My literary chops are exquisite!

Okay, so Hanging Chad hasn’t hung it up. Just gone through an identity crisis. Yes, another one. Who’s counting? But these internal tectonic shifts are somehow important. At least I’d like to think so. At least if I can keep my balance and redirect.

For the past three years I’ve been at work on three novels. Why not one at a time? Lots of reasons. Everything from feeling like one was ready and just in need of connecting with the right personnel, to exploring a new style (which sometimes didn’t work), to wanting to “just write” and complete a draft. I’ve completed some drafts. I have one market-ready novel. I have a marketing plan. I feel great about it. But I also am envisioning where I want to take the next steps forward. One challenging part of writing is the complete creative directing that comes into play. There is no creative production team–at least not at first. So, strategy comes into play. Strategic vision, you might say. David Shields has been making the point of writing relevant literature for many years now, and his book Reality Hunger: A Manifesto has been shaking my tree and challenging how I want to channel my energies.

If you dare suggest my literary chops need revision then I just might raise my middle finger!

So, I was talking about identity. I think part of the “problem” is developing an acute awareness of what is happening within the forms and definitions of literature itself, as much as seeking to tell the “truth,” to chart out some new territory, explore, dramatize some hidden dimension of life–to discover those things. I’m not here to pretend to resolve centuries old “issues” about the tensions and differences between writing for money and writing for the sake of “art.”

Hey, man, don’t be dissin’ the chops, man.

Writing for the larger market is a skill–whatever we may finally assess of it as art–and giving the readers what they want requires acumen, creativity and plain hard work. Writing what we call literature, what is interesting to me, what I want to say, challenging the status quo, interpreting culture and the definition of what is “literary,” is what also pushes the art to evolve. But if only other writers of the ever-diminishing tribe of literature read the work in question (at best), then what is the point? How different is it than singing in the shower or joining the Mutual Admiration Society?

I have a good friend who “cracked the code,” whose novel went international, who sold major rights deals, who was trying to write something smart and marketable but also literary. A major publisher signed him to a three-book deal for his first novel. I believe the novel sold well

Who’s chopping who?

in a few countries. Only after disappointing American sales on the second book, the publisher is now telling him the kinds of characters they’d like to see in the third. I guess that’s a good problem to have, but when the major publishers tell their authors the kind of characters they need to employ because they know how it will appeal to their intended market audience? I guess we can see who has the power in this relationship.

I’ve read and discussed and heard literally probably hundreds of discussions on related issues like “what is literary fiction,” and how you must always have an audience in mind, and how some say literature is dying because of the callow American culture. How far down has the culture really gone though? Only 1% of the population even graduated from college up until 1960. Is our culture really so under-educated in America? To me, it seems more of a re-directing of interest and energy. (And yes I think basic literacy is pretty poor, but that’s another topic.)

Please. Not another word until I’ve spoken with my attorneys.

Overall, though, with the previously unimagined proliferation of information people now have access to, people are reading as much as ever before, probably MUCH more. It’s just that there are so many other kinds of discourse now. So many other dominant forms of entertainment. So many other forms of cultural boundary pushing that literature is left in the dust. Can you even remember the last bestseller that you felt had serious literary chops? So, I’m inspired by the likes of David Shields and others who are examining their fields from the inside out in order to write compelling literature that legitimately competes for our profoundly divided attention.

But what about the top five of one of the top five? Now we’re even moving on the existential reality of High Fidelity.

They are driving the big orange wagon. It’s about anything or nothing else. It’s about the road. It’s about leaving. Cleaving. Meaning, I am not departing. Or maybe I am, and always. Whatever, I am not taking another whack out of the mole. They are forever leaving and arriving, forever born rambling. They are from Georgia. Savannah of all places. No father for Greg by the time he was two. Felt inspired to the blues when he saw his first live show at 10. Turns out, his younger brother Duane is the guitar phenom. No problem. Greg turns to other things like his soulful voice, and hitting the keys.

