"Selling out" only really matters as it relates to our personal choices. You're not selling out unless you think you're selling out, and that only means you're not doing what is most fulfilling because of the lure of money. But I also think we have to be careful about applying this to anything other than those things we choose to do as opposed to those hard things we must do. I need to provide for my family, so I have to work. I don't hate my job, but I would much rather be doing something else more fulfilling. Am I selling out? In that sense, selling out is a bit of a sliding scale. If you enjoy making those videos or writing articles about using Substack and growth, I say keep doing it. Don't be too hard on yourself in that regard. But if you're really not enjoying it, and you don't have to do it, then I say don't bother. I guess "have to do it" is only something you can decide.
Very thought provoking, and I like what you did with your, "we all know what happened with Substack". Thank you for making me, once again, consider the power of entertaining others with words.
For one thing, Simon, I don't think there's any mystery over your burgeoning subscriber numbers. You've practiced and practiced and become very good at what you do. This was such an engaging, readable and honest article. Thank you
It makes sense to me. I think I'm a lot like your son, even if old enough to be his grandmother. I was writing stories since I was 7. The world is far different now than when I was a kid. For one, the access to share did not exist other than paper. I love that he is having fun creating and even cosplaying is comic at school. :D
I'm doing this writing thing more seriously now because it is a business and I want to write good stuff. So I work and learn. However, the main point of doing it at all is that it is fun. If I look at my tiny subscriber base thus far too hard, it could make me cry. However, if I take the handful of great comments and reviews in the past two weeks about my books, I'm like YES, that is what I'm doing this for.
And I loved your future take. Things always change and there will be tales that start with "We all know what happened to..."
Can we hear more about exactly what transpired at Naomi Alderman’s book event? I LOVED Power. It’s my favorite audiobook performance of all time. And just noticed Future is included in Spotify premium so will be listening to that soon.
Love the whimsicality that's woven into the contemplative aspect of this piece. That tension between art and commercialisation forever exists, and appreciate you for walking through your thoughts on it.
1) I agree that helping Substack to make more money by telling people how to make money on Substack isn't the right way for a writer to go about things. Such things should be a consequent outcome, not a goal. But achieving a balance between creativity and necessity is tricky. Arts patronage is as old as wealth.
I don't know how you did it, but just when I was feeling like giving up, I read this post of yours and am somehow ignited with passion again. It happens a lot with what you say on here. I happen to scroll by some truly poignant sentences and am like, "Wow, did he just read my mind?" I think you're onto something there :) I love that you have "lived in the triverse" not just written about it. There is always another book to write! Thank you, Simon!!
I wrote about you recently, Simon K. Jones of Norwich. Not so much for the promo, just in case you want to sue me: https://endlesschain.substack.com/p/hold-tight. It's a rehash of a comment I made directly to you (and an excuse to wallow in 60s nostalgia with Dave Dee).
Groening (who I wouldn't write to in this vein, because he's so famous and important, unlike you) refers to a forerunner of his, named Panter, who had 18 commandments published in 1980: “This is item 12,” Groening reads. “‘Waiting for art talent scouts? There are no art talent scouts. Face it, no one will seek you out, no one gives a shit.’"
Panter goes on to eulogise the kind of "against the grain" humour that The Simpsons encapsulates: he wonders "if the underground can still exist in the age of the internet shining a half-light on anything and everything – but then remains defiant. “There still is an underground,” he says."
Shift to Het Onderwaterse Cabaret, an anti-Hitler subversive magazine produced by a single man in occupied Netherlands in WW2, at the risk of his life. Het OWC and The Simpsons sit, in every sense, at the extremes of a line on which you and I both are positioned. Our struggle is wanting to write for ourselves, but needing to sell it for our daily bread. How much of us is left in the "content" of copy if we pursue marketability rather than integrity? As Groening puts it in that article: "Capitalism for good or ill is the river in which we sink or swim."
So, ultimately, you can write what you damned well want, and those who consume it, consume it, and those who don't, don't. And there is just a chance that Panter was wrong: talent scouts *will* pick up on your greatness. (But, watch out, they missed Van Gogh.) Or you can float down capitalism's river and reap its rewards, and perhaps lose a little of who you are in the process.
If one feels moved to cry out, "We're sinking, we're sinking!" then it makes sense if one has the consolation of being in company, who can at least reply, "Yes, we are."
I really appreciated this, Simon. I feel the same way you do about not selling out. Thank you.
Oh, and great job with your son!! Budding writers are so inspiring to watch, and it is so sweet to hear your take on his talent and motivation! God bless you and your family.
"Selling out" only really matters as it relates to our personal choices. You're not selling out unless you think you're selling out, and that only means you're not doing what is most fulfilling because of the lure of money. But I also think we have to be careful about applying this to anything other than those things we choose to do as opposed to those hard things we must do. I need to provide for my family, so I have to work. I don't hate my job, but I would much rather be doing something else more fulfilling. Am I selling out? In that sense, selling out is a bit of a sliding scale. If you enjoy making those videos or writing articles about using Substack and growth, I say keep doing it. Don't be too hard on yourself in that regard. But if you're really not enjoying it, and you don't have to do it, then I say don't bother. I guess "have to do it" is only something you can decide.
