Unpublished

Today we're responding to a series of articles that have gone viral over the last couple of weeks. They're all about the publishing industry, and whether or not it's dying out.

Included: how big is the market for books? Is it growing or shrinking? Are publishers profitable? Is it even worth writing books anymore? What about indie books, self-publishing, e-books, and audio? What do publishers get right and what do they get wrong.

James says the C word twice and apologises to all the Americans for being Australian.

Main sources:

Failure is non negotiable. So how can learn and grow from our failures?

We share some of our failures, what they taught us, how we dealt with them at the time, and what we think of them now.

Included: dealing with rejection from gatekeepers, why failure should excite us, letting ourselves be upset, and more!

Another spice one provoked by some online discourse.

Is it wrong to make money from our art? Does making art with the intention to sell it sully it?

It's a strong no from us. Listen to learn why!

Don't forget we have two workshops in California coming up.

Back to our favourite punching bag: Perfectionism.

We talk about how perfectionism leads to stagnancy, stunts your growth as a creative, and ultimately leads to worse art.

LA and San Francisco artists (or anyone who wants to travel there!), we are coming to your city!

LA workshop: 25th of March

San Fran workshop: 1st of June

Pricing is on a sliding scale to accomodate different budgets.

Join us on a walk and talk as we play a little game of Would You Rather, artist edition!

We would love for you to check out Amie's fiction.

This is one of our favourite ever conversations! Emma Couette, six novels in the last five years. All while holding down a full time job.

We talk about how she juggles a 9-5 job with this sort of release schedule, doing her own promo, fighting for her novels, finding good people to give feedback, making difficult choices about how to allocate resources to creative projects, and much more!

We learned so much about the Indie publishing space and came away with heaps of things we want to action.

We reached out to Emma and asked her on the podcast because we are blown away by how she fights for her writing. How diligent she is. How much care she puts into her promotion and her social presence (@emmacouetteauthor).

Here are links to Emma's novels, please support her:

First off, friends, audio continues to betray us at every turn. We had multiple glitches again this week so, if James suddenly starts talking about the Patriarchy seemingly mid-sentence, we apologise for the non sequitur. I think things mostly make sense though? Let us know.

So, what's the episode about? Amie has an arch nemesis, and that arch nemesis is a man called Hubs who goes by the social media handle @Hubs.life (not normalise the 9-5 as we mistakenly say in the ep). Hubs doe not know Amie. Amie has never met Hubs. But Hubs made the mistake of making a series of reels and tiktoks urging his followers to "normalise the 9-5".

We talk about why we in fact do not need to do this (spoiler, because it is already incredibly normalised).

If you soldier through the "life update" section at the 2/3s mark, we go on to discuss our tips for those of you trying to create around your job (which we also have a full podcast episode on).

Xoxo Amie and James

REAL PODCAST STARTS AT ABOUT 07:00, everything before that is bullshit chat.

We talk you through how we like to plan out projects (or don't). Sit with us in a sort of ASMR, fly on the wall type way as we plan what we want to work on for the rest of the year.

We try to give our chaotic lives a loose structure. Which doesn't always work.

Expect: pros and cons of planning, what we think of ultra long term planning, how we choose projects to work on, finding our rhythm, and more rambles!

It's time to reclaim our creative power, and Augustine leads the way. An incredible conversation around putting up boundaries with gatekeepers and creative institutions, how to embrace your multi-disciplinary magic, and how to bring about all your creative dreams

Thank you for all your questions! Today we have the first Q&A ep in a while.

We talk about Amie's experience losing 30,000 followers, our work spaces, how we balance being business partners and romantic partners, why James hasn't self-published his writing yet, and much more!

Apologies but I accidentally cut out the beginning of a question: "Why did you lose 30,000 followers." We stumbled a little bit over the first 10 seconds and I wanted to fix it up... but as you know, I have next to no experience editing an audio file! So I F'd it. Whoops!

Please excuse the new mics! Let James know if you have any tips for the Rode wireless IIs at support@amiemcnee.com.

