Buying and Selling

The National Monument, Calton Hill

It's a shame not to be able to take full advantage of the bright spring sunshine outdoors, but this sort-of enforced sort-of lockdown does have its up-side: for one thing, I've already completed the little book I mooted in the previous post. I decided to stick with the title Byrne and Swinton's Guide to Edinburgh, and you can see it here:

Byrne and Swinton's Guide to Edinburgh

Mike Chisholm

Should you feel like buying a copy, I recommend the relatively inexpensive PDF version as, if it is viewed properly [1], you will then get the full "flicker-book" effect as you page through it, whereby the couple remain static while the backdrop behind them changes. To be honest, I also recommend it because I haven't yet received a paper copy myself, and won't for some weeks, so it would be foolish to make it available for sale until I have had a chance to check it over for errors.

Also, an interesting thing that I hadn't noticed before is that Blurb's embedded free preview (as above) of these small, so-called "trade" books does not respect their native aspect ratio (they're tall and thin, like the old foolscap paper) and squidges the page to fit the more typical Blurb book shape. Hence Tilda Swinton's dramatic facial bone structure gets an unflattering podgy makeover. To see it as nature intended you need to use the PDF.

But, listen, I'm fully aware that you have no intention of buying anything. Hardly anyone does. I was pleased and not a little flattered to get an unsolicited testimonial on Andrew Molitor's blog recently, but that was the proverbial exception that proves the rule. It means a lot when someone appreciates your work; it means even more when someone buys your work. As I'm sure I've said before: cash purchase, not imitation, is the sincerest form of flattery. But here's the thing: much as I appreciate the compliment, and always will [2], I do not depend on sales for income. I'm a retired professional with a decent pension, now further topped up by my state pension. Obviously, it's not entirely accidental that I am now in this fortunate position – choices were involved – but I nonetheless count myself lucky.

However, that's not something that most active artists and musicians can look forward to, literally living as they do in the "gig economy", not to mention all those allied trades that keep theatres, galleries, small publishers, and music venues running. The current situation is desperate for many, but then it's always been a pretty hand-to-mouth way of life, and probably always will be, until they listen to their parents, give up this arty nonsense, and get a proper job in McDonald's. Or, as the luckier ones do, get a day job teaching the next generation of young hopefuls. As I say, choices are involved.

So, if you're fortunate enough to be in stable, well-remunerated employment and you come across a book, a picture, or some music that you like (I'm talking about struggling unknowns, here, not me or the overpriced work of established "names"), then I suggest that you should buy it, and – once things return to normal – if there's an interesting play, concert, or exhibition on locally then you should buy a ticket and see it. And, if you've booked to see something that has had to be cancelled due to the coronavirus, FFS don't ask for your money back! You can afford it: think of it as an arts tithe of 5-10% of your income annually that you invest to keep the pool of talent healthy, and not the exclusive preserve of unsalaried interns, trust-fund bohemians, and fraudulent crowd-pleasers.

On Calton Hill

1. It is especially important that you set your PDF viewer (typically Acrobat) so that you are seeing a two-page view with a separate cover page, ensuring that the correct pages face each other. In Acrobat the settings are:
Under the menu "View" / "Page Display" choose all of:
"Two Page View"
"Show Gaps Between Pages"
"Show Cover Page in Two Page View"
2. To the extent that, if you are willing to identify yourself, you may even receive free stuff!