An essay about Brandon Scott Gorrell's DURING MY NERVOUS BREAKDOWN I WANT TO HAVE A BIOGRAPHER PRESENT and the future of Muumuu House
2500 copies of DURING MY NERVOUS BREAKDOWN I WANT TO HAVE A BIOGRAPHER PRESENT are being printed and shipped for ~$3700. Muumuu House and Brandon have discussed things and it has been decided that Brandon will, instead of a 50% profit share, receive a one-time "package" of 600 copies of his book ($7,200 retail value) and $800. The $800 will be paid to Brandon ~April 30th; the 600 books will be shipped to Brandon ~May 20th. Brandon's potential profit after Paypal/shipping costs is ~$6,500. Muumuu House's potential profit is ~$6,000 (see below) and that it will become unnecessary to some degree to do certain things that "seem like a job," for example keeping records of fees paid to SPD/Amazon/Paypal.
(In facilitation of "Brandon's quest to achieve $6,500" Muumuu House encourages you to preorder signed copies directly from Brandon and read his blog post about how he spends money and other things related to the blog post you are currently reading.)
Muumuu House anticipates mailing/giving ~500 free copies of Brandon's book to erin hosier, bookstores, magazines, online places, select people Muumuu House likes/wants to share the book with, select people "in the lit game," select people "in the target demographic," select people at parties/readings, friends, and select "strangers" on the street or in stores.
1400 copies (2500 - [600 + 500]) at $12 each equals ~$16,800.
I feel that the amount of money I directly gain from Muumuu House will be something like -0.50 an hour to $1.50 an hour. I paid a 60% down payment on the 2500 copies today and currently have ~$500 in my bank account. I am expecting a ~$5,500 check from Melville House ~April 30th, a $750 check from Poetry Foundation ~April 25th, a ~$175 check from Action Books ~now, and maybe other checks I don't remember right now. I think I receive ~$10 - $75 a day through the Tao Lin store and the Muumuu House store. I feel financially secure. I feel that "steady cash flow without doing things I 'don't want' to do" is "closer" than it was 6 months or 1 year ago.
I feel that I would rather "shut down" Muumuu House or do bad things to myself than "complain" about anything re Muumuu House, do anything to make a Muumuu House author "unhappy" or like "another thing has caused them to feel disappointment, in the world," or "other things of 'this' nature."
I feel that promoting Muumuu House in a mildly passive manner, with attention toward not causing people to feel that "the world sucks" or "another shitty thing has been created"; giving away many free copies of Muumuu House books; publishing only people that I like, can talk to without feeling "weird," communicate with often, and to some degree "won't get angry at me (or 'at all') or feel 'really and unselfconsciously bad,' due to their worldviews, I feel, if their book 'completely fails' or if other 'bad things' happen to them"; and being "very generous, relative to other publishers or other business things" to Muumuu House authors are things that make my life seem more exciting to myself and (in terms of not becoming increasingly insane or depressed or bitter, or other things, over time) more "sustainable," like I'm not on a "shit-slide to hell," but perhaps even the opposite.
In terms of finances, despite "direct" gains being negative or 1/6th of minimum wage, I honestly feel that "overall" I "probably actually" will make more money, in the long-term, having Muumuu House, because there will be more money-related opportunities for me, due to more people knowing about me; more people "feeling okay" supporting me by buying my books; more people knowing about and "investing" their time and money in me and other people associated with Muumuu House, people who link me and who I link; and more things happening to me, in my life, to distract me from "crippling" forms of "low-level, vaguely illogical, ultimately unmotivating existential despair" or "unsarcastic, 'melodramatic' severe depression" that would decrease my levels of productivity and therefore the amount of money I can make.
To elaborate on the word "sustainable," from above, I feel that the chocies I am currently making will contribute to me feeling (when I am 30 or 50 or something) to some degree "really calm" and "consistently beautiful and meaningless" and maybe "strongly 'okay' with anything including death." (In terms of writing/"art" I feel that those attributes are ones that will cause me to more effectively make or do things that will cause me to feel excited.) I feel also that I will be in control of some kind of thing (Muumuu House, or something else) that is "not highly in oppository reaction to anything else" but independent, and "personal," and therefore separate, to some degree, from "shit-talking entities" or other types of things that make me feel "confused," "bad," or "like I'm entering, or reentering, into worldviews that I feel will make me feel 'bad,' are not 'sustainable,' in my view, and (perceiving worldviews as artistic, or existential, things) are not worldviews that I enjoy 'experiencing,' whether inside my own head or from other places)." In extension of that, I will also have wide-ranging access and knowledge and "connections," I feel, when I am 30 or 50 or something, to people and organizations that I like; that are, to some degree, the opposite of "shit-talking entities," "not making or promoting 'art' that is highly in oppository reaction to other things," "non-existentially political things," "[unsarcastically views] 'things of art' as 'good' or 'bad,'" or "[certain other things]."
