Evolution, Revolution or Devolution?

Changing my life and the future of Weirdo Poetry

Hello, Curtain Climbing Friends!

This post is a long one! I’ve included plenty of section headers so you can scan and read the parts that interest you most and skip the rest. If you’re in a hurry, the TL/DR summary will give you all the vital information.

I’m writing this post primarily for me—I often don’t understand what I think and feel until I’ve put it in writing or an illustration—but it also felt important to share all of this with you.

Haiku Comic

zen time traveler
is always content with now
whenever that is

TL/DR

• I’m back from my hiatus and am turning back on billing and paid subscriptions

• Starting tomorrow and running until Friday, June 14th, Brian Funke and I will be sharing a poetry exchange we have been working on for the past few months!

• Love is not for sissies; life is a rough, uneven journey.

• Beginning June 16th, I will be posting 3-7 days a week, with each day being an entry in a different series or type of post. See below for more details.

• I think my niche is me—is that weird?

Evolution, Revolution, or Devolution?

True stasis is impossible. At any point in time, there are three possible outcomes. We can evolve forward into a slightly better version of ourselves, we can devolve backward into a slightly worse version of ourselves, or we can experience an explosive revolution in which we become radically different people and in which the outcome is just as likely to be unfortunate as it is fortunate.

I’m on the verge of revolution, which is both frightening and invigorating. It feels like sitting in the mouth of a cannon, fixing your crash helmet while some stranger prepares to light the fuse.

I would much rather focus on evolution. But events in my life are already in progress, and revolution feels irresistible, inevitable.

Where I am

Every day, my children get older. Already, one is a grown adult in college, and the next is going to be a senior in the fall. The other two are going into eighth and tenth grades.

I’m facing a host of personal and financial challenges, and I’m addicted to poetry, comics, and poetry comics. 🤣

I’m rebuilding my copywriting business in a completely new way while pursuing a full-time creative career as a means of meeting the personal and financial challenges that have come up.

Right now, these challenges are still too raw for me to share. But as the main way I process emotions and discover my thoughts is through writing and art, I will share more about them in the future.

Where I’m Going

Years after reading the incredible book The Multi-Hyphen Method by Emma Gannon, I’m finally embracing my full multi-hyphen self.

I’ve also discovered that I am happiest when I’m making and sharing poetry and comics. Coming off of a failed Kickstarter last month, I’m doubling down on this newsletter as a source of joy and creative discovery. You can read more about what this means for the future of this newsletter below.

But I still have bills to pay, and while I’m flattered and grateful for every single one of my paid subscribers, I currently earn only about $200 a month from this newsletter. That is a lot, but not enough to support a family.

So, I am relaunching my freelance copywriting, content writing, and illustration business with a focus on creating marketing collateral and content that builds genuine human connections and is beautiful. I wrote about this approach in a blog post on my site titled Marketing with the Soul of a Poet.

While I am open to many different projects, in this part of my business, I’m focusing on non-fiction book blurbs, video scripts, and haiku comics as editorial illustrations.

Haiku comics as editorial illustrations?

One of my intentions with starting Weirdo Poetry, and one that is only strengthened by putting all of my freelance and creative work under one umbrella, is to make poetry easier to access and more common in our everyday lives.

I’ve actually written quite a few haiku as marketing slogans for dozens of different businesses. I’ve written poetry about everything from pirates to HR and from finance to great blue herons and everything in between.

I’ve found that a haiku comic can add beauty and clarity to an article written about just about anything. For example, an article about embracing unexpected challenges could feature this haiku comic:

Or an article about email marketing could benefit from something like this:

Experimentation

In every aspect of my professional and creative life, I’m embracing experimentation. I will try different business models, publish different kinds of books and zines, and, for the first time, focus on pitching my poetry comics (and other kinds of graphic storytelling) to publishers and editors at every newspaper, magazine, and online outlet where I have even a minute chance of selling a piece.

(If you have any editorial connections or ideas for outlets I should pitch, I’m open to help and suggestions!)

The New Format for Weirdo Poetry

I’m officially back from my hiatus, and I’m tweaking the way Weirdo Poetry runs. But first, starting tomorrow, June 9th, and running through Friday, June 14th, Brian Funke and I are publishing a six-part poetry exchange we have been working on for the past few months.

Beginning June 16th, I will be posting 4-7 times a week here! There will be a mix of a few regular series, one-offs, and a few irregular series. Here is a look at the kinds of things you can expect:

Sundays (paid)—The return of the Asynchronous Poetry Book Club. Next week, I’ll announce the July book, and for the rest of June, I’ll post some other thoughts about previous books.

Mondays (free)—A new year-long series that combines haiku, nature writing, and comics called A Year in the Willamette Valley. This series will explore the seasonal happenings in the place I’ve lived for the past 25 years.

Tuesdays (paid)—On Tuesdays, I will experiment with memoir writing and comics. My first paid creative writing was personal essays, and my first attempt at indie publishing in 2012 was a collection of memoir essays (that book is no longer available anywhere). I’m returning to this form because I love it and have a lot to say. I also want to create memoir comics and poems and combine them with personal essays and collages. This series will be called Sneaker Waves.

Wednesdays (free)—Wildcard Wednesday! I will post some kind of poetry or comic or poetry comic. I will also post most of my collaborations on these days and stuff that I’m experimenting with.

Thursdays (paid)—I will most likely only post every other Thursday. On these days, you will get a graphic essay or some other kind of graphic non-fiction piece. Some examples of what to expect are posts like these:

Our worst moments can lead to our greatest triumphs

A Gash in the Sky

Fridays (free)—I will either be posting thoughts on the art of writing haiku and haiku prompts, or I will be sharing pieces of a series called My Diary of Cool Stuff, where I talk about stuff I’ve recently discovered or rediscovered.

Saturdays (free/paid/nothing)—Most of the time, I will not be posting on Saturdays. However, as the mood or muse strikes, I will share some different comics that I’m tinkering with. These could be anything from poetry to fiction to non-fiction.

Please note that even with paid posts, I always strive to create interesting free art and writing above the paywall so that you are always getting something worth your time, even if you are unable to be a paid subscriber.

I will also be taking 1-2 weeks off each quarter to regroup and stave off burnout. During my off weeks, I will repost and remix some earlier work and post the occasional new thing, but mostly, my time away will give you a pallet cleanse of me and give me the chance to retool.

A Career as a Raving, Rambling Creative

The experts say that riches are in niches—but they mean riches are some niches. There are precious few riches to be found in niches like poetry and comics.

However, that’s not the point of art, is it?

I have been making a living of one kind or another online for twelve years, and I have learned that my wild heart cannot be contained by a single niche. I may be the best-known haiku comic artist on Substack, but I yearn to do so many other things.

There are hundreds of stories waiting to explode out of my soul; some of these are true, and some are both true and factual.

I am a raving, rambling creative, and I will continue my career as such. I hope you stick around for the adventures yet to come. I am done segmenting myself to appease others or to try to make myself more marketable.

Instead, I will be my whole, weird, multi-hyphen self and earn a living from my way of living.

Be the weird you want to see in the world!

Cheers,

Jason