This topic is back after a break in 2022 for some reason...

We talk about all the "things" that brought us delight in 2023. TV shows, tech, books, and free things too!

If you like those rambly episodes where we overshare about our persona life, you'll enjoy this one.

Today we're talking about the myth that artists need to be unhappy in order to create great art. Amie made a post on Instagram the other day which saw some hot debates in the comments! Join us as we unpack it.

We made lists! Join us as we discus our hastily thrown together lists of top 5 tips we would give to other creatives.

We also have a short section at the beginning where we discuss the state of podcasting and talk about how we see our own podcast, and specifically, what we think about ads on podcasts. If you aren't interested in that, you can skip to about 8 minute mark!

You can email James with you thoughts at support@amiemcnee.com

How much of success is predictable? Are there actions we can take to guarantee it? The answers? Not much and probably no. Creative fields are usually complex and involve too many variables to put any success down to definitive factors. That being said, there are some things we can to do better prepare for the randomness of life and our careers.

Join us as we try to talk through the complicated topic of randomness and what it means for creatives.

Topics discusses: black swans, the survivorship bias, the problems with predicting complex events, why publishing is a fairly low risk business (from a capitalist/business owner's perspective not a writer's), why randomness can be a good thing, embracing and preparing for randomness, and much more!

James was a little unhappy with his performance in this one so please let us know what you think (dm us on unpublished or leave a voice message through spotify)!

We have the fantastic Seth Haddon back for the first ever repeat interview of the podcast!

Seth has come a long way since we spoke a year ago. He's been through the trenches of traditional publishing and is ready to share his insiders view with you! This one is interesting even for non-writers who want to understand what it's like to be a working artist who still isn't quite full-time but is on the way!

We discuss: the pressure of following up work that exceeded expectations, what it's like to be out on submission as an agented author, working on personal projects when you already have books under contract, the importance of social media to writers today, how we can push back against AI encroachment in the arts (including putting clauses in your contracts), and much more!

This is one of those episodes where we'll be working through an issue in real time. Join us as we try to understand how artists progress their skills, how long it might take to get better as an artist, plateaus, and why you're often progressing faster than you think.

We are so excited to have recorded our first IN PERSON guest recording ever for today's episode. I want to give a little warning too about the sound. Since we only have two mics, we had to share! The audio might be a little choppy in places but I think it holds up.

We were so pleased to have father-daughter bakers, Kitty and Al Tait from the ORANGE BAKERY, around our kitchen table.

If you've ever wanted to hear Amie and James have an argument in podcast form, we have a treat for you! This podcast was inspired by a few podcasts and interviews with celebrities lately where they just seem to never be able to enjoy their success. We ask whether it's even possible for humans to enjoy their wins, or if we're doomed to always be chasing the next thing.

We're interviewing writer, Instagram sensation, and famous "scammer" Caroline Calloway today on the pod.

If you don't know who Caroline is, there are barely enough words in a 5000 word article in the Cut to even begin to explain it to you. Amie will give you a little intro to her for the first few minutes of the pod (before the interview begins), so if you're already a Caroline Calloway scholar, feel free to skip to the 4 minute mark.

Regardless of your opinion on Caroline, there is so much to get from this conversation. We talk about running a creative business, the craft of writing, how we motivate ourselves to write (tasty treats!), finding the right level of rage to sustain your creativity, Caroline's incredible and unique approach to self-publishing her first book, and so much more!

This was maybe the most fun we've ever had in an interview. Amie and I both came away with ear-to-ear grins that we couldn't wipe off for days. There is so much value here for creatives. Caroline is often misunderstood and I hope this interview will help you see some of the method to what can seem like madness at times.

We have the joy of interviewing, author, Youtuber, absolute legend, and receptacle of pure creative wisdom, Campbell Walker.

Topics include: how we self-sabotage when we get too close to success; how being a parent has made Cam a better creative; perfectionism; youtube; his experience writing a book and working with publishers (and the pressure of following up a successful book); his writing process; and much more!

