September 23, 2004
book outline
I’m turning “How To Be Creative” into a book. Here is the rough outline for the publishing folk etc.
(NB: The Book Proposal is here)
“The Sex & Cash Theory: How To Be Creative In A Non-Creative World“
“Sex & Cash” is a book about how to deal with the creative bug properly without it ruining your life.
The book will have about 15 – 30 thousand words. It will be small and thick; I’m thinking 5 x 8 inches. Mixed in with the main text will be hundreds of my cartoons, which will compliment the writing.
The Pitch: “Seth Godin meets Edward Gorey”. You either get it or you don’t.
Introduction: “The best way to get approval is not to need it.” This is the central message of the book. A lot of people daydream about living the creative life, about being a writer, artist, whatever, even if they don’t really have anything to say or really want to do the actual work. This book is not for them. This book is for people who already have a few ideas of their own, who may already be well on their way, but maybe could use a wee push. It’s not an instruction manual. It just shows where some of the land mines are buried, and gives direct and unapologetic advice on how to avoid stepping on them.
It will be very different from the usual touchy-feely “Personal Creativity” fare. It’ll have a bit more bite to it. It will not try to romantisize the creative life, nor try to convert people to living it. The aim is not to make the reader feel comforted, validated or make it all seem easier than it actually is. The main thesis of the book is just to get on with it; that only when one has dropped all those clich
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A wee chuckle to start your day off right etc.
Good news, Hugh.
I’ll be buying a copy for myself, and a few for people I know who could use it.
Cheers,
Justin (Australia)
Don’t do it Hugh. Your web version as it stands is great. Concise, sharp, very little wank.
What will your book add? I suspect all it will add is a few numbers to your bank balance. If that’s the aim (plus invites to book openings, TV chat shows, lectures at art colleges etc.) then fair enough. But if it’s not, then show us that more IS going to be more, that even more pictures, even more qualifiers, even more witty one-liners are going to expand the (potential) reader’s understanding of What Hugh Is On About.
Recognising when you’ve created the right tool for the right job is a lot of the battle when it comes to creative execution. You’ve made a snappy short film, don’t drag it out to a 2 hour feature it was never meant to be.
The book sounds awesome. You’ve sold at least one copy already.
“Money, plus invites to book openings, TV chat shows, lectures at art colleges etc.“
You got it in one, Ben.
Sex AND Cash.
Hence the title
Sounds like a good idea. But why don’t you publish it yourself and sell it from the website? You could use “Print On Demand” (as many “proper publishers” do).
I’m curious whether you will take the web version offline when the book comes out. I’ve often wondered whether it is feasible to have a print and free online version of the same thing. Does the Cluetrain Manifesto sell many actual books since it was on the web? I doubt it. But I don’t know, be interested in your opinions on this issue as it’s something I ponder myself, side-by-side selling.
Of course, I think a large publisher would be interested in this book, but in a way doesn’t that go slightly against the philosophy you’re espousing of not looking up to others? I guess it depends what kind of deal they make you. But seriously, consider publishing it yourself. As one writer said: “All a publisher needs is a desk and a book.” Print On Demand has even removed the massive initial outlay and storage issue.
Good luck!
Thanks Jackie, all fair points.
I have no intention of losing the HTBC on the website.
Cluetrain was on the web before it was a book, actually. And I most definitely am following their example =)
But it was never going to be a case of either-or. Books and web are just two different content delivery vehicles, each hopefully feeding the other.
Both have their own strengths and weaknesses.
Same with big publishers and small publishers. Same with publishing and self-publishing.
Maybe there’s a Nine Inch Nails video in your future.
I can’t wait to learn what your ‘saucepan’ will be.
Good luck.
Like I said, fair enough.
Wank on.
I’m sure there’s room for both a print and web edition of the book. The web is a great tool, but I doubt that it will ever replace the book, even if the book has to evolve a little. There’s a lot to be said for a portable document delivery system that requires no power supply, is extremely portable, temperature resistant, impact resistant, backwards compatible and lightweight.
