Make It So: Spreading Indie Works

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(This column is posted at www.StevenSavage.com and Steve’s Tumblr.  Find out more at my newsletter.)

As an author, I believe in spreading the word about my fellow indie authors. I’ve been thinking about how to do this, how we can support each other in different ways to get the word out. I wanted to go beyond the usual blog tours and shared podcasts.

To that end I’ve put together a few thoughts.

Library Blitz: Libraries take book donations. Now and then I donate my books among others to libraries for stock or sale. So let’s donate the books of other indie authors to our local libraries.

Newsletter Swap: Use SurveyMonkey to find who on your newsletter would like to subscribe to the newsletters of other authors you know and get the word out.

Newsletter Plus: Could indie authors of a similar bent (location, etc.) combine to do one newsletter to share the word? Thinking that could help.

Shared Tables: A lot of us would get tables at conventions and events but we’re busy, tired, speaking, or wearing 50 pounds of cosplay. So why not gather together and have a table among authors? Ten people together could man a table for a large con effectively.

Giveaways of Others: We do book giveaways often. What if now and then you gave away work of your fellow indie authors?

Promo Together: If you have enough people do book promos, such as the ones at Prolific Words, where you can promo with a theme and cross promote tightly.

Write Together: I’ve done a few books where authors collaborated together, usually by contributing specific essays. It’s a bit of effort, but it’s a fun cross-promotional.

Little Free Friends: As noted before, why not stock other’s indie books at Little Free Libraries (within reason).

Advice Giveaways: If you’re doing panels and there are fellow indies that do advice books that are relevant, share them as prizes!

I hope that gives you a few ideas! I’m also looking for any suggestions to add!

Steven Savage

Real Fun Is Subversive

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(This column is posted at www.StevenSavage.com and Steve’s Tumblr.  Find out more at my newsletter.)

Real fun is subversive.

I’m not talking fun that offends. Offense isn’t subversive. Fun that offends is trapped by its need to offend, lacking the sense of sheer joy unbound that healthy fun has.

I’m not talking fun that is a “guilty pleasure.” A guilty pleasure requires you to have something to feel bad about – then not feel bad about. Guilty pleasures aren’t subversive, the very name suggests they’re less guilty, more pleasure

I’m not talking about doing the “big thing.” You may enjoy that, but also you might just be following along with the crowd, having fun because you have to. “Required fun,” as joyful as it is, still jabs you with that razor edge of control from outside.

I’m talking fun that’s just . . . fun. Sheer joy of something, the happiness in being there and enjoying yourself. It’s a kind of connection and expression that’s just being you. That’s incredibly subversive.

When you have fun you’re just being yourself, experiencing joy, doing what you like, living. It’s almost a meditative experience if you pay attention – fun is when you’re you. You just might be having too much of a good time to notice it.

Think about it. For the moment you’re truly having a good time, that one moment you’re you. You’re not what people told you you are – or told you you’re not. You might rebel against constraints of society by being the real you – or perhaps in joy discover social connections that real mean something.

Fun isn’t just subversive against society’s pathologies. Maybe your social ties and society are fine – but fun helps you discover yourself. Bad habits and unhelpful attitudes can vanish when you experience joy, in those moments you’re in touch with yourself. You might be bad at being yourself – fun can help you discover it.

Finally when one is enjoying themselves, you can find new ideas and inspiration. You’re open to experiences – or perhaps the kind of fun that limits your experiences so you’re thinking clearly is what you need. These are moments where you can become something better by being yourself, enjoying – and seeing what evolves.

This is one reason fun, joy, entertainment, is so valuable – when done in a healthy manner. Its moment of being oneself, a moment of clarity, and a moment of safety. In those moments we’re us.

Being us is pretty important. We might not even like what we find – but then we can deal with it. But, good self or bad, fun is one way to subvert what holds us back and disconnects us, and find something more we can be.

Steven Savage

You’re Responsible To Share Creative Power

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(This column is posted at www.StevenSavage.com and Steve’s Tumblr.  Find out more at my newsletter.)

Creativity is a tool for freedom and a tool for a functional society. It enriches and empowers. It provides new ideas and lets us see old ones in new lights. It topples tyrants and leaves potential tyrants in fear. If you’re a creative person, you’re morally obligated to empower others to use their creative abilities to ensure freedom and a functioning society.

To help people be creative means that they can think outside of the cages built around their heads. It means they’re harder to rule and control, and more able to be responsible citizens. Creativity is freedom – but also it’s a chance to take responsibility in new ways.

Helping people to be creative also gives them options that go beyond thinking. It may help them find a new job, freeing them of financial chains. Creativity gives them abilities to find solutions to problems, allowing them to fix things as opposed to following snake-oil charlatans.

Showing people the power of their creativity and how to use it finally means happier people. Creative people don’t just have the chance to be freer, more responsible, more powerful – they can experience joy more. When you can dream and imagine, you can find what you enjoy kand new ways to enjoy – and happy people can be hard to control.

How you help people be more creative, however, is a trickier bit. Each of us has our own creative tools, methods, and inclinations – these may not fit those we want to help. Each person we wish to aid has their sown situations and challenges and desires. To share creative power means asking what you can share and how to share it – it’s a journey, not a destination.

An excellent place to start is to ask how you got inspired, who helped you be more creative, what helped you see what you could do with creativity. This may be only relevant to you (and probably is), but analyzing the experience will help you find lessons to apply to others. If a supportive parent helped you, then you have a place to start – be supportive as they were.

Finally, keep in mind that this call to action is not one of superiority or a chance to lord your creativity over others. We’re all links in the chain; others aided your creativity before, and in turn, you pass it on. Each person you help is not “beneath” you – sharing and supporting is a mutual learning experience, because you will learn from everyone you want to nurture. Be humble in helping because then you’ll learn (possibly about your flaws).

So let us inspire others, share power, encourage creativity. We’ll empower and guide, help people be more, and build a stronger society. It’s a responsibility, but such a glorious one.

Steven Savage