Dear Subscribers, I didn’t think I was going to write another book. There are so many other ways to communicate that better meet today’s short attention spans and fast news cycles. A book takes months or years to write. What could one say about AI or politics or any number of topics when we rush past the landscape at such terrific speed? I will only write another book, I thought, if the material absolutely has to be in book form. Well, I’ve started writing another book, probably my final book. It has to be a book and not a series of substack posts because the material requires sustained attention. Substack posts pop up in your inbox and recede down the scroll bar into oblivion. People typically read them during email time or browsing the web time, in contrast to reading a book, which is typically more intentional. The material in this book asks that the reader sit with it, linger over it, return to it, stop and think about it. The book is meant to be an experience in itself. I’ll share two excerpts from the first draft. Here is the opening paragraph.
As I write this book, I pause often to feel the reader across time and space. Sometime the pause is for a few seconds, sometimes for longer. I pause until I feel an actual person. It is uncanny and, rationally speaking, implausible that I could feel an authentic connection with a reader I’ll never meet, maybe someone who isn’t even born yet. My intention is that when you read the book, you will have one of those uncanny moments when it seems that the author has written these words directly to you. You won’t be imagining it. I probably won’t publish with a traditional publisher. I want to retain control over the title, the design, the cover, and the audiobook (if I record one). I may not produce an electronic version—not sure yet—because I envision this book as an object you can hold in your hands. I want it to be beautiful. It will transmit something through its form as well as its content. I’ve worked on it sporadically over the past year, but only in the last couple weeks has the full vision of it seized me. I’m going to be working on it in earnest the rest of this year and into next. Therefore I’m not going to be posting much writing to Substack. I will still post the occasional podcast or video, however, and maybe some excerpts now and then. Some really special videos are in the pipeline. I won’t be posting on social, political, or technology issues for the time being. I am very grateful to those who have continued their paid subscription despite my irregular posting. If you continue to subscribe, you will be supporting me and my family as I write the book. You can also donate through my website, one-time or monthly, in any amount you choose. This is crowdsourced patronage—an alternative to monetizing content through ads or paywalls. Beyond the financial support, donations boost my morale. When people send money without getting anything in direct exchange, it inspires me to rise to the level of their trust. In tone and theme, this book will resemble The More Beautiful World our Hearts Know is Possible, but longer and deeper and even more lovingly written. I am in full service to this book. Here is another excerpt:
Something is always born in the one who listens in full receptivity to the words of another; equally, something is born in the speaker too. Thank you for your attention, your support, and your listening over these years. Charles Thanks for reading, You can support my work by becoming a paying subscriber. Paid subscribers also receive occasional, “Letters from Charles Eisenstein” written in a more personal voice for a smaller, more intimate community.
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