An actual weekend.

[icarus]

Whoo-hoo! We have a weekend!

wildernessguru finally got a day off. Not only the Memorial Day, but they were given the option to take Sunday off.

Oh yeah, he took it. You betcha.

I'm kind of looking at you guys thinking, okay, what did you do? Incantations? Hoodoo?

Fic progress: Out Of Bounds word count on the next part 1,280, but it's not quite done yet.

Comments

[angiepen.livejournal.com]

Well, OK, maybe a few chickens were sacrificed.... ;) I'm glad it worked, though, and that the two of you are getting some rest and some time together.

I'm at BayCon as I type this. BayCon is a regional science fiction convention in the San Francisco Bay Area. I've been to every one -- gofered at the first one, chaired a couple of times, board of directors for a few years. When I got married I moved down to Long Beach and I tried to keep working but it just didn't work out very well so now I just attend, enjoy the con and see old friends. And meet some new ones too -- I got to meet stewardess in person on Saturday, woot! :D We hung out for about six hours, had dinner, plotted against FanLib, etc. [innocent humming] It's been a good con, though, and meeting Stewie was a major bonus.

Angie

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

No kidding? I'm in Seattle, but wildernessguru's family is in the bay area. I don't usually do the con scene, but that one actually seems possible.

Speaking of plotting against FanLib ... I looked in their contests. The way Chris Williams described them, well, they were original fiction so not in the same legal realm. I thought maybe those were okay.

I assumed that they were straight-forward "best story wins a prize and tie-in publication" contests. No, sir.

The one they did for Avon books, they issued weekly random drawing prizes of $250 shopping sprees at Saks. It was a lottery. Then they had small "early bird" prizes for those who posted their chapters first (that's going to encourage great writing). Both had nothing to do with artistic merit.

The winning version of each chapter was voted in (by the members). The resulting book was used as raw material for the editors to rewrite, as we knew -- and all copyrights were given away. In fact, because of the multi-writer nature of the book, there would never be anyone who could claim to be the writer.

It's royalty-free writing.

It's a raw deal. FanLib compares it to American Idol, but in reality the writers don't get any recognition at all. And unless you were a lottery winner or one of the two top prize winners, you don't get paid.

The grand prize winner (selected by FanLib/Avon not the community) got the opportunity to write a script for Fox, plus they were given a $2,000 development fee. That one person got literary credit for the script, but her copyright was owned by Fox in very broad language. I don't see any reumuneration beyond that development fee.

Artistically, their contests are awful. You're given the chapter summaries like a paint-by-numbers project. A coloring book that looks a lot like, say, those old Carolyn Keene Nancy Drew novels. Only now, the writers aren't paid a dime.

Boy. Ghost writing is a better deal.

This all looks like a means to get around Intellectual Property and not have to pay writers.

Icarus

[angiepen.livejournal.com]

BayCon's over Memorial Day Weekend every year and it'd be massively cool if you could come some time. :D There are a bunch of people whom I only see now at conventions, and often only at BayCon, and I wouldn't mind at all adding you to my list of to-visit-withs for while I'm up here. [leans on you] Note that BayCon is a multi-con with a strong lit core, though, and not really a media convention. There's some media programming, and we have the occasional minor media guest (Stephen Furst came last year and he was a crack-up) and a lot of the costumes seen here are media re-creations, etc., but that's not the emphasis. If you're into more general SF and fantasy, though, you'd probably have a good time. :)

And hey, if you make it next year, and if Stewie makes it down again, and assuming the FanLib thing is still an issue in a year (please all the deities NO, but if...) then there'll be three of their major detractors in one spot that weekend, instead of just the two of us (me and Stewie) like this year. I was joking that if FanLib had known they could've sent out a hit squad and silenced two of their loudest opponents in one swell foop -- they'd never be able to resist if it were three of us. :D

I'd heard a bit about their contests from... someone on the Flist [waves hand at seething, amorphous mass of FanLib posts and commentary] and yeah, that sounds pretty sucky. If people want to break into the romance genre (which certainly isn't a bad place to be so far as publishing goes) the RWA has contests and stuff to encourage newbies without sucking their eyeballs out at the same time. I used to hang out there and it was a very cool place to be, very supportive and encouraging.

