This week was supposed to go different
It’s raining again in California. I don’t know if this is the wettest winter we’ve ever had, but it’s definitely been the most consistently wet winter, getting rain at least once or twice every week since the year began. I regret not buying those weather-proof boots now.
The Finds
Sometimes the simplest acts create enough differentiation to set us apart from our competition, like putting a chamfered edge on handmade soap. This presentation is good for at least a 10-20% increase in profit.
I’ll never be able to explain my fascination with logo design even though I am not a logo designer, never been great at making them. However, I deeply appreciate Fabrik Design creating Logofile. This might be one of the greatest logo resources I’ve ever seen.
1,000 true fans are the ideal metric for a small business, but it is incredibly difficult to achieve. Across all my social channels (not accounting for a crossover), I have over 20,000 people in my community. Am I anywhere near 1,000 true fans? Not even close, but maybe that says more about me. 😬
I have a friend who makes her own watercolor paint from natural elements like fruits, vegetables, flowers, & leaves. It makes sense that artists and makers in other areas would do the same, like turning purple cabbage into screen-printed posters. I especially love the oxidation and resist process.
Do you know which artists you share a birthday with? Enter your birthday in this free web app by Smithsonian American Art and find out. I think Enid Munroe and I are kindred spirits.
BONUS: People ask where I get all my links. This is my current resource list.
The Ups & Downs
Before I dig in, please do me a favor and read all the way through because I have an important question for you at the end of this little soliloquy. Thank you!
It never fails. I finish a big project and the week after I’m almost completely unproductive. That’s how this week went, but the difference is that my big project isn’t actually finished, not for lack of trying.
For all my efforts with Amazon KDP, I finally decided to pull Mag Bash out of that marketplace and I will be self-publishing entirely on my own. I don’t know why the quality control team over at KDP is being so rigid and obtuse when it comes to approving my manuscript, but I’ve tried multiple times to push it through and it keeps getting kicked back.
I’m taking my own advice from last week and working with an independent printer to make the book/zine happen, and I’m considering making it a crowdfunding project on Kickstarter or GoFundMe.
The debate I’m having with myself at this point is whether to keep the book in its raw form as a direct representation of the original journal or whether should I take it to the next level and add more storytelling and experience.
One thing is for certain, I’m only going to make one pressing of this book. Once it’s gone, there won’t be more. That being said, here’s the question I have for you and I’m asking you to be brutally honest here.
Would you support a Kickstarter project for Mag Bash knowing it would be the only chance to get your hands on a copy?
That’s it for this week. Please vote because you’ll be helping me decide on this project one way or another.
Thanks!
Dave
Extra
The Oatmeal makes a horrible therapist.