Community building: Ur doin it rong.
Published October 25, 2009 | 
When I call e-pirates thieves? I’m not talking about that. I’m talking about sites like Asatalk and Demonoid that upload ebooks to file-sharing sites by the thousands. That’s not sharing a book with a few friends. That’s not “building community.” That’s ripping off authors, and making it harder for us to get compensated for our work. Reasonable people can agree on this topic, yes? One would hope so.
But then I stumble across readers making comments like, “Why should I care if authors make any money on their writing? It’s not my problem. I don’t care if their books are being pirated. I don’t care if Amazon rips them off. I don’t want to hear about it.”
And I begin to wonder about this whole “community building” thing. Especially when I’ve seen some of these same readers (in the comments of the same blog, too) say, “Where are all the new and interesting books? Why isn’t there anything good to read? I’m so bored. Everything sucks.”
Take those two statements together, and you’ve got something that smells an awful like entitlement. And I start to feel as if authors are being asked to do all the heavy lifting in this “community building” enterprise.
Here’s the thing: After you pay for my book, I don’t believe you owe me anything. Not a fan letter. Not a good review on a blog or elsewhere. Not a recommendation. Nada. As far as I’m concerned, our transaction is complete. Which is not to say I don’t love to hear from readers in all the ways I’ve listed. I just don’t expect it. I don’t feel ENTITLED to it, in other words.
But if you’re going to start bandying about the idea of building a community of readers and writers, then there has to be give and take on both sides. If I can get behind Kindle users sharing a book with five or six other buddies, surely readers can get behind denouncing the true pirates.
As far as I’m concerned, if you don’t care whether we are compensated for our work, you are not a member of any community I’d ever want to join.
(X-posted to Dubious_Virtue)
A little less heat, a little more light.
Published October 2, 2009 | Weary of the “Lamdba Lit versus Breeders” controversy? Willing to read one final post on the subject?
Make it this one: http://wedschilde.livejournal.com/1312665.html
To paraphrase my brilliant and ever fabulously stylish crit partner, Barbara Caridad Ferrer, you can’t ever really know who you’re talking to on the Internet, so check your assumptions at the door and watch your friggin’ mouth lest you have cause to discover it’s just the right size for your big fat foot.
Deep in the Bitter Barn, don't bother to knock.
Published October 1, 2009 | In the interest of fairness, I’m linking to a post at JesseWave Reviews that attempts to give a differing perspective on the whole Lambda mess. Here it is: http://www.reviewsbyjessewave.com/?p=8146
The authors of the post are eloquent in their defense of Lambda’s decision to change its award guidelines. A lot of what they say makes sense (not all, but I’m not of a mind to dissect the entire post). I still think the LLF’s decision was ultimately divisive and short-sighted. (And yes, I see where they called out the reference to “lynching.” Yes, it’s an inflammatory word. I meant it to be. If you’re looking for an apology for its use, look elsewhere.)
I feel strongly about this issue. I was amazed to discover there are people who believe I have no right to my strong feelings — or maybe it’s that I have no right to express them, even on my own blog. That I’m “heterosexist” and possibly even “homophobic” for expressing them, and certainly no friend to the gay community.
Here’s the thing: My opinion isn’t much more than an echo of the opinions of a lot of other people, many of whom are gay, including two past Lammy winners and the guy who founded the award. My opinion is virtually identical to theirs, but they’re not getting identical abuse (that I’ve seen).
I can only conclude that I’m being told to sit down and shut up — because of who I sleep with — by people who’ve been forced to sit down and shut up for millenia — because of who they sleep with.
Now, I’m a big fan of irony. But this time, it’s a little bitter for my tastes. It’s discouraging to discover such a nasty thread of “if you’re not with us, you’re against us” underneath the interactions of people I consider my peers.
I’ll say it one more time: It’s their award, and they can do anything they want with it, but I think the decision to change the guidelines was divisive, short-sighted, and will ultimately devalue the award. The fact that I disagree with one small group of gay folks about a literary award does not make me homophobic or heterosexist, nor does it mean I “don’t get it.”
