Self Publishing in the Digi-Democratic Age

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When most of us poor poets think of publishing our work, we start to feel a sense of hopelessness. Then, when despair begins to set in, we begin to dismiss our fears of vanity and begin to take steps to pay our audience, well--we can't even do that directly. We pull out our credit cards and, with tears in our eyes, put together our volume and send it to a publisher who offer to put together a volume for a fee. We pay to publish a dozen or two books and then we pay for marketing the books or we slog around selling.

The only thing that keeps us trying to publish in this environment is our faint hope that we will get a pleasant note that some editor or other likes our work enough to publlish it in their magazine or e-zine. Beyond that we know nothing. It's all our hope and vanity that drives us to seek the recognition of editors and publishers who have the ultimate approval decision to make.

This is the digi-democratic era, fellow poets. There is no ceiling and no demigods guarding the gateway. We need nothing to be read very widely except our own wills. Without being immodest, I can say that my poetry blog has seen over 25,000 readers over the last six years, from all over the world (I know that because the blog stats tell me). My visual arts blog has had over 30,000 visits over that length of time, more than a visit a day. That is as many eyes as most poetry publications and art galleries. My poetry videos average between 250 and 350 views. One of them has surpassed 1500 views. That's not a lot by YouTube standards but it's not bad for poetry and photos. The people that visit my sites take the time to read some of my poetry and examine and respond to some of my pictures rather than sweeping over the gallery floor with a wine glass.

The key to notariety in the digi-democracy is not the pleasant note from an editor. It is Search Engine Optimization (SEO). You get on a number of web sites. You establish a brand. You put in some links to your home. Then wait. Art has always been a selling and a kind of begging. I don't know why we do it, but we do. The new democratic order has given new life to the marketplace.

The Smile in the Scheme of Things

The mouth is the organ of acceptance and rejection. And smiles are what happens to the mouth when things are acceptable. In essence a smile says, "yes, I like it."
The smile in a simple classification of feelings:
The smile is universal, what the ethologists call "a sign stimulus." The face is a generator of signs that communicate a range emotional reactions to social situations. You don't have to be a human being to show emotional sign stimuli. You can draw simple cartoons that do it. Animal faces are often perceived to be expressing feelings which they very likely don't have, just because of the way the parts of the face are drawn.
Furthermore, people's faces often appear to be permanently fixed to broadcast certain feelings that they really don't feel. Recent research has shown that convicted murderers with permanently upturned (smiling) mouths are less likely to get the death penalty when sentenced than those with downturned mouths.
Facial Schemes:
There are two major components of emotions in the face: the eyebrows and the mouth. The eyebrows, and the top of the face reflects the basic "I am capable " or "I am helpless" dimension. The mouth is the organ for receiving or rejecting. As emotional signs, the mouth expresses acceptance or "yes" or rejection or "no." In the simplest possible form, the face has an alphabet of four emotional expressions, of which two represent kinds of smiles.
Let's look at these expressive signs one at a time. They involve the position of the inner points of the eyebrow and the outer points of the mouth.

• The inner points of the eyebrow point up. This means "I am helpless." The outer points of the mouth go down. This is the crying icon. I am helpless and I don't like it.
• The inner points of the eyebrow point up ("I am helpless"). The outer points of the mouth go up. This is the "nicest man in the world icon. "I am helpless and I like it" (which usually translates as "I won't hurt you").
• The inner points of the eyebrow go down. This means "I am capable or in control." The outer points of the mouth go down. This is the angry icon. "I am capable and I am disapproving."
• The inner points of the eyebrows go down ("I am capable"). The outer points of the mouth go up. This is a particular kind of smile, sometimes you could interpret it as a sardonic smile or even a cruel smile. "I am capable and I like it."

Feed-Back Loops:
In real life, of course, the range of emotions is much broader. The face is a continuously changing display of feelings. But the smile is one of the most basic emotional signs. Modern research also suggests the existence of feedback loops. People can raise their feelings of optimism or capability by practicing making those basic facial expressions. There is a kind of laughter yoga practice. People practice laughing, even if nothing is funny. They find that the laughing is contagious and leads to a change in inner feelings.

Reflections before Sleep

Things of the world are just
approximations of what's real.
I know what's real
is somewhere. There'd be no
bumps and jaggies there.
Are we born into almost,
hazes in clouds?

