This one is going to be a bit long, so what I want you to remember as you read this is the following… I’m trying to give you a perspective as an artist on what I’ve encountered. How people think, act and what they wouldn’t really tell anyone in a public manner. I’m not bitter about what I am doing or anything of the sorts, I’ve had my share of small successes and stories that many people read or loved. I just want to write something… Different. About something I truly and deeply care about.
I’ve been writing short stories for over 10 years now and also published four books. But through my years I also tried different styles, things to get people to read my stuff. I also went hard to learn some marketing, SEO, in order to think of ways of appealing to readers. Whether it’s using the right hashtags, trying to reach to as many people as possible, or simply posting in as many groups as possible. Yet, as the years passed, I have found people that like what I do, people that simply do not care and people that abhor me and everything I write and the fact that I have the audacity to even write and publish anything or even call myself an indie author or a short story writer, when I should be a copywriter or a “creative content writer” for some corporation like the rest of my peers that actually make money from writing. I can’t condemn them, there is no reason to. To each their own fantasy, dream or way of life. Yet, the actual things that I have learned are quite interesting, because we’re about to get into some bad double standards and hypocrisy.
So, here comes the trouble. The older I got, the more I noticed how many talented people I personally know or got to know over the internet, have a certain trouble about their careers. I met other writers, poets, painters, singers, musicians, comic book artists, designers of all kinds, photographers and whatever type of artist you can imagine, I met them all at one point in time. What do all of these talented wonderful people have in common? Correct, none of them are pursuing actively their passion even though they are talented bright minds. 99.99% of them are working at some corporation doing something they do not love, yet need, because without a job, you are not getting paid. Which is fine, but not really. We all have to compromise, I worked in places I did not really care to work at for many years too, just so I can eat and sleep without too many worries. And not every single one of those I mentioned actually want to do it as anything more than a hobby. But, we are going to focus on those that do want to become artists…
Firstly, we have to understand what it means to be an artist in the time we live in. Why? Because I did not talk about marketing, SEO and all that for nothing there. Don’t worry, I won’t get into too many details, I’m just going to brush gently the tip of it all. Whether you are a photographer, DJ, singer, musician, painter, writer, dancer, sculptor, entertainer or whatever else… Unless you are already successful and signed to a publishing house, music label or some talent agency, being an artist means being your own business. You have to think of the marketability of what you are making. The photo you are taking, is it going to appeal to the public? The song you are writing, is it tugging at the heartstrings of people or is it at least catchy? The story you are writing, is it accessible to everyone? How are you going to sell it? What hashtags are you going to use? At what time are you going to post it? Did you make a thumbnail for it? Did you think of a promo? A YouTube video? Did you use the right words in the description or tags? How are people going to find you on Google? Is the cover appealing? And I could go on with countless examples, but what I am trying to show you is that being an artist means business, literally.
Which is why 99.99% of those talented people that I spoke about work jobs that aren’t fulfilling or they are afraid to start their journey on this path of being a business owner and artist. Not only that, but you have to understand that you, as an artist ARE NOT ESSENTIAL. Rather yet, you are here to be either taken advantage of or taken for granted. Sounds like the same thing, the difference is that the record label, publishing house might rip you off in the first one and the second is people simply enjoying whatever you do and not showing their support in any way. And you might be reading this and thinking “That’s horseshit. That’s not true, that’s not how it works. Art isn’t a business. And even so, artists shouldn’t think about the public or what the public wants, but do what they want. That’s how we got all the genius works of Picasso, Shakespeare, Beethoven and many more.” Idealistically speaking, yes, sure. I thought the same way. In reality, that is not how it works. And I can prove it to you. Because you, like most people, actually hate art. I know, sorry for the long introduction.
