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Capricon and Story-bowls
Feb. 14th, 2010 04:47 pmI'm back from Capricon, just in time to discover that my kitchen counter was damaged and thus not installed. [Insert expletive here]!
In other news, my panels went well. The e-reader panel turned into a general discussion of publishing. Rob Sawyer was present but not on the panel, and Walt Boyes (![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
bigbananaslug) is a veteran of the publishing industry, so getting a word in edgewise proved a bit difficult. As has become typical in a general discussion of publishing, one of the topics addressed was the idea of artists going directly to consumers. An example in support of this idea was the "story-bowl."
The story-bowl is a simple concept - artist puts out an announcement that they will post works online if people keep tossing money into the electronic tip jar. It's the 21st century version of taking your guitar out on a street corner and playing, hoping to collect tip money in the case. Several recent artists had successful story-bowls, including Cat Valente and David Freer, and this was held up as "the way of the future."
I don't think so. See, one of the reasons story-bowls work and the street musician gets cash is the pity factor. In other words, some portion of the donors feel sorry for the artist and decide to give. After all, the artist is making an effort. I know - I tossed five bucks into Cat Valente's jar even though I've read less than half of a chapter of her YA book.
At any rate I enjoyed the con, and conversations like that one are why.
In other news, my panels went well. The e-reader panel turned into a general discussion of publishing. Rob Sawyer was present but not on the panel, and Walt Boyes (
bigbananaslug) is a veteran of the publishing industry, so getting a word in edgewise proved a bit difficult. As has become typical in a general discussion of publishing, one of the topics addressed was the idea of artists going directly to consumers. An example in support of this idea was the "story-bowl."The story-bowl is a simple concept - artist puts out an announcement that they will post works online if people keep tossing money into the electronic tip jar. It's the 21st century version of taking your guitar out on a street corner and playing, hoping to collect tip money in the case. Several recent artists had successful story-bowls, including Cat Valente and David Freer, and this was held up as "the way of the future."
I don't think so. See, one of the reasons story-bowls work and the street musician gets cash is the pity factor. In other words, some portion of the donors feel sorry for the artist and decide to give. After all, the artist is making an effort. I know - I tossed five bucks into Cat Valente's jar even though I've read less than half of a chapter of her YA book.
At any rate I enjoyed the con, and conversations like that one are why.
