Deanna Zandt is writing a book. She has a contract with Berrett-Koehler, but the publishing house does not usually “give advances, relying instead on a more author-friendly royalty structure.”
While this will be nice after her book comes out, how will Zandt, who wants to dedicate as much time as possible to writing and researching her book, survive the coming months? Enter “crowdfunding:”
To help fund her research and give herself the opportunity to devote full-time to writing, Zandt, a media and technology consultant, reached out for financial assistance and sent a fund-raising letter to 500 potential backers. The appeal was directed mainly to the communities that have been the focus of her life for many years: feminists, organizers and political activists.
Deanna’s Sink or Swim: Making Waves of Change in a New Social Media World will be “‘about the power of technology as a social networking tool for those on the sidelines of technology advances—women, people of color and more.’ She hopes her fund-raising effort is an example of practice what you preach.”
As we have our own crowdfunding projects of sorts (when’s the last time you gave to The Rumpus?) I decided to ask Deanna about social media, the creative process, and her ongoing project to keep food on her table, which seems to be going well (on top of raising $6,558 to date Two Boots Pizza, Deanna’s local pizza shop, recently donated $100 a month in pizza to her cause).
The Rumpus: You are funding the time you are taking to work on your book (and your research) by reaching out to friends, family, fans and your target audience for support. Jill Sobule recently released an album that she created without a label, instead turning to her friends and fans for support as well.Do you think we’re going to see a lot more fan supported art and writing as social media allows us to reach those who are interested in what we have to say?
Or, in other words, while you do have a book deal, do you believe self-published and “crowdfunded” works will become more mainstream as social media continues to improve how artists and writers interact with their fans?
Deanna Zandt: I think we’ll see a rise in the number of works (we already are, actually), but maybe not just because we’re reaching audiences that care or are more interested. Certainly the tools offer the chance for artists to distribute their work without the necessity of a middleman like record labels, for example, but the real bonus are the conversations we’re able to have, and what we do with those conversations.
In the case of crowdfunding a piece of work, there’s a part of this that hasn’t changed with the advances that technology has brought us—and that’s the fact that fundraising is still based on relationships and how we manage them. The Internet isn’t an ATM; if I had no history as an activist or media person, I couldn’t have emailed/twittered a buncha folks and said, “Hey! I swear! This is a great idea!”
What social media allow us to do are, yes, to connect to new folks, but they moreso serve facilitate and deepen relationships online. And the more someone trusts an artist or content producer, and feels connected to what happens to them, the better chance the content producer stands to reach out and ask for support, whether that’s monetary or otherwise.
Rumpus: You are obviously always working on many different projects at once. Do you worry, though, that hustling for funding while also trying to write your book will some how dilute your work?
Zandt: Actually, the crowdfunding is happening because I have to take the summer off from all my other projects. There have been times when worrying about the funding has been stressful and it does take a certain amount of energy to run that part of the show. But, In The Future (cue spooky music and lights), I think this will become more and more the responsibility of the content producer, to make sure that they’re secure in what they’re doing. It’s also, in a different light, incredibly empowering, to have this kind of control over my destiny.
Rumpus: While writing is never as much a solo experience as many people think (there is usually a lot of feedback from a lot of different people while writing a book obviously), how is social media changing our glorified vision of the lonely writer, alone in their meager room, living the life of a hermit?
Zandt: There are a lot of BS things that are glorified about an artist’s life. I’ve luckily only had a couple of really broke moments in my life, because doing tech work always paid pretty well. But I’ve seen friends who have really suffered while trying to support their creative visions—especially when they got really sick and had no health insurance—and it’s not pretty. I don’t think we should glorify any of that.
I also don’t believe in the the meager room bit, to be honest. Maybe people are going to give me a hard time for this, but I moved out to South Brooklyn last year because I was done with crappy, infested apartments. I spend twenty hours a day in those four walls (because when I’m not, er, writing a book, I’m a consultant who works at home), so those four walls better not make me more insane than I already am. It became, over time, more important to me to invest in a good home and good workspace than to live in the center of the action or feel like I was being a good martyr for my cause.
But! Back to your *actual* question, haha.
The great thing about social media, for many people who work in jobs that are isolating in one way or another, is that it provides and instant water cooler to check in at throughout the day. Stop in, see what people are chatting about, offer your own two cents. Tell a funny story. Ask questions and get feedback on ideas. All kinds of great stuff can happen, and the great part is that each of us have the opportunity to say how much or how little we want to contribute there.
Rumpus: You are already connected to your fans, who are heralding your work on twitter and other sites, and write to you to cheer you on as well as donate to help you create your vision. Is so much positive reinforcement good for you?
Zandt: Well, it’s certainly *fabulous* for my already giant-sized ego. Luckily, I also have a tighter group of people who Keep It Real in a big way. I also come from working class kinda roots, and I hear my dad’s voice every once in a while say, “You might, uh, be gettin’ a little big for your britches there.”
Heh.
But the positive reinforcement is huge, especially for women entering fields like this. We are trained to be perfectionists who don’t show anything unless it is 100% perfect—motherhood, our bodies, sharing our expertise. Social media has opened up a huge space for women to experiment, get support and get feedback in an entirely unprecedented way—or on least an unprecedented scale.
Rumpus: That last one was kinda a joke. I’m really pumped that you’re doing this. What’s your advice for a writer who wants to try and use your methods?
Zandt: Har har! I totally fell for it.
Advice: Just remember that it’s really all about relationships and social capital. And especially ye womenfolk out there: know that there’s a huge space of opportunity just waiting to bring you into its fold. Good times!
Find out more about Zandt’s crowdfunding project here.
