.
Every time I get a returning customer! Especially when they tell me how much they love it, or the person they brought it for loved it! I also feel so happy when online customers e-mail to tell me they received the package & absolutely love it, I cherish these e-mails, it may not seem like a lot to others but the fact that they really loved my product enough to e-mail & tell me means so much to me, also when they comment on the little details – packaging & handwriting – its nice to know that people notice! [editor's note: The wrapping and the little handwritten card that came with the bag were exquisite and remain treasured items, kept in my "remember how to make your customers feels pecial" folder.]
Independent and poor, or under contract and rich?
Independent & poor – that is me now! But I can tell you that I am so happy, I am doing something that I really love, enjoy & get amazing satisfaction out of. To have money would mean I can eventually follow my plans but I won’t sell my soul in doing it, I’m trying my best & that is all I can say!
Do you remember that bit on Play Away where Brian Cant stood behind people and did the actions whilst they spoke? If you could choose anyone to stand behind you and do the actions to your sales pitch, who would it be and why?
Ha! Can I say Johnny Depp?! For one he has great actions, secondly surely anything he is associated with would just fly! Either way it’ll be entertaining & draw in my customer base – women!!!
Frocks or socks?
Frocks for sure although the socks can make or break an outfit!!!#
Thank you SOOO much
Thank you for including me :-)
Janet has two businesses:
Little Pearl Button - My first baby - Quirky, beautiful handmade sterling silver jewellery collection (http://www.littlepearlbutton.co.uk/)
Fortheloveoflaw – Handmade bags using a variety of by-product materials. This label will be evolving into clothing (which is what I studied in & what I really love – Fashion!)… happily sewing away… (http://www.fortheloveoflaw.com/)
Without further ado:
Thank you so much for your time. So, Louboutin or Converse?
No contest! Louboutin not only because each piece is like a work of art but Converse actually started giving me bunions!!! Weird as it may sound I think this is due to the fact that I wore heels most of my life & when I took up waitressing (again) at 24 I brought some Converse… my feet did not like them!!!
Why is there no one in the world who does it quite like you?
I have been known & still do, plan or make outfits to go with shoes! I always decide what shoes I want to wear first, then outfit. I have woken up thinking of the shoes I want to wear that day even if I haven’t worn them for 3 years! I have also made clothing especially to go with amazing shoes I have brought! Shoes excite me to create a complete look!
What do you really, really love about it?
They way it makes me feel. Especially on days when I feel low, I will dress up to the nines, just because I feel down – no one else needs to know! Of course it cheers me up when people gives me compliments especially if I have made it myself!
A bit more time in the day, or a bit more money in the bank?
Always a bit more time in the day, when I feel creative I will work until dawn breaks but suffer later as I NEED my sleep too!
Imagine you “make it”. You wake up, and imagine the day ahead. Tell us about breakfast.
I will still brew fresh coffee every morning so my flat smells lovely… to be honest, I think I will just be so happy & grateful that people are recognising my work & enjoy wearing it. I probably won’t be able to stop smiling! Of course I have so many goals; I think I will be just excited that I can move forward with my plans.
What’s your Jimmy Choo? And what’s just cobblers?
Even though I don’t actually own a ‘Choo’ (I have my reasons for this) I have many designer shoes that make me feel amazing in! It’s like an extra ego adding to my height! (hee hee I’m 4’11”!) Cobblers are my ballet flats (I still have quite a few though) the shoes I chose if I know there will be a lot of ‘walking’ involved!
Tell us about the last time a fan made you feel 100 feet tall.
Every time I get a returning customer! Especially when they tell me how much they love it, or the person they brought it for loved it! I also feel so happy when online customers e-mail to tell me they received the package & absolutely love it, I cherish these e-mails, it may not seem like a lot to others but the fact that they really loved my product enough to e-mail & tell me means so much to me, also when they comment on the little details – packaging & handwriting – its nice to know that people notice! [editor's note: The wrapping and the little handwritten card that came with the bag were exquisite and remain treasured items, kept in my "remember how to make your customers feels pecial" folder.]
Independent and poor, or under contract and rich?
Independent & poor – that is me now! But I can tell you that I am so happy, I am doing something that I really love, enjoy & get amazing satisfaction out of. To have money would mean I can eventually follow my plans but I won’t sell my soul in doing it, I’m trying my best & that is all I can say!
Do you remember that bit on Play Away where Brian Cant stood behind people and did the actions whilst they spoke? If you could choose anyone to stand behind you and do the actions to your sales pitch, who would it be and why?
Ha! Can I say Johnny Depp?! For one he has great actions, secondly surely anything he is associated with would just fly! Either way it’ll be entertaining & draw in my customer base – women!!!
Frocks or socks?
Frocks for sure although the socks can make or break an outfit!!!#
Thank you SOOO much
Thank you for including me :-)
Wednesday, 1 July 2009
Brief Objects of Beauty and Despair
Year Zero Writers has released its first sampler anthology, Brief Objects of Beauty and Despair. It's 13 pieces of contemporary fiction, a mix of short stories and extracts from ourt work to introduce us to readers, and hopefully tempt people to our novels when they come out later in the year. It's also free. You can download a copy from here. You can also read it in full at our website, where you can also find out more about us. Do help yourself to a copy, and pass it on. And I'll keep you all updated how it goes. On Friday: why an anthology?
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