Writers Deserve More

I want to be clear: we are not starting a podcast. That said, last month we had a conversation with some really smart people on Zoom with the intention of sharing it with our community. We spoke with three writers, Ana María Caballero, Jo Unruh, and Katie M. Zeigler, who have all been involved in literary NFT projects. (In fact, we just published Katie’s story “Benny and the Heart” as an NFT collection last month.) We were excited to chat with these folks and get their perspective on this space. We recorded the call, did some editing and splicing together of video, then published it on our YouTube channel.

I understand this all may seem like remarkably similar behavior to what somebody would do if they were starting a podcast. But it's probably not a podcast. Unless we do a few more of them. Then maybe it will become one. The way an awkward caterpillar becomes a beautiful butterfly. Or the way a hole in the knee of a pair of my simple jeans in college eventually lead to a glorious pair of stringy grunge jorts.

And because we just want to prepare for that possibility (of butterflies, of grunge shorts) we decided to give it a name. And so this thing that is currently not a podcast shall henceforth be called Atticus on Air, which we find appropriate, given our penchant for referencing old media while working with new.

During the call, Boo Trundle led a stimulating conversation where we talked about the possible benefits blockchain technology could have for artists and writers in helping to establish provenance and ownership of digital assets. Some highlights include…

Jo Unruh asked: “Why does capitalism undervalue art so much? Shouldn't there be a way for (digital) art to be more sustainable or people to earn meaningful compensation for their efforts?”

Ana María Caballero questioned why poets, unlike other artists, are taught to never expect to make a living from their craft: "It was very intuitive for me to say — something has to give, like there has to be more for writers. We deserve more."

Katie M. Zeigler described what collecting writing could look like: "Once you purchase and you have this almost emotional ownership of this beautiful piece of writing, then you could build your collection of that writer...having that pride of ownership that you are an early adopter...I still think that that has so much potential. I really do."

If you are a writer and have ever thought that the current model of publishing is just not working, then you will find this conversation interesting.

Also, thanks to everybody who has submitted their nonfiction last month We are getting to work reading it and hope to be in touch by the end of August.

David Olimpio
Publisher