The State of All Things: NOVEMBER 2018 {official thing} (Patreon)

greetings from my kitchen table in woodstock. 

here we are.

coffeetimes.

.........

fist off: A WARNING. i am going to be posting to the patreon a SHIT TON this month. i have so so much to post since it's album-tour-book-announcement month.

for those of you that don't like reading posts every day....well, that's what these Althing posts are for. but even for you hardcore folks....let me know if it's just too much. i don't HAVE to post here - i always have instagram and twitter and facebook and all that. but i like posting here. i figure i'd rather post too much than too little. right? i dunno. tell me. i'm here for you.

like: YOU WILL HAVE TO TELL ME IF I GET ANNOYING. BUT I MAY BE POSTING EVERY DAY.

the last time i althing-ed you we were all backstage at the dresden dolls show in london, and now i'm actually sitting relatively calmly from my own house, but i don't know if you could actually call this "calm"....in the last 48 hours i have literally not sat down or had 15 minutes to myself. i spent twelve hours yesterday on the set of a video shoot (we tore apart the living room) making our album/tour/announcement video with coco karol (in the header photo) and michael pope, my bestie. it feels a little like the old days at the cloud club, when it was all just my friends living and eating together and making art, and i suppose it's not a coincidence. i like it this way. as soon as we post this i'm gonna go dance at my goth party.

so....i'm feeling frantic in the art department, but more settled in my home-self-life. being home in woodstock after three and a half months on the road (iceland, scotland, los angeles, tucson, santa fe, london) feels kind of delicious. ash finally has his own bedroom. he's really happy in it (photo at bottom). mama is finally getting to sleep for the entire night. neil is in london, finishing up the edits on good omens, the TV show that ate our life. 

the video should be dropping around december 10th/11th along with the album title, the tour info, and the album cover and and and.....

i'm so excited. there is SO MUCH TO SHOW YOU.

here are some shots from last night.

you can guess where i'm going with this.....eh?

it's gonna be good.

in general....i have been buried in album & tour & book announcement prep.

it is so much work, dudes....especially when you do things the way we do them: so much merch, a huge book to lay out, a CD to lay out, vinyl to lay out...decisions, calls, emails, meetings, decisions. it's always a little painful because i don't love making final decisions. i love to muse and i hate to commit.

the album itself is done, the songs sound like sounds, the songs themselves, the recordings, are written in stone. 

BUT THE ARTWORK ISN'T. i mean....we could do that. but what if we did THIS? wait, fuck that! why don't we do this? why don't we just ditch the entire album and go out for indian food? (we didn't, we ordered in). 

i drive everybody crazy this way. 

i am actually trying to do this record RIGHT. i want it to feel like one single thing, a concept record of sorts, with a long set of liner notes in the form of a massive book....a complete statement. even with my massive team of assistants and designer it feels like things are going to get overlooked. they probably will. and we will keep working.

to tantalize you....i have a few secrets to divulge.

please do not lift these and put them anywhere online, mkay?

first of all....here are two photos from the album/book artwork...this one is by allan amato:

and this one is by kahn and selesnick:

(this k& s photo: dress styled by andrea lauer, hair and make-up by regina harris)

and....and....and these are raw photos....we haven't even started cleaning them up for the book)

INORIGHT?

eeeeeeeEEEEEEeeeeeeeee.

eeee.

and just wait. there are more than FIFTY PHOTOGRAPHS IN THE BOOK AND THEY ARE ALL COMPLETELY DIFFERENT and i am jizzing with excitement about how goddamn gorgeous and meaningful they all are.

as of right now, the book is going to be available on pre-order TO PATRONS ONLY, in a PATRON-ONLY edition with a different cover than the public version.

AND.....

I HAVE A VERY EXCITING ANNOUNCEMENT.

EVERY SINGLE PATRON IS GOING TO HAVE THEIR NAME PRINTED IN THE BOOK.

YES, MY LOVED ONES...all of y'all. from $1 patrons to $1,000 patrons, democratically alphabetized.....ALL 12,000 of you. it's gonna take up 8 pages of the book in bible-sized print, but it will mean a lot to me (and i hope, to you).

note:YOU will have to OPT-IN.

