Kristopher Young Interview

Another local blogger, Arthur Smid, recently conducted an interview with Another Sky Press‘ Kristopher Young, and afterward I asked him what he thought of him.  His response? Young is “the real deal.”  We have featured Young, Another Sky Press, and the books they offer in previous posts.  Still intrigued by the idea of neo-patronage, the business model which Another Sky is based on, I sent a few questions to Young via email. Below are the responses, where he talks about his hopes for inspiring other to take chances, his part in helping to make the world a better place, the most challenging aspect of publishing, and much more.

Reading Local) When you lie awake at night, what do you envision for Another Sky?  Have you thought about moving into other creative genres (movies, music, art, etc.) and applying the same business model?

Kristopher Young) I’d like Another Sky to continue to grow, obviously – not just for the success of our authors, which is a given, but to help spread the concepts behind the press.  I think there are a few ways that can happen – the more successful our individual books are the better, which only furthers our need to focus on material we think is stellar.   Thankfully, our entire model dictates that we only work on projects we love, so I am confident about our releases.  The other, ‘easier’ path would be for an established author to take a chance with us.  I suppose, in a way, that’s the pie in the sky, lie awake at night type dream situation that you’re asking about.  But part of me doesn’t even want that, anyway – I’ve never been much for taking shortcuts, I prefer the challenge.

But both of those ideas address the same issue – obscurity.   I think that single word sums up the issue almost every artist, regardless of field, faces – it doesn’t matter what you’re doing if nobody knows about it.   I’m not saying fame is a measurement of artistic success, because I don’t believe that to be true – but I do think that if you’re creating something for others, then it’s important that others experience it.   That’s one of the many reasons ASP makes our books available for free online – removing barriers (in this case, financial) between art and experience is a very good thing.

A second, yet equally important, dream I have for ASP doesn’t really involve ASP specifically.  I want to see others take chances like we do.  If someone saw our model, and then built upon that to create their own publishing house, I’d be ecstatic.    I know my own roots –  Dischord records, for example, was a huge influence on me.  I’d love to know that the ideas fundamental to ASP inspired others to start their own ventures.  Ideas should always be evolving.  Thankfully, I’ve already been rewarded in this regard… I’ve seen some pretty mainstream artists take some significant chances – for example, Radiohead recently released mp3s of their latest album based on a contribution model.  I don’t know if they’ve even heard of our existence, but that in itself doesn’t matter – what we do is now part of the collective consciousness, and we’re all pushing forward.

To answer the second part of your question, the short answer is ‘yes’.   There is a good chance we’ll eventually be moving into music – it’s definitely been discussed, though finding the right project to start out with is difficult.   As far as art goes, we’ve already released art books.  I don’t know that the model applies as well to something like original artwork — it’s far more applicable to something that has multiple copies (cds, books) than it is a unique item (a painting).   DVDs would be a match, though we haven’t really thought about moving in that direction.

RL) What have you learned about people in general through setting up the press the way you have?  Anything surprise you, or has your faith in the inherent good in people so far been vindicated?

KY) People are amazing.  I can’t say anything has surprised me, mostly because I have high hopes and expectations from people.  It’s easy, if not common place, to criticize the human race for all of our failings (because we certainly have our share), but perception is such a powerful thing — if we expect the worst from others, we’re likely to find it (if not possibly even help create it).  I don’t really see the value in that sort of negativity.   Sure, if you expect nothing, you’ll never be disappointed… but at what cost?  I believe the world can be a better place, and because of that belief, I’m willing to help work towards it.  On the other hand, if I didn’t have that belief in the first place, why would I waste my time?  Add it all together and I think my point becomes clear – if you don’t believe in a better world, you won’t work towards it, and you’ve created a self-fulfilling prophesy.

RL) What are some of the things you have learned about the process in these first few years that will help Another Sky continue to grow?  Or is “growth” not really the goal?

KY) Growth is a goal, because I want both our authors and our ideas to succeed on an increasingly grand scale.  I want authors (not just ours) to be better rewarded for their effort.   As far as learning goes – well, everything is a learning process, right?  I know so much more than I did when all of this started.   A lot is practical knowledge – creating a book from start to finish is an evolved process.  Finding a community of talented people has been a huge help as well – while I may make a good editor, or even be good at designing the interior of a book, keep me far far away from the cover.    I think the most challenging aspect is PR & marketing – neither come naturally to me, and we’re always on the lookout for someone to help out that has that down pat.   But it’s a difficult thing – marketing books is very, very difficult compared to many other things (who buys books because of an advertisement, for example?).  I think it’s more about encouraging and supporting word of mouth.

RL) Where did the inspiration for neo-patronage come from?  You talk on your site about the “thought and debate” that went into it, but was there some aha moment you had that eventually got to where we are now?

KY) I do think there was an epiphany of sorts, though I’d be hard pressed to pinpoint that moment.   I have a lot of issues with traditional commerce – the focus on capital over actual people, the resultant issues regarding poverty, the move towards materialism, the lack of respect for the earth and other living beings, the energy used creating junk product that could have been used towards something useful… the list goes on and on, and there’s no real way to discuss it without sounding overly critical.

ASP’s model exists because I tried to solve as many of those issues at one time as I could.  For example, I wanted as few barriers between art and audience as possible, so our books are put online in PDF format for free – removing the financial barrier.  I wanted a model where you paid what something was actually worth to you, hence our contribution system.
So Another Sky represents my best attempt to get around all of the many issues I have with art vs. commerce.  I’m not saying its perfect by any means – but it does represent my heart and soul.   It’s about putting the artist and audience first, not profit.  It’s my firm belief that ‘profit’ is a natural result of creating something people love.   To try to force profit through hype and pricing and other techniques that circumvent actual quality of output is… well, not what I want to be or to represent.

Theory is nothing if not put into practice, and once something is in practice, it’s no longer just a theory.  It exists.  It can spread and evolve and thrive.

RL) Lastly, what do you hope people take away from Another Sky and the books you publish?

From Another Sky, I want people to consider our ideas.  I don’t mind if they don’t agree with them, I don’t mind if they don’t adopt them.  It’s the considering them that’s important – once your mind is opened to new ideas they a virus, spreading, mutating, growing – memes, to be a bit more specific.  This is how the fringe becomes mainstream, the revolutionary becomes everyday, genius becomes commonplace.

For our books… well, I love every one of them.  But each have their own ideas and life, and I’d really only feel comfortable talking about my own, Click.   But it’s a bit difficult to sum that up in a few sentences – perhaps, my hope is that it helps people focus on their own evolution and empowerment.  But I think that’s a bigger discussion for another time.

I would like to thank Kristopher for his time, and for being so honest and forthcoming with his answers.  Support this great Portland talent and his press by buying one or more of the books they offer.