Still Editing
Jan. 18th, 2011 11:33 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
handful_ofdustThe good part is that all the various sections of A Rope of Thorns have been through the editorial mill at least once; the other good part is that while it's now up to me to painstakingly go through them and cut out as much as possible while shaping the horrible, flabby original prose into something a bit more "worthy" (ha, ha) of my currently crazily positive overall critical reputation, I am in fact three-fifths of the way done.
The bad part(s): A) I still have eight chapters/two files to go; B) it's got to be done ASAP so that I can start writing the first chapter of A Tree of Bones, because a reasonably publishable version of that's due by next week; C) naturally, Cal seems to be getting a cold, and Goddamnit, so do I.
Otherwise, there are things I've wanted to talk about, but they're going to have to wait. Just wanted to drop a line to tell people that I'm not dead, etc. I'm just doing some of that fairly intense, stringent, deadline-dependent work which makes annoying, privileged (inevitably white) pro-writers get all up in people's faces about e-pirating and crap, because like most people, when they put time in on something that goes out with a price attached, they sort of like to eventually get paid.
Now personally, I have no beef with e-books--all CZP's titles are available that way, and of course they cost less than the physical ones, because that only makes sense. I love the idea of people being able to read my stuff in any format that strikes their fancy, plus the idea that people who might not be able to order the physical books with paying exorbitant shipping fees can get hold of them that way also rocks ass.
Would I like people to pay for my stuff, generally? Sure. Yet I feel comfortable trusting that those who have to go e- because of strictures cited above may, if they like what they see, eventually pursue a physical copy--and in a way, the reduced e-price sort of makes me feel better about them not liking it, if they don't. This probably isn't very logical of me, but I think it's a fairly natural reaction to people writing endless Karen-Healey-is-a-bad-person-for-telling-me-she-disapproves-of-piracy posts, a lot of which have quickly resorted to pointing out that having your books pirated is just one of the many ways aware fans choose to punish authors who come across as asses on the Internet. Because they're watching, right? They know. Don't think you can get away with [whatever it was you did], missy!
To all those ladies, therefore, an open invitation: Please do pirate my books, and then write about how failtastic they are. Drive my hit-counts up! All Google is good Google, etc.
This mini-rant brought to you by way too much editing! To which I now return, leaving this post proudly comments-locked, as is my wont. Ta.;)
P.S.: Once again, it's mainly responses like these (http://troisroyaumes.dreamwidth.org/38222.html) which are getting up my nose, not because I think people outside the Evil Western Hegemonic System shouldn't have nice thing/access to books, so much, as because I find it hilarious to be told I'm conflating "Illegal with immoral" by people who are doing the exact same thing backwards, aimed at people "like me". Let's all just admit we're not horrible supervillains scheming to fuck each other out of something and move on, shall we?
See here (http://community.livejournal.com/fail_fandomanon/9278.html?thread=38508350#t38508350) for some slightly less crazy-making discussion of the issues, which would of course be disqualified out the gate because of where it's occurring, in terms of being offered in rebuttal. Thank Christ for this community, seriously--it's keeping my blood pressure low(er).
Amended to add: And, yet again, here is where we eventually end up (look around through posts linked further up, and you'll figure out who I'm quoting here):
I think the act of reading is a gift -- it's a gift that the reader has given you. I mean, you could say: I have written this book, I've put in a ton of work, and because I've given you this gift you've been entertained and amused for a couple of hours. That's time you would've wasted bumming around on the Internet otherwise.
But the reader could equally say: I could've caught up on the news and chatted to my friends. I could've done my laundry. I gave you the gift of two hours of my time. I listened to your voice.
I'm not saying that the gift the reader has given should take place of financial recompense for artistic work. It's kind of a separate issue. But reading is a kind of work; a person's willingness to connect with your book is a contribution. If literature is anything, it ought to be a dialogue. Both actors are equally important.
Well, lovely. Except:
A) That still doesn't mean I "owe" you anything for reading my book, and
B) What you still "owe" me for writing it is that if you buy it through legal channels, you pay the specified price, because
C) I do what I do for love and for money, since it is both my art and my job. And
D) I refuse to be made to feel bad about it.
