Hullo!
Welcome to the latest
update on “Saturday” the book, where you’re GUARANTEED to catch the hottest
updates on a book that came out like a year and a half ago. I guess what I’m
saying is that reading these updates is about as informative and helpful as
reading a musty old TV guide with Bee Arthur on the cover.
Speaking of breaking
news: I’m going to start posting these updates on the 15th of the
month. I figure it will be loads easier to ignore these long-winded diatribes
if there’s a predictable date attached. I’m also thinking of sending these
through a different venue, so instead of coming through Kickstarter I’ll
probably send them through MailChimp. They would still have updates on
“Satudray”, but they would also include what I’m working on right now,
including new illustrations and updates about my new book (the one about
puberty). What do you think? Are you interested in something like that?
If so, sign up here: http://www.noahkroese.com/blog/
In other news: I
doubled my sales on Amazon last week! Pretty incredible, I know. I’ve now sold
a total of two berks. But I don’t want you to treat me any differently now that
I’m a massive, break-out success. Yes, “Saturday” is selling like hotcakes. At
a militant gluten-free, anti-capitalist commune. I also received an email from
Amazon that basically said, “Your books ain’t exactly flyin’ off the shelves.
Want them back?” There’s nothing quite like the largest retailer on Earth
delivering a bracing dose of humility right to your doorstep.
I’m…uh…I’m bad at the
whole selling thing. I’m Willy Loman sitting gloomily in the audience of a Ron
Popiel infomercial. I’m Shelley Levene frowning in a Silicon Valley conference
room. I haven’t even heard of half the words these tech bros are bandying
about. I have no idea what “synergistic” means and I don’t *$%#@ care.
I’m about to say the
most un-American thing I’ve maybe ever said. Joe McCarthy is about to roll over
in his grave (he was a jerk anyway). I don’t like hotdogs. No, wait…that wasn’t
it. Freedom Sticks are delicious and help build strong stomachs (because
they’re made from them). What I meant to say was I don’t want to be a salesman.
I don’t like it. I’m not good at it. I’m not interested in being better. And
every minute I spend trying to polish the turd that represents my sales acumen
is a minute I’m not doing the thing I probably should be doing. The thing I
actually want to do. The thing I’m halfway good at: Making new things. I want
to spend my time drawing weird, fun, different books. Full stop.
Of course, selling my
work is part of what allows me to make new things. Money, it turns out, is
somewhat completely crucial to continuing to make new stuff, live indoors, and
eat regularly. Some might argue that, however distasteful, selling is an
inevitable and necessary part of the show. Selling is a little like radio
commercials. Insipid, asinine, embolism-inducing radio commercials. However
much they make you want to rip your radio out of the dashboard, grind it into
dust with your teeth and then spit the dust into a volcano, commercials pay for
the music or programs you listen to.
So here’s the plan:
I’m going to dial back the selling part a bit. Not completely, but enough to
free up more time to keep making new things. Things like this:
I’m not giving up on
selling the book. I have a few things left to try out. For instance, I’m going
to try to get a digital version of “Saturday” out in the world to hopefully let
more people see it (even though I think print is the best way to read it). I’ll
also do book events now and then.
But Life is short.
Too short to spend time doing things that make me miserable. And if ever there
comes a reckoning point before or after someone pats me on the face with a
shovel, I’d rather say I made more things than sold more things. Bang up job so
far.
So, just to recap: Iff’n
you want to hear the latest about what I’m working on, mosey on over to this
address and sign up: http://www.noahkroese.com/blog/
I thought about just
dropping all the email addresses I have from the Kickstarter campaign, but
something about that feels creepy. I know signup means an extra step for you
(sorry), but I’d rather ask you to opt in than add another email to your inbox
without your permission. In the words of the sage, Wilford Brimley, “It’s the
right thing to do.”
Sign up and you’ll
keep getting “Saturday” updates AND see whatever this odd shut-in has been
drawing lately. I’ll share projects, sketches, and my dumb, dumb thoughts. And
they’ll come right to you once a month, like the worst paperboy in history.
What do you say?
PS: It embarrasses me
to say anything sincere or heartfelt. It feels like letting a stranger look
through my refrigerator, and I’m ashamed of a lot of the stuff in there, like
Freedom Sticks. But here goes anyway: I remain, as ever, grateful for your
support. There’s no two ways about it: I wouldn’t have been able to get this
far without your help. You helped make this book into an actual thing you could
hold in your hands. That means everything to me. Thank you. Thank you. Ask your
doctor if Freedom Sticks are right for you. He or she will definitely say no.
Cheers.
