So while I really appreciate the reframe, I can't help but feel it's a little similar to when people say 'You should use the power of positive thinking! You don't 'have' to do things, you 'get' to do things!' and then the other person goes 'Yay. I GET to pay my rent today.' Like..... Yes. I do actually love to talk about my work, to interested parties. But the amount of time we have is a zero sum game, and any time I'm investing in drafting reel scripts or figuring out how to edit subtitles or reaching out to people who might be willing to help me promote my stuff or signing up to new platforms seeing if there's more opportunity to be seen there is time I am not drawing. I have been feeling this full force recently because I made an art print I want to sell to donate money to Gaza. So for once in my life it was IMPORTANT for me to promote something. I put two months of work into making it and it would mean nothing if I couldn't get it noticed. I have been pulling out all the stops, contacting anyone I could think of, learning how to make reels, brainstorming ideas, collaborating on posts, calling real brick and mortar stores near me, like I did more for this print in the last few months than I did in the 12 years of being an artist for my own stuff..... And let me tell you it has been grueling. Like out of the 60-70 people I reached out to - people I pre-selected for being active and vocal about the issue, for having the right sort of content bla bla - around five responded. Of those five, three actually did the thing they said they would, and I am deeply grateful. I'm even grateful to everyone else who didn't even reply. I don't take people's attention for granted. But it - is - so - HARD! Hahah thank you for coming to my TED talk
I'm glad <3 I always feel a little bad because I feel I come to a lot of very positive-sounding posts and I just bitch under them hahaha. But the struggle is real.
The people who don’t love to promote their work aren’t necessarily any less proud of it. A performer who is generally happy on stage is also likely to be happy on the stage of social media. But not all artists are performers by default. I think the pendulum has swung to view performance as the best art and promotion (rather than attraction) as the best distribution method. I think there probably needs to be a correction that acknowledges art forms and artists that are less amenable to performativity and promotionality.
I agree with you. I’m one of those people much less comfortable in some settings versus others. Next week’s newsletter will speak about our varying levels and ways of sharing work.
yes, all of this. While I appreciate the idea of 'be proud of sharing your process', I can't help it's also a way to rope us into all being advertisers and no one likes ads, let's be honest. It's a way to sort of tap into the natural authenticity of artists and force them to literally subjugate that authenticity to the rules of marketing. On the other hand I also understand that, with the current absolute GLUT of content, if you wanna get noticed you kinda gotta shout...... It's rough.
This was so needed. I get so in my head about self promotion, especially when I put a lot of work into something and the attention it recieves doesn't match the labor put into it. I always have to remind myself of the digital fatigue everyone experiences and that I may need to repost something several times to get my work noticed. That doesn't mean that what I made isn't valuable or that I'm being annoying. We're just respecting ourselves and our work and that is good!
This resonates so strongly, especially the book thing. I couldn't get my co-authors to do more than one post — and then they just stopped. Bewildering. Thanks for sharing.
I love this reframe! I grew up internalizing that it’s shameful to want or seek attention, and it is only in the last year that I’ve mustered the courage to really start promoting my work. Like anything else, the more you do it, the easier it gets.
oh yeah, that's a whole other thing, how most of us feel our work doesn't even deserve anyone's attention hahah :) It's a really weird profession we're in. Like I could totally go to a job interview and talk confidently about why someone should hire me over someone else for a project manager position, but if someone asked me 'why should we take YOU as an artist for this project' I'd be like 'well actually I follow at least three people whose style would be an even better fit for this, maybe you call them first? I guess I'll be here if they're not available....' :D
We can create things and not promote them, and it doesn't change their inherent worth or what they mean to us. However, an issue exists when we create things, don't promote them, and then wonder why they don't sell. If we are creating purely to create, then great! But if we have an expectation to sell, we have to understand that's a separate process that requires its own kind of work. And that's the case no matter what path we choose, self-distributed or thru legacy channels.
In the past, the systems (flawed tho they were!) handled that promotion, but now it seems like legacy publishing hardly does anything but print and ship. I think that's leading to a lot of the reframing in literature of what's possible, because there's very little reason to take the old road and collect $1 a book, when if you do they work they'll make you do anyway, you could collect $6-7 per book. You can sell 1/7 the books and make the same money. Related, I am curious to see how Metalabel evolves!
