Promotional principles for creative people
Plus the Creative Independent reissues “On making a living as an artist”
I love to write but hate to publish. I naturally write all the time. Sharing is a separate, much more difficult step for me.
Last week’s post about rethinking promotion was a way of writing to myself. Tyler the Creator’s voice lives rent-free in my head because I personally need that self-talk to go “out there” and share my work.
Since last week we’ve heard from many of you who were inspired by Tyler’s positive spin on promotion. We also heard from many who are deeply uncomfortable with promotion, and see wisdom in focusing their energy on their practice and ignoring everything else.
We think both perspectives are right. Most of us can fall into either camp depending on the project and the day.
Today we’re sharing something for both camps: a work-in-progress guide of twelve promotional principles for creative people. Ideas, strategies, and ways of being that speak to creative, emotional, and practical realities of promoting our creative work.
We’re sharing this as a work-in-progress Google Doc with comments turned on because we’re interested in including your point of view and wisdom. Leave a comment or respond to this five-question survey to add your perspective.
The final version will be released on Metalabel later this summer and will include insights from the comments and survey. Everyone whose contributions are used will be credited, invited to the drop, and put on the split should we make it available for purchase.
Three ways to get involved:
Add your thoughts to our first draft of Promotional Principles for Creative People
Join me, Yancey, at 12pm ET today (June 20) for an open conversation about Metalabel, promotion, and these ideas (RSVP)
Featured Release
On Making a Living as an Artist
The Creative Independent
Physical and digital zine
50 editions
One of the absolute best things on the internet is The Creative Independent, a daily resource publishing practical and emotional advice from artists since 2016. The catalogue of output is extraordinary, with wisdom with everyone from Ryuichi Sakamoto to Stevie Nicks to Ocean Vuong to Aubrey Plaza sharing insights about their work as artists.
In 2018, The Creative Independent published its first physical work — a zine called On Making a Living as an Artist. It compiled insights from artists about making creative work while managing a day job and for making a living making art. The book features contributions from everyone from Philip Glass to L’Rain. It went out of print not long after.
Today in their first release with Metalabel, The Creative Independent newly reissues that original zine as both a physical work and PDF for $5 (50 editions).
Discovery on Metalabel
We’re constantly at work improving the Metalabel product. This week we added the ability to browse by category.
Now on the homepage you can filter releases by category — Art, Culture, Design, Games, Internet, Music, Publishing, Technology, and Video and Film — and by the most recent releases.
Visit the homepage to take a spin.
A few discoveries we’ve been enjoying this week:
“Bypassing the Invisible Hand” by Vector — A collaborative zine bringing together 23 people from around the world to share the creative futures they aspire to. We like the mission, design, and tone.
“Shantell Sans” by Shantell Martin — An open-source, artist-sourced font from the visual artist Shantell Martin. Collect for free and get a download and unique digital edition from Shantell.
“Play Zine Vol 1” — A recipe book and ode to food from a community of LGBTQ+ chefs, writers, and artists. All proceeds go to queer mutual aid organizations.
“Maggie Dunlap Presents Jackass the Movie” — The artist Maggie Dunlap continues her “Male Fantasies” series with a Downtown NYC screening of the classic Jackass at the Roxy Theater.
METALABEL IRL: “mollysstuff”
Last week we held a reception and performance at Metalabel HQ in honor of Molly Soda’s inaugural release, mollysstuff. Her run of 20 unique artbooks were on view for the public to flip through and hold in their hands.
Molly also debuted a sneak peek performance from her forthcoming play Trivial Pursuit, featuring performances by Mackenzie Thomas, Maya Man, and Maya Martinez. Learn more about the show and performance. Collect mollysstuff.
Squad wanted
We’re looking at add three new people to our small, tight-knit team.
Creator Liaison (full time) — A connected and passionate curator who can bring great releases to Metalabel and support them. NYC-based preferred. Details here.
Creator Liaison (liquid) — A connected and passionate curator who can bring great releases to Metalabel and support them for around 15 hours each week. Remote role with a preference for candidates in cultural hubs. Details here.
Product Engineer (full time) — A talented front-end engineer to join our Build team. Details here.
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Metalabel
#4 resonates the strongest in my case as I explore abstract photography after 15+ years of corporate work.
The art I’m creating is certainly informed by that experience.
I would have loved to join the convo (with a little more lead time 😉)!