June 14, 2016
Dear Pilar and the Experience Life team,
What was your favorite cartoon character as a child? Answer quickly and honestly. Does the character match your personality?
This was the first line in my email to Arianna Huffington that must have caught her attention. It was June 2013. Arianna was looking for contributors for The Third Metric, her new section on the Huffington Post, and encouraged writers to email her directly. I pitched her my Splash City Studios blog that uses cartoon, story and wonder to promote emotional intelligence:
Dear Pilar and the Experience Life team,
What was your favorite cartoon character as a child? Answer quickly and honestly. Does the character match your personality?
This was the first line in my email to Arianna Huffington that must have caught her attention. It was June 2013. Arianna was looking for contributors for The Third Metric, her new section on the Huffington Post, and encouraged writers to email her directly. I pitched her my Splash City Studios blog that uses cartoon, story and wonder to promote emotional intelligence:
A few days later, I received a personal response from Arianna. She copied her blog editor and encouraged me to send in my bio and first blog. I was more than thrilled. Two weeks later, I wrote the editor to discover the team passed. I was disappointed, but not surprised.
There were most likely many reasons, but when imagining that editorial meeting, this is all I could see:
A few days later, I received a personal response from Arianna. She copied her blog editor and encouraged me to send in my bio and first blog. I was more than thrilled. Two weeks later, I wrote the editor to discover the team passed. I was disappointed, but not surprised.
There were most likely many reasons, but when imagining that editorial meeting, this is all I could see:
Noah Tall was the first to shoot it down, stating the obvious "Revenue comes from information. We can't have a blog that knocks information overload." Vicki Pedia then duly noted her frustration at the lack of bullet points, while Nate Sayer roared, "Cartoons? You can't be serious?! That's for kids." Finishing off the quick discourse, Ben T. Donethat said "Duh. They don't even have a platform."
Since then, my partner Craig and I completed the fourth book in our 11 book series of fables, and we're currently working on the fifth. And now, as I pitch this blog to your team to be considered for Experience Life, it all comes rushing back.
Yet facing the cynic choir head on is what true revolution requires, and as both a psychotherapist and screenwriter, using the transformative power of story and the projective nature of cartoon as a means to bypass information overload and encourage emotional intelligence is my revolutionary act.
But when it comes to the publishing world, Ben T. Donethat's take is often the bottom line. We do not have a platform, but we're not bloggers. Our cartoon characters are. We've are the creators of something revolutionary that now requires a publishing collaborator who won't try to take something original and stuff it into the conventional.
This is why we're writing you. Your publication offers a "no hype, no gimmicks" approach that is dedicated to more than the bottom line. Rather than simply pumping out more information, you are mindfully sorting through it to help your audience truly improve their lives.
However, if information alone was enough, our culture would not be currently suffering from 'common sense deficit disorder', as I heard a U.S. Senator recently call it. Where do we go to learn common sense? Certainly not through a google search, although that would make for a funny Splash City blog!
If there's one thing my 25+ years as a Psychotherapist has shown me, it's that lasting change occurs in a deeper state of mind. As we declare in our books and on our website, "Information is NOT transformation." Just as your publication adds a deeper component for your audience, Splash City could add another dimension to your publication; one that's both enlightening and entertaining.
To learn more about Splash City, I direct you to the Introductory Slideshow, Bathology (our books and product line), and the Splash in the City blog "written by" Cartoon Mentors Ms. Bee Haven, Mzzz Pink, Miss Guided Light, and Lisa Hearditall.
I suggest you begin with "It's the Dance" by Mzzz Pink, written coincidentally around the same time I wrote to Arianna. If you'd like to read more, I'd be happy to send you a link to the Splash City e-book(s) of your choosing.
Did you recall your favorite cartoon character? Does it match your personality? Mine is Tweety Bird, for the way he always outsmarts the cat with a smile. Craig's favorite character is the Road Runner. He owns three sports cars. That's just one fun example of how quickly and playfully our Splash City approach raises self-awareness.
We welcome the opportunity to brainstorm with you and your team about the best ways to adapt and showcase our Splash City blogs on Experience Life.
Thanks for listening.
Deb Whitaker
Craig Cloutier
Founders, Splash City Studios
www.SplashCityStudios.com
splashcitystudios@gmail.com
(603) 464-9299