book

Focused Fandom Countdown: 8 Weeks To Go

by

So where am I on Fanart, Fanartists, and Careers?

I just finished the resource sections.  I wanted to have a good amount of useful links and books for people to use, which actually was more challenging than I thought.

Since artistic careers go in a lot of different directions, I ended up having to ask myself what would be useful to the broadest audience . . . which is not always what it seems.  Then there are "contrarian" resources, like certain books, that deserve mention only for that very fact.  You can also put in too much or too little.

So I used an advanced system called "gut feelings" for this, erring on the side of "give people one good option if you're sure, 3 options if you're not."

That's one issue with a book like this – you have to find out what's useful to people.  In the end what my books are are mental toolkits to help people in their careers.  If I don't provide the right tools – or turn it into a swiss army knife of confusion – then I'm not doing my job.

So the best method was to include the truly useful, and options when needed.  It's a balancing act, but I think it was worth it.

Of course, I need to do a gut check on it all the time . . .

So 8 weeks to go.  next up, a final editing run, then off to the editor.  That also means interviewees should be getting a beta copy in about 2-3 weeks!

– Steven Savage

Focused Fandom Countdown: 9 weeks to go

by

So where am I on? "Focused Fandom: Fanart, Fanartists, and Careers."  Well first, late with this post – I was a bit under the weather.

First of all, if you noticed the header, it got pushed out two weeks.  I'm quite busy and am likely to be changing apartments – which easily kills a weekend.  So I figured better to delay it ahead of time.

Our big lesson for the week?  Well that has to do with the rescheduling – namely, plan ahead to add space for the unexpected.

Last book I did for the series I plowed through it.  I worked weekends.  I did an entire book in 3 months.  Yes, I did it – but it doesn't mean it

In giving myself more time on the second book, I got under the delusion that I'd be fine – but just adding extra time doesn't mean you're estimating well, preparing for interruptions, etc.  If I didn't have a self-imposed deadline, it'd be one thing, but . . .

So when you're doing your own projects remember – don't just set aside time, if you at all have a deadline, project ahead, estimate your time, try and get some sense of hours, days, etc. to work.  Think ahead about interruptions.

Then?  add about 10-30% time onto that.  Seriously, rare indeed is the person who gets their time estimates right.  Take it from a Project Manager.

Next book?  I still want to keep putting these out reguarly (I'm thinking every 6 months), but you can bet I'm going to put timelines and estimates on that just to be sure I'm not full of it . . .

– Steven Savage

 

Book Review: Marketing Lessons from the Grateful Dead

by

Marketing Lessons from the Grateful Dead: What Every Business Can Learn from the Most Iconic Band in History

by David Meerman Scott and Brian Halligan

ISBN-10: 0470900520

ISBN-13: 978-0470900529

Pros:

  • A great sense of humor.
  • Serious analysis of the success of the grateful dead.
  • "Bite-sized" lessons with examples and analysis.

Cons:

  • You may not get into it if you're not at least passingly familiar with The Dead.

Summary: A smart and deep book on how the Grateful Dead did everything right in marketing.  Great for progeeks because it is a geek phenomena analyzed in-depth.

Read more