Lots of wins, but still a way to go
Hello everyone,
I’m happy to say that, so far, this week has had a lot of wins, a lot of progress and some really nice making it work while working for myself moments. A good contrast to being a bit worn out last week.
As we’ve started to release our first products for the year a few good things have happened sales wise.
We had some really good pre-orders for Milk Teeth - those make a huge difference in terms of getting a chunk of the printing costs sorted.
The launch of Milk Teeth (29th of March!) should be really well attended. I hope to sell another 20-30 books there. If we do that, we’ll have cleared close to 100 books in the first month. That’s great. I usually aim to see 20-25% of the print run sold in the first month! Hitting that target matters a lot.
Our second book - We Were Just Little Boys - has had some great news this week. First of all, the artist has secured a grant so she can travel to France for a book launch - we’ll likely do something in Paris and then something at a festival. Why Europe? Well she’s in an exhibition at a major festival and also has some large organisations who supported her work who are keen to put on events, so why not?
Additionally, we’re planning a similar series of events in New York in October - hopefully she can secure a travel grant for that too.
The book is about Kinchela Boy’s Home - a residential school for Indigenous boys during the stolen generation. A lot of awful things happened there and there are still about 40 survivors alive today. In April, Tace and I will visit NSW and work with the Uncles who survived the boys home to make some new art works for the book. I really hope that each copy of the book can show the world something directly from these survivors - something of their personality, strength, story, experience. We have now locked those dates in and will have everything made by mid-April.
I have also locked in a week-long travel trip to Broken Hill to create more work about the Dingo Proof Fence and dingoes - both for an exhibition I have there in June AND for the book I’m slowly working on. I have some new great local contacts and am looking forward to spending some time making my own photos and pushing that project further along.
For the two final books this year (coming out in October) I found a great printer with reasonable costs for them - a key win for me.
I had some unexpected sales this week - one of the more expensive workshops had an out-of-the-blue booking. I’m sort of used to having to work hard on the marketing there to get sales, which is fine, so when one comes through it’s a big win! I’ve found that the more expensive/extensive workshops are more popular than the cheaper/more accessible ones. Isn’t that interesting?
Today I woke up and didn’t want to do any substitute teaching work, I fell back asleep and missed a few calls from schools. When I woke up again someone asked if I could work at the school closest to me - a win-win. Less commuting, more sleep. What a good time.
Things are about to get very busy - in a way that I hope makes this newsletter a bit more interesting. I feel like the last month I’ve sort of just been writing a lot about the behind the scenes admin and how that contributes to good planning and good opportunities. That’s important, and often something folks don’t write about, but it can’t be that exciting to read about. Over the next week I’ll be on a podcast, starting work at a University, hosting our first big book launch for the year and teaching a huge workshop. I’m trying to take it a bit easy at the moment as that last week of March will be just a totally overwhelming one.
I am looking forward to sharing a round up of the first quarter of the year - and how I’m progressing against the goals I set myself. Frankly, I really need some strong book sales in March/April/May - and that’s ok, I’ve got two book launches and three book fairs - but that’s a critical period for me - if I bring in enough cash I’m in a good spot. If I don’t then funding the next books becomes a lot harder. I’m never at risk of having no cash for life, but it’s more having enough saves to pay those $1x,000 printing bills! But we’re tracking well, I’m not nervous, just aware!
Still - life’s pretty good. Today how hard am I working? Students in front of me are studying for an exam (while talking about hair, makeup, new music and friends) and I’m writing a newsletter, texting my business partner and thinking about what I’ll get for lunch. Life’s not too bad, there’s things to be wary of, prepared for and sharing with you all, but also, day-to-day we’re doing ok.
Actually one final thought. I was thinking last week that I’m very at peace with whatever happens next. There’s still a good chance I’ll get to some point this year and realise that I need to go back to part time or full time work. I actually am ok with that - the prospect of that doesn’t upset, stress or worry me. I’ve had a lot of fun and feel like I’ve had a big swing - I’ve always known it might work out or might not. I now can say that, in my head and heart, whatever happens next (continue working for myself, or go back to work) I feel that I had a good shot, tried my best and can hold my head up and keep going regardless of where we land.
If nothing else comes from taking 6 months off in 2024, then whatever happens in 2025, I feel really calm and relaxed about the future, which is not something I’ve always felt. I used to have much more existential frustration - wanting to live differently and break free from full time work. I’ve done that now, if it changes again that’s so ok. Really, that change in headspace is a gift, it’s good to share that.
Till next week :)