Writer, Artist, Creator
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I discovered this link through Warren Ellis’s blog. As a paraphrase of what it’s about–though I encourage you to read it–it basically says that blogs have now been geared toward getting traffic via catchy headlines and, simply, have become a complete defeat of what blogging was meant to be, which is merely a place for someone to log their thoughts and personal items and create content of interest without getting all gimmicky about it.
The argument put forth over at Ribbon Farm is a compelling one, especially to someone like me who hates the pursuit of money and fame and popularity. (If those things are an honest byproduct of what you do, that’s different. I’m talking about making those things one’s goal(s) as the error).
The idea of writing a blog where, even if it had just an audience of one (me), is tantalizing. I’m very anti-establishment by nature and tend to see the strings in what people are doing (especially in the creative industry). It all comes off as so flimsy and childish. I’m not knocking my fellow creators but am talking straight to whomever this entry here at Canister X and over at Ribbon Farm speaks to. Should a person not be of interest through genuine organic efforts instead of a blatant attempt to sell a product? Shouldn’t who they are be more important than what they make? When did an inorganic object of extremely limited value replace a person whose value is limitless? Something’s not right here.
I’ve always been partial to the random, the underground, the unique. Maybe because those are my roots and are a constant theme in my work (taking an idea and trying something new with it, consequences be damned). There has always been a soft spot in my heart for that guy or girl with an obscure blog from some other part of the world, the kind of blog you read where you don’t know if you’re the only audience member or not.
Capitalist culture would call blogging for no one a wasted effort because it doesn’t–or is unlikely to–yield a financial result.
This is foolish.
Blogging isn’t about money despite what the marketers tell you (who want you to visit their blog for information so they can sell you something).
Blogging is about showcasing a life in thought, word, and deed. Blogging is about honesty. It’s about talking to the world about anything that interests you or is on your mind and heart.
I might not have always succeeded, but since I’ve been back after being ill, I’ve made every effort to showcase myself and what I do and talk to you honestly through my blog entries and newsletter. Sometimes you might have enjoyed what you read, other times not. And that’s okay. I’ve been doing this long enough to know I won’t hit a chord with everyone. The magic is in the honesty. The magic lies within you, dear reader, when you commit the simple act of reading regardless of how you feel about what you’re reading. It’s the fact that you did take the time to read the words of a person you only know through a screen. And maybe that’s the secret right there? Taking the time to read the words of a person–a very real person with a physical body and mind and heart and spirit–whom you never met. Like I always say, time is the most valuable thing a person has and its wealth surpasses anything we can compare it to. The fact that a person takes that precious commodity and spends it on you is magic.
Here at Canister X, the Realm of Heroes and Monsters, there is a certain blogging style, a way of communicating that’s in a constant state of adjustment and fine-tuning but one that has a core that has been in place long enough that you know what to expect from me. If I segue into experimental blogging styles, I hope you come along for the ride. Or I might start a new blog where I can fiddle with blogging conventions until I find a method I like and is an honest expression of myself. Time will tell.
In the end, it does indeed dismay me that blogs are often started as business ventures versus public journals. I get the reasoning behind it, but it doesn’t sit right and that’s probably because it replaces a person with a commodity and, in the end, it’s our replacement of people for commodities that caused the world to be in the state it is currently in.
Here is where everything is standing as of this writing:
THE CANISTER X TRANSMISSION: YEAR FOUR – Galley approved; cover 95% done.
THE CANISTER X TRANSMISSION: THE LONG YEAR FIVE – Galley approved.
GIGANTI-GATOR DEATH MACHINE: Galley received for one final pass.
At the current rate things are going, we’re still on schedule for late August. Lots of work to do yet, but a good chunk of book production has been done on the above. I’m now at the stage where I plan to work on the titles one at a time.
Onward.
It’s the middle of the night as I write this. The house is quiet, the dogs are sleeping. Cozy.
I have stories on the brain and I’m thinking about when to write them.
I’m swamped with book production and it is summer and I need a holiday.
Gonna have to give this more thought.
I’m feeling much better. The lingering effects of covid have lifted. I’m still not 100% due to other issues but the brain fog is gone and I’m getting things done.
All is on schedule for the summer releases, including GIGANTI-GATOR DEATH MACHINE: TRIPLE FEATURE.
Unfortunately, I won’t get the Axiom-man books done in time for comic con. I can write fast enough but it’s the publication lead time that’s the problem.
I’m going to still keep working, though. One step at a time.
With the two waves of books I plan on putting out this year, I’ve been so busy as my health will allow that I haven’t been getting any writing done. It makes me feel down and sad especially since there’s no way I’m going to finish the Axiom-man books in time for comic con. Writing them is one thing; publishing them and all the time that takes is another.
So I’m kind of left without a path because I’m busy getting books ready for print and eBook and don’t have a creative outlet.
I don’t know.
Just venting.
Need to come up with a plan.