I'll admit I have less of an issue with FanLib's contests, though, because they're more clearly single events which people can choose to enter or not, read the rules ahead of time, etc., and the product of said contests isn't likely to bring about lawsuits which could impact many thousands of people. For something like that I'm more willing to say, "Don't like? Don't enter." Yes, it sucks, but they're events held in isolation rather than an ongoing endeavor with farther-reaching implications like the whole fanfic archive thing. :/

Angie

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

The contests, though a raw deal, are still dealing with original fiction. And true, the terms are up-front. Caveat lector.

I was more sanguine about FanLib at first. Didn't like the ad revenue, didn't like them using us for cash, was insulted by their approach, but it wasn't until the marketing brochure came to light that I really started to loathe them. The disdain with which they treat the writers in their contests... as one person put it, "They despise us."

You know, if someone were running a contest of "what do you hate most about FanLib?" I would pick their badges.

Someone should create a poll about this in life_wo_fanlib. Think of the options:

- the original TOS
- the tacky badges that funnel our readers to their site
- pink guy/blue guy
- Chris and David Williams' spin control and back pedalling
- the legal risk factor with fans as human shields
- the whole business plan to make money off our fanfic without compensating the original authors or the fan writers
- the clueless corporate white male board
- the cheesy invitations
- Mimbo's spam LJ comments
- FanLib's ties to RIAA
- the site's clunky design and painful LiteBrite colors
- FanLib's insulting "coloring book" brochure

Any others?

Icarus

[angiepen.livejournal.com]

It's a paid community so it could have a poll. :)

And let's add:

- the sucky database (I read somewhere that a story which was a one-shot here had to go up there in seven parts??)
- the horrible search tools, for the story archive as well as the site iteself
- the lack of any way for writers to respond to commenters on the story post
- the FanLib policy of "adulting" any story they think might be controversial, whether it has adult material or not
- FanLib's absolute refusal to understand just why we're all so upset [sigh]
- the perky-enthused sales-speak they use to write everything (when Chris and David aren't ranting)

Unfortunately, I'm pretty sure that's more options than an LJ poll will allow for a single question. Damn, FanLib's too lame to even build a poll about it, LOL!

Angie

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

And the positive options are....

- There are hundreds of venues for fic, but hey, I could always use another archive.
- Hooray, no BNFs! (Until we make our own.)
- I can get "closer to the talent" somehow
- Looks like MySpace
- I earned a $25 Amazon.com gift certificate for my uploaded fic; that's 25 bucks I didn't have before.
- Fan... fic? What a splendiferous concept! FanLib's smart for thinking of this.
- Wow, fandom's *united* against this? Talk about a welcome change.
- It's going to be fun to watch it die.

Icarus

[angiepen.livejournal.com]

They already have a BNF -- jdsampson has been playing that role over there, and seems to be supremely happy about it. :) She even gets extra cookies! [beam]

And yes, it's actually sort of cool to see fractious, bickering, wanktastic fandom unite against a common foe. [wry smile] Nice to know we can close ranks against a greater enemy. For that I suppose we should be appreciative.

Angie

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

Oh, god. That's embarrassing, if inevitable.

I'm on a free account, so I can't make a poll. But if anyone's interested.... :D

[angiepen.livejournal.com]

Hmm, some more positive options:

-My optometrist's kid needs major orthodontry, and hey, eye surgery's in right now anyway.
-When FanLib gets its pants sued off and they turn around and sues me, having to file bankrupcy will cover any other debts I might have too.
-According to the folks on the FanLib forums, the folks on LJ who are speaking out against FanLib are BNFs -- woot! I'm a BNF! [eyeroll]
-New pairings to write about: PinkGuy/BlueDude and ChrisWilliams/DaveWilliams. :D

Angie

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

Oh god. I actually have a Chris Williams/David Williams drabble written....

[angiepen.livejournal.com]

I've thought about it but I'd want to know for sure first whether it'd be 'cesty or not. [innocent humming]

Angie