Dear Michel,
thank you for the kind note below and for the invitation to collaborate in some way on a publishing project. I have been quite interested in this possibility since receiving your email and I apologize for not having responded sooner. Although it is true I have been busy that is not much of an excuse. The real reason for my procrastination has been my confusion over what exactly I want to be publishing. I have not really got it sorted out even now, but anything is better than nothing at all so here I am with a somewhat scattered response...
A few quick thoughts:
- I have attached the manuscript that I mentioned to you, but when I look at it I am almost embarrassed by how much of it is drawn from the iDC list. I know that most people will not have read those posts so I probably shouldn't be concerned, but I also know you have so it feels a little self-indulgent. Anyway, for what it's worth here it is. At the moment it is called I Scream You Scream We All Scream for I Scream. Make of it what you will. I am keen to hear any and all feedback. As far as publishing it with your foundation, if you happened to think it was a good idea I'd be open to that for sure. At this point I'd just like to get these ideas out there.
- As I think I mentioned before, I had been wanting to put together a more coherent and easy to follow book but and to some extent put the above one together because I didn't have the time to do a whole new one. Having said that, I have begun writing some chapters of the new book since I last wrote to you, and though I still don't have time to write the whole thing in one shot, it might be possible for me to crank out chapters like these as essays. I could imagine - if you happen to find them worthy - publishing them on the P2P foundation blog as a series and then eventually assembling them into a book. There are three chapters attached (they still need some tweaking but you will get the idea) I am working on a 4th about Museums, with others to follow on various topics such as Democracy, Branding, Music, Human Resources, etc. They are all basically surveys that are not designed to be comprehensive so much as to popularize a certain way of seeing contemporary culture and cultural issues, and to show how my oral/literate/digital framework applies to and sheds light on all aspects of society.
- Lastly, I was wondering - if you have time to think about this given the amount of material I am sending your way - if you would have any comments on a business plan that I have developed and that I am actively looking to implement these days. In fact I quit my job in order to do this and am determined to make it happen. However, I am hampered by lack of capital. (I have discovered that it takes money in hand to get investors to take you seriously. An unfortunate Catch-22) At the moment the business model itself is fairly traditional - although the context is very radical and innovative (and of course creative!). And quite frankly I am doing this in part to make a bunch of money, since I have none and am tired of not having any, and have a family etc. But I am not totally crazy about that business model even though I think it will be very successful, inasmuch as it is essentially very capitalist. I would be open to other suggestions about ways of proceeding, both in terms of attracting the modest investment capital and/or human resources to bring it to life, and how it might function as an economy, if you have any. I have considered starting it as a non-profit, and I may still do that, but I have been dealing with non-profits in the arts for most of my adult life and am basically tired of them. I'd kind of like to make a lot of money so I can do what I want after creatively without having to answer to anyone. Anyway, I know that you are deeply immersed in new economic ideas so you might have some thoughts on my plans, which would be welcome. My only request is that you not circulate the info I am attaching to anyone. Thank you. The business is called The Media League. I won't send you the whole prospectus but I will attach a diagram explaining the business model and a brochure describing how it will work. Again, all comments welcome...
Michel, I see from your posts on facebook how busy you are so I will understand if you have little time to invest in all of this. But I respect your opinion and integrity so would welcome any feedback that you do have.
Best wishes,
John Sobol