And there’s nothing wrong with making some money. A lot of people would appreciate having what I consider to be a very valuable document available in print. If Hugh makes some cash from that, where’s the downside? It’s not a matter of dragging “a snappy short film” to two hours. It’s a matter of making the short film available on DVD when it might not be showing at a theater near you.
Dave -
I’d agree with your DVD/theatre analogy except that it’s not the medium or the distribution channel that’s only changing, it’s the movie itself.
Making money is great — that’s not my point.
My point is Hugh’s point — something small, simple and direct for maximum impact. When Hugh’s firing on all cylinders he doesn’t take up much room doing it.
This is way more real estate — or verbage or visual metaphor or stand-up comedy routine. You pick.
As Hugh has already answered this is about Sex and Money, not in any way about improving what is already a finely-tuned message.
Bottom line: I’d like to buy a book by Hugh that’s illustrating his world view from another perspective. He still gets the Sex and the Money but the world gets richer in the process — rather than getting more of the same.
you have me! just print it yourself and i’ll take a hundred to pass around!
It seems like the book is a good way to involve people who aren’t currently reading blogs. Soon, that will be a moot point. But for now, as the current pre-internet business generation heads into the sunset, a book like this could help close that gap.
I’d buy it just because carrying it around in public would give me the delusion that people would see it and come to some kind of revelation about what my whole deal is with them.
Anyone who says that making a book is selling out or something … that’s stupid. I mean, no matter what level you’re at, there will be people that say you sold your soul when you moved on to the next one. People do different things because they want to do different things.
I’d love to contribute something to it, but you’re already your own illustrator. Maybe if you go on to a video version, or even a “Book And Record” version, then I could get involved somehow.
P.S. I keep misreading “Watercooler Gang” as “Watercolor Gang”.
Good for you. I want a copy. My wife wan artist in New York, turned an Amazon.com amazonian turned mom of several boy wildebeasts at home once said that “when rich people get together they like to spend a lot of time talking about art whereas when artists get together they spend all their time talking about money.” It’s great that you will talking about both!
AcouSvnt has a point… but Hugh could do that selling t-shirts with selected cartoons and the a “Sex & Cash” logo.
Can I get 1% for bringing that up?
Great news, Hugh! People I know who have read it on your site think it’s full of common sense yet deeply insightful… Kinda like the Buddha!
It’ll do well.
Ben Wharton?! Fancy seeing you here! *^_^*
RichW: How about a “Sex and Cash Pyro-Laser and Mega-Monster-Truck on Ice” tour? And I claim my 2%! Beat that!
The contemporary salient difference between a book and a web page is like the difference between a letter and an e-mail. The former is an opportunity to create a multisensory ritual artifact. If you publish the book, make it gorgeous and sensory. Just the web on paper doesn’t interest me. But a beautifully produced, well-edited Hughtrain, maybe even delivered with a toy train-car.…
Even if that’s too fey, you still get my drift. It’s not just about content, it’s about firing off more of those creative synapses, as you keep reminding us.
Good luck with the book…
Just whack all your best posts together, use your outline as a logic map (of sorts ?) and go take a look at http://www.lulu.com (Robert Young of Red Hat fame’s most recent initiative).
You’ll have a great book ready to be published a week from when you start. And lulu.com will help you get that done for free (except for your time of course).
Fantastic concept.
Small is definitely better when it comes to dishing out highly concentrated useful advice.
Your work has evolved since I first discovered your site. It has gone from entertainment to entertainment with a help flow. The black humor makes it highly palatable to talented cynics who need encouragement, even when they deny such is possible.
Put me down for ten copies.
Will it be ready by Christmas?
Love it! Ditto xmas gifts? Keep us posted on the book tour — real or virtual.
Ever since reading that first list of… what was it, 7 or 9… items I was hoping you’ld continue to build on them. You have and I started hoping you’ld publish them (the old fashioned way, that is).
Yep, I will buy it and will definitely plug it to people who’ll understand and applaud it, and of course to people who definetely need it.
Hmm… funny how I don’t expect those groups to overlap; funny Venn diagramm there.
Sell it! Although I do prefer the online version, its loose and it hasn’t been fingered. Now for some more thoughts…