I get it. I just don’t agree. There is room here for reasonable people of differing opinions. And if there’s not? Then we have much farther to go than we thought we did, don’t we?
Lammy Founder Weighs In
Published September 30, 2009 | (Thanks to Teddy Pig for the links.)
This morning, Lambda Lit Award founder Deacon Maccubbin commented on the ongoing Lammy kerfluffle.
“Just to keep the historical record clear, when I founded the Lambda Literary Awards in 1988, they were specifically intended to honor “the writers, editors and publishers of gay and lesbian literature”. There was no litmus test of the sexual or affectional orientation of those writers, editors and publishers. It was only necessary that a nominated book be of interest to gays and lesbians (and, later, to bisexuals and transgenders as additional categories were added). That was true for the first five years of the Lammy Awards. I believe it was true even after we turned the awards program over to the new non-profit Lambda Literary Foundation; I don’t know at what point the criteria might have changed, but I think it would be wise to return to the original vision.”
His entire comment can be found here: http://www.mlrpressauthors.com/2009/09/the-little-lost-lambdas-some-thoughts-by-victor-j-banis/
And now for something completely different…
Published September 30, 2009 | Thanks to my always brilliant and fabulously stylish crit partner, Barb Ferrer, for this link to Jim C. Hines’ livejournal, and his hilarious, Seuss-esque bit of verse, “Slush I Read.”
In memory of the late, great Kate Duffy, here’s a taste and a link to the full poem:
I read slush.
Slush I read.
That slush I read.
That slush I read!
I do not like that slush I read.
Do you like fanfic with vamps?
I do not like them Mary Sue.
Why do these vamps all worship you?
Here’s a tale from D & D!
I do not want your D & D.
I do not like your elf PC.
I can not stand your purple prose.
I want to punch you in the nose!
More re: Lambda Lit versus The Breeders
Published September 29, 2009 | Updated to add a link to this amazing post by former Lambda Award winner Lee Thomas: http://leethomas.livejournal.com/157333.html
I’m especially enamored of this bit:
“I think this is a terrible move on the part of the LLF. Narrowing the field does nothing to improve the award’s credibility and it’s something of a slap in the face to gay writers as it suggests we can’t compete with the straight folks.
Particularly disturbing to me is this passage:
‘We also took into consideration the despair of our own writers when a heterosexual writer, who has written a fine book about us, wins a Lambda Award, when one or more of our own LGBT writers may have as a Finalist a book that may be the only chance in a career at a Lambda Literary Award.’
Okay, I despair over not having my work taken seriously, so give me one of them Pulitzers or maybe a National Book Award. Whatever. I’m not picky. Being a gay writer should not entitle you to an award, any award, particularly when that award was once considered a literary honor, not a giftie for sexual orientation.”
Teddy Pig says this: http://www.teddypig.com/2009/09/shame-on-me-shame-on-you/
And this: http://www.teddypig.com/2009/09/lambda-literary-foundation-we-cant-hack-a-level-playing-field-so/
And this! http://www.teddypig.com/2009/09/because-someone-asked/
Victor J. Banis says this: http://www.mlrpressauthors.com/2009/09/the-little-lost-lambdas-some-thoughts-by-victor-j-banis/
Erastes says this: http://erastes.livejournal.com/449814.html
Emmyjag says this: http://emmyjag.livejournal.com/146174.html
On the good news front, I received an email from noted reviewer Elisa Rolle about her plan to create the “Rainbow Awards” for excellence in LGBT fiction and non-fiction. (Link to informational post: http://elisa-rolle.livejournal.com/799266.html .)
I’m excited about the prospect of an award for LGBT fiction that’s open to writers of all genders and sexual orientations. It will be fascinating to see whether a grassroots effort to acknowledge the story over its author gets any traction in the current climate. Given the groundswell of initial support, I’m hopeful.
A lynching in the making.
Published September 23, 2009 | Reactions to this range from outrage to meh, with a few “those straight girls should just come up with their own reward for the gay buttsecks writing.”