....and the window will only be about a week. 

watch for an email coming in the next few days : you'll need to click a link and just give full name as you wish it to appear in the back of the book, and your email so we can cross-check it on the patreon database.

also for your information:

the book will be coming out as a private PDF-thing to ALL PATRONS later in the spring when the hardback book comes out, in A MASSIVE EXTRA-LONG edition with tons of extra text and photos. so if you are worried that you're not gonna be able to afford the book - you're still gonna get the book in some form.
........................

WHAT ELSE HAPPENED THIS MONTH...

it was november.

ANTI-UKULELE ANTHEM
i released a very silly anti-capitalist song and music video with andrew o'neill.

if you missed it, you should go listen, it's really funny.

i dressed as an unconvincing hipster.
for behind the scenes pictures and more info, check out the post itself....

NEW (hilarious) VIDEO: the "anti-ukulele anthem" w/ andrew o'neill {official Thing} 

you can watch it HERE: https://youtu.be/sflf0S66BxA

and you can stream/download the song on andrew's bandcamp page: https://andrewoneillcomedy.bandcamp.com/track/anti-ukukele-anthem-w-amanda-palmer

(there's also a download for the $3 patrons in this post).

.....

The final PHOTOSHOOTS with KAHN & SELESNICK

um.

do you recognize any of your things?

this is all the shit you sent me TO BURN.

you guys.....

....are wonderful.

and oh my god, i need to sage the house.

wait until you see what i DID WITH IT ALL.

it was indeed incorporated into the album artwork.

nice job on the bill cosby book, very nice job.

(photo by michael)

more behind-the-scenes....it was cold, and it was beautiful.

rowing to piano island...

getting covered by nicholas...

the saddest piano in the world.

(all above photos by michael)

.......................

zee HOLIDAY MERCH BONANZA 2018 

for a limited time (during the week of black friday) the AFP and dresden dolls merch shops had a a bunch of discounts and free shipping on an assortment of merch. the holiday bonanza is over now, but there are still some stock left for the new merch additions....

in the USA/worldwide AFP shop (https://shop.amandapalmer.net/collections/featured)

there's the newly added screen printed poster made by malleus signed by me and neil from our tucson show last month:

.....and for the first time online in my US store, there's some copies of the "strung out in heaven" vinyl record that i made with jherek bischoff in tribute to david bowie. this vinyl was originally only available in the US for record store day black friday in 2016 (which is a smaller event record store day runs in november to help encourage people to shop at independent music stores).

the evelyn evelyn CD with music by me and jason webley as was previously sold out, but i added more to the shop.

speaking of music with jason, you can still get our electric blanket/house of eternal return 10" vinyl from jason's website.

the front and back vinyl cover artwork was painted by bayla arietta.

and over in the UK AFP SHOP we have more hand bound lyric journals made by artist rosie sherwood....there's only a few left.

they were so popular that we are going to make a new edition with the NEW ALBUM LYRICS for next year.....yay.

and newly added silk screened posters from my shows south africa earlier this year. these are signed by both me and artist lauren peachfish....

.....and last, but not least, in the UK dresden dolls shop (https://ukshop.dresdendolls.com) we have all the new merch designs we had at our london shows. the new malleus posters have sold out, but we still have the two new shirts (longsleeve with art by dan seagrave, and short sleeve metal logo by christophe szpajdel), the new hoodie, tote, and iron patch.

there's still time to get these items (and whatever else is in the merch shops) in time for the holiday season, but time is running out.

okay, that's enough new merch house keeping for now...

...................

moar THINGS COMING down the road?

THE "ART OF ASKING" audiobook ANIMATION....

still working on this one, but it's IMMINENT! an incredible UK animation team have been hard at work making a beautiful animation video to go along with an excerpt of my audiobook of The Art of Asking. i'm excited for you to see it. SOON.....

A SURPRISE TV SHOW GUEST APPEARANCE...

i just filmed a guest acting gig on a tv show. it's a secret for now, but i'll tell you more about it when i can....soooooon.

