I've been really excited to see you find support to do your thing without compromising. I unpaywalled the post you linked in case someone wants to see the full statistics on why I conclude that doing high integrity effort posts is a good strategy: https://www.henrikkarlsson.xyz/p/effort-pieces
This post is a good read. I'm torn though on the giving money to things you like, because it seems like so much asks for my money straight up, and I'm the sole earner for my household. Subscription creep, can eat through a lot of dough quickly.
On the other hand I want the things I like to keep doing what I like them doing. I'm reminded that Dave Grohl made a lot of his money before the internet with Nirvana because people actually bought records.
On the other other hand though I don't like that people can coast off of work from years and years ago. I'm not a big fan of the crazy length copyright lasts and I want good ideas to spread. Sometimes all I can give is engagement and I hope that other authors can engage with me.
Anyway, loved the post and I hope you keep up the good work.
"I know other people feel this way, because whenever I find what seems to be a hidden gem on the internet, it suddenly appears everywhere. The most recent example is this terrific book review of The Education of Cyrus, which my friend Ethan Ludwin-Peery sent me mere days before Astral Codex Ten, the largest science Substack, also linked to it. The internet can be fickle, yes, but the best way to tame it is to keep making good things that people want to share with their friends."
I noticed this one, too. Whenever something like that happens to me, I think, "Am I in some sort of echo chamber delineated by some category or ethos, or is my content feed a sort of ELO Rater for good, interesting content, regardless of category or ethos?" I guess it's probably some of both mixed with some other reasons I haven't yet identified.
I immediately thought of Cory Doctorow's critiques of platforms as I was reading, glad to see you mentioned him. If you haven't read it already, I thought Doctorow's book, Information Doesn't want to be Free, was a great rundown of exactly what you discuss here and how the copyright and DRM regime mainly helps middlemen and monopolists and not independent artists. There's a great example in the intro of a street performer actually making consistently good money even though they give their performance away for free. Obviously you need talent and effort and not everyone can do it. Since you were searching for a term to describe what you do, I would suggest you've rediscovered mutuality, or solidarity.
When I first found your blog (excuse me, "Stack"), I thought you were a charming but somewhat glib hayseed, which is more than ironic since I am most definitely NOT coming from the world of academia (the polar opposite, actually). But then I kept reading.
You're speaking deep truths, and my hat is off to you. I'll say no more, other than that I shall be a loyal reader for as long as you never bring in the reps from Mazda. PEACE
Yes to paying people for their work! As a designer and artist, it’s exhausting how often people don’t understand that exposure or vibes don’t pay your bills.
The downside of paying people online is that doing so enriches platforms whose corporate ethics are shaky at best. Case in point, Substack has explicitly declined to deplatform (and therefore demonetize) literal Nazis. I’ve stopped paying creators here because Substack makes money when you make money. Are you considering moving somewhere else like Ghost? I’d love to start paying for Experimental History again!
I love how you articulate that we don’t even have a *name* for this non-transactional “just do more of what you love” style of support. I feel this very strongly with the difficult-to-classify creative Nicky Case, who I support on Patreon with no hopes other than that they can just exist and make more stuff they find fun.
You are inspiring me. I was about to quit writing. Things are a little bit harder when you write in french. here. But you are right. I will stop playing the social media and Internet games. I will write the way I love, the way I am. Hope my words will find their ways. Thank you Adam!
The same is true about the slop school of politics but nobody has noticed it yet. I predict that the next great American president will be as different from Donald Trump as you are from BuzzFeed.
Last week, I wrote a post titled “All You Need Is Attention” (if you want to read it, it’s here: https://techdbs.substack.com/p/all-you-need-is-attention). Okay, our audiences are very different (mine are tech stories and opinions) but I’m having fun matching what I wrote with your thoughts; I want to clarify that I hadn’t read your post before today.
I agree with you, the world (specifically the internet) is full of what you call “Slopmongers,” but it’s also full of people who are not. These people also need to receive the attention they require. It’s a different attention, more genuine and healthier and it’s true, especially in the long run. I don’t think that forced attention is necessarily a bad thing... in the end, the responsibility lies with those who give it.
Great post. The first one I’ve read of you. Just clicked the “Subscribe” button.
I love that you also do the voiceovers! I can’t remember if I found you via the moral decline post or the funnier post, but glad I did. Looking forward to seeing what you do in 2024!