My how-to book on self-publishing, Getting Down and Digital: How to Self-publish Your Book, is going out of print in a week. That means you have one week to get your copies before I pull the plug. Why am I pulling the book? Because it is dated. The how-tos on formatting and design are all still relevant and important, as is the information on self-publishing in general, but the sections on uploading to the different interfaces are now out of date because the platforms featured changed how they do things. I don’t want someone getting the book then hitting the part about uploading and what they see in the book doesn’t match what’s on their screen.
The book, for those still interested, will be available for direct order only going forward until I’ve depleted my stock here at the Central, but the distribution access is being stopped in 7 days.
If you’re looking for general self-publishing information, my weekly newsletter, The Canister X Transmission, usually has something in it likewise with its collected counterparts. My other book, Canadian Scribbler: Collect Letters of an Underground Writer, also contains lots of self-publishing information in the correspondence.
Thank you to everyone who supported Getting Down and Digital: How to Self-publish Your Book over the years. Hope you found it helpful.
We’ve all heard the expression, “You write your own story,” or a version thereof. And while this is true in the context that our lives are the stories we are the authors of, it is also true you are a piece of fiction to someone else.
Only you and you alone know everything you’ve ever felt, thought, said, dreamed, and did. You know every experience and every secret thing.
Everyone else doesn’t nor do you know the same of them.
Despite how close we might be to some people–even those we swear we know up and down and left and right–we still don’t know them. Not the real them, and we never will.
We know fragments. We know the stories they’ve told us of their various experiences, thoughts, words, actions, dreams. We know the stories from the joint experiences shared.
But we are never them.
What happens is we end up creating a narrative about someone to make sense of them. We subconsciously fill in the gaps between their tales on an ever-assembling timeline of their life. They do the same to you.
It is all stories.
At best, it’s a case of “based on true events” but, in the end, we are all bits of narration to each other with varying degrees of accuracy.
We are all fiction.
I am writing this statement on behalf of my fellow writers and artists whose livelihoods depend on the honesty of our readers. This statement is going to be perfectly blunt to ensure crystal clarity in the message.
And the message is this: Please, stop pirating–also known as downloading illegally–our books, comics, movies, music, audio performances or presentations, art, and anything else that does not belong to you.
When someone takes something that doesn’t belong to them, it is called stealing. This makes a person a thief. That is what someone who steals is. It does not matter whether the item you took cost pennies or hundreds–even thousands–of dollars to create. In the case of movies, these numbers can run into the millions. The value is irrelevant when it comes to the principle of taking something you didn’t buy and/or did not have permission to use.
There is a sad and, frankly, pathetic mentality out there that everything on the Internet is free and up for grabs to be consumed however anyone wishes.
This is not true.
Yes, there are platforms out there where entertainment work is posted for free in various mediums, but that is where this work is to remain. If a creator posted a piece of art or a photograph to the Internet, you cannot assume you can take it and use it how you see fit. There are rules and there are guidelines and there are permissions to be asked.
Please, stop stealing our work.
Downloading pirated movies, TV shows, music, books, comics, art, and anything else illegally is just that: illegal. It is a crime and it is wrong.
It is even worse when someone takes someone else’s intellectual property and uses it for financial gain. You are profiting off theft. This is also illegal. The excessive amount of fan art in the comic community is a good example of this.
Please, stop stealing our work.
Most creators–despite what you might read in the news or see on TV–live paycheck to paycheck just like plenty of other people. We cannot afford to have our readers not pay for our work. If you like our work and want to read it, we thank you, but we ask that you do it ethically and compensate us for the lengthy amount of time and effort and sometimes stress put into various projects.
If some creators flat out say they are fine with their stuff being pirated, then that’s different and that’s on that particular creator that they are acting ethically to ensure all parties involved with the work are okay with them allowing it to be used and/or consumed for free.
The Internet does not equal free in the purest sense.
Please, stop stealing our work.
Sure, it is understood amongst many creators that many of our readers do not have the means to purchase our material. And while, having lived on the street, I can fully emphasize with that, stealing is stealing. End of story.
When you steal a piece of entertainment, you are stealing not just the compensation for creating that piece of work, you are stealing a person’s time, which is, like I always say, the most valuable thing any living person has because our lives our finite. You are stealing something that is worth more than any treasure or wealth on the planet. Time is more valuable than diamonds.
Please, stop stealing our work.
This is a moral issue.
It is up to you to decide who you want to be: Someone who is fair and respectful, or someone who steals from others.
Please, stop stealing our work.
Thank you.
Having been so focused on getting books out to you, a lot of little things have piled up both professionally and personally. Today I’m working my way through a laundry list of to-do items like drafting up this week’s issue of THE CANISTER X TRANSMISSION.
I won’t likely get it all done and I have a class tonight. By the time that’s over, it’ll be time to wind down before bed.
Anyway, sometimes you need to set aside a day to play catch-up.