..................

COMING SOON: 

EVERYTHING ABOUT THE ALBUM/TOUR&BOOK....

mark your calendars loves, you're going to want to visit my website, amandapalmer.net on december 11th. i'll also post about it here LOUDLY. don't you worry. it'll be big.

that's the date i'll announce the album in public, launch special pre-order bundles (with many patron-only options!), and i'll announce the first leg of the worldwide tour (US tour dates are coming first. lots of major cities will be included. new york! oakland! chicago! and many more). patrons are going to have a special pre-sale window for tickets.

annnnnd i'll drop the first single.

...............

UPCOMING PODCAST NEWS....

(photo by hayley rosenblum)

i just recorded a podcast episode with dylan marron. his podcast was called "Conversations With People Who Hate Me" but he's about to relaunch it soon with a new title, "Why Did You Say That?" I'll also release it as a second episode of the AFP podcast with it's own intro. if you haven't heard the first episode of my podcast, you can here, for patrons: http://amandapalmer.net/podcast with the password: listening

my plan is to record a bunch of episodes and get them finished and ready before releasing the my podcast as its own series, since i'm making the episodes now in between ALL THE OTHER THINGS i am making. this one with dylan will be a creative co-production, we will both attack the content we recorded from different angles. i'm not a full time podcaster....yet. but i'm working on it. there's only so many hours in the fuckin day dudes.

.............

speaking of podcasts.....

i'm about to record an episode on BUST magazine's POPTARTS podcast next week and the episode is scheduled to go out on friday, december 7th.

it'll be posted on their website, which also has links to all the major podcast platforms it goes out to: https://bust.com/entertainment/194037-poptarts.html

stay tuned.

......

HOW THE PATREON HAS GROWN....

as of this writing there are 12,090 patrons pledging  $47,574 for the first THING of the month. 

goddamn I LOVE YOU ALL.

patreon charges you monthly/retroactively, meaning that you get billed on the 1st of the month for all the Things released the month prior (for example, you'll get charged for the Things released in november on december 1st). 

so i don't have figures for this month just yet, but here's october:

(i say this every month, but if you're new....)

because people have their pledges capped (HAVE YOU NOT CAPPED YOUR PLEDGE? if you are on a budget, you should. here's the tutorial again), the first Thing raises the most money, and anything released thereafter raises less and less. (I LIKE THIS. it means i never feel too guilty).

the numbers below are gross. not net. basic math. meaning: it's the money raised before fees were deducted by patreon and is not the total deposited to me. patreon takes a 5% fee (which they use to build and sustain the platform, which is GOOD) and then there's a payment processing fee, which varies on a ton of factors and is usually between 5-9% of the total collected. 

also, none of this reflects the money i SPENT MAKING THE ART, running my business, etc etc. 

i don't share that level of nitty-detail-stuff with you because i assume it would bore you to fucking tears. but you can trust me: paying for a full-time staff, office, manager, accountant, and massive team of art-collaborators ain't cheap. sometimes we barely break even. so be it. this is awesome.

.....

in october, i Thinged three Things:

Mr. Weinstein Will See You Now - Music Video this podcast was the first Thing and it earned about $48,983 from 11,575 patrons.

Electric Blanket with Jason Webley - song and music video directed by Hoku Uchiyama was the second Thing of the month and it earned about $24,859 from 7,749 patrons.

The State of All The Things: October 2018 was the third and final Thing of the month and it earned about $16,312 from 5,425 patrons.

(we say "about" because patreon may be still trying to process some pledges that have yet to go through...we never know, you know.)

......

