AFTERWORD

Chatting with Judd Apatow about the trajectory of creative work after its release, Steve Martin once explained that there were three levels of “good” when it came to a movie: “One is when it comes out. Is it a hit? Then after five years. Where is it? Is it gone? Then again after ten [to] fifteen years if it’s still around. Are people still watching it? Does it have an afterlife?”

As a book about how to make things that last, I hope my words will help other people create work that reaches each of Martin’s three levels. Whether my words will last themselves, it’s too early and presumptuous to even speculate. To paraphrase the Van Halen lyric, only time will tell whether this book, or any of the ideas we’ve talked about within it, stand the test of time.

If it doesn’t, I hope to learn and improve accordingly. I won’t have given up on the book by then; I can promise you that—certainly not after lecturing you on the importance of settling in for the long haul. Whatever the verdict, I know that the marks I’ve aimed for are worthwhile. I’m confident that the strategies in this book chart the best pathway to perennial success—even though, as with so many things in life, I can offer no guarantees. Regardless, I take great comfort and pride in the knowledge that you are now fully prepared to make and market a classic.

I look forward to checking back in with all of you in five, ten, and fifteen years. And hopefully many more decades after that.