Okay, so I’m not writing a Rolling Stone article here. Just a top five of a top five band. So here goes:

Technically, for the best song overall you probably have to say “Whipping Post,” I have to say that growing up I always valued “Rambling Man” and “Blue Sky” so much more. “Jessica” is so classic, and I just love when the piano solo erupts about halfway through. So that leaves room for just one more. I’m tempted to choose a lesser known “B-side” selection, but I think it would be wrong to ignore “Midnight Rider.” As simple and repetitive as it is, it’s also a defining Allman Brothers song, and let’s face it, part of the genius is in its very simplicity. Okay, now I’m regretting keeping “Southbound” off the top five. I can’t do this…

While Greg Allman gets all the media attention lately (and of course he founded the band with his late-great brother), the great Dickey Betts really gets very little credit for the defining Allman Brothers sound, not to mention he wrote some of the very best songs. The dude was wild. The dude was outrageous. The dude was kicked out of the band? I don’t know why. Apparently some issues between him and Greg? In the video below, you can tell he hardly knows what to do with himself when he isn’t touring and on the road. You can also tell he’s lived a hard life. Safe enough to say? Maybe the band has become almost a caricature of itself. Maybe they’re pushing for one last glow in the spotlight of relevance. Whatever the case, they’ve always been some bad dudes.

The two sides of self-publishing hashing it out.

I’ve written a good bit recently about my optimism in the future of publishing. Like most people, I love it when walls come tumbling down. Nothing like taking a chip of the 1989 Berlin Wall home with you. Lots to love about opening up creative industries to a vast population. And yet there’s a lot to be concerned with. For instance, according to Bowker, 211,269 self-published titles were released last year, up more than 60 percent from 2010. A vast majority sold fewer than 100 copies, but enough were successful, hitting USA Today‘s Best-Selling Books list. That’s way more than ever before. The gates may be flinging open, but it’s a madhouse if you want to get noticed for writing something of value. Is this trend a new form of industry gatekeeping? Is it tantamount to nothing more than another hoop for author’s to jump through to prove their marketability?

According to GalleyCat, Simon & Schuster has created Archway Publishing to help writers self-publish fiction, nonfiction, business and children’s books. They will run the new service with help from Author Solutions, the self-publishing company acquired by Pearson for $116 million in July. Self-publishing is a rapidly growing sector of the book industry, but big publishers have been tentative about entering the market, partly for fear of tarnishing their brand by allowing content they have not reviewed to be published under their name.

Archway will offer a range of services, from a basic $1,599 package that includes “editorial assessment” and “cover copy review” to a $24,999 “Outreach” program for business books that features an “author profile video” and a reception at BookExpo America, the industry’s annual national convention. Simon & Schuster will monitor the sales of Archway titles and may sign some authors for traditional publishing deals. In recent months, for instance, the publisher signed self-published romance authors Jamie McGuire and Colleen Hoover.

Certainly a form of consolidation here. I see it being quite lucrative for them if they run their business well. Does it basically mean you have to pay to play? Does it just come down to another form of gatekeeping?

You, at Your Most Powerful
How to Describe Yourself
How to Make an Immediate Impact
How to Take Your Performance to the Next Level
What to Watch Out For
How to Win as a Leader/ Manager/ in Sales/ in Client Service

The book is based on extensive research, statistical testing, and analysis of the world’s top performers. It also includes a unique access key to the the brand new “StandOut Strengths Assessment,” an online test that you can take in 20–25 minutes.

Your top two roles are where you will make your greatest contribution. In other words, where you have a natural advantage over everyone else, and where you can exert the most productive leverage. I particularly liked the way Buckingham develops a cross-pollination of types from the main nine profiles. For instance, I came out as a Creator and Influencer, the two of which profiled me more specifically as a Producer. I kind of like the sound of that, and hadn’t realized that being a producer has been something I’ve been involved in for a long time.

