Good to see bitcoin cropping up in more fiction.

Eventually though, the treasure narrative will get played out and the mysteries will go deeper.

If anyone wants stories that examine more than how to get the most fiat from bitcoin, visit 21futures.com

Funnily enough, the LinkedIn posts I enjoyed writing the most were slideshows about badgers on a quest to bring down the LinkedIn elites, and meme decks about insincere influencers.

These posts usually did very well, but they bring in empathic readers who share your sense of frustration at the platform bullshittery. These readers never become clients because they are penniless, ha ha.

Legacy media is a lose-lose.

Yes, needing to build an audience yourself as a creative means less focus on long-term goals and deep work. It turns years of learning into TikToks.

One thing to note, though, is that a very small perceptage of people are willing to publish (even on social media). 90%+ are just following and watching passively.

Whatever you publish, you are taking action, not just buying things from others by renting them your eyeballs.

@siggy47 - The review is now live on 21 Futures.
Thanks!

https://21futures.com/post/blood-of-bourgeoisie

We are on the same page. The right incentives, barriers and signals fix the flood of content problem.

Discoverability is still problematic, but I believe internet-native money (and other measures) can help there too.

And communities. They will become more important.

I recomend Short Fiat's audiobook 'Digital Sovereignty'. You can find him (and the book) on Nostr via Fanfares.

Good points on marginal value. Once the authority of legacy media is eroded, the floodgates open, and we must be convinced to dedicate our time.

I'd argue that pre-self publishing (and AI), non-fiction books had more utilitarian value. Those which were published had a proven system or paradigm-shifting idea.

Now, every Tom, Dick and Harry wants to sell their wares via a book. There are many brilliant self-pub non-fiction books, but most are not worth my time because they accrue value mainly for the writer.

The value of fiction (to my mind) is equal to that of non-fiction.
But it's much harder to quantify than an instructional or framework-based manual.

The value is through the active participation of the reader, who creates much of the story and meaning in their mind. It's like exploring a huge world in an RPG as opposed to playing a platformer.

Fiction really activates a different part of the brain. A lot of people want to consume in a passive way, and choose not to participate, but they still love stories (news, movies, anecdotes).

This is what I want from the Internet - relatable, human interest stories. Not sugarcoated, overly constructed, or AI generated.

I'm not even a fan of golf (I've played exactly one full round). My buddies and I got told off by 'The Brigadier' - the red-faced moustachiod Welshman who managed the course - for improper footwear and reckless cart driving.

Seems like the sport was much more fun in the 1970s!

Thanks for sharing this moment.

You should hold onto that idea.
As long as the driving force is the work itself, it's natural to want to share it.

I know authors who pubkish in a myriad of ways. Some are more successful than others, but no one has it all fogured out.

Different approaches suit different writers.

I can't help but think that fiction needs a multimedia app which solves discoverabiliy and creates community. With Lightning tips and zap to unlock, of course.

Ha ha. It's a story based on reality! I met a very strange Romanian guy who was a top competitor at a tournament in England.

Originally published here...

Triple Word Score by Philip Charter - FICTION on the WEB short stories

https://www.fictionontheweb.co.uk/2021/06/triple-word-score-by-philip-charter.html?m=1

Thanks.

I did this with 21 Futures. We completed 20+ podcasts and shared lots of shorts and excerpts. We even made cinematic trailers!

This was good for brand recognition and awareness, but it's hard to tell how many copies it shifted.

Good question.
I'm not sure I would do anything differently.

All the stories were published in zines and litmags previously. That gave me the boost that editors considered them worthy (and hopefully readers too).

It's important as a writer to have a product you can point to and wave around as your proof of work. Most books now (self and trad pub) build authority, not sell copies. With that said, I'd love to sell more copies, haha.

The traditional route is virtually impossible for short story collections, and I'm not sire the results would be any better.

And as for a Substack to publish stories, I'm not really a fan for a few reasons:

1. If the story is unpublished, you burn it's originality by posting it.
2. Substack / Medium or other fiction sites are centralized platforms that control, restrict, or harvest your content (e.g. for AI).
   3.Finally, I think it is very very hard to build an audience of people who want to spend time reading diverse stories. The only successful Substack fiction I'm aware of is big names like Salman Rushdie or Chuck Palahnuik serializing new novels to earn more money than they could with trad pub contracts.

Maybe 6 months or 1 year after publishing the book, it can be good to post the individual stories accross many platforms. Give it a try. I've even posted a couple here to earn a few sats. As we move forward with Nostr, Lightning, and better incentives for community-driven fiction, I think this method of publishing will develop. We will think small, not try to crack the algo.

Really, community, networking and trust sells 'less commercial' creative work (like short stories, poetry, crafts, etc.) I could have done more festivals, fairs, events, readings, online forums etc., but I was focussing on my business. If you are retired, it's no biggie spending an entire weekend at an event to sell 30 copies, but the money you earn is usually less than minimum wage.

Overall, having a book you are proud of is worth it, no matter the sales.

Ironically, the easies way to monetize it is to write about your failures!

Having read this article, I just tipped you 100 sats.

It took about 0.01 seconds...

Bitcoin + niche is the way to go. I believe it will shape the next 20 years of content, community, and startup.

What is your opinion on tea with milk?
I'm a Brit, but I only like green tea (plus mate and herbal teas).

For me, tea with milk is nauseating!

Thanks for reading, and I'm glad you can make sense of my journey - it's never a linear path. In amswer to your question, I don't coach much now, but I still love it, and would not close the door on helping others.

Digital businesses give us the opportunity to be sovereign, and that is truly amazing. If you just focus on that, you are living a fulfilling and rich life.

Add to that you wrote a book. Amazing. Publishing your truth is and important proof of work that should make you feel proud.

Keep going with your biz. As it is connected to bitcoin,you are on the right path for sure.

No and I still haven't read a copy. As others have said, thanks for the review and saving us from reading it.

I'm sure it's the right book for some normies, but not for me.

Thanks for this review. I remember chatting about it with you in Prague (even though it was not released then).

The title is 'meh'.
The cover is absolutely baffling.
The content was always going to be vanilla and unoriginal.

Still, Natalie is a good actor in the space, and I hope lots of people read the book.

Adding in all the nuanced social commentary, shitposting, and editing you do, that's an impressive tally!