Could The Rebellion Against Traditional Publishing Actually Work?
sebastianmarshall.com
sebastianmarshall.com
In the last four weeks, I was able to hire like 30-40 people or so, keep six or so projects running, do a deal with a top hotel chain and top jeweler, put out a book in a week, lead a struggle for reform against traditional publishing, made $38,500, shot a bunch of videos, had a bunch of fun, hired an architect to build an orphanage in Ulaanbaatar, and so on.
I call bullshit on all of it. Well, almost all of it; maybe he had fun. Sebastian is always waving his hands and declaring things like this, but there's just no evidence. None. Zip, zilch. Why doesn't he ever post any proof of his results? Why no links to any of these projects, no naming of the major companies he's helping change? He clearly has no problem with self-promotion, so it's not out of a sense of modesty. Anyone who has ever hired knows that if you managed to hire 30-40 people in a month, you don't have time for anything else. My guess is that he emailed 30-40 people on the internet and maybe hired one or two for some small contract work.
Even in this whole thing with S&S, he seems to miss the possibility that not only might they not really care that they lost him, they might be glad. Maybe they took a hard look at the drivel he was churning out and realized that they were better off with the relationship severed.
Enough talking, Sebastian. Put your head down and fucking build something, then you can write a book in ten or twenty years and tell us about it. We don't need another vapid self-promoter selling books exhorting people to manifest themselves to greatness.
And if I'm way off and you really are what you portray yourself as, post some fucking proof. Don't just give us the old "you're free to believe me or not" bullshit that every scammer says. You want some real personal brand equity? All it takes is some proof of the results you're constantly harping on.
> Put your head down and fucking build something, then you can write a book in ten or twenty years and tell us about it.
Because it shows how you think. "How dare you! Put your head down and grind for 20 years!! That's how it's done!"
No, really. It doesn't take grinding for 10 to 20 years to make a meaningful impact on the world.
> And if I'm way off and you really are what you portray yourself as, post some fucking proof.
Ok, I tell you what. How much are you going to donate to my orphanage if I post some proof - a contract, a bank statement, something like that. You tell me what proof is, but you also tell me what you're going to do to eat shit after I give you your proof, and you're on.
So I'll donate whatever you like to your orphanage, if it exists. As in, if you have an orphanage that you own or created or sponsor at least mostly by yourself. But you don't. You probably have plans for one, but that's all.
Seriously, you're a smart guy with a lot of passion and ideas. But you haven't actually done anything, and every time I read a word of what you've written, I roll my eyes because you're such a blowhard. And with no justification.
The biggest thing in all of this S&S story that makes me think the publishing industry might be on the verge of collapse is that they agreed to publish the first book of a self-described strategist with no track record, no experience, no nothing. But it sounds like you helped them solve that problem.
How much?
When?
Write that up and sign in your real name.
It's not built yet. I just hired an architect for $17,000. What do you want to wager here, say, $1,000 of your money?
You can write the check directly to her. She's got all those wonderful credentials and degrees that you worship.
Write it up and sign it, man, and it's on. The reason I don't post company names by the way is I'm talking about going to whorehouses, doing videos without my shirt on, etc. If I was working with, say, Goldman Sachs, you think they'd like me publicly posting that on the internet for your sake?
Anyways. Duh. But if you're in for a grand, I'll go get my architect's info for you, and you can have a nice conversation with her. Write it and sign it your own name, put it into escrow contingent on... whatever stage you like of the orphanage getting there. It's for charity. I'll put my money where my mouth is, you do the same.
I'm going to go get on a plane to Taipei now. You said you'll donate whatever I like? An even 10K would be very appreciated, and then I'll take whatever time you like walking you through proof of everything. I'll bring proof of my flights too if you want that. The next step from you is emailing me a document signed with your real name saying you're going to donate in consideration for me spending my time walking you through everything I'm doing -- and I'll actually do it. I doubt I'll hear from you, though, "stillhatin."
I'd like to retract my Tim Ferris comments. While I think he's a little self-promotion-ey without having done much, he's a genuinely nice guy and a good marketer. And comparing him to Sebastian is not at all apt, I've just realized.
