For creative iconoclasts who want to pay their bills AND do the work they love, get insights, ideas, and next steps from a graphic novelist, author, & business coach. Find out how to build a balanced and productive creative life, and to thrive financially with simple, sustainable business foundations—without creative compromise.
Celebrating 6 new creative businesses! 🎉
I’m so incredibly proud to introduce the second cohort of the Autonomous Creative Incubator! We’ve all been working so hard for this day, and it feels incredible to be helping launch these new businesses into the world!
Six short months ago, these awesome creatives committed to building new businesses.
Why did they take this huge step?
Because they all needed to create time, freedom, and autonomy in their lives. I mean, don’t we all? But it turns out, the way that actually happens in reality is by redesigning what we do for a living to bring in a lot more money with a lot less effort and time.
That well-resourced time means freedom and the white space we need to take care of ourselves and also make the creative work we dream of. That’s what each of these people have begun to make happen in their own lives.
It feels slightly magical! ✨
So please help us celebrate by checking out what they’re up to!
(And if you figure out their work is just what you need, this is your chance to get in on the ground floor with them!)
Beaming with pride,
Jessica
Celebrating 6 new creative businesses
Story Coaching with Henrike Dijkstra
Story coach Henrike Dijkstra is a comic artist who teaches storytelling and how to turn those stories into the creative projects of your dreams.
Do you have a story to tell that’s begging to come out in some creative form? But do you have trouble with getting it onto paper in a way that feels deliberate and finished? Does your story feel messy? Is it collecting dust on a shelf somewhere?
Whether it’s through art or prose, you have a unique opportunity with every piece or art or writing to touch your audience’s lives.
In Story Coaching, Henrike will help you create a strong, structured outline that’s full of meaning for your audience and that will prepare you (and fire you up!) to create your story-project in the medium of your choice.
Find out more at https://pencilsandstories.com/storycoaching
Curating Grief Coaching with Charlene Lam
Certified Grief Coach and Curator Charlene Lam believes we are ALL curators after a loved one dies. She helps people to deal with physical and emotional “stuff” after the death of a loved one, using the lens of curating.
Whether you’re feeling burdened by responsibilities, weighed down by unprocessed grief or exhausted by family conflict, the Curating Grief coaching package is the creative way to navigate these challenges so you can feel connected with your loved one and move forward with living your own fullest life. Originally from NYC, Charlene is based in Lisbon, Portugal and works with clients worldwide.
Find out more at https://www.charlenelam.com/creative-grief-coaching/
Clarity Interview with Braeden Doane
Braeden Doane is a multimedia producer who builds communal spaces for creative play and meaningful connection.
Are you grappling with how to talk about your work? Do you slip into a pit of self-loathing as the blinking cursor taunts you from atop the blank page? Come be a guest on Braeden’s imaginary podcast!
Two decades of audio interviewing have well-tuned their ears to conversations that connect people with themselves.
They’ll use their radio hosting expertise to help you clarify and distill how you talk about your work. During a one-hour recorded call, they’ll ask you lots of questions and then transcribe the audio. Two days later, you’ll receive a text summary of your responses—a written document describing what you do in your own words.
No need to start from scratch the next time you write your bio. Join Braeden in the studio and tell them what you’re working on! They can’t wait to hear all about it.
Find out more at landlineradio.com
Slay Mail by Alana Cymerman
Writer and director Alana Cymerman helps creatives turn their newsletters into effective marketing tools and works of art.
Express your creativity and originality through unusual and unique emails that make your audience think, laugh, and feel, all while helping to instill your values into your brand narrative.
Find out more at https://cymermade.com/slay-mail
A Theater-Going Habit, Newsletter and Community by Katie O’Neill
Audience outreach consultant Katie O’Neill is a costume-designer-turned-theater-fan-finder who brings fun new folks to shows and fun new shows to folks.
Katie believes everyone is an expert audience member. She gathers all expert opinions on theater-going and other forms of live performance. Sold out shows are more fun for everyone involved. Let’s fill the seats and the lobby with a lively crowd.
Every week, she picks a few shows currently playing and streaming, shares ticket prices and deals, audience experiences, and insider insights.
She wants to know: What would get you in the door to this show? Who would you bring? Are you coming back?
The newsletter is free. Sometimes the tickets are free!
Get the newsletter here: https://theatergoinghabit.substack.com/
Book coaching and story strategy for BIPOC & LGBTQIA+ writers with Thien-Kim Lam
Writer and book coach Thien-Kim Lam smashes stereotypes and finds happy endings.
Stop explaining what it’s like to be YOU in your book. You’re proud to be Asian, Black, Latinx, (i.e. not the status quo). Why should your book be any different? It’s time for you to tell your story.
As a twice-published Vietnamese American author, Thien-Kim understands what it’s like to doubt her true voice and shake free of the white gaze. She’s learned how to push through it and you can too.
Yes, you will hold your finished book in your hands. You don’t have to do it alone with Thien-Kim as your book coach.
The world needs your story because representation matters.
YOU matter.
Find out more at https://thienkimlam.com/book-coaching/
Autonomous Creative
With Jessica Abel
For creative iconoclasts who want to pay their bills AND do the work they love, get insights, ideas, and next steps from a graphic novelist, author, & business coach. Find out how to build a balanced and productive creative life, and to thrive financially with simple, sustainable business foundations—without creative compromise.
So, as of writing this email, my time tracking tells me that since January 12 I’ve spent 143 hours and 10 minutes on revising the Creative Focus Workshop. That feels like an undercount, TBH. I’ve also shut down several sources of revenue for Autonomous Creative, most notably, an entire program, Authentic Visibility. The numbers are not looking good. And just in the last 3 weeks, I’ve spent close to $5000, said goodbye to my longest serving team member (good luck, Lou! 😢), hired a whole new...
Got 5 minutes to play around with me? I’ve put together a tiny treasure hunt for you full of old, slightly embarrassing photos, art, and ephemera from my cartoonist past for you to discover. For example: Want to see me drunk in a bar in Tijuana with semi-famous cartoonists in 1999? Oh yes you do. These photos have never before been on the internets! No joke: I had to literally scan small rectangles of paper to make this for you. my weapon of choice in the 1990s Also: unpublished work! Comic...
Once, when I told her to empty the dishwasher, my daughter’s face clouded into a scowl. But it wasn’t simply that she didn’t want to empty the dishwasher. No, she told me that she had been just about to get up and empty the dishwasher on her own. As soon as I told her to do it, I stole the virtue of doing it solo, and I robbed her of her agency. And now, she wanted to sit down and NEVER empty the dishwasher. Sound familiar? Yeah, me too. But wait, there’s more: The other day, a friend said,...