Internet Insanity of the Week

I've had a difficult time trying to figure out what to blog on this morning. It's not that I couldn't think about any topic I wanted to discuss. No, it's that there are so many. The internet this week has exploded with news and information about the publishing industry, any of which would be perfect for discussion here at MGC. So my problem has been in trying to narrow the field down some.

The first topic was easy to decide upon. Nathan Bransford, whose blog I've read and enjoyed for quite some time, announced Friday that he was stepping away from his position as an agent to take a job with CNET. While I wish Mr. Bransford success, I shall miss his blogs about the industry, especially his weekly round-up. You can find his announcement here.

Then came the topic that showed just how powerful the internet can be. On Thursday, Monica Gaudio recounted on Live Journal how something she'd written in 2005 had been published by Cooks Source Magazine without permission and without remuneration. (I've linked to her LJ and not just the article because the subsequent posts are as interesting as the original as she recounts now the story took on a life of its own.) Like most of us, she contacted the magazine -- several times -- before hearing back. It is the editor's response to Monica that caused all the furor and ignited the internet in righteous indignation.

Yes Monica, I have been doing this for 3 decades, having been an editor at The Voice, Housitonic Home and Connecticut Woman Magazine. I do know about copyright laws. It was "my bad" indeed, and, as the magazine is put together in long sessions, tired eyes and minds somethings forget to do these things. But honestly Monica, the web is considered "public domain" and you should be happy we just didn't "lift" your whole article and put someone else's name on it! It happens a lot, clearly more than you are aware of, especially on college campuses, and the workplace. If you took offence and are unhappy, I am sorry, but you as a professional should know that the article we used written by you was in very bad need of editing, and is much better now than was originally. Now it will work well for your portfolio. For that reason, I have a bit of a difficult time with your requests for monetary gain, albeit for such a fine (and very wealthy!) institution. We put some time into rewrites, you should compensate me! I never charge young writers for advice or rewriting poorly written pieces, and have many who write for me... ALWAYS for free!

But it gets better, boys and girls. After the magazine's facebook page was inundated with outraged posts from people who had learned of what happened from a myriad of sources indluding John Scalzi (who wins the prize for the best headline -- The Stupidest Thing an Editor With Three Decades of Experience Has Said About the Web Today) to Time Newsfeed to BoingBoing to Neil Gaiman retweeting about it, the editor of Cooks, Judith Griggs, supposedly posted this comment on the magazine's fb page:

I did apologise to Monica via email, but apparently it wasnt enough for her. To all of you, thank you for your interest in Cooks Source and Again, to Monica, I am sorry — my bad! You did find a way to get your 'pound of flesh...' we used to have 110 'friends,' we now have 1,870... wow!...Best to all, Judith.

And the roar only got louder. Not only were emails and fb posts being made to Cooks, their advertisers were being targeted as well. Some, after learning of the accusations against Cooks, pulled their advertising. Will it teach Griggs and Cooks Source a lesson about copyright? Who knows. Especially since it appears this isn't the first time they have "lifted" articles.

So, for the quick lesson, “The Internet IS NOT the public domain. There are both uncopyrighted and copyrighted materials available. Assume a work is copyrighted.” That quote is from an excellent resource on copyright law. Bookmark it. I have.

You can see more of my thoughts on this issue here.

A couple of links of interest. First, for those with agents, you might want to read this article from Scrivener's Error about the lawsuit brought by Peter Lampack Associates against author Martha Grimes for breach of contract because she didn't pay Lampack for commissions earned on a book Lampack did NOT sell. The court ruled against Lampack, fortunately imo, but it still remains to be seen if the decision will be appealed. However, do take a look at the story and supporting documentation.

Then, for those of you looking for workshops, Dean Wesley Smith has a list of workshops he's associated with here. For those short story writers out there, I'd particularly recommend the workshop with Denise Little.

So, how to wrap up what started to be a short post and ended up taking on a life of its own? What are your thoughts about the debacle that is the Cooks Source fiasco? How do we, as writers, protect ourselves from lawsuits such as the one filed by Lampack? Or should we even worry about it? Finally, do you know of any workshops coming up that you'd recommend?

The Tale of a Tired Writer

Thanks to Dave for filling in for me yesterday. Considering I am currently nothing more than a zombified writer, if I'd tried to blog yesterday, it wouldn't have been pretty -- or coherent. Now, I'm not guaranteeing coherence today, but ....

This past weekend was fun, informative and oh-so-very-tiring. For those of you who don't know, our own Sarah A. Hoyt graciously agreed to come to the Dallas-Fort Worth area to conduct a 3-day writers workshop. If you have never taken a workshop by Sarah before, run to register the next time she conducts one. Not only will you learn so much about this industry of ours and how to have a chance to succeed at it but you will never, ever be bored.

