◼️ Happy Monday, friends. Today’s newsletter is sponsored by dumb wireless. Use code minimalnewyear for a special discount on flip phones, minimal phones, and even the Camp Snap Camera (a screen free digital camera).

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This is my first Christmas without my dad, but I’ve got the camera he used to take family photos here with me (along with like 10 rolls of film I need to develop).

We didn’t have much of a relationship in the last few years, so I’m not really “sad,” but like all family stuff it’s complicated.

I lost my mom in 2017, too. I think about her a lot, and how much she enjoyed this time of year. She loved the Christmas lights, and Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas and baking cookies.

Dad, well, he was along for the ride. He just wanted to play his guitar. To his bull-headed credit, that’s what he did until he died alone in trailer that smelled of cigarettes and booze.

This is a reminder that when the lights go out, all in all is all we are.

Your entire life summed up by the people who might be by your side when you pass into the void.

That’s what will make you cry with something like joy or contentment on your deathbed: that you’ve helped people, been good to them, even strangers. That’s it.

It’s not the number of trips you take, not your bank account, not the number of friends or followers or subscribers or fans, not even your family, not your weight or the color of your hair. It’s that you’ve been good to the people all around you.

That’s from ‘What Will Really Matter on Your Deathbed’ by Sarah Fay, who lost her mother in the last few days.

You’ve got magic, your art, something to share, so make sure you share it with a world in need.

Oh, and make sure to be a good person to the people all around you at the same time.

The less rigid we make things, the more magic we can experience. I wrote about my dad’s rigid thinking of what it meant to be a musician.

Dad’s idea of “success” was having a group so he could get booked at local venues. Without that, life seemed not… worth living.

And yet, his neighbors loved hearing the music he played.

Our gifts are not transactions, but they need to exist in the world in whatever form they can take.

Instead we let algorithms and worldly definitions of success hinder our work, draining our creative energies and robbing the world of our magic.

Just because you can’t play to a sold out Madison Square Garden doesn’t mean you should stop making music.

The “likes” can’t determine our value, and the subscriber count goals change the minute we hit them.

I think about the musician who believes their work doesn’t matter because a recent post got five likes.

I think about talented artists that are waiting for permission to show their work in the “proper” spaces when there are thousands of people right outside their door who are looking for a bit of magic during their commute.

The writers waiting to be picked, deemed worthy to have their words printed and bound and placed next to a million other books, when words can live on park benches and poetry on the sides of non-working telephones booths.

Stability is not owed for these artistic efforts, but the world is a better place because of their existence. Though not everyone gets to earn a living from their art, everyone lives in a world that needs more of it.

It’s a cruel reality, that such talent and gifts can be ignored by so many, but we live with this and make our work anyways.

Because even in the grand scheme of things, most people have never heard of our heroes. There are so many people who’ve never heard of Austin Kleon or Kim Deal, and they’re huge.

Find freedom in that. Explore everything you can in your supposed obscurity. It’s time to do whatever we want.

Let’s stop waiting for the next publication or platform to save us. The fix isn’t waiting for tech bros to share a tenth of a penny more in streaming payouts – the power is with people reading newsletters and creating websites.

Let’s be the media outlets, the tastemakers, the movers of culture.

• Start that in-person book club.
• Go on photo walks with friends.
• Visit your friend’s studio and make a zine.
• Work with friends and put out a recipes zine.
• Make a music video with your friend on Christmas.

We don’t need to wait for permission, to get booked, to get signed – we release our work today with the people already in our lives.

My dad moved to Florida, so I didn’t see him much (I’m in Pennsylvania).

My sister flew down from Delaware with her kids to go to Disney. She told dad about this trip, and offered to pay for his ticket. You know, to see her and the grandkids.

Dad needed to drive just 45 minutes, but he didn’t meet up with them because he “didn’t want to pay the $20 for parking.”

This happened two years in a row.

So my sister is starting a new tradition in honor of a parent who couldn’t show up for his kids: tip $20 to someone on my dad’s birthday, December 24th. Cash preferred.

Happy Holidays. Stay safe, tip well.

◼️ P.S.Ditch Gmail and switch to Fastmail: get a free 30-day trial and 10% off your first year here (affiliate link).

We have people right in front of us – digitally, and in real life. On our existing email list. In Zoom rooms, and Discords.

Imagine if we spent our time and energy on them, instead of spinning our wheels on social media trying to impress everyone and no one?

This from Kinda Conquering Creative Fear with Caroline,

“I made a list of every single person I had ever interacted with that seemed remotely interested in hearing more about my music. Then, I contacted them directly via emails, text messages, DMs and face-to-face. I was going to make sure that everyone I could think of was invited, personally, by me to my show.”

Instead of posting into the void of social media, make direct contact. Reach out to people you can reach out to.

In the past I might have called this hand to hand combat, but we don’t want to think of our interactions with fans as combat, or fighting. Inviting people just feels so much better.

