Sound and Sight

There is a photographer, known as The One True B!x who is selling some of his pictures here.. It is good, good work. I believe that he would sell a lot more if the word got out.But unlike Catherynne M. Valente, b!X doesn't have a Neil Gaiman sending people his way, even though he also is good at what he does.


Another way to catch the attention of the public is what S-F writer, Spider Robinson is doing. He has a podcast and he is not shy about stating how much he appreciates and needs the donations that come his way via the paypal button on the website. Robinson does 2 types of podcasts, one of music he loves and wants to share, by a wide range of known and unknown artists. (At least unknown to me!) Cass Elliott is next to Molly Johnson who is next to Luciana Souza. Every other time, the podcast is Robinson reading from his own SF work or that of other writers. Since we have similar taste in writers but not music, I prefer the latter podcasts but it is always possible to fast forward during the former if I need to.

Both b!X and Robinson are offering the results of their talents directly to the public. I would suspect that neither are getting the response they deserve. It's a pity.

A drop in a bucket

Lately I have been hearing of creative types; writers, musicians and the like raising money on their own through direct sales - or requests for donations. In the Middle Ages, artists survived upon the mercy or generosity of rich folk. Then it became the artist, the middle man, the audience. Some musicians, especially folk musicians, were an exception to this. Their tireless touring meant they sold the albums as much as any record company did and probably more.

But the internet has changed everything. The Long Tail (see a post of mine many years ago now) allows creative types to reach out directly to their audience. And who appreciate the audience reaching back.
The first up was this one. Catherynne M. Valente - a writer recommended by Neil Gaiman And Warren Ellis, both on Twitter. Her work sounded like something I'd like to read and I appreciated her practical approach to raising much needed funds. Since her significant other is out of work and she is not making enough to live on, they are in dire straits. So, she is writing a book and publishing a new chapter each week. And asking that if we like it, to pay what we think it is worth.
So I tossed in a donation and look forward to a new installment of the story every week. Shades of Dickens.
At the start, with the interest generated by Gaiman's 600,00 followers I'm sure a lot of people donated. Now, I'm wondering if it has fallen off. And what she, or any of us, can do, to keep interest and donations high.
I can't write. I greatly appreciate those who can. They deserve our support.

I've moved on

I like Blogger. It lets me change my name and change the name of my blog. I had started this as part of an assignment. Once it was over, so, mostly, was the purpose of the blog. I keep another blog as part of other work I do. And that one has a flurry of activity for a few months then sits dormant. It has almost reaches its dormancy period now. So, I think of this long neglected page.