I want to preface this, by saying that I am not talking about people that cannot afford to go to a concert, buy a painting, a book, a photo, I am talking about the rest. Think about it, statistically speaking most people do not read for pleasure, do not go to art galleries, don’t go to the theater, don’t buy music, books, photos, sculptures and barely even give a like or a share when it comes to small creators. Why? Because… The world of art is paradoxical, at least that’s how they like to call it. I call this a double standard or plain hypocrisy. Harsh words, I know, but, please continue to read. Whenever you are new to something or look for advice to start as an artist you are going to hear a few things:
1. Make whatever makes you happy: It’s straight up bs. Why? Whatever makes you happy doesn’t make others happy, nor is it interesting for others. That’s why you see indie bands do covers of popular artists, maybe they’ll get more views and someone will discover them. Or writers are writing whatever genre is popular now (dark fantasy btw, we’re past non-fiction).
2. Just start doing it: Of course it’s bs. The moment you start doing it and want to share it with a community to start to get feedback, people (both readers and writers, for example) are going to pummel you without any mercy by saying how shitty everything you do is, even though there is no way to get good at something before being bad at it. And that wouldn’t be bad, if it were constructive criticism, but, most of it isn’t. And don’t forget, if you didn’t want any criticism, you shouldn’t have made/posted that. Not just that, but we’re going into number 3, which is a spin-off of number 1.
3. Do something that makes you stand out, something that makes you special: In the same vein of the first one, if you do this, well tough luck. Because the people from number four will call you out by saying stuff like “Wtf is this bs?” and start pushing their own view of the art and how it should be onto yours, trying to mold you into their world-view. Examples from my personal life are: “Why have you written it like that? No one writes like that, you should have written in normally in a first or third person style, without all the script bs.” or “You shouldn’t use many swear words, it’s simply bad and shows how immature you are.” Btw, can we stop this and just take in consideration what the artist wanted to do there before going on the offense? And while we’re at it. Can we stop reviewing stuff after the first few seconds, minutes, pages or episodes? Thank you.
4. Well, of course no one reads/listens/sees what you are making. You have to find your niche: Bs again, and goes directly against the first advice. Why? Because you are more than just a niche or a 2D caricature, you’re a human being with many interests and your talent isn’t just in one genre, which is why you have the confidence to start your own business as an artist, you want to do many things and not get bored or do the same thing over and over again like some office worker. You’re a free spirit, damn it! A true artist. Well, tough luck, because you can’t do what you want. You have to find a niche and exploit the hell out of them, until you become somewhat successful that it reaches a bit out into the mainstream. Why? Easier to market at one niche then it is to market to everyone. See? Told you it’s all marketing in some way…
5. You don’t need an audience to do anything: You guessed it, bs. Any talent agency, LinkedIn profile that is an industry insider, worker or recruiter from a company, publishing house is looking at your social media before approaching you. Whether it’s likes, comments you made, connections you have in the industry, work you’ve done before and the number of people you have reached through streams, sales and views. Because you’re either a sure fire investment or just a risk. And of course, if you’re a risk, well then, good luck. Because unless you have a pitch that will sell them on your idea or talent, you are on your own. Unless you have an absurd amount of money. And doesn’t that simply sound amazing? Having sales pitches for people as an artist? Or buying your way into a career?
And these are just some of the examples from the inside of the art that I am performing, which I noticed in other arts as well. But, you might be asking yourself “What does this have to do with anything when it comes to people hating art?” Well, people, in this case the consumers, since this is a business, are just as easily paradoxical. Especially in this confusing time where we struggle to find a balance between individuality and mob mentality. Where everyone wants to be special, yet no one is special, but that’s an insult, because everyone is special, yet when everyone is special no one is. Because it’s a risk, of some sort. For many reasons, small artists are seen as a risk to one’s personality and character. Since no one likes to hear a “Wtf is that?” or “Do you really like this stuff? What a weirdo.” Of course, exceptions apply here too. Then there is the reality of it, if we look at the statistics most people, as I said earlier, could afford to spend more on any type of art or artist, they don’t, not even when it comes to leaving a like. Why is it hard to even leave a like? Well, it might remind one of their inadequacy, failed dreams, or their fear to follow their own passion. And here you might ask “How so?” Well, because anyone can do it. And if anyone can do it, they (the consumers) could have done exactly what you did. Yet, they didn’t, thus the inadequacy or reflection of failure. Or they might just not care about you and your art and what you do. Which is fine.