One of the participants asked Sarah the other day what they should do to have a chance at getting published. Her comment, one that she's posted here before, was "read, write, submit, repeat". And it is so very true. You have to read to know what is being published in your particular field or genre. You have to write -- and finish it -- in order to have a chance. Then you have to let go of your baby and send it off into the world. If you keep it at home, you will never have a chance to be published and then, when it comes back -- and we all get rejections, whether we admit to them or not -- we have to send our baby back out to see if there's another editor out there who likes it better than the one who just rejected it. Add into the mix that while you're doing all this, you have to be writing the next story and the next and the next and kicking them out of the nest as well.

There was a second piece of advice to come out of that weekend and it came from Rebecca Balcarcel, a local poet who took part in a 6-author panel on Saturday night. Rebecca told the audience that she finally had to give herself permission to make mistakes and not be perfect when she is drafting her poem or story. Trying to be perfect her first draft was keeping her from finishing anything. Listening to her, I realized this is something I have to allow myself to do as well.

So, you read, write, submit, and repeat by allowing yourself to make mistakes and not be perfect the first time you put pen to paper -- or fingers to keyboard. The important thing is to finish your story, your novel or whatever it is you are reading. Hopefully, once I've caught up on my sleep, I'll remember this and be able to put it to use.

My question for you is what is the best piece of advice you've recieved that's helped you advance your craft as a writer?

How do writers make ends meet?

This is me doing a workshop at the Woodford Festival.

I don't know what the figures are in the US or the UK, but in Australia, very fewwriters make a living out of writing fiction. There are a couple of people who have won the 'publishing lottery' and then there are the solid performers like the romance writers, who can turn in 3 books a year. Then there are the rest of us, who might have between 5 - 20 books under our belt but there's short fall between royalties and reality.

In Australia we have government bodies that administer grants at a state and national level. Authors, musicians, artists etc can apply for a grant to support them while they write, paint or create. But the grant pie is only so big and there are many more applications than there are slices of pie.

Many authors supplement their book writing income with part time work. Or they work full time and still manage to write.

Many authors make up the short fall by running workshops, doing manuscript appraisals, appearing on festival panels and teaching creative writing through academic institutions.

The wonderful artist, JC Leyendeck, did a painting of an artist painting a beautiful feast, while he shivered, wrapped in a blanket, cooking sausages.

How do you make ends meet?

World Building

I have to run a workshop for the Australian National Romance Conference on World Building for paranormal, fantasy and futuristic writers. The thing about World Building is that if you do it really well, people don't notice it. The World Building goes on behind the scenes and motivates the characters.

So I've decided rather than create a shopping list of attributes for created societies, I'll work from the other direction (which is what I do anyway). When I write I start out with the person and their problem and the world evolves from there. This may sound really crazy and cause all kinds of problems, such as how can I be consistent? But I've always been fascinated by the way societies evolve and the pressures this places on people. So I've done a lot of reading and I trust myself to wing it.

If you stop and look at a lot of the things we do and why, they seem very arbitrary. As long as the created society has an internal logic, even where it is inconsistent, people will accept this. After all, why would you withhold education from half the population, then complain that they are stupid and can't be trusted with the vote?

Besides, I think creating a story with character, plot and world building will be a better hands-on way to explore the craft of World Building. I'm hoping the problems that arise as we come up with stories, will cause discussion and clarify points. And I'll have my back up list of questions in case I need them!

Writers on Show

One of the scariest things that happens when you first get published is ...

No, it's not the realization that your book will be out there on the bookshop shelves, all on its own, just waiting for someone to pick it up and buy it. Although that is scary enough.

It's having to promote your books and yourself. I don't know about you, but I'm happiest pottering around the house, hiding in the backroom huddled over the computer, writing glorious fantasy adventures in my trackie daks (for those who don't know Australian slang, trackie daks are track pants).

Put a keyboard in front of me and I'm eloquent, funny even. But put me on a panel and ask me to be spontaneously funny ... that must be one of the lower levels of hell.

When I sold my first fantasy trilogy nearly 10 years ago, I was confronted with the horrible discovery that my publishers were going to launch my book by flying me to Sydney to do radio interviews, panels workshops and visit bookstores.

In desperation I joined Toastmasters where they helped me overcome my initial fear of speaking in public. But nothing can prepare you for a live radio interview via the 'phone, where you can't see the interviewer's face to pick up clues. And nothing can prepare you for that first workshop where you have to guide creative novices, drawing ideas from them. Here's a tip for appearing on panels at writers festivals and conventions. If you jam up and can't think of an answer, turn to the writer next to you and say, 'What do you think?'

I've been doing this for 8 years now and I can go onto a panel cold and think on my feet but I have tripped over those feet on occasions. One time I was telling a joke to illustrate a point, when I forgot the punch line. I could see the punchline coming and knew I'd gone blank. It was horrible. Truly cringe worthy. Luckily, no one but me remembers. And that's what you have to keep in mind. You might recall every slip you've made in public but others won't.

As long as you are genuine you'll make a connection with your audience and that's what's important.

Cheers, Rowena