So while I really appreciate the reframe, I can't help but feel it's a little similar to when people say 'You should use the power of positive thinking! You don't 'have' to do things, you 'get' to do things!' and then the other person goes 'Yay. I GET to pay my rent today.' Like..... Yes. I do actually love to talk about my work, to interested parties. But the amount of time we have is a zero sum game, and any time I'm investing in drafting reel scripts or figuring out how to edit subtitles or reaching out to people who might be willing to help me promote my stuff or signing up to new platforms seeing if there's more opportunity to be seen there is time I am not drawing. I have been feeling this full force recently because I made an art print I want to sell to donate money to Gaza. So for once in my life it was IMPORTANT for me to promote something. I put two months of work into making it and it would mean nothing if I couldn't get it noticed. I have been pulling out all the stops, contacting anyone I could think of, learning how to make reels, brainstorming ideas, collaborating on posts, calling real brick and mortar stores near me, like I did more for this print in the last few months than I did in the 12 years of being an artist for my own stuff..... And let me tell you it has been grueling. Like out of the 60-70 people I reached out to - people I pre-selected for being active and vocal about the issue, for having the right sort of content bla bla - around five responded. Of those five, three actually did the thing they said they would, and I am deeply grateful. I'm even grateful to everyone else who didn't even reply. I don't take people's attention for granted. But it - is - so - HARD! Hahah thank you for coming to my TED talk
I feel this ❤️😭❤️
I'm glad <3 I always feel a little bad because I feel I come to a lot of very positive-sounding posts and I just bitch under them hahaha. But the struggle is real.
The people who don’t love to promote their work aren’t necessarily any less proud of it. A performer who is generally happy on stage is also likely to be happy on the stage of social media. But not all artists are performers by default. I think the pendulum has swung to view performance as the best art and promotion (rather than attraction) as the best distribution method. I think there probably needs to be a correction that acknowledges art forms and artists that are less amenable to performativity and promotionality.
I agree with you. I’m one of those people much less comfortable in some settings versus others. Next week’s newsletter will speak about our varying levels and ways of sharing work.
yes, all of this. While I appreciate the idea of 'be proud of sharing your process', I can't help it's also a way to rope us into all being advertisers and no one likes ads, let's be honest. It's a way to sort of tap into the natural authenticity of artists and force them to literally subjugate that authenticity to the rules of marketing. On the other hand I also understand that, with the current absolute GLUT of content, if you wanna get noticed you kinda gotta shout...... It's rough.
Well said.
This was so needed. I get so in my head about self promotion, especially when I put a lot of work into something and the attention it recieves doesn't match the labor put into it. I always have to remind myself of the digital fatigue everyone experiences and that I may need to repost something several times to get my work noticed. That doesn't mean that what I made isn't valuable or that I'm being annoying. We're just respecting ourselves and our work and that is good!
This resonates so strongly, especially the book thing. I couldn't get my co-authors to do more than one post — and then they just stopped. Bewildering. Thanks for sharing.
I love this reframe! I grew up internalizing that it’s shameful to want or seek attention, and it is only in the last year that I’ve mustered the courage to really start promoting my work. Like anything else, the more you do it, the easier it gets.
oh yeah, that's a whole other thing, how most of us feel our work doesn't even deserve anyone's attention hahah :) It's a really weird profession we're in. Like I could totally go to a job interview and talk confidently about why someone should hire me over someone else for a project manager position, but if someone asked me 'why should we take YOU as an artist for this project' I'd be like 'well actually I follow at least three people whose style would be an even better fit for this, maybe you call them first? I guess I'll be here if they're not available....' :D
We can create things and not promote them, and it doesn't change their inherent worth or what they mean to us. However, an issue exists when we create things, don't promote them, and then wonder why they don't sell. If we are creating purely to create, then great! But if we have an expectation to sell, we have to understand that's a separate process that requires its own kind of work. And that's the case no matter what path we choose, self-distributed or thru legacy channels.
In the past, the systems (flawed tho they were!) handled that promotion, but now it seems like legacy publishing hardly does anything but print and ship. I think that's leading to a lot of the reframing in literature of what's possible, because there's very little reason to take the old road and collect $1 a book, when if you do they work they'll make you do anyway, you could collect $6-7 per book. You can sell 1/7 the books and make the same money. Related, I am curious to see how Metalabel evolves!
Awesome post 😁
Beautiful clip! I hope it lives rent free in my head too
Thanks, man. I needed this.
So wildly timely as I just finished writing a piece about this very topic - which I’m going to edit now to quote you - publishing it tomorrow!