Today’s newsletter is sponsored by Shradical, makers of high-performance helmets with built-in front and rear LED lights. Look good, be seen, and stay safe – check ‘em out here.

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I believe that finding work and interesting opportunities can come from your existing contact list and network. The creative people in your orbit.

Since I started playing music in the late 90s, and made a music blog back in 2001, I’ve met a lot of people so, sure, it’s easy for me to offer this advice.

Q: What if you don’t have decades of contacts to pull from?

A: Start being around the people you need to be around. Today. Right now.

Social media has led us to believe we can find success as “lonely content machines, but the adventure becomes easier with other people by your side.

THE MUSIC BLOG

In 2005 I was four years into the “I’m a music blogger” thing, and that’s when I met someone that I didn’t know would change my life (and it would take half my life to realize it).

Sean Cannon started helping with my music blog, and we worked together up until 2008, when I handed him the site because I started another music blog for AOL Music called Noisecreep.

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Hello and Happy Friday, thanks for reading. Uncle Seth here to guide you through four things that may help you move your work forward.

Also, the replay for yesterday’s Escape Pod is available here.

Upgrade to a paid subscription and join our weekly calls!

// FOUR THE WEEKEND

1. SPEND LESS TIME ON SUBSTACK NOTES (AND SOCIAL MEDIA)

I know a handful of you reading this have your own Substack publications, but I’m telling you – spend less time on Substack Notes (and social media in general).

Use your time wisely. If you must use social media, just reply to a few friends, and join some conversations here and there. Spending time and energy trying to craft the perfect post just to get 100 likes? I don’t recommend it.

Instead, try reaching out to a writer friend and workshopping your next email newsletter together, or update your websites. Craft a pitch to a creative director.

I fully believe there is more to be gained collaborating on an hour long Zoom call than spending two hours a day scrolling on social media.

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I’m always telling you to have an email list, but it’s only going to be helpful if your newsletter is worth opening.

Is your email showing up like those messy grocery store flyers we all get in the mail?

That’s the sort of noise we easily tune out, knowing we won’t really miss out on anything if we ignore it.

But those vinyl record deliveries, that package of zines, artwork, or art supplies we ordered – those feel different, right?

These are things we’re looking forward to. We ordered something, and then we keep an eye out for those shipping updates. Delivery confirmations.

But then we all get emails like this everyday.

”New merch in our store”
”Deals ending soon”
”New workshop announced”

Sure, these can work. They’re serviceable. “Don’t ask, don’t get.” I get it!

But consider this email from Lauren Denitzio, of the band Worriers, with this subject line: ”Tips for tour and life.”

Everyday we get emails asking for something; buy now, book soon, pre-orders available.

But how many emails are we getting that are giving us something, too?

How many creative beings send out emails of stories, unraveling the wonders of life by way of their unique viewpoint?

• Like Lauren above, sharing tips for life while also promoting their hand written lyric sheets.
• Like Cody Cook-Parrott sharing how they got XC skiing equipment for free during their spending ban while also promoting a limited edition version of their new book.
• Like Tom Bland and Diana Pappas who decided to live blog the making of their latest photographic art drop.

You’ve already done the hard part; you’re a photographer, a painter, a professional mountain biker, a comic book maker.

We just need to use that same creative vision to talk about the work we do in our own unique way.

If our newsletters stopped acting like product catalogs, maybe our newsletter becomes something that people won’t want to miss.

Saw this question on Substack Notes from Aishwarya Vardhana, and figured I’d make a full post about it because I see it a lot.

Go to the profile of the people you already subscribe to and find out what they’re reading! You’re probably subscribed to some quality folks, and I bet they subscribe to good folks, too.

Relying on the Substack Notes algorithm (or any algorithm, like Spotify) to show you exactly what you’re looking for is a waste of time. As you can see, I Subscribe to a lot of people – maybe you’ll find something from my list!

Do your own homework, and seek out the sort of materials you want to consume via your own network.

And don’t be afraid to ask your friends (and even your subscribers) what they’re reading, too. You just never know who you’ll discover along the way.

I got a great question from Maja Lampa asking about using a stand-alone blogging platform like Pika versus using Substack.

Deciding between Pika (or any stand-alone blogging platform) and Substack depends on what you’re trying to achieve.

Pika gives you more control but no built-in audience, so driving traffic is entirely up to you.

If you want a nice quiet corner on the internet, then Pika is great!

Substack, however, has a built-in network to help readers find your work and makes it super easy to grow an email list, which I think is super important at whatever level you’re at.

Again – it depends on what you’re trying to achieve. I love the built-in network that Substack provides because it makes it super easy for people to subscribe and get my posts in their inbox.

That means if someday I leave Substack, I can export my email list and set up shop somewhere else, and my fans won’t have to find me elsewhere or re-subscribe on another platform.