How Many Fans Do We Need?
Caught My Eye #4
If you create and “ship” your stuff, to a publisher, to Instagram, to the great online, you will be faced with “the stats”: how many “likes” or sales or thumbs up. How many sales. How many restacks. How many views. How many how many how many.
This can be fun! Look, I was at “x” and now I am at “5x”, etc.
There’s just one problem though: how many…is enough?
Well, if you know humans, you will know that there is no number that is “enough”. If, perchance, you zoom up to “100x” you will probably immediately be ( a tiny bit) sad that you don’ have “1,000x”. And then “1,000Kx” and so forth.
And guess what? None of this has anything to do with the quality of the stuff you are “shipping”. No correlation whatsoever. More “likes” and such do not equal “your stuff is better”. Sorry.
The real answer to “How Many Fans Do You Need?” is: ONE.
And that would be YOURSELF.
Any other fans are a bonus, especially if you know and respect them, but they are not necessary.
I would venture to say that most first-rate artists toiled for quite some time during which they were their only fan. Because no one else noticed, or understood, or saw what they were aiming for.
Two succinct statements about this situation recently caught my eye:
“Art begins when we stop giving a shit”.
That is, about what other people think.
And:
The solution? “It is choosing your own approval as oxygen”
Both come from the delightful, insightful, and truth-telling Christine Philipp, of the “Maison Muse” Substack, recently launched, and the “Happiness Coding” YouTube Channel. I can’t recommend Christine’s work more highly. (And I’m delighted that we’ve connected via Substack—whoo-hoo!)
The funny thing is, at first it seems almost impossible to be self-approving and "not give a shit”, but each time you push that button, it gets easier.
And my lord, what a freeing thing it is. And if art is anything, it is free. No rules. No holding back.
Give it a try—give yourself a thumbs-up, a “like”, a great review. See where positive self-approval might take you.
(In September I'm officially launching my Muse * Spark Creativity Coaching service, stay tuned!)