There is a bare minimum
a Romance Novel (my product)
has to contain
to ensure readers
are satisfied.
I could supply the minimum
and likely earn 90%
of the income
I’m currently earning.
Giving the extra,
supplying the magic
takes about
double the effort.
Clearly it isn’t worth
financially
to expend
double the effort
to gain 10% more income.
But supplying the magic
makes ME happy.
That effort is for me,
the artist,
not for my readership.
“Why do extra?
After all,
the industrial system
has squeezed everything
it can
out of front-line workers.
It has taken
without offering much
in return,
stripping people of
dignity and respect
and treating them like cogs.
But acting like a cog
in return
is hardly a useful form
of revenge.
Showing up
with more than
the minimum
might turn the job
into more than a job.
When we show up
because we can,
when we’re extending ourselves
as a matter of choice,
we create space.
The space
to own the work,
to personalize it,
and
to turn it into
more than getting by.”
The minimum
is for your customers.
The extra
is for you.