Very thought provoking, and I like what you did with your, "we all know what happened with Substack". Thank you for making me, once again, consider the power of entertaining others with words.
For one thing, Simon, I don't think there's any mystery over your burgeoning subscriber numbers. You've practiced and practiced and become very good at what you do. This was such an engaging, readable and honest article. Thank you
This was a lovely read, Simon. "Selling out" is such a loaded term in the internet age, there's a lot to chew on in this piece.
It makes sense to me. I think I'm a lot like your son, even if old enough to be his grandmother. I was writing stories since I was 7. The world is far different now than when I was a kid. For one, the access to share did not exist other than paper. I love that he is having fun creating and even cosplaying is comic at school. :D
I'm doing this writing thing more seriously now because it is a business and I want to write good stuff. So I work and learn. However, the main point of doing it at all is that it is fun. If I look at my tiny subscriber base thus far too hard, it could make me cry. However, if I take the handful of great comments and reviews in the past two weeks about my books, I'm like YES, that is what I'm doing this for.
And I loved your future take. Things always change and there will be tales that start with "We all know what happened to..."
Can we hear more about exactly what transpired at Naomi Alderman’s book event? I LOVED Power. It’s my favorite audiobook performance of all time. And just noticed Future is included in Spotify premium so will be listening to that soon.
"Hi Mike" 😂
Love the whimsicality that's woven into the contemplative aspect of this piece. That tension between art and commercialisation forever exists, and appreciate you for walking through your thoughts on it.
1) I agree that helping Substack to make more money by telling people how to make money on Substack isn't the right way for a writer to go about things. Such things should be a consequent outcome, not a goal. But achieving a balance between creativity and necessity is tricky. Arts patronage is as old as wealth.
2) 'The Future' was a New Scientist Book Club book last month. You might like this linked interview with Naomi Alderman: https://www.newscientist.com/video/2415406-the-future-author-naomi-alderman-we-wake-up-terrified-of-the-future/
"8 March: Another unsubscribe." I wish we could tell the writer why we're unsubscribing.
I don't know how you did it, but just when I was feeling like giving up, I read this post of yours and am somehow ignited with passion again. It happens a lot with what you say on here. I happen to scroll by some truly poignant sentences and am like, "Wow, did he just read my mind?" I think you're onto something there :) I love that you have "lived in the triverse" not just written about it. There is always another book to write! Thank you, Simon!!
Hi, Simon.
I'm pretty sure I died long before 2074. I'd have been 102.
Loved The Power, there's an adaptation on Prime if you fancy. It's pretty good!
"Very thought-provoking": Carolyn says it.
I wrote about you recently, Simon K. Jones of Norwich. Not so much for the promo, just in case you want to sue me: https://endlesschain.substack.com/p/hold-tight. It's a rehash of a comment I made directly to you (and an excuse to wallow in 60s nostalgia with Dave Dee).
Bear with me: Today's Guardian has a piece on The Simpsons (https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2024/mar/11/the-simpsons-matt-groening-gary-panter-zines-comics-harvard-lampoon-alt-weekly-newpapers). It segues into a piece from last year about zines (which is a word like that bit of a fork, tine, which I never know if it's pronounced teen or tyne): https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2023/nov/28/zines-exhibition-brooklyn-museum-art.
Groening (who I wouldn't write to in this vein, because he's so famous and important, unlike you) refers to a forerunner of his, named Panter, who had 18 commandments published in 1980: “This is item 12,” Groening reads. “‘Waiting for art talent scouts? There are no art talent scouts. Face it, no one will seek you out, no one gives a shit.’"
Panter goes on to eulogise the kind of "against the grain" humour that The Simpsons encapsulates: he wonders "if the underground can still exist in the age of the internet shining a half-light on anything and everything – but then remains defiant. “There still is an underground,” he says."
Shift to Het Onderwaterse Cabaret, an anti-Hitler subversive magazine produced by a single man in occupied Netherlands in WW2, at the risk of his life. Het OWC and The Simpsons sit, in every sense, at the extremes of a line on which you and I both are positioned. Our struggle is wanting to write for ourselves, but needing to sell it for our daily bread. How much of us is left in the "content" of copy if we pursue marketability rather than integrity? As Groening puts it in that article: "Capitalism for good or ill is the river in which we sink or swim."
So, ultimately, you can write what you damned well want, and those who consume it, consume it, and those who don't, don't. And there is just a chance that Panter was wrong: talent scouts *will* pick up on your greatness. (But, watch out, they missed Van Gogh.) Or you can float down capitalism's river and reap its rewards, and perhaps lose a little of who you are in the process.
If one feels moved to cry out, "We're sinking, we're sinking!" then it makes sense if one has the consolation of being in company, who can at least reply, "Yes, we are."
I’m new to being a writer and you’ve offered so much to think about. Thank you!
Could you do a synopsis of the talk you attended by Naomi and the subject of her new book?
I really appreciated this, Simon. I feel the same way you do about not selling out. Thank you.
Oh, and great job with your son!! Budding writers are so inspiring to watch, and it is so sweet to hear your take on his talent and motivation! God bless you and your family.