The “Un-Product”: Turning Your Process into a Sellable Asset

(The sound of a sketchbook closing, a document being minimized. A long, thoughtful pause.)

Alright. Let’s talk about the ghost in the room. The one that haunts every studio and every writer’s desk. It’s the ghost of everything that didn’t make the cut.

You know it. The stack of failed canvases leaning against the wall. The hard drive folder labeled “OLD DRAFTS (ABANDON HOPE).” The notebooks full of scribbles that went nowhere. The character sketches for people who never made it into the final story. We see this stuff as clutter. The messy, embarrassing, behind-the-scenes detritus on the way to the real work-the finished painting, the published book, the product.

We’re trained to believe that only the final, polished artifact has value. It’s what goes in the gallery. It’s what gets listed on Amazon. It’s the thing we can point to and say, “This is what I do.”

But I’m here to tell you that you’re sitting on a goldmine you’ve been taught to ignore. You’ve been valuing the ore and throwing away the motherlode. The real magic, the real connection, and yes, the real revenue, often lies not in the product, but in the process.

It’s time to sell the ghost. It’s time to create the “Un-Product.”

Part 1: The Tyranny of the Finished Object and the Rise of the Process-Hungry Audience

We live in a culture obsessed with the finale. The before-and-after photo. The published book on the shelf. The painting framed on the wall. This is the “Product Paradigm,” and for creators, it’s a brutal, limiting way to exist.

It creates immense pressure for every single output to be a masterpiece. It forces us to hide our struggles, our wrong turns, and our learning curves. We become terrified of being seen as anything less than perfectly proficient. We present a facade of effortless genius, and in doing so, we create a chasm between us and our audience.

But a massive shift is happening. In an age of AI-generated content and mass-produced digital goods, audiences are starving for something else: authenticity. They don’t just want to see what you made; they want to see how you made it. They want the humanity. They want the struggle. They want the proof of a hand and a heart at work.

The rise of process-heavy platforms like TikTok and the enduring popularity of “behind-the-scenes” content proves it. People are fascinated by the making-of. Why?

It Demystifies Genius: Watching a beautiful painting emerge from a messy sketch or a powerful novel from a terrible first draft makes the creative act accessible. It turns you from an untouchable artist on a pedestal into a skilled craftsperson they can relate to.
It Dramatizes the Value: When someone sees the 50 hours of labor, the 10 discarded concepts, and the sheer problem-solving that goes into a final piece, the price tag for that final piece suddenly makes complete sense. The process justifies the product.
It Fosters a Deeper Connection: Sharing your process is an act of vulnerability and trust. It invites your audience into your inner world. They stop being just customers and start becoming collaborators, witnesses, and patrons of your ongoing journey.

The “Un-Product” is your strategic response to this hunger. It is any piece of your process that you intentionally package and offer, not as a step towards something else, but as a valuable artifact in its own right.

Part 2: The “Un-Product” Philosophy – Redefining What is “Sellable”

An “Un-Product” is not a discount. It’s not a “lesser than” version of your main work. It is a different category of asset altogether. Its value is not in its polish, but in its proximity to the raw act of creation.

The Core Principles of an “Un-Product”:

It Revels in the Raw: Its value is in its roughness, its transparency, its “unfinished” quality. It’s the pencil sketch, not the final inked drawing. It’s the first draft, not the edited manuscript.
It Tells a Story: Every “Un-Product” comes with a narrative. The story of its creation, its failure, its purpose, or why it was abandoned. The story is part of the product.
It Sells the Invisible Labor: It monetizes the 90% of the iceberg that usually remains underwater-the research, the practice, the experimentation, the dead ends.

Shifting your mindset to see your process as a portfolio of potential assets is the first and most crucial step. That folder of “failed” experiments? It’s not a trash bin. It’s an archive. That stack of old notebooks? It’s not clutter. It’s a library of raw material.

Part 3: The “Un-Product” Catalog – A Blueprint for Artists and Authors

Let’s make this concrete. Here are specific, actionable “Un-Products” you can create and sell.

For the Visual Artist:

1. The Artifact: The Original Sketchbook Page

The Un-Product: Don’t just show a time-lapse of a sketch; sell the actual physical page from your sketchbook where you first worked out the idea for a major painting.
Why It’s Valuable: This is the origin point. It’s the DNA of the final piece. For a collector, owning this is like owning a musician’s original handwritten lyrics. It’s a piece of creative history.
How to Package It: Mount it on a conservation-quality mat board, sign and date it, and include a Certificate of Authenticity that tells the story of the piece. Sell it as a limited edition: “The Original Sketch for ‘Veil of Autumn’”.

2. The Digital Asset: The Process Progression Pack

The Un-Product: A digital download containing high-resolution scans of the entire process for a single painting: the thumbnail sketch, the value study, the color rough, the mid-stage “ugly” photo, and the final piece.
Why It’s Valuable: It’s a masterclass in your specific technique. It’s an educational tool for other artists and a fascinating deep-dive for your superfans.
How to Package It: A beautifully designed PDF “Process Book” that walks the buyer through each stage with your commentary on what you were thinking and solving at each step.

3. The Relic: The “Failed” Canvas

The Un-Product: That painting that went wrong and you were going to gesso over? Stop. Sign it, title it (“Study for a Future Idea” or “The Path Not Taken”), and sell it as-is.
Why It’s Valuable: It’s a bold statement about the creative journey. It celebrates the idea that not all art is meant to be finished, but that every attempt has value. It’s the ultimate piece of authentic, vulnerable art.
How to Package It: Frame it in a simple, clean frame. The story in the product description is everything: “This canvas represents a three-day battle with color that I lost. But in losing, I learned what I needed to know to win the next one. This is that artifact of learning.”

