Dragging my feet
So I held off on writing this week’s newsletter as I was hoping to share two updates. One, how my first day as a substitute teacher went and two the awardees of the Tall Poppy Press Open Call.
However, I have neither to share!
The open call is in a position where we’ve made two offers and are waiting for each artist to confirm they are happy with our terms. A big learning for me over the last year is just to be more upfront with every artist and now I have a ‘terms’ document that sort of lays out what we’re offering and who does what.
So - hopefully by the end of next week the two artists we’ve been talking with have confirmed and are a-ok coming on board and I can share that widely, proudly and excitedly.
The substitute teaching work is, well, a different story. Broadly it’s the end of the year and there’s less need for substitute teachers, and I’m being a bit picky. See I don’t particularly want to drive 45-60m to a school, so my range of possible schools is smaller. Additionally, it’s likely that schools have their pick of subs at this time of year and are probably sticking with folks they know.
To be honest, I’m not mad about it. I’m fairly unenthusiastic about the idea of doing this work, however I will need to do some. If not before Christmas (and there’s like 5 days before Christmas I could work) then certainly afterwards. I think, if I’m being somewhat clear sighted, I’ll have to do as many days of teaching work in February, March and April as I can, and likely some travel I was toying with for April won’t be feasible.
We also had our electrical wiring go kaput at home, so that was $2000 out of pocket! We’ve been in the wars in terms of repairs this year: $3000 on the car, $1500 for hot water, $2000 for electrical, $6000 for air conditioning! It’s a bit mental, and more or less means I just have to be a bit strict with any big spending as summer is really slow income wise.
On the other hand, some things have happened:
We sold out of another book! Our second printing of Morganna Magee’s extraordinary experiences has sold out :)
I have found a studio and locked it in! This is big news, for me at least, I have a nice big space from which to work, teach and chill out as of February. It’s in Brunswick East, is 22sqm and I can host workshops as I like - I’m putting together the workshop schedule for 2025 at the moment and really looking forward to kitting out the studio and making it clean, functional, inviting and awesome.
I’d like to have, like, a nice candle, a simple hand outs - everything schmick and professional and simple.
I have made a draft of my next book! This is really great as I was thinking I had to do a lot more road-tripping and travel to complete it, but after drafting it I think I basically only need two more photos. And they’re in the works. Really affirming :)
I spent some time this week reaching out to interstate contacts. I’ve been steadily increasing some of the work I do in Western Australia in particular and, as it stands, it looks like I’ll spend more of July working there - I want to lock in maybe 5-8 paid opportunities for that time, so I’ve been emailing and setting things up!
Our first book for 2025 is now complete and has gone to print. It’s nice having that locked in and sorted out, and I can focus on setting up a great launch and just knowing we’re all good in the hood.
I hope you’re all doing well. Next week will be my last update for 2025 and I’m planning on reflecting on how working for myself has gone and whether or not I met the goals I set way back in July. It should be a fun one.
Matt