Undercover American

When a visual/literary artist who’s also a solopreneur decides to release content, it’s probably not time to do so. It’s tough to be one’s own critic, their own paparazzi following with a camera turned inward to the mind, spirit and body.

Let the following opinion apply only to the artist solopreneurs out there:

To get the most value from what we create, we must have evolved our work to the point when it HAS TO be released into the world. The animal has been rescued, time to let it roam free. It belongs in the wild. Only when understanding this—when living this—will a piece of art be ready for public release regardless of what one’s inner critic might think. You have to put in the hours, and you need to do it without the help of artificial intelligence. If your animal isn’t ready, it’ll be just another broken thing waiting to get eaten by a predator who has a taste for small broken things. Easy kill.

Readying to release your animal, doesn’t matter the amount of mock shamming you do when acting out what others might think, your message is pure and evolved, the time prescient. You know this. You feel this. You’re ready. The internet is one click away, but the time taken to get something right before giving it life in the public domain, this requires mountains of restraint. This restraint grows to become its own force of nature so that regardless of how miserable your day was, everything will come together in a few weeks as planned.

It’s important to tend to the business side of things. Run through your workflows to take care of routine tasks quickly but without much stress. And take heed from the advice of others in your circle. Take it to heart when they give you feedback. Be sure to find out about how everything appears artistically: a balance between aesthetics and functionality.

If their reaction is immediate and positive, you can talk about the weather. Whatever, it’s all game, this is your inner-circle and they’ve hinted at all you need to know. They’ve put in enough time to guide you along in the right direction, so take that leap of faith. Even if they want to push you forward with a less-than-gentle nudge, let them. You’re ready.

But it’s your story, only you’ll know when you’re ready to start telling it. All the little breadcrumbs of hints people give you, it’s about you being ready to follow: being ready to follow your animal into the wilderness to let it go.

This is where the Other Earth novellas are to be parked, released incrementally as needs arise: some needs internal, involved in the business, some needs external, involved with the world at-large as they benefit from the story.

You’ll be able to read the story for free, here and elsewhere under the assumption that you buy products to support the cause. If no one buys products, I’ll have to take down the story because the big chunk of time that goes into writing and editing will be better spent on working on product release of the artwork. If I’ve exhausted marketing efforts while trying to be eco-conscious about it, and there still aren’t enough sales, I’ll ship out the story to be treated by an editor or publishing house instead of working on it internally. But then you’ll only be able to read it on the bookshelf. What was free will suddenly cost forty dollars. That would be unfortunate, because it warms my heart that it will remain “free.”

The word free is in parenthesis because nothing is ever free. The question, are we accurately interpreting the cost? Understanding that all things have a monetary, environmental and spiritual cost attached to them, is a truth that can guide you forward if you let it. Will I vote for the guy who protects my “free” plastic bags, and my “free” ketchup? I don’t know, now that I see it that way, maybe the person nobody wants to vote is my guy. Other don’t understand the true costs of listening to the false prophet, so I’ll go chasing a real message.

You can expect to get a fresh perspective on things as you return here to read the story once it’s released in a few weeks. So please, if you like what I do, support the cause by buying something as you engage with the fiction (or what sometimes may feel like the haunting reality). Or even better, buy something now so I can quit my 1 to 10 and do this full-time.

Thanks, Andrew