I've been really excited to see you find support to do your thing without compromising. I unpaywalled the post you linked in case someone wants to see the full statistics on why I conclude that doing high integrity effort posts is a good strategy: https://www.henrikkarlsson.xyz/p/effort-pieces
This post is a good read. I'm torn though on the giving money to things you like, because it seems like so much asks for my money straight up, and I'm the sole earner for my household. Subscription creep, can eat through a lot of dough quickly.
On the other hand I want the things I like to keep doing what I like them doing. I'm reminded that Dave Grohl made a lot of his money before the internet with Nirvana because people actually bought records.
On the other other hand though I don't like that people can coast off of work from years and years ago. I'm not a big fan of the crazy length copyright lasts and I want good ideas to spread. Sometimes all I can give is engagement and I hope that other authors can engage with me.
Anyway, loved the post and I hope you keep up the good work.
"I know other people feel this way, because whenever I find what seems to be a hidden gem on the internet, it suddenly appears everywhere. The most recent example is this terrific book review of The Education of Cyrus, which my friend Ethan Ludwin-Peery sent me mere days before Astral Codex Ten, the largest science Substack, also linked to it. The internet can be fickle, yes, but the best way to tame it is to keep making good things that people want to share with their friends."
I noticed this one, too. Whenever something like that happens to me, I think, "Am I in some sort of echo chamber delineated by some category or ethos, or is my content feed a sort of ELO Rater for good, interesting content, regardless of category or ethos?" I guess it's probably some of both mixed with some other reasons I haven't yet identified.
Glad my monetary support keeps you writing! Keep at it! Yay!!! Looking forward to new stuff!
Love this piece, Adam. And your last name! :) Ciao.
Great piece, and very inspirational for people starting their own writing projects. I hope your third year is even better than the last two!
I immediately thought of Cory Doctorow's critiques of platforms as I was reading, glad to see you mentioned him. If you haven't read it already, I thought Doctorow's book, Information Doesn't want to be Free, was a great rundown of exactly what you discuss here and how the copyright and DRM regime mainly helps middlemen and monopolists and not independent artists. There's a great example in the intro of a street performer actually making consistently good money even though they give their performance away for free. Obviously you need talent and effort and not everyone can do it. Since you were searching for a term to describe what you do, I would suggest you've rediscovered mutuality, or solidarity.
dude - I had to google capybaras ... so good, your common slop themes !!
When I first found your blog (excuse me, "Stack"), I thought you were a charming but somewhat glib hayseed, which is more than ironic since I am most definitely NOT coming from the world of academia (the polar opposite, actually). But then I kept reading.
You're speaking deep truths, and my hat is off to you. I'll say no more, other than that I shall be a loyal reader for as long as you never bring in the reps from Mazda. PEACE
Yes to paying people for their work! As a designer and artist, it’s exhausting how often people don’t understand that exposure or vibes don’t pay your bills.
The downside of paying people online is that doing so enriches platforms whose corporate ethics are shaky at best. Case in point, Substack has explicitly declined to deplatform (and therefore demonetize) literal Nazis. I’ve stopped paying creators here because Substack makes money when you make money. Are you considering moving somewhere else like Ghost? I’d love to start paying for Experimental History again!
I love how you articulate that we don’t even have a *name* for this non-transactional “just do more of what you love” style of support. I feel this very strongly with the difficult-to-classify creative Nicky Case, who I support on Patreon with no hopes other than that they can just exist and make more stuff they find fun.
You are inspiring me. I was about to quit writing. Things are a little bit harder when you write in french. here. But you are right. I will stop playing the social media and Internet games. I will write the way I love, the way I am. Hope my words will find their ways. Thank you Adam!
The same is true about the slop school of politics but nobody has noticed it yet. I predict that the next great American president will be as different from Donald Trump as you are from BuzzFeed.
Hi Adam,
Last week, I wrote a post titled “All You Need Is Attention” (if you want to read it, it’s here: https://techdbs.substack.com/p/all-you-need-is-attention). Okay, our audiences are very different (mine are tech stories and opinions) but I’m having fun matching what I wrote with your thoughts; I want to clarify that I hadn’t read your post before today.
I agree with you, the world (specifically the internet) is full of what you call “Slopmongers,” but it’s also full of people who are not. These people also need to receive the attention they require. It’s a different attention, more genuine and healthier and it’s true, especially in the long run. I don’t think that forced attention is necessarily a bad thing... in the end, the responsibility lies with those who give it.
Great post. The first one I’ve read of you. Just clicked the “Subscribe” button.
Great piece, and very encouraging to those of us who believe they are doing scientific work outside the current dialog in their field.
I love that you also do the voiceovers! I can’t remember if I found you via the moral decline post or the funnier post, but glad I did. Looking forward to seeing what you do in 2024!