Tag Archives: art

Sports as Myth, Catholicism on Homophobia, and a Very Sleepy Puppy

Hi friends!

Just a quick note to let you know I’ve got an article featured at Pints & Prose this week. You should check it out!

Here’s the link:

Everyone is Tired All the Time: A Challenge from Three Angles – We can’t all manage annoyingly chipper, but let’s at least get to tired-but-happy.

While you’re there, I also recommend the following:

If Christianity and/or LGBT issues matter to you: An Appendix to Raw Tact: A Catholic Perspective on Homophobia

If you like football, or don’t get why people like football: From Free Agency to the Draft: Football’s Season of Hope

If you’re a writer/artist: Calling All Creators

If you’re a gamer: Nat One Productions

It’s so cool to get to work with the guys at P&P. I’ve rarely met a group that’s simultaneously so brilliant in really varied and interesting ways, incredibly driven, and yet totally laid-back, unpretentious, and genuinely fun to hang out with. Really downright silly at times. I wish you could all come spend an evening with us and a good bottle of whiskey.

Anyone else have a great support network in your writing, thinking, or life in general? Leave me a comment. I’d love to hear about it.

Cheers!

—Ben

You Can Help Unleash Two Great Minds Upon the World!

Hi friends!

My friend Kate‘s husband Daniel just got accepted in to Yale Divinity School. Which is awesome! And really expensive. Please join me in helping them out at gofundme.com/helpdng. Even if you can’t give, sharing this message to help spread the word is huge help.

They’re a very promising young author and a very promising young theologian, respectively, and every dollar we can give now is multiple dollars of loans + interest they don’t have to pay back later, meaning we will have unleashed two great talents upon the artistic and intellectual world that much sooner.

I want skillful writers and thinkers to be able to do what they do in the world without having to be held back by massive debts and financial obstacles. If you agree, please join me in giving at gofundme.com/helpdng.

For great justice!
—Ben

Kate M. Colby: Why I Will Independently Publish

Hi friends!

One of these days I’ll probably get around to writing my own rationale for pursuing (primarily) independent publishing rather than traditional publishing contracts, but in the meantime I want to whet your appetite with this.

Kate Colby is a talented writer and I’ve been growing to greatly appreciate not only her writing but also her professionalism and strategic thinking about fiction as a full-time career. In this post, she lays out the questions, research, and reasons that ultimately led her to indie publishing, and many of them parallel my own.

I’d love to hear your thoughts. Does self-publishing still carry a stigma as far as you’re concerned? As a reader do you pay attention to whether a book was self-published?

Cheers!
—Ben

A Complication of Dirigibles

Hi friends!

To sweeten the deal on your Monday, I present this collection of dirigibles, airships, and associated aeronautical miscellany. May it continue to propel a rebirth of wonder.

Cheers!

—Ben

Source: http://www.thesteampunkempire.com/photo/airship-vintage-french-postcard

Source: http://servatius.blogspot.com/2011/09/zeppelin-airship-lz126-1924-departure.html

Source: https://wolfsonianfiulibrary.wordpress.com/2013/08/01/up-up-and-away-airships-on-exhibit-and-online-from-the-wolfsonian-library-collection/

Source: https://thepenningtonedition.files.wordpress.com/2011/12/dirigible_balloon.png

Source: http://www.4artgarden.com/fantasy-art-by-kazumasa-uchio.html

Source: http://www.wallpaperhi.com/Abstract/Fantasy/castles_steampunk_fantasy_art_vehicles_airship_109504

http://www.wallpedes.com/steampunk-wallpaper-1920×1080/steampunk-airship-wallpapers.html

1,000 True Fans in 150 Words

If you want to make a living from your art, you should be familiar with this.

1,000 True Fans: Artists can make a living by connecting with 1,000 true fans who spend $100/year on their creations. No need for runaway blockbuster success. Thanks, internet!

The Problem With 1,000 True Fans: But really, who’s going to spend $100 a year every year even on a favorite artist? And even if they did, how much of that money goes to the artist in practice?

5000 Fans: You can also do it with 5,000 fans who spend $20/year on you. And 5,000 still isn’t that many.

The Reality of Depending on True Fans: But it’s still pretty tricky to find and keep that many true fans.

The Case Against 1000 True Fans: Plus (as of 2008) not many people seem to be doing this successfully.

Write. Publish. Repeat.: But (as of 2014) these guys are and they can help you, too.

Cheers!

—Ben