I hadn't actually watched your videos, Sebastian. You need help. Not like a life coach, but a real therapist, probably one who can prescribe medication. You genuinely have a screw loose or something. Did you seriously curse out your agent (for what felt like hours) because you had trouble coordinating a time to do a skype call?!?
And then you made a movie with your shirt off, ranting at the executives at S&S and at your agent about how you're going to destroy them all?
I know you think you're this crazy wildcard guy and you're hated by most and loved by a few, but you're wrong. You're a crazy wildcard guy, but you're about as unprofessional as I can imagine and you're never going to have a positive impact in the world unless you get the help you need.
I've met and worked with hundreds of true professionals over the years, and I don't know of any that would work with you after seeing a stunt like this. Apparently if someone you're working with fails to return an email fast enough, they'll be treated to a video of a shirtless pudgy guy telling them to fuck off on youtube. Not exactly confidence-inspiring.
Seek help.
Artists, editors, copy-editors, distributors, and so on all have immense value. So do ethical agents. But the industry badly needs reform and modernization.
Aside from this, I'm pretty sure what I'm looking at is an extremely weird/negative way of marketing your book. However, this might actually work. I'm honestly feeling pretty curious in what you've written...
That said, I'd like to point out:
1. Why are you attempting to market your book using your private business drama? The whole sale depends on me trusting in your personality, acumen and ethic. You're not coming across as a strategic thinker. You're coming across as a hothead. Pause and think about that.
2. Why are you picking a fight with a far stronger animal than yourself? Be realistic: settle the score and do something of value. Don't start fights that you're not resourced to fight. Don't.
You're talking about rational self-interest, I'm talking about forcing an industry that's crucial and operating badly to step their game up.
It's not rational self-interested, that's for damn sure. It's a principled stand.
(Also, this is just a hobby, I have multiple day jobs.)
The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man. George Bernard Shaw, Man and Superman (1903) "Maxims for Revolutionists"
No you're not. They're not banging on your door to work with you. They don't care about your business and they certainly won't want to hear your advice. Self-publishing your book is not some big, noble game-changing stand that is going to topple the publishing industry. A disinterested observer might call all of this a tantrum...
It's simply not that easy to get people to "step their game up". It generally requires higher status: a powerful negotiating position, sense of shared purpose or dictatorial leadership over them. You have neither. What you do have is your own time and your own life. Use this wisely: don't waste any of your effort reacting to people in this way. If you truly wish to get them to "step their game up" then create a startup and directly compete with them. Self-publishing will take a while to scale but a startup could act as a catalyst...
Distilled, here's my advice:
When you're angry at people but lack an actionable plan on how to deal with them ignore them. Instead: find what you can control and use it to create value.
2. Good point, It's worth noting that many companies that changed how products were bought and sold (e.g. iTunes, Netflix, Steam) did so by offering a product that was better than what the competition offered, not sticking two fingers up at The Man for its own sake.
This statement here - you're doing it again. But a more concrete example was where you said "funny that the guy does this after making lots of money" - see, it's nasty, it's an assumption that's actually untrue.
So, I said that's false. Did you correct it? Nope. You throw out these assumptions when you don't know what you're talking about, and don't own it when you're wrong.
So - cut that out and get an actual discussion going.
Actually go read an article, think about the arguments made, and address the good and bad points.
Start by summarizing an article - "I think the author is saying X." Then, follow up with if you partially agree or disagree. Cut out this assumptive hand-waving rhetoric thing you do.
I didn't need to, because you did. I haven't made the same mistake again.
I've read his blog for awhile now and he paints an interesting portrait of himself. At the same time that he is rallying for the human condition and trying to get people to stand up, he talks of taking over the world and compares himself to dictators. He gave himself the diagnosis of a type of mania, but hasn't really sought treatment for it or even a valid diagnosis. In the past few months his writing has become more and more unstable.
And that intrigues me. Whenever I become unstable in any way, my writing tends to dry up. I retreat within myself to find inner stability. I do things to excess, cut ties, etc. etc. If I extrapolate my behavior over to him (WARNING: dangerous assumption here), then it seems like he is becoming more stable mentally. He is writing on more focused topics, connecting with more people, trying to do better work, being more public about what he is doing.
