Birthdays
Something a bit odd about me is that I don't really celebrate my birthday.
When I was 16 I woke up thinking 'this will be a great day, everyone's going to be so nice to me' and people weren't - my family were busy, my friends had things to do, people had lives and priorities and things on and I was really sad, I didn't have a special day, in fact I think it was super mundane, like just aggressively normal. A bit forlorn at the end of the day, I walked down to the park, sat on the swings and I sort of realised that expecting something so self indulgent made me miserable. It was bullshit to expect the world to revolve around me and, now, I don't celebrate my birthday.
It's always a bit bizarre, at work some busy body asks 'when's your birthday' and I have to explain 'I don't celebrate my birthday' and there's always this pregnant pause where this random person takes a second or two to think about what on earth that means. For me, birthdays are quite awkward. I sit on my butt while people sing to me - hate it. I have to pretend to be happy that my work colleagues got me some over-priced junk that I don't want and gets thrown out? Who benefits from this? I'm really quite happy just plodding along having a pretty unimaginative day, maybe I'll get myself a milkshake but that's about all I want.
I see that some other folks have these big social media outpourings of love when it's their birthday and it seems a bit much. I guess I'm just a pretty content guy, I'm happy going for an extra long lunch break on the sly instead of having fireworks and trumpets blaring.
However, we are here today because I DO have something I want to celebrate! And it is a birthday (but not mine).
My business - Tall Poppy Press - is officially one year old!
So far, I've published three books by artists I love and they have each been very successful. A year a go I was frantically messaging Rochelle Marie Adam, sorting out printing and final design choices, while also starting a social media presence and trying to get this thing going. Now I know we have regular customers, friendly supporters, and a place in the community. It's a really good feeling and goes to show that a lot can happen in a year. I mean seriously, a LOT. I've attended book fairs, met a load of publishing peers, had customers pick up books from my house, made new friends, collected a business partner and put great stuff out into the world. I've learned about shipping, distribution and a LOT about managing finances. Each book has made money too, which is a BIG WIN.
Each artist has made some money from the books as well, not a life changing sum, but some money. I'm proud to pay artists each month and it feels good to keep refining what Tall Poppy Press is so that the people who get published enjoy the experience, are proud of the product, and can pay some bills or rent with the money.
I don't mean to gloat, but this is just my way of saying 'I actually have something to celebrate', it's not just a turn around the sun, but all these other things: the friends along the way, the sense of what's possible in the next few years, the excitement for the next book fair, even knowing the post office staff member I like the most by name (it's Zoe, Zoe you're a gem, you always remember to email me a receipt and my business - never quit, please). I feel visceral joy about this past year and what Tall Poppy has done, I feel real excitement thinking about 2023's releases, it's all excellent.
A few small things to wrap up:
Tall Poppy Press also has a newsletter. It is less frequent and much shorter than this one - sign up if you want to hear about new releases and events we're attending.
I'm teaching a workshop on photobook making in 2023, there are only 8 spots left, if you're Australia based and feel like being nice, share it with a friend or two, I'm really keen and know this will be a great workshop
As always, the absolute best way to support my art practice is to buy a book or, even better, a print! I have a lot of prints that have come home from exhibitions that have been completed, if you want a print from The Killing Sink for a pretty good price, just email me back
Anyway, happy birthday Tall Poppy Press, you're one of the best things I've ever done - and we're only a single year in.