• Intro: Radical Occasionality
• February 1995: @Rhetnet
• March 1995: Washington D.C.
• May 1995: El Paso, Texas
• July 1995: Somewhere in Michigan
• August 1995: I-90 Eastbound
• August-September 1995: Troy, New York
• September 1995: @MediaMOO
• October 1995: Troy, New York
• June 1997: Honolulu, Hawaii
• November 2001: Dallas, Texas
• Further Reading
• Salvo Responds: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6

Kairos logo circa 1996.

The question, in terms of the profit-seeking publishing model, is parallel to capitalism generally: the worker gets paid for the work and the capitalist (as investor) shoulders the risk. The entrepreneur can then decide whether E wants this or that writer back, playing with different team configurations and readerships and contexts, etc., in order to match writers with readers and writers with other complementary writers.

Micropayments demand that the writer play both the creative and evaluative function. Write the text, edit it, design it, and market it. That is simultaneously too much for an individual to take on and contrary to the needs of a creative mindset. There are some who can do it, indeed, some who thrive at this multiplication of roles, but it is not something we can expect from all writers — or from all entrepreneurs.

So we are back to selling. Division of labor may be an ally for writers: let the salesmen sell, and let the writers write.