(Whew, that was a lot of news.)
I recently had to do the boring, necessary thing of putting together a business plan. It was weird and sad, framing my work in that way - stripping out all the vital soul-stuff and thinking of it as a product to be bought and sold. Equally, though, I am increasingly feeling that what I do is valuable and that I deserve to be paid for my time. It's a difficult line to walk; I wish none of us had to walk it. Unfortunately, capitalism persists.
Anyway: I got through it by letting myself do a 'silly version' first, in which I was completely unfiltered. A lot of this was cut out of the final draft, but I thought it might be fun to share it here.
Describe your proposed business and the products / services you will be providing:
Bodypoetic!!! as in the body that is rendered in poesis. As in the body politic but not quite that. As in something written but also something real. I care about the material, I care about things that are real.
How can you improve on your strengths and address the areas for improvement?
I could be better at factoring in the value of my time and labour! I also don’t take set-up costs into account when figuring out my pricing.
I need to actively reach out to people more! More cool guerilla marketing shit, more posting about my stuff, more asking for the support that I need!
I have a lot of ideas and I often execute on them very well – but I don’t often give them a lot of time to fully develop! I could build on my previous pieces of work??? More willingness to experiment and potentially get things wrong! Be bolder, be braver, be weirder!
I’m very confident in my writing ability but not in everything that surrounds the writing. It’s difficult when everything feels so high-stakes!
Think about what success looks like:
Success looks likeeeee enough money to take a sick day when I need it and to have holidays and to properly rest. A small or maybe even moderate but preferably not too large devoted following, who engage with my work seriously and thoughtfully (and maybe in a silly way, sometimes, too). Enough money to be comfortable and self-sufficient and feel that my work is being valued and I am being valued along with it, as a living breathing person who needs to pay rent rather than as a machine that spits out stories.
That's all for now! I hope that Spring is kind to you and the sunlight warms your skin.