Another Year in the Books
New projects and new technologies for 2023
Welcome to 2023! As we take our first steps into the New Year, I hope you are as filled with optimism and renewal as I am. This year marks a time of new beginnings and exciting possibilities, and I am delighted to have you join me in this journey. Throughout the year, I will try my best to bring thoughtful insights, inspiring stories, and valuable resources for the community of myth-makers, storytellers, and readers.
Resolutions I’ve made this year include being more consistent in posting newsletter updates, having fun exploring new technologies, and finding ways to be more collaborative.
Year in the Books Project
Generative art is a prominent Web3 tool that I’ve never used before. It’s a script that compiles a collection of images, layer by layer, following a set of programmatic rules. In the hands of a skilled artist like Mieke Marple, generative art can be used to create distinctive and unique gallery-quality works. Andy Warhol would have loved it. But in its most well-known uses, generative art has been used to crank out crude animal cartoons by the tens of thousands. So like most technologies, it’s a mixed blessing that can be used for good or for evil.
I used it to create New Year’s cards for people in the Web3 space who made this past year better, just by being in it. Featuring AI-generated book covers set against a colorful backdrop of Wordle answers, it’s “Another Year in the Books.”
If you happen to have a crypto wallet with a spare MATIC in it, you can test out the token-minting feature on the Cryptoversal website, but I’m happy to airdrop a token to any newsletter subscriber who wants one, first come, first served, until they run out or until January becomes “Another Month in the Books.”
If you do mint a Year in the Books, let me know your experience or if you have any problems or challenges with it.
Web3 Writers Hour Chat
On Thursdays (including today), I’ll be chatting with Edward Carpenter and Chris Damitio on writing and publishing in the Web3 space. Join us!
Q & A
Q: Why do you think the ‘Web 3 space’ (and I use that term very generously) matters? Everything so far that’s emerged from the ‘space’ has been a scam at minimum - AI included.
A: I think it’s too early to know for sure what the space will become, but after a stagnation in ebooks over the past decade and a growing concentration of power among publishers and distributors, it’s exciting to me to have a chance to experiment in new formats, features, and business models.
If there’s a chance to put some of the power and control back into the hands of authors and artists, I think it’s well worth pursuing. That said, yes, there are scammers and con artists to look out for and the space is still as yet underregulated. It’s not a venue for the unwary and requires a bit of a learning curve, but I see the Web3 space moving away from a speculative mentality toward one that’s more mundane and utilitarian.
I hope that you find this newsletter a valuable source of information and inspiration. Let me know what you would like to see more of from me in the upcoming year, and what projects you have planned as well.
--Greg R. Fishbone, the Mythoversal Cryptoversal