Hi,

I recently finished the book Real Artists Don’t Starve by Jeff Goins and felt like it had valuable takeaways for artists and creators everywhere.

Let’s explore below.

Let’s dive in ⬇️

Before diving in, it’s worth thanking Spenser Liszt for gifting me this book.

I didn’t know what to expect but it ended up being super insightful - I learned new things while being reminded of concepts I had lost sight of.

The book essentially talks about the idea of transforming the artist mindset from starving to thriving…

The “starving artist” is a stereotype that has been around for decades - this idea that all artists (and modern-day creators) must struggle and suffer to earn a living. That there isn’t a lot of economic opportunity out there for artists and they are doomed to a career of loneliness and despair.

For clarity, this book uses the term ”artist” to describe painters, musicians, writers, etc - really anyone in a creative career.

For the purposes of this newsletter, I’ll apply the same ideas to modern-day musicians and content creators.

Here are a few gems that really stuck out to me:

1) Grit & persistence

Goins references that while Amazon is a behemoth in modern-day business and known for its massively successful products, that wasn’t always the case.

Shortly after launching Amazon, early on in Jeff Bezos’ career, he launched product after product and most of them flopped.

One of the most notable flops was the Fire Phone - Amazon’s version of a smartphone that was never able to get off the ground. The product launch actually failed so massively it cost Amazon more than $170 million - one of their biggest product failures ever.

Bezos wasn’t fazed though - for him it was all part of the game.

In fact, one of his most famous quotes is on this very idea:

“Failure and invention are inseparable twins.”

Bezos knew that to make something groundbreaking, something that could potentially change history and the course of business, he would have to fail…A LOT.

Fail he did - Amazon launched countless products that never got off the ground and cost the company money but product wins like Amazon Prime, Web Services, Bookstore, Marketplace, Fire Stick, Kindle, Echo, and more are what helped the company find massive success.

Goins ties this idea into artists + creators…

• Songs will flop.

• Albums will underperform.

• Content that you thought was incredible will go nowhere.

• That brand deal might fall through.

It’s about persistence, having grit, and taking shots.

It’s about knowing you’re going to fail often but trying and taking swings to keep you in the game.

2) Finding patrons

Goins also talks about the idea of “finding patrons” - essentially finding people of influence to evangelize you and your art.

Back in the early days of society, it could represent the idea of a painter finding a Queen or King to evangalize them and hire them into their court or royalty.

In today’s day and age, it might look like online influencers, tastemakers, brands, as well as your audience - the people who support your music, art, and content.

3) Joining a scene

The book shares the story of how in the 1920’s, Ernest Hemingway moved from Chicago, IL to Paris. Hemingway realized that if he wanted to become a writer and be taken seriously, he needed to immerse himself in the right scene.

He needed to be surrounded by other writers and absorb the energy.

At the time, Paris was one of the biggest national hotspots for the arts, literature, and culture. Other creatives who were part of this creative scene in Paris at the time were Pablo Picasso, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Salvador Dali, and more.

Hemingway joined an existing scene as opposed to trying to create one in Chicago, IL. He essentially “went where the action was.”

The same thing applies to artists + creators in today’s day and age. It’s common for people to move cities / geographic locations in order to be closer to and immerse themselves in their respective scenes.

More and more hip-hop artists are moving to Atlanta, Houston, and Dallas for that reason.

Content creators are moving to LA, Miami, Atlanta, and New York among other cities because that’s where the action is.

From my perspective, joining a scene is actually massively underrated.

From networking, getting feedback on your art, and creating opportunities, magic can happen when you put yourself in the right rooms.

4) Collaborate with others

This idea is kind of an extension of the previous section, join a scene. It stresses the importance of collaborating and building relationships with others once you join the scene.

Goins shares this story by referencing a literary group called The Inklings comprised of J.R.R. Tolken, C.S. Lewis, and other writers.

In the 1930’s, The Inklings met weekly in Oxford, England at Magdalen College and shared their works. They would read their progress, compare and contrast notes, give feedback, and more. They were essentially a support group.

During a time when J.R.R. Tolkien actually wanted to quit writing The Lord of the Rings, C.S. Lewis encouraged him to keep going while in this group and the rest is history.

This history lesson is a lesson in collaboration - it’s tough to go at this journey alone and there can be a lot of benefit in collaborating and working with other creatives.

Network with other artists, content creators, industry professionals, etc.

Everyone is trying to figure it out.

5) Build a team

Okay okay…last history reference I promise.

In the book, Goins talks about the importance of building a team and not going through the journey by yourself.

He references Michelangelo - while Michelangelo is credited for painting the Sistine Chapel, most people don’t know that he actually had 13 assistants help him. They aided with everything from scaffolding, early sketching, and more.

He wasn’t just an artist - he was a CEO of sorts. He built a team, gave them directions, oversaw their work, and brought the best out of them. While he receives most of the credit, there’s more people behind the scenes that contributed to his success.

The same mindset can be applied to artists + creators - the journey is hard enough as it is, going at it alone only makes it harder.

Hopefully this was helpful on your journey.

Thanks for reading, until next time.

_{The Vault}

 1) Emergent - my cousin actually introduced me to this one! It’s similiar to Lovable, a platform that can be used for building web applications with AI but Emergent has more integrations. For example, it recently just integrated with Claude Sonnet 4.5 More info HERE