Party don't stop, people. Chapter Thirteen done, and counting!
The bad part(s): A) I still have eight chapters/two files to go; B) it's got to be done ASAP so that I can start writing the first chapter of A Tree of Bones, because a reasonably publishable version of that's due by next week; C) naturally, Cal seems to be getting a cold, and Goddamnit, so do I.
Otherwise, there are things I've wanted to talk about, but they're going to have to wait. Just wanted to drop a line to tell people that I'm not dead, etc. I'm just doing some of that fairly intense, stringent, deadline-dependent work which makes annoying, privileged (inevitably white) pro-writers get all up in people's faces about e-pirating and crap, because like most people, when they put time in on something that goes out with a price attached, they sort of like to eventually get paid.
Now personally, I have no beef with e-books--all CZP's titles are available that way, and of course they cost less than the physical ones, because that only makes sense. I love the idea of people being able to read my stuff in any format that strikes their fancy, plus the idea that people who might not be able to order the physical books with paying exorbitant shipping fees can get hold of them that way also rocks ass.
Would I like people to pay for my stuff, generally? Sure. Yet I feel comfortable trusting that those who have to go e- because of strictures cited above may, if they like what they see, eventually pursue a physical copy--and in a way, the reduced e-price sort of makes me feel better about them not liking it, if they don't. This probably isn't very logical of me, but I think it's a fairly natural reaction to people writing endless Karen-Healey-is-a-bad-person-for-telling-me-she-disapproves-of-piracy posts, a lot of which have quickly resorted to pointing out that having your books pirated is just one of the many ways aware fans choose to punish authors who come across as asses on the Internet. Because they're watching, right? They know. Don't think you can get away with [whatever it was you did], missy!
To all those ladies, therefore, an open invitation: Please do pirate my books, and then write about how failtastic they are. Drive my hit-counts up! All Google is good Google, etc.
This mini-rant brought to you by way too much editing! To which I now return, leaving this post proudly comments-locked, as is my wont. Ta.;)
P.S.: Once again, it's mainly responses like these (http://troisroyaumes.dreamwidth.org/38222.html) which are getting up my nose, not because I think people outside the Evil Western Hegemonic System shouldn't have nice thing/access to books, so much, as because I find it hilarious to be told I'm conflating "Illegal with immoral" by people who are doing the exact same thing backwards, aimed at people "like me". Let's all just admit we're not horrible supervillains scheming to fuck each other out of something and move on, shall we?
See here (http://community.livejournal.com/fail_fandomanon/9278.html?thread=38508350#t38508350) for some slightly less crazy-making discussion of the issues, which would of course be disqualified out the gate because of where it's occurring, in terms of being offered in rebuttal. Thank Christ for this community, seriously--it's keeping my blood pressure low(er).
Amended to add: And, yet again, here is where we eventually end up (look around through posts linked further up, and you'll figure out who I'm quoting here):
I think the act of reading is a gift -- it's a gift that the reader has given you. I mean, you could say: I have written this book, I've put in a ton of work, and because I've given you this gift you've been entertained and amused for a couple of hours. That's time you would've wasted bumming around on the Internet otherwise.
But the reader could equally say: I could've caught up on the news and chatted to my friends. I could've done my laundry. I gave you the gift of two hours of my time. I listened to your voice.
I'm not saying that the gift the reader has given should take place of financial recompense for artistic work. It's kind of a separate issue. But reading is a kind of work; a person's willingness to connect with your book is a contribution. If literature is anything, it ought to be a dialogue. Both actors are equally important.
Well, lovely. Except:
A) That still doesn't mean I "owe" you anything for reading my book, and
B) What you still "owe" me for writing it is that if you buy it through legal channels, you pay the specified price, because
C) I do what I do for love and for money, since it is both my art and my job. And
D) I refuse to be made to feel bad about it.
Party don't stop, people. Chapter Thirteen done, and counting!
