RedBubble et al. | The Art of the Moment

A lot of my on-line photographer acquaintances have made a move over to RedBubble since the initial troubles with JPG Magazine, a year or so past, and so I also set up an account there, the middle of the week. It has several advantages over my JPG Magazine pages, including a set-up that facilitates replying to comments made on one’s entries, photos, art, and writing. Also, when one uploads saleable pieces to one’s account, they are made available for purchase. Fulfillment’s always been the dreadful thing about selling art. Well, submitting poems to those what publishes ‘em is more dreadful: finding out who publishes the particular genre and flavor; their submission guidelines, schedules; gathering paper, envelope, postage, printed copy, and writing a cover letter (yes, I know I do that part of it for a living, but still…); and keeping track of what has been sent there, when, how long to wait before sending a follow-up inquiry; etc., etc. While the response rate has been very good, that’s not been sufficient to prompt me to go through the process more than a dozen times over the past thirty-six years.

I would then suppose that seeing my work accepted by edited publications is not one of the reasons that I write.

9 thoughts on “RedBubble et al.”

It doesn’t sound like publication is a major goal of yours. {Smile}

I wouldn’t say it’s a major goal for me, either, but I am considering shopping a story around. I feel like the way I’ve been sharing my stories so far doesn’t get me much recognition as a writer. I don’t know if getting a story or few into magazines is much of an improvement, but I figure it’s worth a try. {Smile}

Anne Elizabeth Baldwin

Liz Bennefeld on 22 May 2010 at 23:09 said:

I think I just sent out stuff occasionally to find out if it was publishable. Once I found out that it was, I . . . lost interest, again? I think that maybe I don’t really want to be a writer. Writing is just something that I do, sort of like thinking aloud.

P.S. RedBubble sounds interesting. I’d like to know more about it. {Smile}

Anne Elizabeth Baldwin

Liz Bennefeld on 22 May 2010 at 23:06 said:

There is a page of groups for writers which includes all sorts of activities you might be interested in. The site is really geared towards creatives, even though the artists and photographers seem to be the most visible.

As co-founder of RedBubble I will say welcome to you all. One of the things we are looking at reactivating is RedBubble publications because it provides a great showcase for the artists on the site. But in any event lots of stuff to do and I think you will find the community very welcoming.

Liz Bennefeld on 25 May 2010 at 18:46 said:

Thanks very much for dropping by, Martin, and thank you also for the welcome. I am enjoying RedBubble. There’s a lot to explore, and there is a broad range of new things for me to try on for size. I hope to get to know more people as time passes.

I peeked at that page for authors. I’ll have to look into it more carefully. It does look promising. {Smile}

Sometimes I wonder if I’ll end up doing what you did: submit enough to know it’s publishable, then lose interest. I don’t think I’ve ever really wanted to become an author. I mainly want to write. I’m looking at publishing stuff now because I feel like I’ve hit a plateau. I know I can write short stories to please some friends, and I know I’ll never please some of them. If I want to make progress again, I need to try something new. I figure that publishing might be worth a try. {Smile}

Anne Elizabeth Baldwin

I guess that really is what I’m finding there, for the time being, Anne. The opportunity to do something different, to grow. Certainly would not want to limit myself to art or poetry that *everyone* likes, even if there were such a thing.

For that matter, *I* don’t like everything I write. I’ve got a couple of poems that I have been working on for 40-some years or more that still don’t please me. ::grin::

I don’t want to limit myself to stuff everyone likes either. Not only is that impossible, but trying for it tends to turn stuff banal. {lop-sided smile}

I don’t like everything I write either. I’ve never connected with my own poetry, back when I had to write some for school. Folks would pick o ut one as particularly great, and I didn’t understand why that was any better than the others. That’s probably why I stick to stories now. {Smile}

Anne Elizabeth Baldwin

Anne Elizabeth Baldwin on 22 May 2010 at 18:28 said:

It doesn’t sound like publication is a major goal of yours. {Smile}

I wouldn’t say it’s a major goal for me, either, but I am considering shopping a story around. I feel like the way I’ve been sharing my stories so far doesn’t get me much recognition as a writer. I don’t know if getting a story or few into magazines is much of an improvement, but I figure it’s worth a try. {Smile}

Anne Elizabeth Baldwin
- Liz Bennefeld on 22 May 2010 at 23:09 said:
  
  I think I just sent out stuff occasionally to find out if it was publishable. Once I found out that it was, I . . . lost interest, again? I think that maybe I don’t really want to be a writer. Writing is just something that I do, sort of like thinking aloud.
Anne Elizabeth Baldwin on 22 May 2010 at 21:16 said:

P.S. RedBubble sounds interesting. I’d like to know more about it. {Smile}

Anne Elizabeth Baldwin
- Liz Bennefeld on 22 May 2010 at 23:06 said:
  
  There is a page of groups for writers which includes all sorts of activities you might be interested in. The site is really geared towards creatives, even though the artists and photographers seem to be the most visible.
Martin Hosking on 23 May 2010 at 00:40 said:

As co-founder of RedBubble I will say welcome to you all. One of the things we are looking at reactivating is RedBubble publications because it provides a great showcase for the artists on the site. But in any event lots of stuff to do and I think you will find the community very welcoming.
- Liz Bennefeld on 25 May 2010 at 18:46 said:
  
  Thanks very much for dropping by, Martin, and thank you also for the welcome. I am enjoying RedBubble. There’s a lot to explore, and there is a broad range of new things for me to try on for size. I hope to get to know more people as time passes.
Anne Elizabeth Baldwin on 25 May 2010 at 17:31 said:

I peeked at that page for authors. I’ll have to look into it more carefully. It does look promising. {Smile}

Sometimes I wonder if I’ll end up doing what you did: submit enough to know it’s publishable, then lose interest. I don’t think I’ve ever really wanted to become an author. I mainly want to write. I’m looking at publishing stuff now because I feel like I’ve hit a plateau. I know I can write short stories to please some friends, and I know I’ll never please some of them. If I want to make progress again, I need to try something new. I figure that publishing might be worth a try. {Smile}

Anne Elizabeth Baldwin
Liz Bennefeld on 25 May 2010 at 18:59 said:

I guess that really is what I’m finding there, for the time being, Anne. The opportunity to do something different, to grow. Certainly would not want to limit myself to art or poetry that *everyone* likes, even if there were such a thing.

For that matter, *I* don’t like everything I write. I’ve got a couple of poems that I have been working on for 40-some years or more that still don’t please me. ::grin::
Anne Elizabeth Baldwin on 26 May 2010 at 03:11 said:

I don’t want to limit myself to stuff everyone likes either. Not only is that impossible, but trying for it tends to turn stuff banal. {lop-sided smile}

I don’t like everything I write either. I’ve never connected with my own poetry, back when I had to write some for school. Folks would pick o ut one as particularly great, and I didn’t understand why that was any better than the others. That’s probably why I stick to stories now. {Smile}

Anne Elizabeth Baldwin