There was one other idea someone mentioned, saying “It’s not the art, it’s the artist one might hate”. Really? After countless careers and comebacks from scumbags, whether it’s literal rapists, anti-Semites, racists, xenophobes, homophobes, killers, war criminals, that all had their careers in writing, painting, acting, directing, music that are still widely celebrated today. Can you really say that it might be the artist? The only people really hating them are those affected by those specific people, even tough we all should hate them. But we don’t, we still buy their stuff. Don’t believe me? Do a search on a few of your favorite or most popular artists. I bet you’ll find a few that are absolute garbage. Yet, as garbage as they might be, they are still popular or successful. And even those that “hate” certain artists, it’s because it goes against their own tastes. For example Nickleback, Coldplay, Shakespeare, [insert your hated artist here]. And they don’t just go against their own tastes, but what they think the art form or the artist should be. Which is just another way of hating art. Also no artist is simply hated and that’s why he is unsuccessful. The unsuccessful artists, is one that simply doesn’t know how to sell himself.
Now, do people really hate art? No. Most of them are indiferent or ignorant. Some are just trying to be polite, yet hurt your feelings without knowing that you know that they didn’t like any of your posts, didn’t buy your album when they said they would or didn’t even read the page you sent them to read it. But in turn they all tell you that they support you and cheer you on. Not knowing that you can’t exchange support and cheers for goods and services. Can’t condone them, just pointing out why marketing and knowing how to sell yourself is so important. Because no matter whether you are close friends, acquaintances or were coworkers at some point, people, even those you know, aren’t going to do more then tell you that they are supporting you. Which means your only hope is marketing, good luck and endless days and nights of working to get yourself seen by others. Seen, not selling. Because before I let you go, we’re going to talk about the weird paradox that is trying to sell something as an artist.
To put it in simple terms, DON’T! In any way, shape or form DO NOT try to SELL anything to anyone. Art is supposed to be pure, for the pleasure of it, you know what you got yourself into and no one is going to buy anything from you because you shouldn’t sell your art like that, especially when you are new into an industry. You should do things for exposure. And you shouldn’t act like a multi billion dollar business like Disney, you are just an amateur that wrote one song or one book or took one photo, you’re not a real artist. You’re a band? You better put that song from free on Spotify or YouTube, do not dare to ask for 99 cents. You’re a writer? You better sell that 500 book page you spent endless hours writing it, editing it, paying a proof-reader, an editor and an artist to design your cover for only 99 cents or give it for free, because no one will buy it. Photographer or painter? You better work for exposure and post your stuff free on Instagram to look at. Yet here we are, as people and as artists telling ourselves this bullshit that simply isn’t true. Sure, there are outliers, exceptions to these rules. But for any one exception there are ten thousand people that didn’t have the luck the successful ones that, another ten thousand that weren’t discovered by someone popular that boosted them into popularity, and another ten thousand that died poor and became famous posthumously and another ten thousand that didn’t have the money to buy themselves into a career. Sure, there were another ten thousand that weren’t good enough, but those are just ten thousand out of fifty thousand talented, unlucky, poor, undiscovered people.
Do people hate art? Probably, yes. Why? Ignorance, most likely. People do not understand how artists work, first and foremost. They think that like someone that works an normal 9 to 5, an artists wakes up, paints all day and goes to sleep. Yet, art isn’t that simple. You need to practice, you need to study, you need to think on “Is it good, interesting or new? How will I do this? Does this make sense? Can I afford the time and money to do it? Do I like the aesthetics? Will people like it enough on its on to buy it? How do I market it if they don’t?” and that’s just the tip of the iceberg, as you probably know by now from everything I wrote until now. To make matters worse, it’s been 4 years since I published my first book, and I still have to explain to people that what I do isn’t quite normal and that it doesn’t work the same way as any other job. Then as you read, people do not think of art as a business, and those that think of art as a business, hate it.
