MUDDYEDITORS

Muddy Writers Meeting Notes 10/18/21

Better than walking the plank

If I were paid for this job, my boss might have sent me into the brig and docked my sardine intake for a week. The meeting was Monday and I’m turning in my notes Friday. Argh. Methinks the scurvy slowed me down.

I also showed up to the meeting late, so any water cooler banter that happened below escapes me. Did everyone yell ahoy ye or virtually pirate hook shake when they showed up on time?

And how is Anu on time from India but Amy Sea is climbing aboard once the ship had already set sail? I’d tell you but then you’d have to walk the plank.

Anywho —

We talked about making money on MuddyUm. MuddyUmmers were overwhelmingly for making money.

Susan B discussed her history with ad sales and reporting for a newspaper. We filed that in our things Susan has done while on earth file.

She also queried on What is interesting with the Medium model — “Ev is suffering from guilt and shame over Twitter,” Susan B said. “He runs it like a hobby — funded on venture capital — they’re all buddies. He doesn’t want to do advertising. You can’t pay writers on a non-advertising model — it’s not good for writers or editors. Publications keep upping and leaving. Also, he fired all editors for publications. We can do better.”

With bated breath and ajar Zooms, we listened.

“We take staff and artists, comedians, off of medium and we grow it. We start with humor and comedy and put poetry and creative arts.”

We shivered with approval.

In the paper Susan worked on, there was one ad salesman who was the shit, she told us. The ad people were amazingly competent — they get a straight-up commission of what they sell and they kill it.

She went on a while about ad space and we listened.

Hogan Torah had previously brought up Adsense to Susan. https://www.google.com/adsense/start/

The question was asked about what happened with the Huffington Post — lack of interest, lack of desire to go on?

“If we all want to do some collective,” she continued. “Let’s all do our own research on adsense — many places went on AdSense with varying success.”

Varying success has everything to do with leadership. Does it work for everyone? Leadership matters.

We need to have to have a finger on the pulse to what’s going on?

Gets rid of scrapers — itchy.pro

We also need to keep muddy on Medium to continue to collect artists.

Management has to support writers’ integrity — in exploratory mode

What is possible — what do we see out there in the marketplace that has been effective and not effective

How it’s working with newsbreak, Vocal?

FROM THIS POINT ON, EVERYTHING IS RANDO — NO SENTENCE WOULD PASS THE EDITOR FAIRY DISCERNING EYE

Someone brought up farts

Anu has extra questions she will post on slack chat —

Big challenges turning into money — turning challenges into money

How to redirect it from people who are making it to us

Leave muddy as is, as a listing service— summary of what you wrote on real channel and put a link to it

Put in what we read, put in what we love, take out what we hate —

Some day Medium is going to close because you can’t survive on venture capitalism alone

We can self define — no pharmaceutical ads, figure out ads upfront — so we can publish a paid rate — as opposed to those models that are buying tale up from

Scalable growth model — grow that up — as you get traction, you grow that up — you don’t throw money at them

SNL — whole range of comedy — don’t focus on comedy niche

Every comedian has a comedy niche —

The reason we grew is because we just want to help people laugh — also educating people on humor — punching up

Writing good comedy not

Amy Called Paul a baby

Fundraiser successful — Sarah is back from Uranus

Paypal acct with money in it

Paul wants to make masks — needs a transparent 1720 thing — needs 1720 transparent bottle

Susan is going to cape may on Wednesday with Nanci to take David McCarthy to lunch and thank him and ask him about branding

Want to do Zoom telethon for funny? The question was asked.

We may have to do more than one

Susan info gathering on when the best time for zoom telethon

Open Zoom with editors — editors are going to sponsor Zoom telethon in which we do funny things

Read pieces, do standup comedy, jokes

During telethon drop link — in thanks for donations — for editorial emergency fund

Trailer — Nanci and Susan have editing skills — everybody do 10 seconds — 60 seconds of something funny — send videos

What’s that thing you can do a poll — a poll of dates? What’s it called

Western world vs. eastern world

American centralism

Paul told us, “It’s always 3 am somewhere”

Make a trailer — advertise — send link with grid on different times

Zoom telethon

Writing prompt on telethons — funny you YouTubes on telethons

How to generate hate without having Medium ban take you down — talk about pie not guns —

Susan’s wall fell down — when she went and got her candy

You can’t keep edibles around if you have kids or grandkids around

Another THC conversation

in my head “Article about hiding THC in gun cabinet — new job for gun rack — THC bombs — arsenal”

Long ago, before there were editable — pauls fireside chats — we baked brownies and put weed in them — pauls mom story told

Susan needs dog sniff proof container so she can send Anu edibles

More drug recommendations from Susan — take gummies and cut in ⅛

Anu tried pot brownie in Amsterdam — kept buying brownies — couldn't move anything — but brain was razor sharp — we should give her sugar, water, salt — I’m getting nervous thinking these two are also on half a brownie

Ideas for farty silicone pig —

Attach to dog fur

Reminds amy of Ex

Ideas —

Private notes I wish I could take back — sorry I edited —

Don’t edit when you’re feeling righteous indignation

Only edit satire on gummies or when you don’t have a chip on your shoulder

It could be funny — reading as a boy or a girl

Gummy collection — rainbow connection — parody

Newsletter on writers challenge

The day the dogs disappear —

Sara Z showed up — holly catches her up

Paul tries to enter new material from the past into the present

Holly has never heard of The Rainbow Connection

Should we listen to classical music on gummies? Paul says yes. Holly says no. Actually, Holly says HELL no. Classical music makes her scream.

Group keeps trying to generate new material even though we’re supposed to be summarizing meeting for Sara Z.

Sara Z takes out fake muppet eyeballs.

We like kickers because we have farting purple pigs

Sara has a cardboard cutout of a dog because she can’t have dog

The END