Maybe he has come to accept the idea of a public failure not meaning much to him and is just putting it out there. Maybe he is becoming more accustomed to the idea that he might just be unstable mentally and can therefore let it shine through.The change in writing topics and styles obviously reflects a change in Sebastian.
Does it reflect a change in how he writes or a change in how he thinks though? Most people here are pointing and yelling "Train Wreck! Watch out!" and worrying that he has changed for the worse mentally. But if you read his stuff, he refers to earlier dark periods in his life. He's stared into bays and thought of drowning as being a better outcome for his life. He sounds like he lost a business at some point in his early 20's or it failed or something just didn't work.
So I don't really think that he has changed mentally. All this was there and has been there since he started writing. To me, it just seems like he is saying "Fuck this, I am going to write about what I really think about." It's more of a change in his style of writing, the relative truth he is willing to let out, than, "Oh shit, finna be a crazy mofo from now on."
Or he could just be going crazy. Or both. Perspective from a casual observer here.
Everything is horribly out of context. I don't know any of names mentioned. This post - his whole blog really - sounds more like a (badly written) email to the people who have more insight in this exact situation.
Word of advice: if you write a blog, don't assume your readers read all your previous posts. Took me a few years to realize this myself.
It started with this -
http://www.sebastianmarshall.com/an-open-letter-to-simon-and...
This was why I'd tried to convince you to use Leanpub :) Obviously your current book is done, but if you do another book I'd encourage you to use the Lean Publishing process of publishing a small in-progress version and iterating in public with feedback from your readers...
What I felt was unprofessional behavior on the part of the publisher was not sticking to deadlines for payment.
However, I did feel that the author complaining his ideas for jacket design were not taken seriously is a bit diva-like behavior.
I do think, that with all the software tools we have out (spell checker, grammar checkers etc) it should be quite possible to self-publish (using a print on demand service for example, and for ebooks, perhaps you can even design your own site).
The only thing I think is how will your book get publicity if you don't have a publisher behind you. Perhaps Cory Doctorow's model (of putting samples on line) is good, but how do you get your initial break?
The cash return is negative.
The art, doing cool stuff, working with good people, and changing the world return is massive.
(And my share goes to charity anyways, so my personal financial return is capped at zero. This isn't a money thing for me, I had a 180 degree flip recently where I started despising money. Interestingly, I started getting paid a lot more too. Strange world.)
(http://www.mind.org.uk/help/diagnoses_and_conditions/bipolar...)
(http://mentalhealth.gov/health/publications/bipolar-disorder...)
(http://www.rcpsych.ac.uk/mentalhealthinfo/problems/bipolardi...)
(Also, medicalization tends to marginalize people, and is frequently used instead of addressing arguments - "oh he's bipolar, that's why he's doing this - aside from the fact that I'm not, it's sloppy thinking; it's effective rhetorically but indicates weak ethics and minimal regard for truth and accuracy)
It isn't something wrong. It's just the way we were born. Please seek help and learn how to live with this. Please.
I made a different choice with different outcomes. In the last four weeks, I was able to hire like 30-40 people or so, keep six or so projects running, do a deal with a top hotel chain and top jeweler, put out a book in a week, lead a struggle for reform against traditional publishing, made $38,500, shot a bunch of videos, had a bunch of fun, hired an architect to build an orphanage in Ulaanbaatar, and so on.
Normal life? It's not for me. I'll take the good with the bad, burn hotter than the sun, and burn out and go mad at a relatively young age. It's a lifestyle choice, and I'm doing it an educated fashion. I wouldn't wish it on anyone else, I don't advocate it, but I wouldn't give it up for anything.
Oh the creative turmoil can be helpful, but being grounded helps you to do so much more. Otherwise it's just two steps forward and one step back. (Be honest, doesn't that happen when you crash? Or when things become too feverish and hot?)
Further, there are things worth being stable for. Sometimes finding that one person who will love you and never leave your side is worth any amount of glory, fame, prestige or greatness you could possibly hustle. Sooner or later we all need someone to keep us warm at night and make everything worth it. Especially someone like us.
You're high right now. You'll probably snort at all of this, but reflect upon this when you're in that segue mode between the zenith and the nadir, when you're passing through that goldilocks zone of stability, and you'll know the answer.