Another thought I have had is that I will continue to "lose" money for the next 3-8 years, and, because of that "investment," then "move into" something else, where perhaps more money than I normally spend will come toward me steadily, and at a steadily increasing rate, at which time I will "still" continue to "lose" money, but by doing things I have never done before, in my life (and experiencing "new" feelings caused by those things), like giving money to certain people openly or giving away like 5,000 books for free in weird ways or buying ad space in weird places and making the ads weird or something. If I can create a system where most of the things I do or am in contact with are "free of shit-talking or 'implied' shit-talking," where most of the things I do or am in contact with are not "a highly oppository reaction" to something else but "just 'what [I] like,' regardless of what it is 'copying' or 'similar to,' regardless of what 'already exists,'" and where most of the things I do or am in contact with are "leading" toward a "more pure" form of itself, in that it is rarely "stagnant," I feel that there is larger chance that when I am 30 or 40 or 50 or 60 I won't unsarcastically hate my life, other people, or life itself; and that when I am 70 or 80 or 90 I'll be able to die without [I don't know, feeling "really confused" or "bad" or something maybe].
Thank you for reading about Muumuu House and my thoughts about Muumuu House and the future.
(In facilitation of "Brandon's quest to achieve $6,500" Muumuu House encourages you to preorder signed copies directly from Brandon and read his blog post about how he spends money and other things related to the blog post you are currently reading.)
Muumuu House anticipates mailing/giving ~500 free copies of Brandon's book to erin hosier, bookstores, magazines, online places, select people Muumuu House likes/wants to share the book with, select people "in the lit game," select people "in the target demographic," select people at parties/readings, friends, and select "strangers" on the street or in stores.
1400 copies (2500 - [600 + 500]) at $12 each equals ~$16,800.
I feel it may take ~1 to ~5+ years to sell ~1400 copies. I feel strongly that Brandon's book will become "a kind of classic" (as I feel with Ellen's book), that it will be referred to by people in the future and remain "known" for 10+ years or something, and that Brandon's second poetry book, blog, first novel, etc. will continue to generate interest in Brandon as he remains alive, and doing things, in the world; and so I felt secure, and other things, printing 2500 copies. I anticipate 2nd, 3rd, etc., printings of any book published by Muumuu House$16,800 (1,400 copies sold at $12 each)
- $3,700 (printing/initial shipping of 2500 copies)
- $4,500 (estimated amount paid to Amazon/SPD for ~700 copies sold through them)
- $2,000 (estimated amount shipping copies to people/Amazon/SPD)
- $1,000 (packaging/shipping 500 free copies)
- $0,800 (Amazon, SPD, ISBN, Paypal, etc. fees)
- $0,800 ("bonus" paid to Brandon)
+ $2,000 (surprise packages/lifetime subscriptions, etc.)
_______
_$6,000 (potential profit for Muumuu House)
I feel that the amount of money I directly gain from Muumuu House will be something like -0.50 an hour to $1.50 an hour. I paid a 60% down payment on the 2500 copies today and currently have ~$500 in my bank account. I am expecting a ~$5,500 check from Melville House ~April 30th, a $750 check from Poetry Foundation ~April 25th, a ~$175 check from Action Books ~now, and maybe other checks I don't remember right now. I think I receive ~$10 - $75 a day through the Tao Lin store and the Muumuu House store. I feel financially secure. I feel that "steady cash flow without doing things I 'don't want' to do" is "closer" than it was 6 months or 1 year ago.
I feel that I would rather "shut down" Muumuu House or do bad things to myself than "complain" about anything re Muumuu House, do anything to make a Muumuu House author "unhappy" or like "another thing has caused them to feel disappointment, in the world," or "other things of 'this' nature."
I feel that promoting Muumuu House in a mildly passive manner, with attention toward not causing people to feel that "the world sucks" or "another shitty thing has been created"; giving away many free copies of Muumuu House books; publishing only people that I like, can talk to without feeling "weird," communicate with often, and to some degree "won't get angry at me (or 'at all') or feel 'really and unselfconsciously bad,' due to their worldviews, I feel, if their book 'completely fails' or if other 'bad things' happen to them"; and being "very generous, relative to other publishers or other business things" to Muumuu House authors are things that make my life seem more exciting to myself and (in terms of not becoming increasingly insane or depressed or bitter, or other things, over time) more "sustainable," like I'm not on a "shit-slide to hell," but perhaps even the opposite.
In terms of finances, despite "direct" gains being negative or 1/6th of minimum wage, I honestly feel that "overall" I "probably actually" will make more money, in the long-term, having Muumuu House, because there will be more money-related opportunities for me, due to more people knowing about me; more people "feeling okay" supporting me by buying my books; more people knowing about and "investing" their time and money in me and other people associated with Muumuu House, people who link me and who I link; and more things happening to me, in my life, to distract me from "crippling" forms of "low-level, vaguely illogical, ultimately unmotivating existential despair" or "unsarcastic, 'melodramatic' severe depression" that would decrease my levels of productivity and therefore the amount of money I can make.