Yeah, that’ll go over like a lead-filled condom. Straight women creating an award for writing gay fiction that gay people aren’t allowed to enter.
THEY WOULD COME FOR US WITH TORCHES AND PITCHFORKS.
And they’d be right.
* * *
PS ~ If you followed the link to this post from The Angry Black Woman, I have a couple questions for you.
Can reasonable people disagree? If my opinions don’t match your opinions perfectly, does that instantly make me a homphobe/loser exercising straight white privilege/racist?
I do know the meaning and history behind the word “lynch.” Yes, I am aware that it’s a trigger word and highly inflammatory. I’m a writer. Words are my stock-in-trade. I used the word to make a point — a point apparently lost on a whole host of folks who can’t see beyond the language to the meaning of my post, which is simply this: While exclusionary behavior on the part of a disenfranchised group is understandable from the point of view of creating a “safe space,” it does not promote the larger, oft-stated agenda of a color-blind/sexuality-and-gender-identity blind society. And in this case, it’s turned what used to be a credible award into a bit of a joke, and is not even supported by the guy who founded the damned award in the first place.
This is my opinion. It’s the same opinion held by a bunch of other folks who are a lot smarter, better published and queerer than I, but my post gets a lot of heat because I used a verboten word in the title. Tough titty says this kitty. You’re not going to change my mind or my use of this particular inflammatory word by sending me poorly spelled and ungrammatical hate mail, though you’re welcome to keep trying if it makes you feel better. Which, apparently, it does. Go figure.
When Nature Strikes Back
Published July 23, 2009 | At around a quarter-to-eight this morning, the Bluebird of Happiness tried to kill my husband.
I witnessed the entire assault. I’d love to say it was unprovoked, but Dr. March has a nasty habit of not watching where he’s going when he’s in a hurry.
Apparently, the mating pair of bluebirds who’ve chosen to nest in the bushes to the left of our front stoop had decided that THIS was morning their two babies would learn to fly. Both chicks were perched on the top step of the stoop when Dr. March pushed open the screen door above their little heads.
That’s when Papa Blue attacked.
Now, bluebirds aren’t particularly common around these parts. Blue JAYS we’ve got – big-ass mofos with the manners of your average inbred bully – and crows and robins and cardinals by the dozens. But not so much with the bluebirds.
I remember my grandmother setting up bluebird houses all around her property in hopes of attracting even one mating pair a season. (Apparently the species has special housing needs. Who knew?) But we’ve managed to attract a pair with no effort at all. What we didn’t expect was the violence with which they protect their territory and their young.
This little dude dive-bombed with all the evil intent of a kamikaze fighter pilot, coming within three inches of my husband’s head. No fool he, Dr. March retreated into the house. Papa Blue promptly perched on a nearby tree branch and proceeded to cuss us out at a high volume. For the next ten minutes we were held prisoner in our home. Each time Dr. March attempted to escape, Papa Blue repeated his aerial maneuver, coming a little closer every time.
I suggested using the back door. My husband said he refused to be cowed by a “fucking bird.” Yet cowed he most certainly was.
Finally, his point made, the Bluebird of Happiness buggered off and Dr. March was able to leave for work.
There’s a moral here somewhere, but I’ll be damned if I can find it. Suggestions?
In which I am long-winded, caustic, and foul-mouthed, but mostly foul-mouthed.
Published June 22, 2009 | So I got an email over the weekend from an acquaintance asking me why I hadn’t blogged about the current farcockteh mishuggenah between epubbed authors and the RWA.
Meh. I don’t have much to say. It’s not my fight. Epubbed I am (and epubbed I will likely always be, whether I sell to New York next week or not, because I’m always going to write some stuff that’s too outré for NY) but RWA quit being relevant to my career a long while before I finally let my membership lapse. While I sympathize with my epubbed friends and colleagues who are members and who want to see change in how the BoD approaches different modes of publishing, I just can’t work up a head of steam about an organization that lags further behind the industry with every passing year.
