Uniqueness of the Individual:
Originality's Struggle in Modern Times

In a world where wars, famine, genocide, poverty, AIDS, and escalating natural disasters proliferate, the subject of one individual producing a book and trying to make it a success in a commercial market seems an unimportant and even an inane topic.

Yet the causes of most of these ongoing human-instigated catastrophes stem from the uniqueness of the individual being increasingly eclipsed by the faceless, nameless, and soulless commodifying of everything – from the food we eat and the news we watch on TV to even the books we read.

This is precisely why individuals need to assert themselves and challenge the generic, redundant nature of what is produced with personal, raw, and original creations. Thankfully, the means to do this are more readily at our disposal than ever in the history of humankind.

VOX CLAMANTIS IN DESERTO
A VOICE CRYING OUT FROM THE WILDERNESS

Four years ago I began a process which has not yet come to its conclusion. Editing, designing, and fabricating a memoir in the form of real e-mail letters, called
backpocket e-pistles. Producing it as a professional work able to float through the stringent requirements of the publishing industry and the booksellers industry has not been an easy task.

The response to something new and original by the general public is usually skepticism and often disillusionment, sometimes leading to dismissal or even condemnation. However, within an industry that survives on the commercial viability of works of art, that response is even more severe and limiting. Throw in the egos of those who presume to know quality artwork and quality merchandise, and you are entering into a maddening quagmire that requires patience, persistence, and a sense of humor (also an ability to know when to say Fuck You).

During these past years I have dealt with literary agents, publishers, distributors, bookstore owners, retailers, reviewers, librarians, and educators; interacting with them concerning the artistic/cultural merit and marketability of a book of e-mail letters. With a few exceptions, most didn’t get it. They didn’t get the fact that originality exists, or that a new type of reading experience can occur via some good friends who wrote hundreds of e-mail letters – capturing their daily lives with abject honesty and wild spontaneity. In fact, many people didn’t even consider e-mail a form of letter writing.

The conditioned attitude to fear something new while churning the same palatable, “proven” works of art and entertainment out of the sausage mill, is precisely what’s stifling the propagation of originality. But now, due to astounding leaps in technology, creators of art and entertainment can take the bull by the horns (or the balls, depending on how you look at it) and produce, distribute, and market their works directly to the public. Thereby selling to individuals who are not limited by “the bottom line,” and who are more open to what hits them in the gut or the heart.

After spending thousands of dollars in creating a corporation (Skellum Imaginations, Inc.), attending book fairs on two continents, sending out a hundred books for review, and playing by the rules of the book publishing industry, I’ve discovered that I have been beating a well-dead horse.

TAKE IT TO THE PEOPLE

The obvious place to sell a book is in a bookstore, or nowadays, through an online bookstore. Yet putting one book amidst the millions of books on the market makes it another grain of sand on the beach. The Internet has allowed the independent publisher, filmmaker, musician, or artist, to take their works directly to their chosen audience. Finding out how to do this is not easy, but it’s the benefit of living in the Age of the World Wide Web. By marketing an original work of art directly to those living humans, who see, feel, and crave something innovative – something that challenges their preconceptions and stimulates their passions – the independent can avoid having their work “de-fanged” by some corporate megalithic entity with no sense of what impacts people. When Viacom and General Electric are the world’s two largest media companies, you can only expect more TV shows like Friends, more music like 50 Cent, more movies like The Notebook, and more tired re-treads spinning ceaselessly through our popular culture. More denying us what we really want: something original.

So to all the independent artists and producers out there: keep going, keep making what you believe and not giving an inch. And more importantly, become creative – not only at producing powerful works, but in finding a way to reach your audience. All you viewers, readers, and indulgers out there: forget the big-box cinema and Barnes and Noble, and keep your eyes and hearts open for the little fires of original work that are popping up on cyberspace like so many campfires. That’s where you’ll find the chance to learn and grow without simply experiencing more of the same boring entertainment déjà vu. Look out for me and backpocket e-pistles crawling all over the web or standing on the street corner nearest you, playing a guitar and singing with my own independent voice.

Mike Darigan is the author and publisher of backpocket e-pistles, a memoir in e-mail letters of bohemian living and longing. Resident of Northport, Michigan for an entire year, Mike D is an itinerant again. With new writing and songs, he’s out to spread his own unique, sardonic, multi-cultural message of free love and originality in a world of stultifying sameness. You will not see him on Oprah as long as he lives. www.backpockete-pistles.com

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