I talk about my medical condition publicly on the web in part because I have a small website where I talk a little about how I got myself well when that is supposed to be impossible. I also have a parenting site where I argue against simply labeling and dismissing my ASD sons. Part of the reason I am much more circumspect about my diagnosis at work is because I feel it can be used to dismiss me and also tends to turn into a circus, where that is all people focus on. So in many ways, I am on your side and agree with you.
On the other hand, I have had the same entry level job at work for five years and have not been promoted. Why? Well, because my medical condition is an actual problem which has put serious limits on my energy levels, ability to focus and so on. As I get healthier, I am being more productive and that has resulted in getting put on a pilot project which may lead to promotion. I have also worked at addressing the many issues my sons have. I find it really hard to talk about in a way that makes a clear distinction between accepting some aspects of my sons as they are without pathologizing it while simultaneously working on getting them healthier and more functional. And I'm very physically tired today, so perhaps will regret posting this as this is a tricky subject to address and I am perhaps not up to doing it justice today.
I've spent a lot of years getting myself well so my performance is not as erratic, I am not so emotionally out of control and so on. I feel I am gradually getting my act together and being taken more seriously. I sometimes wish I could help you somehow do the same. You come across like a blow-hard. I can't figure out what you have actually done, accomplishment-wise (and I've tried, in part because I get so much shit off of people and told I am making up tall tales when I am not, so I am reluctant to jump to conclusions about other people). You go down in flames a lot. Been there, done that. Got crateloads of t-shirts.
I debated writing to you privately about this rather than publicly because I have no desire for you or others to interpret this as a personal attack. But I don't feel I know you well enough to do that and have it go over well. People are often much more vicious in private than in public and my point of view is often wildly misunderstood, so my attempts to initiate private conversations with people has an extremely negative track record, I think because it gets viewed as "something so bitchy she wouldn't own up to saying it publicly". Yeah, I would own up to saying it publicly. I just would rather it not have an audience because I hate how badly audiences often behave, twist my words to support their attacks when that is not my intention and so on.
Anyway, I hope you are having a good holiday. Feel free to dismiss this post as motivated by jealousy of your high karma score. ;-) Peace and good wishes.
But over time, it became a breath of fresh air. I love how our generation is opening up and cutting out the idea that we have to be perfect, or at least pretend to be. It's cool seeing professional athletes like Zack Grienke open up about what they've got going on. It's nice to see your story, your candidness.
There's downsides! Oh, I know, I'm well-aware. But I feel so honest, so alive, so unvarnished.
Can I be a little raw and crass for a moment?
So I worked feverishly today, and then went to a high-class whorehouse for consolidated intense relaxation. It was fantastic, I was walking on air when I left.
I know I'm not supposed to say that, I know it offends a lot of people... but... it's true. I have a variety of people I work with, partner with, and so on. Some of my staff are devoutly Christian, I've got people who are hardcore party-goers, I've got a flamingly gay world-traveling athiest working on one project (even gay people would say "wow, he's really gay, y'know?) and... I think everyone knows I mean them no harm when I put my view out.
Maybe strangers don't know. But wow, it's so liberating to be honest. I feel so unchained. Yeah, I'm a mess in some ways. But everyone is a mess in some ways, and everyone keeps it bottled up and pretends they're not a mess. Yuck. I love this honesty thing. Thank you for your honesty. It's so rare and refreshing.
1) That you have a more beautiful life that involves somewhat less suffering than you seem to have (something I am working on and achieving for myself).
2) That you and HN get to a more peaceful place with each other. When I was more of a mess, I really hated how much drama I brought to the communities I participated in.
If there is any way I can help you (or HN) with either of those, please don't hesitate to write me.
Have a wonderful new year Sebastian.
(PS: I don't think we are of the same generation. I am 46. My understanding is you are substantially younger.)
You know how you look back at previous historical eras, and the people had these obviously backwards and stupid views, and how could they possibly not get it?
We live in one of those eras, too.
I try not to. Social decorum? A lot of it's there for good reason. But a lot of it isn't.
You are a smart and interesting person with a lot of weapons. Call a cease-fire. Refocus your mind and observe your inner space. Then make a decision that will help as many people as possible.
Happy holidays and a peaceful 2012!