To elaborate on the word "sustainable," from above, I feel that the chocies I am currently making will contribute to me feeling (when I am 30 or 50 or something) to some degree "really calm" and "consistently beautiful and meaningless" and maybe "strongly 'okay' with anything including death." (In terms of writing/"art" I feel that those attributes are ones that will cause me to more effectively make or do things that will cause me to feel excited.) I feel also that I will be in control of some kind of thing (Muumuu House, or something else) that is "not highly in oppository reaction to anything else" but independent, and "personal," and therefore separate, to some degree, from "shit-talking entities" or other types of things that make me feel "confused," "bad," or "like I'm entering, or reentering, into worldviews that I feel will make me feel 'bad,' are not 'sustainable,' in my view, and (perceiving worldviews as artistic, or existential, things) are not worldviews that I enjoy 'experiencing,' whether inside my own head or from other places)." In extension of that, I will also have wide-ranging access and knowledge and "connections," I feel, when I am 30 or 50 or something, to people and organizations that I like; that are, to some degree, the opposite of "shit-talking entities," "not making or promoting 'art' that is highly in oppository reaction to other things," "non-existentially political things," "[unsarcastically views] 'things of art' as 'good' or 'bad,'" or "[certain other things]."
Another thought I have had is that I will continue to "lose" money for the next 3-8 years, and, because of that "investment," then "move into" something else, where perhaps more money than I normally spend will come toward me steadily, and at a steadily increasing rate, at which time I will "still" continue to "lose" money, but by doing things I have never done before, in my life (and experiencing "new" feelings caused by those things), like giving money to certain people openly or giving away like 5,000 books for free in weird ways or buying ad space in weird places and making the ads weird or something. If I can create a system where most of the things I do or am in contact with are "free of shit-talking or 'implied' shit-talking," where most of the things I do or am in contact with are not "a highly oppository reaction" to something else but "just 'what [I] like,' regardless of what it is 'copying' or 'similar to,' regardless of what 'already exists,'" and where most of the things I do or am in contact with are "leading" toward a "more pure" form of itself, in that it is rarely "stagnant," I feel that there is larger chance that when I am 30 or 40 or 50 or 60 I won't unsarcastically hate my life, other people, or life itself; and that when I am 70 or 80 or 90 I'll be able to die without [I don't know, feeling "really confused" or "bad" or something maybe].
Thank you for reading about Muumuu House and my thoughts about Muumuu House and the future.
21 Comments:
I would like to be a part of the Muumuu House future.
*applause*
hehe we have this http://www.alliance.rice.edu/alliance/RBPC.asp?SnID=1496944571 at my university this weekend and it makes me laugh to think of you reading this as a speech in the opening ceremony
That all sounds eminently sensibubble, certainly not silly. The question remains whether beneath all this postmodern marketing lies genuine worth. What is Mr Gorrell's aesthetic? What is he trying to achieve in his writing? Is there a point beyond personal fame and an easy lifestyle?
the mathematical information in this post was interesting to read
this was interesting, i agree with stuff, +support
i saw brandon yesterday outside the library
i will post "brandon sightings" at my blog if anyone else sees brandon (email billysauce@gmail.com)
brandon lives in seattle on capital hill i think, i think he runs a recycled clothing store that's outdoors on pike or something
brandon maybe looks like a hipster, i'm not sure though, he has interesting hair, he looks maybe like 'the asian tao lin or something' he is also a bit thin and is never angry
best brandon posting wins a free copy of the interpretation of dreams, by freud
ryan, nice
alice, hey
$800,000, damn
gingatao, hm
matthew, i am glad it was interesting to you
justin, haha
dobbs
i would not like to die feeling really confused. oh no i think i might. oh no.
really like this post.
If I go to hell, I would like to be on a shit-slide getting there
i want to be treated like bsg.
i wonder if there are any emerging children's writers (via roald dahl's style) that muumuu house could pick up. that would be exciting and innovative.
children's books by ellen kennedy and me
I like the line in the children's book when the poetry publisher screams 'fuck'.
"he screams it very loud and sustains it for thirty seconds"
I think that children should learn about irony at an early age. I think 'Santa Claus' is a good start, but we should also swear at them for long sustained periods, and tell the school system about Muumuu House's children literature 'branch'. We should get 'Teach 4 America' to support it. There should be an avant-garde children's literature movement. We should get an actual child in on this. He should write a book about losing his dog called "Fuck, I Lost My Dog." and then die of consumption and become famous. A franchise. A bio-pic. Dakota Fanning. Lil Wayne.
This was interesting to me, also. ~the more you know!~
I like this post, I really support this. Whatever you believe art should be you should be doing this (everyone). Exciting!
buster, glad you like that
roo, glad it was interesting to you
andre, glad you this post
The way you've used the word "like" in the past reminds of the way that the character Alex in A Clockwork Orange speaks. I read that book last week. Are you and Alex similar characters?
no life is perfect.
i don't know alex
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