For the Author:

1. The Artifact: The Annotated First Draft

The Un-Product: A printed, bound copy of your messy, glorious, terrible first draft, complete with your handwritten notes in the margins, cross-outs, question marks, and coffee stains.
Why It’s Valuable: It’s a direct line into the writer’ mind. It shows the raw, unpolished storytelling before the editor’s hand. For a fan, it’s an intimate look at how a story is truly built.
How to Package It: A beautifully bound, limited-edition volume. Market it as “The Unfiltered Version: See the story before it was tamed.”

2. The Digital Asset: The Deleted Scenes & World-Building Bible

The Un-Product: A curated PDF collection of everything that didn’t make the final cut: deleted chapters, alternate endings, detailed character backstories, and maps of locations that were never visited.
Why It’s Valuable: It expands the universe of the book for your most dedicated readers. It’s bonus content that feels like a secret key to a deeper level of the story.
How to Package It: “The Director’s Cut: The Lost Chapters of [Book Title].” Or “The World-Builder’s Archive: The Unseen Lore of [Your World].”

3. The Relic: The Concept Fragments

The Un-Product: Those 500-word snippets of stories that will never be finished. Those concepts for novels you know you’ll never write. Bundle 5-10 of them into a small, collectible ebook or chapbook.
Why It’s Valuable: It’s a collection of creative seeds. It’s a glimpse into the “what if?” file. For other writers, it’s inspiring. For readers, it’s a fascinating look at the raw material of ideas.
How to Package It: “Fragments: Stories Unfinished.” The description can read: “Not every story is meant to be a novel. Some are just flashes in the pan, moments of inspiration that I’m sharing in their pure, unrefined state.”

Part 4: The Marketing of the “Un-Product” – Selling the Story

You cannot sell an “Un-Product” with a standard product description. Its marketing must be as unique as the asset itself. The story isn’t just part of the sale; the story is the sale.

The “Un-Product” Sales Formula:

Lead with the Narrative (The Hook): Don’t start with what it is. Start with the story of its creation.
- Instead of: “Download my deleted scenes.”
- Try: “I wrote a 5,000-word chapter where the protagonist confessed her secrets to a stranger on a train. It was atmospheric, moody… and it completely killed the pacing of the book. I had to cut it. But it contained her most vulnerable moment. Now, you can read the chapter that was sacrificed for the sake of the story.”
Justify the “Un-Finished” Nature (The Reason to Buy): Explicitly state why its roughness is its value.
- Instead of: “A sketchbook page.”
- Try: “This is the moment of pure, un-filtered idea. No polishing, no second-guessing. Just the first spark, captured on paper. You’re not buying a drawing; you’re buying the moment of inception.”
Connect it to the Finished Work (The Context): Anchor the “Un-Product” to the “Product” everyone knows. This creates a symbiotic relationship where each enhances the value of the other.
- “This is the original sketch for the painting ‘Veil of Autumn.’ See where it all began, and compare it to the final piece [link] to appreciate the full journey.”
- “This deleted scene changes how you view the protagonist’s relationship with her father in Chapter 12. Read the scene, then re-read the chapter with new eyes.”
Create Scarcity and Ceremony (The Launch): “Un-Products” are perfect for limited-time offers or limited-quantity drops. This reinforces their special, non-commodity status.
- “I am releasing only 10 physical copies of my annotated first draft. Once they are gone, they are gone forever.”
- “The Process Progression Pack for ‘Veil of Autumn’ will only be available for the month of November.”

Part 5: The Mindset Shift: From Creator to Curator-Archivist

Adopting the “Un-Product” model requires a fundamental shift in identity. You are no longer just a Creator (focused only on new, finished outputs). You become a Curator-Archivist of your own creative journey.

Your studio or your hard drive is not just a production facility; it’s a museum and a library of your own practice. Your job is to curate that collection—to identify which artifacts have a story worth telling and which fragments of your process reveal something meaningful about your craft.

This mindset is liberating. It:

Reduces the Pressure: Every piece doesn’t have to be a masterpiece. A “failed” experiment can find a second life as a valuable “Un-Product.”
Creates Multiple Revenue Streams: You are no longer solely dependent on the infrequent and high-stakes sale of a major work. You can create a steady drip of smaller, process-based assets.
Deepens Your Artistic Practice: By intentionally reflecting on and packaging your process, you gain a deeper understanding of your own methods and inspirations.

Conclusion: Stop Hiding the Scaffolding

We’ve been taught to hide the scaffolding once the building is complete. To clean up the workshop, to put the tools away, and to present only the pristine facade.

But people don’t fall in love with facades. They fall in love with the places where life happens-the workshops, the kitchens, the messy desks. They are captivated by the sight of something being built.

The “Un-Product” is an invitation to stop hiding the scaffolding. To recognize that the sketches, the drafts, the failures, and the experiments are not shameful secrets. They are the evidence of your labor, the map of your curiosity, and the proof of your humanity.

Your process is not a path to a product; it is a landscape rich with its own treasures. Start mining it. Package the artifacts. Tell their stories. Sell the ghost.

In doing so, you won’t just be making more money. You’ll be building a deeper, richer, and more resilient creative practice-one that honors the entire journey, not just the destination.

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Digital Marketing for Creatives