It’s been four months since we—Joshua & Ryan—made tracks from Ohio to our mountainside cabin in Montana, in October 2012. After 120 days doing the Thoreau-with-WiFi thing, we’re leaving our remote cabin on February 1, 2013, to write the next chapter of our lifelong story. But don’t fret, we’ll still be situated in the Treasure State.
As you’d expect, we’ve learned a ton in the two years since we started this site. We’ve grown considerably after touring the US and Canada, after meeting and hugging thousands of people, after publishing several books, after contributing to more than a million people with our essays, and after dozens of television, radio, and newspaper interviews, which’ve all helped spread our simple-living message to the masses.
And now we must continue to move forward if we want to continue to grow. Henceforth, our next chapter will take us 78 miles west to Missoula, Montana, where we’ll focus primarily on Asymmetrical Press, the unconventional indie publishing company we started last year with our friend Colin Wright. Colin is running with us toward Missoula, taking on the role of the de facto third Minimalist, which seems apropos considering that he’s the man who introduced us to minimalism in the first place.
Why Missoula?
There’re at least five—likely more—motives for us to plant roots in Missoula:
First, Missoula, a college town situated along the Clark Fork and Bitterroot Rivers at the convergence of five mountain ranges in Big Sky Country, is, umm, like … just beautiful—like, indescribably beautiful—and is thus an inspiring place to create (it is, after all, the inseparable backdrop to Norman MacLean’s classic novella, A River Runs Through It).
Second, the cost of living is relatively low here, which is an important factor whenever you’re attempting to run a low-overhead business.
Third, since we have lived only an hour outside Missoula for the last four months, we’re already somewhat familiar with the cultural landscape, and so the learning curve won’t be as steep as it would be starting anew in an uncharted locale.
Fourth, Missoula is a small town with a diverse creative scene composed of writers and artists and various other creative folks, making it a great community to embed ourselves in, a great community in which we can grow (the town’s motto happens to be “The Discovery Continues,” which certainly seems germane to our journey).
And fifth, the University of Montana has a solid creative writing program, from which we’ll likely find passionate interns to work side-by-side as we grow.
So what’s next for Asymmetrical Press?
With our collective self-publishing success and knowledge, we’re focused on reinventing the flat tire that is today’s publishing industry by embracing new technologies, methods, and ideas to help writers and creators reach an audience.
We’ve already signed publishing contracts with the two most-talented authors we know—Shawn Mihalik and Chase Night—both of whom have books that’ll be published through Asymmetrical Press in 2013. Moreover, we’ll help other folks this year by showing them how to produce high-quality content and publish it on their own without the need for the old guard.
Also, the Asymmetrical Community, a place for writers and creative types to gather and interact, continues to grow with nearly 1,000 members. We have plans to radically expand this community in 2013.
Lastly, after the three of us settle into our new digs—a house in Missoula’s University District—we’ll start searching for passionate interns to help with PR, events, promotions, publishing, tours, and the like (i.e., helping build cool things online, not fetching coffee). If you’re interested in participating, please visit Asymmetrical’s ‘Work with Us’ page.
For future updates from Asymmetrical, subscribe to the Asym Newsletter, check out the blog, and follow on Twitter or Facebook.
For press/media inquiries, please contact Sarah at press@asymmetrical.co.
Will this change anything at The Minimalists?
Nope. Our content here will continue as normal, new essays each week from Joshua & Ryan, unchanged but ever-evolving, just like us—just like you. So make sure you subscribe via email (always free) if you don’t want to miss anything. Similarly, Ryan will continue mentoring five new clients per month, and Joshua will continue to teach his online writing class.
We aren’t going anywhere; we’re simply building atop a sturdy foundation. Buckle up. It’s going to be an exciting six months.
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