Entrepeneurship: State of the Art

Underpinnings of the Study of Entrepreneurship:
Contemplation about entrepeneurship has been part of human discourse for hundreds of years. In many ways, the values under discussion reflect profound differences between basic philosophical systems of values.

The Greek culture and many non-western cultures believed in fate. The Greeks invented the idea of hubris which defines as a sin any attempt to advance beyond one's fated role in life. The so called Protestant ethic, on the other hand, described economic advancement and capitalistic success as a religious duty.

Most western democracies operate on systems that combine the lassaiz faire philosophy of free unregulated markets which favor risk-takers and those supported by capital with the philosophy of the welfare state, based on the Marxist principles of "from each according to their ability to each according to their need," generating safety nets and government based support.

Even biology reflects the dichotomy underlying entrepreneurship. Cold blooded animals tend to wait for their prey and only act to grab their victims, eat them then stay passive until their drives increase again. Warm blooded animals are more active between bouts of hunger, ultimately responding to curiosity and creative motives.

Entrepreneurship Data and Study summaries:
More recent studies of entrepreneurship focus on the practical question, how can we identify entrepreneurs and can they be created?

Real studies of traits associated with entrepreneurship are hard to find. However, there seem to be many articles that speculate about the subject. Generally the traits said to be linked to entrepreneurship tend to strongly loaded with social desirability. The articles describing entrepreneurial traits imply that entrepreneurs are highly desirable people.

For example, in their book,  Power of Unreasonable People: How Social Entrepreneurs Create Markets that Change the World, (Harvard Business School Press, 2008), authors John Elkington and Pamela Hartigan identify the following traits their study connect with entrepreneurship. They say that entrepreneurs:

• Try to shrug off the constraints of ideology or discipline.
• Identify and apply practical solutions to problems, combining innovation, resourcefulness and opportunity.
• Innovate by finding a new product, service or approach to a social problem.
• Focus first and foremost on social value creation and, in that spirit, are willing to share their innovations and insights for others to replicate.
• Jump in before ensuring that they are fully resourced. Have an unwavering belief in everyone's innate capacity, often regardless of education, to contribute meaningfully to economic and social development.
• Show a dogged determination that pushes them to take risks that others wouldn't dare.
• Balance their passion for change with the zeal to measure and monitor impact.
• Have a great deal to teach change-makers in other sectors.
• Display a healthy impatience.

Others authors site similar lists, often adding speculation about whether the traits can be taught or are inherited.

 In an article appeared at Ross School of Business at The University of Michigan (Copyright 2014), the authors list the following highly desirable traits, saying that entrepreneurs are:

• 1. Passionate
• 2. Resilient
• 3. Self-Possessed
• 4. Decisive
• 5. Fearless
• 6. Financially Prepared
• 7. Flexible
• 8. Zoom Lens-Equipped
• 9. Able to Sell
• 10. Balanced

Questions about creating entrepreneurs and encouraging their success are long standing questions, pre-dating even the notion of entrepreneurism. The present state of sociological and social psychological study of what makes an entrepreneur are observational and lack real data.

Personal Choice Scale

This is an experimental career interest assessment scale I have been playing with. Try it. It's public domain.

http://pdfcast.org/pdf/personal-choice-scale-quick-interest-assessment
http://pdfcast.org/pdf/personal-choice-scale-scoring-key

Cooperative Reality

 

How frantic
they got when
a citizen
decided to drop out!
They saw
the whole enterprise
weaken. They thought
all they worked for would
disappear in a moment,
the glue would
come loose, the nails would
pop out. It was scary,
much better to think
that the elements
in the chain were
simply securely fixed,
the atoms remained in crystal,
the ice intact.
Once lost, the citizen was nearly
impossible to restore.
They liked predictability.
That made them most happy.
And predictability
came from education.
They made the world real
by inserting it
into the brains of the young.
Those living in the real world,
our real world, they would say,
they knew
would stay.
They liked refrigeration
that drew the energy
out of the young.
They squandered their money
on the fuel to refrigerate,
keep the crystals
clean and sharp.
Stasis was the easiest
form of familiarity.

Quantum Theory

If I were an earthworm
I say that rhythmically
as if I were singing "rich man."
.
If I were an earthworm,
there would only be WHEN..
.
Life would be time
as light and dark would
come and go and my gut
would feed as if I had
a tube to my stomach.
.
Life would be
a tunnel of passing.
My muscles modelled in my nerves
would create my space.
.
How different would be
the confounding universe,
if I were born
not a man?