NOTES FROM THE WORLD OF TEAM AFP...

from hayley:

We are in full swing for Amanda's new album, as a small team, we're spinning so many plates - everything involved with this patreon, art in the mail, and operating as an independent record label to get ready to do a big push for Amanda's record. it's exciting and we can't wait for you to hear this music and get all the art, music and media coming with it. This is going to be uncharted territory for us, because not only are we prepping Amanda's BIG ALBUM and BIG WORLDWIDE TOUR, we're thinking very seriously and very intently on how to include patrons into these things in special and meaningful ways. We want you to feel included, because without you, we wouldn't be able to make this special album as special as it is - not just from your monetary support, but from your literal participation (like the songs Amanda wrote with you on this very page: The Ride and Drowning in the Sound), your encouragement, your feedback and your support throughout the journey of this record's creation. Get excited, we're going to have a big year ahead of us.

November in general has been... exhausting and enriching and tough, but it's been extremely productive. After the Dresden Dolls shows in London, I hopped on a plane to Los Angeles to speak on two workshops at PatreCon which is exactly what it sounds: it's Patreon's conference. I ran into longtime friends of the Team AFP Art Family (Anna Vogelzang, Julia Nunes, Laurie Penny, and Katrina Bleckley - who worked with Amanda's management team during WKAP), and got to meet lots of new people who are making incredible things and are truly passionate about their art. I also chatted with many staff members at Patreon, some for the first time, and they all had such wonderful things to say about this here Patreon page and YOU, the patrons.

In fact, people generally are impressed and inspired by all of you, this community is special and that's recognized by others. It can be hard to imagine, but beyond the gratitude of Amanda and Team AFP, other artists, and those working to help artists, look at you all here and get some pep in their step to make art, to build community around their work, and to DO THE THING and to do it the best that they can. It can be hard to realize, but every time we try something new together here in support of Amanda and her art, we're helping to move the needle on the greater conversation of how art can be made in 2018 and beyond. It's incredible, and it's amazing to take pause and consider this.

me, destin (from smarter every day), lei and ashley from reddit

Both of the talks I did at PatreCon took place on the Main Stage which meant that they were recorded and are now up to view on YouTube. So if you're interested in learning a little more about Reddit, check out the "Lunch 'n' Learn with Reddit" on YouTube HERE or, if you want to learn more about how Team AFP approached the free patron Thank You Art Cards last year, and how that lead to the Art In The Mail reward tiers, and you are curious about data insights on Patreon, check out the video for my main talk with Patreon's Head of Data, and fellow AFP fan, Maura Church here: https://youtu.be/Wf0eKRg_1v8 - this talk is called "Using Data in your Creative Strategy".

maura and i presenting!

So after two weeks straight of very long days, three cities, interacting with hundreds of people and adjusting to many different time zones (including experiencing the ending of British Summer Time while in UK, and the ending of Daylight Savings Time while traveling home from LA), I got home and essentially hibernated for a couple days before getting right back into it, and now we're in full album prep mode and the gears are turning and the dials are up to 11!

I take great pride in working with all of you, and feel so fortunate to have had the opportunity to meet so many of you at the Dresden Dolls shows. We're working very hard to make this next year special, we're a small but mighty team and sometimes there are mishaps and things don't go as planned (thank you all for your patience when those mishaps happen), but most of the time we get to make Cool Shit, put some art out into the world and get share it with you, and for that, I'm truly honored that we get to bring you this joy.

<3,
Hayley

(YESSSSSSS HAYLEY!!!!! - afp)

........

and from michael

I’m writing to you from snowy Woodstock on little sleep after wrapping up a late video shoot by the fantastic Michael Pope and crew starring Amanda and the ever-amazing Coco!  Up here in the Northern Hemisphere the days are growing shorter, each day seems a bit colder than the last, and there’s a general feeling of everything slowing down. . . . elsewhere.  But not here on Team AFP!  In addition to all the normal Patreon Projects coming your way we are in Full. Album. And. Tour. Prep. Mode!  There’s so much work to be done (as always) but knowing that it’s all in service of this incredible album makes it all worth it.

So many things that happened this month (Anti-uke, podcasts, TV Show filming, photo shoots, podcasts, Thanksgiving, goth parties, etc) that I could fill my little blurb with any one of them and still feel like I haven’t even scratched the surface.  Maybe one day I’ll write a book, who knows.  Anyway, what I really want to focus this month’s update on is the Album, mostly regarding the contributions that you, the patrons have made to it.  Being behind the scenes and seeing this massive undertaking which has taken Amanda the last 6 years to create all coming together at once is awe inspiring. And we are ALL a huge part of it.  This album is filled with so much pain, joy, grief, loss, and love that it’s sometimes overwhelming to even try to wrap my head around it. 

