Pocket Stack: Launching "trust entrepreneurship"

A new chapter and a giveaway!

Before we pivot to the big surprise, consider this:

• Cottage industries are churning out “humanized” AI-generated books.

• Writers are co-authoring books with AI.¹

• Writers claim not to use AI, but end up with editors who do.²

• Writing professionals are increasingly relying on AI to brainstorm, generate text, analyze, polish, edit, and tweak, among many other previously human tasks.

If your reaction to situations like these is one of dismay and maybe even revulsion, it only means that you are a human being who, when offered a book or some other creative work, wants to know that another human being was behind it.

We are by nature relational creatures. We seek authentic connections with each other. Do you sense that, if what you’re connecting with through words, art, music or film, is tainted by something non-human, it feels “off”? Do you instinctively mistrust it?

While some might encourage you to ignore that feeling of mistrust, we would propose the opposite: seek trust in all your relationships, even when those relationships happen vicariously through a product like a book.

Peco and I realize this message is completely at odds with economic reality. But it’s entirely resonant with human reality. The commercial mantra “move fast and break things” might work well for digital products, but it can be a wrecking ball for our minds, emotions, and the raising of our children.

So we propose turning that mantra upside down: Move slow and build trust.

This means seeing products as a form of relationship between people, and protecting that relationship by keeping the product as human as possible. We believe “trust entrepreneurship” is the future—maybe not the corporate future, but as an ecosystem of individuals and groups dedicated to working through human inspiration and skill, and who are willing to make less stuff in order to make it better, and willing to trust there’s a marketplace of people who want their offerings.

Trust entrepreneurship can happen in almost any work setting or industry. In our case, it’s been the marketplace of words, stories, and sharing life experience and resources. We’ve done this through our essays, and also through novels (in the case of Peco), through handwritten letters (in the case of myself)—and on a few occasions by meeting with readers in person, be it on pilgrimage on the Camino or at a gathering, so that they know we aren’t just abstractions or digital avatars, but real human beings.

Introducing: School of the Unconformed Press

Today, I am excited to announce a new project that I’m undertaking: a small publishing outfit called School of the Unconformed Press. The first seeds for this idea were planted a couple of years ago, when more and more readers requested print-versions of our essays. Since then, we’ve included pdf printable versions for most of our essays and resources.

Now, I’m taking it a step further.

I am launching a series I called Pocket Stack³: analog, portable 4x6 print-versions of Substack essays and anthologies.

Rather than opening School of the Unconformed Press to submissions by the general public, I will be reaching out to writers who have established trust with their readership and stand behind human creators. I’ve already got some exciting Substack writers lined up and look forward to sharing more news soon!

The first issue in the Pocket Stack series is The Reading Rebellion Masterlist.

You can purchase The Reading Rebellion Masterlist here⁴:

In this volume, I’ve compiled several lists of fiction books to support your reading rebellion, and to restore your cognition, empathic centers, and the quiet eye of deep imagination.

The lists include over:

• 230 “short” fiction recommendations (100 to 400 pages in length)

• 60 classic long reads (400 + pages in length)

• 160 fiction books for young readers

If our goal is to restore deep reading circuits and rediscover the joy and myriad benefits of reading fiction, we must begin simply by committing to reading regularly. The average reader will take 10-13 hours to finish a 400-page book. Even reading just 30 minutes a day will allow you to finish a shorter novel in under two weeks. If you spend an hour a day, you can complete a 400-page book in a fortnight. Remember, there is no hurry (as Ted Gioia notes: “it’s okay to read slowly…I read through his [Proust’s] 2,000-page novel at the pace of seven pages per day. I started when I was a teenager, and got to the final page shortly before my 30th birthday”). The key is to read consistently.

The lists include fiction recommendations from a variety of genres from our personal collection, as well as a great many titles selected by our readers. A tremendous *THANK YOU* to everyone who contributed their favorites!

What we offer isn’t meant to be an exhaustive list, but a practical starting point for inspiration. You’ll certainly think of novels that you’d like to add to these lists, which is why you’ll find a “Note Pages” section at the end of this volume where you can include additional titles, or jot down reflections. It was my daughter’s idea to include quotes about books & reading in the notes section. I’ve been having particular fun juxtaposing great lines by Erasmus with Groucho Marx, Annie Dillard with Calvin & Hobbes :)

We’ve designed this volume in a portable format so that you can take it along with you to (used) bookstores, to help you locate books of interest, and keep a reading log, all without having to pull out a screen.

Pocket Stack Giveaway

We’re giving away three copies of The Reading Rebellion Masterlist.

To enter the giveaway, simply reply in the comment section with your favorite book recommendation and “heart” & share the post!⁵ You have until midnight EST on Sunday May 10th to add your recommendation. Winners will be announced next week :)

You can purchase The Reading Rebellion Masterlist here:

The Reading Rebellion Masterlist

Pocket Stack

If you’d like to support my new project, consider becoming a paid subscriber, which would help me to dedicate more time and resources towards School of the Unconformed Press!

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Peco and I will be speaking at Another Life is Possible: Living Well in the Age of the Machine at the Woodcrest Bruderhof in Rifton, NY! Consider joining us for the weekend of July 10-12 where we plan to explore the far-reaching effects of technology, the promises and dangers of transhumanism, and the search for meaning in a world increasingly defined by machines. These gatherings are truly inspiring and include not just fantastic presentations and panel discussions, but potluck meals, lively debates, sing-alongs, dance, and conversations that will stay with you for months to come! Hope to see you there! See here for details.

1. Jamie Metzl co-authored The AI Ten Commandments: A New Moral Code for Humanity with ChatGPT.

2. “…Ballard denied using A.I. to write “Shy Girl,” contending that an acquaintance she hired to edit the self-published version of the novel had used A.I.” See full article here.

3. Allow me to briefly share the lore of the Pocket Stack logo: In 1986 my father opened one of the first computer stores in my hometown Basel (Switzerland). He initially used the coat of arms of Basel, but the city requested that he alter it, so he removed the center spike. I realized that it resembled the Substack logo and my youngest son suggested that I reverse the direction, so that it looks like a ‘P’ for Pocket. And volià, my late father’s logo found new life in his daughter’s publishing project!

4. Please note: I tried all possible avenues to connect with local printers here in Canada, but the cost of production and shipping to the U.S. is exorbitant and unfeasible.

5. The winners will be chosen the old-fashioned way: I will write all names on a piece of paper, place them in a hat, and draw three winners. Note: As a special Thank You, paying subscribers will have their name entered on two pieces of paper :)