Brain Paint ACar

About Writing

Occassionally somebody asks me about writing, being a musician or artist, and asks for advice. So, here is one such response about what it's like......

About selling and writing books. 1) I am a self-published author. There are many advantages to this: a) You have COMPLETE control over your work, creatively and editorially b) you keep all of the profit from selling your books/albums. These are not minor points. There are a few disadvantages: a)You are responsible for all promotion, production, and distribution. This is a MONUMENTAL task, like climbing Mt. Everest. This is a FAIR comparison. b)You will not get rich quick, although you will keep 100% of the profits as opposed to 1% of the profits from being with an outside publisher.

Hardly anybody gets rich writing books/making music. It is far far far more likely that you will get rich winning the lottery. I am not exagerating. To write and publish books, and make money at it, be prepared to either write stupid commercial drool, or spend every bit of your waking energy on getting your book, which you have spent enourmous time thought and creative energy on, out there in front of people. You have to set up lectures, talks, interviews, demonstrations. Everything, or nobody will know you exist. If you write a mainstream book, there is a very outside chance a publishing company wil pick you up. But only if you have a decent agent who will represent you, and this will only happen if your book is commercial, and fits into some catagory that is already a proven succesful one. Do you see what you are up against? I am not being mean, I am telling you what I have gone through and seen. If you love what you are doing- writing- then none of this should be a problem. You write to write- and then what ever you have to do to SELL you'll do. Go read a few books on publishing so you get this all from another source. As a musician, a COMPOSER who writes original music, I have been up against the barrier of "Making A Living As Artist" my whole life. I am used to it. Creativity has taken preference over making money. I have a day job- teaching music lessons- which pays the rent, fixes the car. Only now, after 20 years of composing, recording, and writing am I starting to make any money from my art and books that amounts to anything halfway serious. And the joke is- every cent I've made- I've reinvested in the business- so I still don't have any money! One day, one day....

You've got to look at "making money" and "making art" as two distinct and separate things. Commercial success and artistic succes have nothing to do with each other. Once in a great while, an artist gets famous in her/his lifetime and makes some money. Once again, this is like winning the lotto. 99.9999% of the time this is not the case. Ususally it is "artists' like Garth Brooks and Madonna who make money during their lives, because their "art" only mirrors current consciousness. They haven't invented anything, taken "consciousness" anywhere. It is static, lowest common denomonator kind of stuff. So, within three years, all their great so-called art is forgotten. Ask yourself, will people be reading Jurrassic Park in ten years? Listening to "Like a Virgin"? Ha ha ha ha ha. The people who's art will be treasured in twenty years, fifty years, an hundred years from now, if there's anything left to sit on, who are alive now- you probably don't even know exist.

That's the real world of the artist/writer. The reward in writing, creating music, painting has got to come from DOING IT first. Making money is nice, but you've got to pick one that's most important. Maybe you'll get lucky and make a living doing what you love, I hope so.

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