I find honest reflection something that very few do. Why do we insist on living in the shadows of our truth? I mean, let’s just be honest, put all of our cards on the table and see where we’re at. If you’ve been one of the (very few) people following Dan & I’s progress over the past… 7 years you’ll know that the projects are slow, progress non-existent & blog posts imaginary. But alas, let’s take a peep at one of my larger projects Where’s MH370.
For those unaware, let’s recap Where’s MH370. Where’s MH370 is an illustrated search and find activity book. Remember Where’s Waldo? Pretty much that except instead of trying to find Waldo, you’re trying to find missing pieces of Malaysian Airlines Flight 370. You can read more about the project here.
If we take a look at numbers for the launch you will see that things started off quite well with over 600 sales in the first few days. This was due to extensive media coverage, my own personal social media strategy and a successful Reddit AMA.
The truth is that no-one gives a shit about MH370 anymore. 239 people died on the flight & the only people that care are immediate friends and family & they’re still left questioning what the fuck happened. Obviously it’s not in Hell like the book suggests. Obviously it’s not in North Korea. Obviously not in Russia. In all likelihood it’s at the bottom of the fucking Ocean & yet we still can’t find it. Great for me, but terrible for the families. Look, when I found out that the search was cancelled & that the final resting place would never be found I was overjoyed. Great, my project will always be relevant. But c’mon… we have 239 peoples families that will never have closure. That’s pretty fucked up.
The plane never being found will result in what… 2/3 book sales a month organically? That’s like $45. $45 for one of the most intriguing mysteries to not have an end point. Is it really worth it? At this point it will take me around 27 years to sell out. Would I trade 27 years of passive income for 239 peoples families closure? And that’s where my moral compass comes into place. I get that I struggle to empathize with people, but I still wouldn’t mind getting rid of these boxes, even if it takes 30 years. Yeah, that’s quite fucked up.
Look, I get that dying in a fiery airplane crash would fucking suck, but have you tried living in a small apartment with 1,000 copies of a picture book?! That shit is cramped as hell. But anyway, the next update you’ll get from me is to do with a new project. MH370 will live on in the background.
