How hard do you fight for your art?

It's time to fight for our creations.

If I strapped you up to a lie detector and asked you: Have you ever truly whole-heartedly, for a solid amount of time, promoted your art? What would your answer be?

My book, We Need Your Art, comes out in exactly 100 days time.

I went on a walk with James yesterday and he said, gently and compassionately, Amie let’s fucking go. The time is now. It’s time to lock in. It’s time to get incredibly fucking weird and passionate about your book. There should be NO WAY anyone doesn’t know about this book. Promote the fucking crap out of her.

And so, I’m locking in.

100 days of showing up for my art. 100 days of championing my art. 100 days of telling people about my book. But I don’t want to do it alone. You’re invited too.

Artists struggle to show up for their own work. Avid fans of other’s art, we fall woefully short with our own creations. We feel annoying, cringe, useless, silly, delusional.

Most artists I know and work with promote their creations a few times. The very devoted will repeat themselves for a few weeks. Very few of us have backed our art for 100 days straight. I certainly never have. Consequently, very few of us know what sort of magic, knowledge, learning, money, brilliance, connection this sort of commitment could bring.

If you accept the invitation, we are going on a journey of what it’s like to fucking OWN our art. I wonder what is going to happen.

You’re going to have a lot of resistance to this challenge, I do too. Let’s talk through some of the stuff that’s getting in our way.

What if fucking nothing happens?

The Silence. A formidable Doctor Who villain and the artist’s worst nightmare. We all must navigate the silence. The lack of sales. The no likes. The IRL awkward conversation pivot after you’ve bravely just told them about your new substack article.

God, I love us.

We are so fucking resilient and brilliant. Over the next 100 days we will share things, and they will get no response. There will be silence. It will most likely happen A LOT. This is the journey we’re on. This is the fucky nature of social media.

You are allowed to be pissy about it. You’re allowed to be sensitive about it.

But you’re not allowed to translate the silence into “my art is not worth anything.” It is a grave mistranslation. It is hard to make impact. It takes time and resilience; it’s why we are doing this challenge. Your art, words, work, IS NEEDED.

What if it just pisses people off?

Have you ever been pissed off at an artist promoting their art?

…

Repetitive content may, MAY, make someone swipe past you faster. But you’re not actually making anyone’s life worse by championing your art.

What if I miss a day

You’ll continue the day after ;)

No, but seriously do not let perfectionism sabotage this exciting experiment. You do not need to get 100/100 for this to be worth it.

Please show up MESSILY for this challenge. The idea isn’t to have a whole fucking flawless campaign. We are artisans, not marketing firms, and that’s part of why we are brilliant.

It is not all or nothing. Your creative journey is not all or nothing.

If you miss days, that’s okay. Fuck, imagine if you do 50/100 days. I’m guessing that’s the most you’ve promoted your art in your life.

What if I get bored

I’m sure I’m going to get bored. But I am taking myself seriously as a writer. I am stubbornly and relentlessly committed to this life of storytelling and books and creativity. Boredom, I can suffer. Boredom is a part of this. It will not be the reason why I let my books down.

What if I suck at marketing

You don’t need to be ‘good at marketing’. Just try to connect. You’re an artist, you’re creative as fuck, think of weird, cringe ways to put yourself out there, be weird. Fail. Build relationships. Tell the woman at the shops about your knitwear. There are so many ways to do this, find a way that works for you. Let us SEE you.

It is your job to champion you art.

On Christmas????

“MERRY CHRISTMAS HERE IS THE THING I MADE”

But also have the day off and celebrate. You’re the artist and authority on this journey, you make the rules.

I don’t want to burn out

I don’t want you to either. For many of these 100 days, my promotion will be a photo of me and my book and a link to pre-order. It doesn’t need to be big.

I don’t have anything to promote

You actually don’t need anything ready to sell in order to promote yourself as a creator.

Too many of us wait until we have finished the book, built our social profile, got a whole collection before we start backing ourselves. Back yourself at the start of your journey. You have so much to give at all moments of the journey. Promote your process. Promote the tiny doodle you did that day.

You are an artist—you always have something magical to share. Don’t you ever underestimate the mundane.

If you’ve got any other questions or worries, please pop them in the comments. I am on this journey with you. I am so grateful that we get to do this together.

Anyway, as James told me: Let’s fucking go. It’s time to lock in.

MY BOOK COMES OUT IN 100 DAYS! #promoteyourart100

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