Something I loved about this interview was Cam's curiosity about my and Amie's creative practice. We learnt a lot and you might find some of our answers to Cam's questions interesting too!

Today we're discussing Amie's decision to relaunch her second novel 6 months after its initial release. Sub-topics include: how the concept of a single launch is driven by legacy institutions and gatekeepers; whether a "launch week" is important; strategies we're using to launch something a second time; the timelessness of your art; the benefits you might get from doing several launches rather than one (or how your ability to sell can improve with each launch of the same product); and more!

I was really late putting this up since we're still feeling a little out of routine with the move. Hopefully you all enjoy it!

We have another Artificial Intelligence episode. We try to address some of the concerns artists have about AI like Midjourney and Chat GPT. We discuss the dark side but also try to talk about all the cool things that could potentially come from this weird explosion of machines that can seemingly think. Sub topics include:

- Why we will probably always want to know the HUMAN story behind art and how that gives humans an edge over algorithms.

- Whether or not it's cheating to use AI to support our artistic process.

- How artists might be able to use AI.

- The ethics of using AI that has been trained on the work of artists without paying them royalties.

- The importance of speaking openly about this topic and not letting fear rule the discourse.

- Possible regulations we could put on AI to help artists.

- Building the future society we want.

And more.

Disclaimer that Amie and I are not experts on this and this are are just a collection of our random thoughts. No one knows what the future and this is a crazy fast moving new technology. We expect to be wrong about almost everything here.

We're answering questions from the members of the Inspired Collective (our membership program). We got so many great questions so we decided to make this part one of two!

Questions include:

What are your predictions for the indie creative scene in the next few years? How do you foresee traditional gatekeeping being further disrupted?

You interact and support so many creatives. What are the most common things that creatives seem to want answers/guidance on? And is it the "right" focus or are there themes you wish your community wanted to explore more?

Do you have any opinions (about creativity, the creative journey, etc.) or viewpoints that have changed in the last few years? What lead to that change and how did it impact your own journey?

You'll have seen a lot of creatives blossom and achieve their goals. Are there common traits or behaviour patterns you see amongst them that you think contribute to their growth? (Across creative disciplines)

For Amie: What's something you're particularly proud of or love about your latest published novel? Something maybe people haven't pointed out or commented on yet.

How do you think your move will effect your creativity/work - not just the positives, but also the potential negatives/challenges you might need to keep an eye on? & how do you hope to face them?

Do you have a recommendation on where to start? Should they be done simultaneously or separately? In a particular order to get the most benefit?

How is James' writing journey going, what is his intent for his finished books and his creative path, how he decided to abandon one novel, etc?

Enjoy!

Amie and James talk about the way hustle culture has ruined the way we look at accomplishment, painting it as an end in itself and a moral good where it should be a journey of self-discovery and joy. They discuss: their own fears about buying into hustle culture and how a reframe can help us to achieve the things we want to achieve in a more gentle, healthy way; the joy of achievement and doing hard things; the importance of protecting your energy and feeling safe; conversely, not letting safety hold you back from your goals, and much more!

Today Amie had the pleasure of interviewing the author of Already Enough, creator of Human Stuff on substack, and one of our instagram heroes, Lisa Olivera.

Topics Discussed by Lisa and Amie: 

The magic of being introverted and quiet as a creative.

How to create when it feels like the world is burning

Why creativity and art is revolutionary

Creating when it isn't 'of value' to other people

How to promote your art when it feels really icky

And so much more.

In this episode, we prompt Chat GPT, an advanced chatbot, to ask us "What are ten surprising questions to ask a creative in an interview?". In the first half, we answer the bot's (scarily good) questions. Then, we discuss the ethics of AI art, whether or not we're scared of AI, how we as a society might prepare for more advanced forms of AI, and steps our society might take to protect artists from getting their work stolen algorithms. 

We are thrilled to be interviewing Morgan Grace, poet, fantasy author, and recipient of one of Ireland's basic income for the arts grant. The grant guarantees Morgan and 2000 other artists 325 euro per week for three years, no strings attached. 