But StandOut has its limitations. Unlike earlier Gallup poll Strength Finder studies, or other broad application strength-based tests, this one applies specifically to work, and only to certain kinds of work, especially business. There is value in Standout for many readers in business fields. But even Markus Buckingham’s other Strengths works such as Now, Discover Your Strengths and Go, Put Your Strengths to Work are more valuable holistically and I recommend them first.

A beginning clip on the concept behind strengths assessments:

Some book cover designs by Chip Kidd

Book designers give form to content. They gives readers a first hand impression of what they are about to enter into. A designer manages a very careful balance. You don’t want to be redundant and show and tell. You basically want to show if you’re Chip Kidd. Some small presses may have a signature designer, but in the transitional period that C&R is currently experiencing, we’re working with a variety of designers. We work with designers from top notch New York design firms to sharp college interns to artists and artist-writers who have graphic design skills.

Sometimes these designers are behind the scenes. I think a little too behind the scenes.

As we grow and develop, I would love to see a very open line-up of C&R titles, and the designers behind them. I’m dreaming a little here, but wouldn’t it be cool if the authors got to choose who they wanted to work with? Wouldn’t it be interesting to see a designer work for a piece of the book’s royalty, as a kind of investment in the book itself? Who knows, but it’s a crucial part of the process, of the book as a work of art.

Do we lose something with e-books? As with all technology leaps, yes. Quite a lot, in fact. There’s plenty to gained and the sky’s still the limit, though. And book design remains a crucial part of the book publishing industry. For a hilarious and informative few minutes, just check out this cool Ted Talk from Chip Kidd, one of the most famous book designers today. The video below has had well over half a million views. Be a part of the movement!

“Is it an original idea? Or is it something where you’re literally a creative collagist? You’re taking pieces of the world that you see around you and that are inside of you and put them together in a way that you see fit.” — Abigail Washburn

Some would say knowing when to stop makes or breaks nearly any given work of art no matter how big or small.  Billy Collins says his poems tend to be going somewhere and that he “advances the poem to some place where it can stop.” More mystically, Louise Gluck says that the poem “just closes the door.” Have you heard about the kindergarten teacher whose students were always producing the best art of any of the other teachers in the school?

She was asked, “How come your students produce such good art?”

“Well, I just know when to take them away from them,” she said.

The teacher was good at identifying when they’d achieved something artful before the thing ran to mud. May all of us be so wise with our own creations.

Here’s a ten-minute clip which discusses some of these ideas featuring our former U.S. Poet Laureate, Billy Collins.

SNL satirized phony positive thinking a LONG time ago.

Telling someone they can be anything or do anything is actually not all that helpful, is it? I remember going to a U2 concert in 1989 for the Joshua Tree tour and at the end Bono said that if he could make it then everyone can do it. Lighter in hand, singing Kum-ba-ya or whatever that last song was they’d always end with, I was drinking the Kool Aid big time. 20 years later you could still find me trying to find my vocal range in various cafes and saloons. In short, Bono was wrong.

There’s so much cultural emphasis on staying positive, sometimes it’s just plain annoying. What? We can’t have a negative thought, a doubt, about our goals and aspirations lest we kill the dream by putting it out there into the universe?

“A growing body of research suggests that negative thinking, if strategically pursued, has a role to play in happiness, too,” reports Oliver Burkeman in the Center for Greater Good’s newsletter. He goes on to suggest several ways you can put your tendency towards gloom to productive use. And here’s an interview with him on the same subject with other books to bolster his claims. The main claim is that humans find happier selves through honest self-assessment. “Negative visualization can be an excellent antidote to anxiety. The Stoics called this ‘the premeditation of evils,’ while modern-day researchers call it ‘defensive pessimism,’” says Burkeman.

Apparently, between 25% and 30% of Americans regularly use this strategy, author Tim Ferriss among them. Jessica Stillman, a freelance writer with interests in unconventional career paths, offers some insights into the power of negative thinking.

Why does it work?

“When you try to persuade yourself that everything will work out for the best, you risk reinforcing your unspoken belief that it would be utterly catastrophic if they didn’t. Instead, try soberly working through how badly things could really go. You may find that your fears get cut down to manageable size,” says Burkeman.