The most tangible part of that is how so many of you responded to Amanda’s call to send in your Things.  Opening each envelope, package, parcel from every corner of the Globe (we received something from every continent except Antarctica) and holding all of the things in our hands was. . . I don’t even really have the words to describe it but the ones that come to mind are humbling, heartbreaking, uplifting, hopeful, devastated, and truly grateful to be part of such an incredible community.  Thank you for taking the time and thoughtfulness and energy to send in your things and to some of you for going the extra step of talking to me directly about them.  I’m not gonna lie, it was really difficult to receive all of those stories, so many of them involving such intimate and personal details of heartache and loss, but really it couldn’t be more fitting for this album because that’s what Amanda has done too. 

In sharing our sorrows as well as our excitements and joys with each other, we really do strengthen this community.  I see it all the time on the Facebook groups and on Twitter and even in person at the shows.  We hold each other up, we comfort each other when we need to cry, we listen and take in the experiences of others and respond with love.  I’m so proud to have shared that with so many of you (a painful part of my past is joining yours in the bonfire as well), even if you didn’t know how or when it was being shared.  And for those who didn’t send in something physical for whatever your reason was, we see you out there too.  We’re listening.  We’re here.  We love you. 

Love,
Michael

P.S.  Thank you for all the loving comments and kind words that so many of you sent my way after Amanda posted her instagram "ode to my assistant" post.  You all warmed my heart and made me cry.

(YESSSSSS MICAHEL - afp)

........

and from alex, from uk merchland.

this has been an.... unusual month in merchland. 

right after dolls shows, started the month picking up all the leftover dresden dolls merch from the troxy..... and there was a loooot of boxes.....

and then i spent most of the month away, visiting san francisco, new zealand, and LA. but no rest for the wicked - much of my time was spent on the laptop, preparing for the AFP holiday bonanza sale, and setting up all the aforementioned leftover troxy merch on the UK Dolls store.

orders came in thick and fast, and since i got back wednesday afternoon i have been battling through the jetlag to begin the mammoth task of packing and shipping out nearly 500 orders - so if you are still waiting, please be patient for a tiny bit longer, and your order should be with you by next week!!

december is shaping up to be just as hectic - brand new "electric blanket" vinyl will start shipping out next week, and holiday cards will be on their way soon. so hopefully everyone will have some lovely merch packages coming their way in time for the holidays!

speaking of which - if you are still doing your Christmas shopping, or want to drop hints to relatives, any orders on the UK AFP store have the option to be hand-giftwrapped by yours truly :)

I shall leave you now with my favourite picture from my trip to la, visiting the high school where they filmed buffy. my lil nerd heart <3 <3

Love,
Alex

(U! S! A! U! S! A! just kidding alex. stay in the UK. you're probably safer - afp)

....

SOME MORE ARTISTS TO SUPPORT....

every month i like to shine a light on my friends and collaborators who have their own projects going on...

my friend maria popova from brain pickings has TWO books out:

the first is a book of advice to young readers...and both neil and i are in it! we wrote our pieces for it a few years ago and they're finally seeing the light of day....

it's gorgeous, maria is an unparalleled, unique voice in today's world of words and thought. pick it up:
https://www.brainpickings.org/a-velocity-of-being

.........

MAINLAND EUROPE! the legendary pink dots are touring throughout december, if you've never had a chance to see them live, don't miss it. it's a religious experience, and seeing this band as a teenager was what got me inspired to take to the stage. go.

more info on the dates and tickets on their site: https://legendarypinkdots.org/tour-dates

GO GO GO. and hug edward from me.