There are those who are organizing under the battle cry, “Change comes from within!” and to them I say, “You go, grrrrrrrls!” I wish you much luck. I discovered early that I have neither the time nor the patience for windmill-tilting at this level. Bone-deep resistance to change is one of the most difficult human characteristics to overcome, and the RWA is nothing if not hidebound at the highest levels. (And I’m not necessarily talking about the president or the board of directors. Make of that what you will.)
The best argument I’ve heard for membership in the RWA is that the “amazing” networking opportunities will help an otherwise unpublished writer transform herself into a published author. And that’s fine…except the thing I keep hearing over and over again from editors and agents is, “It’s not who you know, or even how well you write, but the salability of your current project.”
In other words, no matter how many Sooper Sekrit Squirrel email loops and retreats the RWA holds for those members who’ve attained the holy grail of earning $1000 for a single publication, and no matter how many ribbons and pins and badges and charms the RWA gives out to its unpubbed members indicating various accomplishments on the road to being published* the bottom line will always be, “What have you written lately, and is it good enough to convince the editor of your choice that readers will buy it?”
Maybe it’s hubris – and it’s certainly not ladylike by the standards of RWA to say so out loud, in front of God and everyone – but I can do that. By myself. Without paying hundreds of dollars for face-to-face pitches at conferences or a cheerleading section beyond what I’ve got in my current crit partners, heaven bless their patient souls. I can write the book, build the synopsis, craft the query, get the agent and sell the project using my brain and my own two hands, just like many, many other authors have done and continue to do. And I’ll do it without paying dues to be condescended to or told my books aren’t “romance” or that the industry model I choose to distribute my work is an “author mill.” **
So, yeah. I guess I had more to say than I thought I did. ~iz sheepish~
* The first time I attended a chapter meeting and the president pulled out a Ziploc baggie full of little brass charms and pins and started handing them out for “finishing your first manuscript” or “sending your first query” or “receiving your first rejection” or “just showing up and looking pretty” I almost fell off my chair. What the hell, people? Is this an organization for professional writers or the fucking Girls Scouts? Name one pro organization run by men that would indulge in this kind of trivial hand-patting and cheek-pinching for every small accomplishment. On second thought, don’t, because I’m sure they exist. It’s bad enough that grown women need to play these bogus self-esteem-bolstering games with each other. Leave me my illusions about the menfolk, if you please. In the words of the inestimable Dean Winchester, “Participation trophies suck ass.”
** Note to President Pershing: You really screwed the pooch with that one, honey. That’s right up there with “Mission Accomplished!” and “Heckuva job, Brownie.” Seriously. Rescind that comment and apologize profusely. Claim temporary insanity or possession by reptile alien demons or something. But take it back and say you’re sorry, because that was not only beneath you and the board you claim to speak for, it was so far over the line, the line is a DOT to you. And while you’re at it? Educate yourself on the reality of “author mills” – for they do exist – and why reputable, royalty-paying epubs and small presses are NOT. THAT.
~~~
And because I’m on a ranty kind of roll and should probably get it out of my system while I can, what is UP with middle-school parents who dawdle in the drop-off circle, choosing that moment to strike up conversations with their children while cars line up behind them and block traffic all the way back to the main road? Shit or get off the pot, people. Are you really so fucking busy you can’t find the time for a face-to-face with your twelve-year-old that doesn’t involve inconveniencing twenty other families? And if you are, may I suggest a shift in priorities? Because I know how much that shiny new Expedition cost, and maybe if you didn’t have to pay for the full sports package, you’d have that ten extra minutes to discover why Junior’s lacrosse practice is running late tonight without fucking with everybody else’s morning schedule, hmmm? Get the FUCK outta my way.
~satisfied sigh~
I feel SO much better.
Oooh…shiny!
Published June 5, 2009 | New design, same old boring me. But isn’t the “serpent-as-belt” thing charming?
In case anyone’s wondering, I’ll reload my old posts and my sidebar links over the next few days. I don’t know why anyone would be wondering that, but…whatever. I’ll get to it. Eventually.