I was privileged to
invite Palle
Schmidt for an interview with BooKecCenTric to discuss
their latest book and the inspiration behind it. Enjoy!
*********
What's
your book SOLO -
Survival Guide for Creative Freelancers, 2019 about, and what inspired you to
write it?
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SOLO was the book I myself was looking
for on the shelves and didn't find. Even after working as a creative
freelancer for 20 years I'm still hungry to learn and I read a lot of books
on entrepreneurship. But all those books seem to assume you want growth, to
build an empire. I'm really just looking to build a sustainable career for
one person, balancing work-for-hire with my own projects. SOLO became a way
for me to put all my thoughts and experiences into a cohesive narrative,
hopefully both inspirational and actionable.
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Who is your target audience, and why do
you think this book will appeal to them?
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I'm speaking to artists who have a
unique expression and drive to create - whatever it is the form of music,
writing, pottery or comics. I want to help people build a sustainable career.
SOLO is meant to a zero BS guide to life as a freelance creator that you can
return to again and again for eye opening insights and hands-on advice. And
hopefully it will put a smile on your face and make you think: I can do this!
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What message do you wish to pass across
to your readers with this book?
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We live in a time of low job security,
outsourcing and automation. But times have never been better for independant
creators! The gatekeepers you used to have to go through to get a book, an
album or a TV-show made are no longer relevant. Anyone with a smartphone, a
computer and an internet connection can do almost anything from anywhere. I
would love for people to come away from SOLO empowered, to feel like they
don't need to rely on a "real" job to pay the bills. You can
absolutely create your own job and not have to rely on the whims of one
company or a psycho boss to put food on the table.
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What was the hardest thing about
writing your latest book?
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SOLO actually came very easy for me.
I'm used to writing fiction but in this case I didn't have to make anything
up or find a unique voice for a character. This book is written very much how
I talk and contains only knowledge and experience I live and breathe. I could
talk about this stuff all day long! Of course as a writer, you always get
doubts along the way. In this case writing in English was something that
easily could have tripped me up if I had let it. As it turns out I know how
to recognize Resistance (as Steven Pressfield calls it) and put it in the
corner while I work. And as far as the language goes I got a US editor on
board to make sure there aren't any missteps.
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As a writer, is there anything you've
learned about yourself while writing this book?
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Oh, I learned a TON writing this book,
it's half memoir! Putting my thoughts into writing like this made it much
clearer for me how I feel about creativity and business and how the two
intermingle. The email templates I wrote up for the book I've started to use
in my own business and is has made a huge difference in my work. Now I don't
have to mull over how to say no to a job or formulate the right pitch email
to an influencer, I just use my own templates!
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For your own reading, do you prefer
ebooks or traditional paper/hard back books, and why?
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I'm a dinosaur. I recognize the
benefits of ebooks and understand it's a great way to reach an audience and
get your message across. For some reason I just tend to forget I have a book
I'm reading, if it's not sitting on my desk. I have designed and illustrated
the interior of SOLO as a traditional book and look forward to seeing it in
paperback soon. My own test copy is already battered and curled and full of
notes.
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What is your niche genre, and if you
were to write in a different genre, what would it be?
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Well, SOLO is a non-fiction book aimed
at other freelance creators and I teach creativity and comics over at
comicsforbeginners.com. But in my fiction work it's almost always crime noir.
I like telling stories of deeply flawed characters in over their head and
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What books and authors have most
influenced you?
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I'm very much influenced by the
American hardboiled tradition, like Chandler, Hammet and Ellroy. So it's really
no surprise that some of my favorite comics are basically crime stories as
well, like Frank Miller's Daredevil, Batman and in later years Brian
Azzarello's 100 Bullets and Ed Brubaker's Criminal.
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Is there anything you'd like readers to
know about you?
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No, I want to remain shrouded in
mystery, ha ha! No, if people are considering to read SOLO, I'd like them to
know I've lived it and will be brutally honest about the mistakes I've made
and continue to make. I'm not trying to blow smoke up people's butts. I know
so many creators who botch the job because of their own mindset or are afraid
to charge premium for their work and I think you can easily tighten up the
business aspect of things without becoming a total sleaze bucket car
salesman. My philosophy is very clear in the book and I'm very transparent.
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Do you have any more books in the
works?
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Right now I'm working on series of
crime noir books for the Danish market and have a few comics projects in the
works. If people want to check out my comics work, both my crime noir graphic
novels The Devil's Concubine and STILETTO are available in English, both on
Comixology and Amazon.
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Do you read your book reviews? How do
you deal with bad or good ones?
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I only get good reviews! Total lie of
course... I read ALL reviews at this point, but I try to only take in the
good ones. As a creator, your confidence is probably the single most
important asset you have. If you find yourself getting derailed by other
people's opinions, then you have to tune them out - at least for a while
until you get your groove back. I'm my own worst critic so I'm usually able
to shrug off some doucheblogger who hasn't realized my genius, ha ha!
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What is your preferred method to have
readers get in touch with or follow you?
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People can always reach me through the
contact page at my website, palleschmidt.com. The site for SOLO is http://bit.ly/solo-book and there is a
free 20-page sample there, no email required or anything.
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Any additional comments you would like
to add?
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Well, if I could get on my soap box for
one final sermon I would like to say this: You don't need to have a huge hit,
a million followers or build an empire to make a living as an artist. You can
fill most of your days with joy and wonder, exploring your own creativity,
rather than clock in at a crappy job you don't like. It's never been easier
to get in front of an audience or learn the skills you need to carve out a
creative niche for yourself. Even though I'm sometimes only scraping by and
worry about paying the bills, I wouldn't trade with anyone. The fact that I
don't have a boss and I get to decide how I spend my days and who I work
with, that's priceless.
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Palle Schmidt is a
Copenhagen-based author and artist, published in Denmark and in the US (graphic
novels The Devil’s Concubine and STILETTO, and Thomas Alsop from BOOM!
Studios, dubbed “best mini-series of 2014” by USA Today). His latest book SOLO
- Survival Guide for Creative Freelancers is an attempt to pass on all the
lessons learned in the past 20 years of working freelance. http://bit.ly/solo-book