I’m very happy to announce that the radical small-scale book publisher and distributor Little Black Cart has accepted my book proposal.
What does this mean?
Well basically, they like my idea of a book and want to help me make it come to fruition. I had a very positive and encouraging conversation with someone from LBC for almost an hour today and the conclusion was that a manuscript would be due on June 1st. But I can also submit this manuscript before then if I feel like it’s ready before then.
This means my book will be published before the end of 2016.
This would be an amazing thing to accomplish and I’d certainly endeavor to sell them as low of a prices as possible. I’m hoping the book will come in around 250 pages and be $25 or less. Hopefully I can sell them for as low as $15 and still make some (some, I’m not expecting to get rich here) money for them but we’ll see!
I’m still looking for some new entries from writers and and am open to any and all submissions so long as your article is advocating the abolition, radical reduction or reform of work in some way. Many of the articles will be my own but I’d like to even it out by at least a little bit here and there when possible. Full abolition of work is preferable as a stance.
So to that end if you have an interest in submitting an entry for this book (which is just a collection of articles) please keep in mind that they should at least be 1000 words long. If you wish to go longer then that’s fine, but it shouldn’t be 10,000 words or more.
I’m looking for submissions of 1000 - 5000 words, for the most part but a bit longer isn’t a deal-breaker by any means.
If any of this sounds appealing to you feel free to email me at: voyagingman2010@yahoo.com
I already have a few folks already offering and the introduction to this “book” (if you will) shall be forthcoming. So please make sure you get back to me before the end of March/beginning of April.
In the name of transparency I’ll link y’all the book proposal I submitted at the beginning of February:
Nick Ford voyagingman2010@yahoo.com
Instead of a Book by A Man Too Busy Lazy to Write One
Me: I am Nick Ford, and I have been writing on the topic of work for over three years. My website AbolishWork.com is the preeminent source for open advocacy of the abolition of work and serves as a central online hub cataloging many anti-work texts not available elsewhere.
Market: The market for anti-work advocacy is largely untapped. There are some books that touch on the abolition of work (e.g. Bob Black’s recent Instead of Work), and there are others that focus on cultural appreciations of slacking such as Doing Nothing, by Tom Lutz.
My collection of writings would aim to do these things and more. It would include commentaries on media that involve anti-work elements, current events, theoretical abstract essays on work, and strategies to abolish work.
Description: Instead of a Book by a Man too Lazy to Write One is a unique collection of essays that challenges work while reminding us to value laziness and slacking – not just as a method of self-care, but also as an individual and collective way to resist oppression of all sorts.
Strengths and Weaknesses: The greatest strength is also its greatest weakness: There aren’t many books like this. While there are some anti-work books within the anarchist scene, many were published years ago. More recent ones tend to be dedicated to only particular aspects of working instead of work itself. As opposed to those books, Instead of a Book would be based on recent events, reprint classic texts, and tackle many different aspects of work itself.
Description of Text:
Order of Presentation:
Anti-copyright
Dedication
Introduction: David S. D’Amato
Table of Contents
Anti-Work 101
Anti-Work Observations
Anti-Work Commentaries
Anti-Work Reviews
Hardly Working Series
Anti-Work and Libertarianism
Anti-Work and Mental Health
Anti-Work Strategies
Reddit AMA: FAQ
Conclusion: An Anti-Work World
Further Reading/Resources
IndexA brief statement on the ordering of this collection:
I have ordered this collection to optimize a general reader’s introduction to anti-work thought. D’Amato will take us through some of my motivations, history, and intentions behind the site. This will lay a solid foundation for future essays and reviews and put them in better context.
The 101 section will further introduce anti-work while the succeeding sections will open up discussion about society through an anti-work lens in various contexts.
After this I will look towards a post-work world and put a FAQ afterwards for questions that readers may still have. Lastly, I will include reading recommendations for further study.
- Character level pedagogy: High School level
• Proposed length: 200-250 pages
• Art and illustrations: Abolish Work logo
• Ancillary Materials: Further reading
• Schedule: Should this proposal be accepted I’d exert my fullest efforts to complete this collection by January 1st 2017.
And here’s the rough table of contents!
What would a world look like without work? How do we define what work means to us today? How is work affected by things like culture, the state and capitalism? This collection of essay aims to answer some of these questions and many others. This collection of essays gives insight on how present markets and governments can distort our abilities to meaningfully engage with how we want to live our lives.
Anti-copyrightDedicationIntroduction: David S. D’AmatoTable of ContentsAnti-Work 101Bits from Introduction,We Have a Fan (Gorz, reconciling markets with anti-work, 3 essentials reasons to dislike work)Work - What is it Good For? (Combine with We Have, Introduction)The Anti-Work WorkshopShould We Abolish Work?E. KerrBrownBrian Deane x2GraeberAnti-Work ObservationsBut Don’t People Need to Work?What is “My Job”?What we we without our jobs?The Limits of Commensurability, The Individual and WorkThoughts on Employment: “So What Do You Do?”The Obsession with Hard WorkMinimum Wage, Minimum Effort?Hard Work as Tradition“Why Don’t You Get a Job?”Victim BlamingThe DeclineYou, The CompanyRespectability CultureAttack of the Superchickens!Anti-Work CommentariesThe Worship of WorkGoogle Co-FounderWoman Found DeadGallup Poll DeterminesIn Praise of UnnecessaryUnlimitedThe Science is InNever-EndingItalian MinerLess GovernmentTime PovertyFlexibleMarshawnWork Doesn’t Need a RecessAspirations of ManyThe Ethics of Slacking in the WorkplaceOpen OfficeRobots Will Take OverAnti-Work ReviewsThe Right to be LazyApio’s ReviewThere is No DoStiff Upper LipWORK SUCKSApio’s ReviewSome adviceOne Step AheadThousand ClownsHardly Working SeriesAnti-Work and LibertarianismThe Individualist (A) and WorkCarsonGoodmanRyanTo Strive and FailSheldonThoreauThe Sorrows of lthe BodyAnti-Work and Mental HealthPrecariousDepressionSelf-CareUnemploymentContent ModeratorsWork Makes usEmotional LaborThe SacrificesWhat I’m Really ThinkingManual LaborWork, Stress, DeathIs There Shame in Not Working?Happiness and WorkWellness vs. WorkA Play on Your PassionParadoxAnti-Work StrategiesUndermine the Need for Conventional Employment8 More TipsSlacking Tips SeriesWhat Should You Do On Your Last Day of Work?Breaking up the Career MonopolyWon’t be Fooled AgainLazinessThe Efficient SlackerShould You Do What You LoveSome TipsDoing NothingSmartphonesReddit AMA: FAQConclusion: An Anti-Work WorldFurther Reading/ResourcesIndex
As you can see, I didn’t link the articles to their corresponding titles on here.
Why?
‘Cause I’m lazy.
…Oh, okay, it’s not just because of that. It’s also because this is such a rough draft and I’m also liable to edit those respective articles a bunch before publishing them. This is just to give you a feel for this book anyways.
Don’t take this as a hard blueprint and more of a suggestive guideline of where I’m going.
If you want to help make this book come out faster, please consider donating to my Patreon!
And see what your money can do besides just helping me writing more for Abolish Work and C4SS!