Also, there’s the matter of art itself, which some believe art to be something of such emotional power that it shakes you to your core or even deconstructs you from within. That, is something that is hard to grasp for the general audience. But not only that, it is also something terrifying to experience. And let’s not forget, if you can’t understand art, well, that means that you are stupid and that makes you feel bad. No one wants to feel bad, right? In the same category, some art can remind you what a failure you are and what you could have done or become, because look at this person doing it and getting fame and money for it,as I wrote before. There are so many reasons for art not to be understood, misunderstood, hated, feared and much more, that it’s too much for me to incorporate in this post. Yet, I hope you understand it a bit better. And yes, hate is a strong word, yet people dislike or can’t be bothered by art isn’t as catchy of a title. Hope you learned something about how art “works” and how artists have to be more than simply artists to survive, because thriving involves too much luck. So, hopefully now you will support your local artists with more than just a like or a cheer. Also, I did not mention any crazy nut that has an extreme ideology that wants to censor art and have it not be obscene or whatever other things that fall in a any kind of religious, fascist, communist, any dictatorship mentality. Why? Because whether it’s the Christian, Islam, Jewish, Nazi, Communist ideology, they all censor art. So, I’m going to leave it at that when it comes to that, because those are hopefully well known by people and things.
I know, I’ve rambled for quite a bit. But I am a believer in giving a solution, instead of just complaining. The last time I complained about writers and authors, especially the indie breed, my solution was to price any ebook at a minimum price of 5$, instead of selling themselves short and dragging the industry down by giving away books to people that just store them in their kindle library, yet never read them. So, what’s the solution here? It’s simple.
Cut the toxicity out of any art form: How do you to do that? Anyone that is a gatekeeper of any sort, a snob or does not accept any and all forms of the art, must be humbled and made to remember that the more they do this, the less people will be willing to interact with the medium or even be willing to understand it. Also, for the gatekeepers, in this day and age, any information is widely available to anyone that searches even a little bit online. So, even if you wanted, you can’t stop it. More and more indie authors are becoming best-sellers and finding success. Same with bands, painters, photographers, dancers, and so on and so forth, because there are free platforms anyone can use. You might read this and think “Well then, aren’t you contradicting yourself here a bit?” No. Again, there are and always will be outliers. But, that doesn’t diminish or exclude anything I wrote above.
Stomp out the scammers and those that give out the art form a bad name: What do I mean by this? Writers that buy or exchange reviews to get better ratings on site and get quick sales to make a quick buck, should be made fun of and ridiculed, in such a way that those thinking of doing such things, will reconsider once they do a bit of research. This is just an example. Of course you have singers and bands buying bots to play their song on streaming services to get plays and get in some top. Which can be dealt the same way. And I could give you an example from each and every art form where things like this happen.
Be more welcoming: Now, I know the first two sound not so very welcoming, but the truth of the matter is that the market has literally never been as free or open as it is now. Want to publish a book? Done, in 5 minutes. Want to publish a podcast/song/spoken word poetry? Done in 2 minutes. Want to post your painting for sale? Boom, done in 2 minutes. You can do whatever you want and there is no one to stop you but your own knowledge of marketing and how to sell yourself and how to operate like a business. Not just that, but the cultural festivals that become more and more available everywhere are mixing arts. Giving people more chances to be exposed to something new and different. Also, by being more welcoming, you invite new voices to bring new innovation in the art.
Complain: I know I said I don’t like to complain a lot without giving a solution but, the more you bring forth the problems in a certain industry, the more people complain, the more likely the chance of a change. Examples? Every writer’s strike in Hollywood was a success in some way. Not just that, but you also educate people on the problems within. I know it sounds bad to complain and people don’t want to hear it. But people well, look at what is happening when people “don’t want to hear it”. You can’t see it, but I am gesturing broadly at everything regarding 2020.
Well, this has been weighing on my chest for some time. And if you honestly, read it until here, without jumping to conclusions in the comment section, I applaud you for your patience. I rarely write something this long that isn’t part of a book. And, if you have a genuine response that is constructive and makes a solid argument, I am always willing to discuss it. And if you enjoyed this, please do check out the rest of my short stories or maybe buy a book or four. And if you would like to donate to show your support, you can do so at: https://www.paypal.me/RaulFO