Careers
Are You Waiting for Ideal Conditions to Start Your Project?
Recently, someone mentioned she was waiting to clear “a big chunk of time” before starting a project. Other things people wait for are: The kids to be in school (or out of the house entirely). A better work space (either at home or elsewhere). More money. Retirement. ”To do more research.” While there is often…
Read MoreWho Makes the Best Mentor? And Coming to Terms with My $14,500 Mentor Failure
Who makes the best mentor? According to research, it’s not the star performers: In an article published in the Proceedings of the National Academies of Science, for example, Jerker Denrell of the University of Oxford and Chengwei Liu of the University of Warwick counsel us to model ourselves on solid, second-tier performers, not the flashy…
Read MoreSeth Godin and Jennifer Crusie on Artistic Legitimacy
Following onto the post about Amanda Palmer’s exhortation to legitimize yourself as an artist, instead of waiting for gatekeepers to do so, here are marketing guru Seth Godin and best-selling romance author Jennifer Crusie on the same topic. First, Godin: No knight, no shining armor “Sure, Seth can do that, because he has a popular…
Read MoreAmanda Palmer on Why Artists Should Self-Promote (Bonus: How To Do It Without Selling Out!)
Last week I wrote about Amanda Palmer’s excellent keynote speech for the Grub Street Writers’ Muse and the Marketplace conference, where she made an impassioned plea for artists to validate themselves instead of waiting for a publisher, gallery owner, studio, or other gatekeeper’s endorsement. She also had a lot of useful things to say about…
Read MoreInger Mewburn on Racism in Academia
A very good and honest piece from Inger Mewburn, a.k.a., The Thesis Whisperer, about waking up to racism in academia, and her own white privilege: At the time Joe and I were both looking for more permanent work in academia. It has to be said that neither of us were having much luck. I barely…
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