So, how can you harness the power of negative thinking? By letting go of goals. Not everyone is equally driven by them and some wilt beneath their pressure. Also, embracing the fact of death. Easy for a poet to say.

I’m not saying go out and revel in the power of negative–and neither is Burkeman for that matter. I’m saying be real. Yes, optimism is nice. Even necessary. I generally prefer to be with people who have a positive outlook, but it’s nice when people can be real, too. As in, yes, it’s scary to try new things. Or, yes, you do feel bummed when you get a rejection of one kind or another. And, no, you don’t always feel like traveling on the holidays. And sometimes you do wake up feeling less bold and powerful and energetic than other days. And, you know what? That’s okay. At least here it is. Here at Hanging Chad.

In fact, just to end on a positive note, check out this cool magazine, The Intelligent Optimist (formerly Ode). Speaking of odes: Pay me $4 to cover the price of shipping, and I’ll send you an anthology of praise poems that I edited with Ryan G. Van Cleave in 2008. Boom!

Just how tall is he, you ask?

WHO IS HE? He’s the enchanting wizard of rhythm. Wait. That’s Beck. You can call him “the next Bob Dylan” all you want, but Bob Dylan never even approached this vocal aptitude (and I’ve been vocal in my defense for Dylan’s vocals). Some say he’s got a “Dylan-esque croon.” I can see that I guess.

Anyway, it is highly improbable that ANYONE will ever be the next Bob Dylan period. It’s more likely that there will be a next Michael Jordan than a next Bob Dylan.  But I digress, and I’ve now said “Bob Dylan” enough to hugely increase my SEO. His name, by the way, is Kristian Matsson and he’s 5’5. The Washington Post described him as “less a towering titan than an ex-jockey on his way to audition for Grease.” He says he chose the moniker, The Tallest Man on Earth, because:

“I needed a great name. I needed that name to force myself to write good enough songs and make good enough performances. If the songs weren’t good enough, or the crowd didn’t like me, then the name would seem stupid. To make that name seem right, I have to try and be amazing.”

And amazing he is. “The Wild Hunt,” a good strum style example:

He grew up among the placid lakes, dense woods and rolling hills of the Dalarna region of Sweden, northwest of Stockholm. He says that coming from such a beautiful place, and growing up riding his bike through those woods “stays with you.”

STYLE and INFLUENCES: Matsson’smusical style is described a LOT of ways. He first heard Bob Dylan at fifteen, and became slowly exposed to early American folk, such as Pete Seeger and Woody Guthrie. But he is careful to say, “I don’t consider my work to be a part of any tradition. This is how I play. This is how I write songs.”

Matsson had classical guitar training in his youth, but says he “never really focuses on it” and that by the end of high school he even “got bored playing guitar because it was like math.” In his early twenties, he discovered open tunings listening to Nick Drake. Open tunings allowed him to focus on singing and perform intricate music.

“I’ve always tried to pick the guitar like the old blues guys, like Skip James, Son House, Booker White. Try as I might, I never succeeded in playing like them. But, all of a sudden, one night I realized that I could use the energy of those songs to fill my own songs. I made one song, then another one came, then another one. It was effortless, like I finally found my way to make music.”

A Swede playing the blues? It works. His songwriting and delivery–his performance–is as authentic as they come, more than the sum total of his influences. Just listen to the picking here:

Hanging Chad is about transparency and authenticity. We are who we are. And for as awful as that captured portrait may sound, is it really so unusual?

Okay, I’m not here to address societal issues with anecdotal research, as interesting as those may be. I’m really not even trying to enter the larger discussion of how these increasingly individualized platforms and platform content keep us isolated from each other even while we’re together. Those are biggies. We want the individual content, and anyway, even if we don’t, it’s not only here to stay, it’s going to fragment more and more. Just wait and see where we are in 2017. Yes, Hanging Chad sometimes even whips out his crystal ball. Or confer with Dorie Clark’s Marketing Strategy blog article, originally posted in Forbes.