Let me preface this with the core value that I disagree with: public takedowns, shame campaigns, and the often thoughtless, unnuanced nature of cancel culture. On the other hand, the art scene operates on cocaine-sticky handshakes, alcohol fumes, and why-dont-you-write-me-an-email. Cultural producers are getting paid in "exposure," "experience," and often not at all. There are no contracts, no written agreements, and in the rare occasions a consignment is signed, it is open-ended (!) - Let us be honest: do you know where all your work is right now, and if you will ever get it back?

When cultural producers are not paid for services rendered or consigned goods, it is often shoved under the rug. It is SO not sexy to talk about money with the people who make the most of it! So you wait, and you smile. You coax, mildly threaten, write another invoice, grind your teeth, and then smile some more. No one wants to risk their relationship with their distributor; no one wants to be THAT artist. But sometimes, there is simply no other way. If you have yet to hear by now that Motto Books is not paying their employees or artists, you must live under a rock. This is a story that flares up every few years. We are sharing and amplifying the stories of the independent publishers in the hope that everyone will get paid what they are due so all businesses continue to thrive, not just Alexis Zavialoff's. How is the new bookstore in Paris going?

You can follow @paymemotto on Instagram or read any Independent Publishers stories that have gone public; use the #boycottmotto to find them. There is also an Excel sheet going around with the stories and owed sums. Might be interesting to a bigger publication?