We discuss the incredible feeling of being recognised and supported by our society, how a basic income has impacted her creative practice, the basic income for artists program generally, why artists are undervalued despite being incredibly important and whether a guaranteed income could be a solution, and much more! Stay to the end for an amazing poetry reading by Morgan that brought Amie to tears. Seriously, it's incredible!

We are super excited to have Tiktok sensation Millie Ford on the pod this week!

We discuss: how to evolve and mature personally when your life is so public, perfectionism and procrastinating content creation when it's literally your job, having a safe place to make and share shitty art (+ how that can help your brand and creativity), taking advantage of inspiration, organising your day when you are responsible for your own schedule and much more!

Did you know Amie has a new book out? You can listen to the first chapter here on the podcast feed!

A bit about the book:

1535, Oxfordshire.

Lady Maude Shaftsberry has it all sorted. She will marry the well-connected lord, ascend the ranks of the Tudor court, and be mother to a small battalion of boys. But Maude has a secret that she carries everywhere: a birthmark that stretches over her stomach and between her legs. Is it a mark of fertility? Did her mother rub her pregnant belly too vigorously on the full moon? Or is it the sign of a witch?

Her new husband is certain it's the latter. Maude, faced with annulment and the nunnery, must make her own way.

The witches in town are the only ones who will give her refuge, but staying in the apothecary comes at a price. She must help and assist the witches. Surrounded by potions, star charts, a fairy, who appears to be a very large and handsome man who helps around the house, Maude begins to realise there is a strange and seductive power in being outcast.

Regrettably, I am About to Cause Trouble is a tale about being ostracised, and finding our power and family in unusual places.

Today we have our good friend Leenadria on the pod. We have watched Lee's creative journey for several years now and are amazed by the mountain of amazing work she's produced in the last several months.

Lee has one of the most incredible stories of anyone we've had on the podcast. This conversation is wide ranging and so important. We talk about "deservitude" versus gratitude journaling (a great practice for anyone who finds gratitude journaling doesn't work for them), grief and illness, self-publishing, and much more.

Please check out Lee's amazing creations:

We're honoured to welcome psychologist, anxiety coach and our favourite Tiktoker, Lily Sais, on the pod. Lily runs a successful online business coaching people to better manage anxiety, panic, and OCD. Amie credits Lily with helping her get a handle on her health anxiety.

In the podcast we talk about: why you should be on Tikitok, anxiety, running an online business, creating online courses, membership programs, how to help a partner who has health anxiety, and so much more. This is, I think, our longest ever episode of Unpublished so we hope you enjoy the extended run time!

Today we have writer, naturopath, and creative burnout coach, Gauri Yardi, on the podcast. As people prone to exhaustion and burnout, we found this chat invaluable. Where much of the conversation around burnout centres on purely psychological factors, Gauri takes a holistic approach. In our podcast we talk about Gauri's four pillars of nervous system care, how to listen to your body when it's telling you you're doing too much, the importance of bare minimums, proactive approaches to prevent burnout before it occurs, signs you might be working too hard or approaching burnout, and so much more.

If you liked this podcast, you will love Gauri's course "Re. Creation" — A self-paced masterclass for tired and burnt out creatives who want more energy to make the art they long to make. I have done the course and could not recommend it more highly. Even as people who write and talks about burnout regularly, we have learnt so much from Gauri. Please support her (and yourself).

James has compiled a list of all the products we offer and ranked them by how much money they've made us. In this ep, he reveals the list to Amie in order and they discuss why they think certain products may have done better than others.

This is basically a complete inventory of our entire business and the lessons we've learned from it.

Apologies if the audio is shit, we recorded the whole thing in the car with one mic! Thank you to Paul for salvaging what was pretty dodgy at times!

This week we're talking about how simply acting on a project is the best way to learn, research, get better. Every time you post something, write something, paint something, record something, you are producing information that you can use to do it better the next time.

For us, business and art have always been about learning by acting.