……………

UPCOMING AFP DATES:

I AM GOING TO BE TOURING ALL OVER THE WORLD IN 2019 with my upcoming solo-piano-and-uke record. it'll be my first global tour by my total lonesome. north america is coming together for march-april-may-june and then september-october-nov-dec will be europe and the UK. then....AUSTRALIA & NZ, i come to you. as i mentioned above, more info on the album, the tour and patron pre-sales are coming in JUST UNDER TWO WEEKS.

the shows always live at: http://amandapalmer.net/shows

stay tuned and get ready to buy tickets for the first leg of the tour in december.

again: patrons will be getting first dibbs on EVERYTHING.

..............

IF YOU GET THIS IN TIME....

NOVEMBER 30th - The Colony - Woodstock, NY

if you're reading this early enough on the 30th, and if tickets haven't already sold out, you may still have time to join me for AFP goth party #2 featuring a performance from the band WEEKNIGHT, a DJ set from DJ Mon Amie, and some gothy surprises from me.

if tickets are still available online, you can get them here, or at the door: http://www.ticketfly.com/event/1779845

there will also be post-goth party hangover yoga on saturday - tomorrow.

everything you need to know about the party, the yoga and woodstock, HERE:
https://www.patreon.com/posts/all-you-need-to-22962182

................

DECEMBER 8th - Beacon Theatre - New York, NY

i am super-excited to finally be able to join cyndi lauper at her home for the holidays benefit concert - this is the first time i've been able to make it after being invited every year since ever. 

i'll be guesting with a bunch of other amazing musicians, this show benefits the work from true colors fund to help end LGBTQ youth homelessness.....

AND LOOK, REGINA SPEKTOR!!!! we <3 regina.

get your tickets, and more information, HERE:
https://truecolorsfund.org/homefortheholidays

........

SXSW - AUSTIN, TX - MARCH 2018

i mentioned in last month's Althings that i'll be a featured speaker and performer at this year's sxsw music festival, which is a big annual music conference and festival. here's the info again so you can mark your calendars.

here's the official announcement, there's so many great people and more will be announced soon:
https://www.sxsw.com/music/2018/2019-music-festival-artist-announcement-round-one/ 

SXSW announces speakers and performers this far in advance, but closer to the festival they'll start announcing exact talk times and concert location, dates and details. if you're planning to go to sxsw, you can bookmark this link to my artist profile, which they should update once the schedule is released:

https://schedule.sxsw.com/2019/artists/2004658

i will DEFINITELY be doing some kind of event for patrons only, because my AUSTIN TOUR DATE will be later in the year. so if you're from austin and hate SXSW and don't want to buy a badge (they're expensive) don't stress. i'll also make damn sure that my talk is filmed and shared online so nobody misses out. 

......

that's all for now my loves.

it's gonna be a really exciting month of images and announcements - stay tuned.

also...i've been posting more than usual on INSTAGRAM. it isn't my preferred platform for a lot of reasons (i hate that posting links is so impossible, and i find the lack of threaded conversation annoying) but it seems like that's where a lot of people are migrating. 

so if you want to keep up with my ruckus in real time...i'm using facebook less and less (fuck them and their evil algorithms) and instragram and twitter a TON. as i said up top....i'm going to try to post here EVEN MORE THAN USUAL. there's a lot coming at ya, hold on.

xxx
AFP

p.s. obligatory cute ash photo...in his new room

here's ash and neil looking cute:

and here's neil on his birthday on nov 10th. we surprised him with gluten-free pancakes and david bowie in the greenhouse in our backyard...that's justine on the left and marissa on the right.

------THE NEVER-ENDING AS ALWAYS---------

1. if you’re a patron, please click through to comment on this post. at the very least, if you’ve read it, indicate that by using the heart symbol.

2. see All the Things i've made so far on patreon: http://amandapalmer.net/patreon-things

3. join the official AFP-patron facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/afpland

4. new to my music and TOTALLY OVERWHELMED? TAKE A WALK THROUGH AMANDALANDA….we made a basic list of my greatest hits n stuff on this lovely page: http://amandalanda.amandapalmer.net/

5. general AFP/patreon-related questions? ask away, someone will answer: patronhelp@amandapalmer.net