When are publishers (AND writers) going to get it through their thick skulls ... that it doesn't pay to write for free? Was that a bad pun or just a lousy choice of words?
Case in point: the AOL memo to the writers it canned. You're fired, but we'd love for you to write for us for free!
Well, sure. Why not? What else do unemployed writers have to do except wear their fingers out to the bone writing sh*t for free and collect unemployment while someone else gets the financial benefit of their efforts?
Oh, but I forgot! What about all that wonderful exposure? Yeah, right. Well, I've got something to expose. And I think the title of this blog sums it up pretty well. Thanks, Kathy Kehrli for the AOL article. :)
But I'll let Harlan Ellison have the last word! :)
Thursday, 28 April 2011
Saturday, 23 April 2011
Quotation for the Week of April 24
"We forfeit three-fourths of ourselves in order to be like other people."
-- Arthur Schopenhauer
-- Arthur Schopenhauer
Thursday, 21 April 2011
Amazon is Everywhere
Well, it was bound to happen eventually, wasn't it? Amazon is expanding its reach around the globe. According to this article, Amazon is launching a new print-on-demand service in Japan. Now how about that?
But wait! There's more. You see, according to Publishers Lunch (and I quote), "Amazon announced today the launch of their first non-English Kindle store, debuting in Germany with 'over 25,000 German-language titles,' including '71 of 100 Spiegel bestsellers' and 'thousands of German classics downloadable for free.' The store appers [sic] to have lots of English-language titles for German customers as well, since the company says the store has over 650,000 titles in total.
"When the German Publishers and Booksellers Association launched their own ebookstore last November through Libreka.de, they also began with approximately 25,000 German-language ebooks for sale (which is still the count displayed on the site).
"Amazon says their title counts also include 'thousands of independently-published German-language titles through Amazon's Kindle Direct Publishing service,' which obviously is now available in Germany as well. The so-called '70% royalty option,' which has previously applied only to ebooks sold in the US, UK and Canada, is now extended to Germany and Austria.
"Seven of the top 10 bestselling titles this morning were priced at 13.99 Euros or greater, with the No. 1 title priced at 19.99 Euros, and no title in the top 20 costs less than 8.99 Euros. Many of the ebooks are priced between parity with print prices and 20 percent below those prices (though ebooks carry higher VAT).
"The family of Kindle reading apps is available in German, but the Kindle ereader itself still provides only an English-language keyboard (German keyboards have a somewhat different layout) and English-language menus. Selling at 139 Euros (or about $200 at today's exchange rates), the wi-fi device costs considerably more than in the US."
Wow! So, I guess it's time to hire a translator, huh? lol So ... what else you got? How about this? Kindle books you can borrow from the library?
Now, that's a win for readers, librarians and authors. Yay!
But wait! There's more. You see, according to Publishers Lunch (and I quote), "Amazon announced today the launch of their first non-English Kindle store, debuting in Germany with 'over 25,000 German-language titles,' including '71 of 100 Spiegel bestsellers' and 'thousands of German classics downloadable for free.' The store appers [sic] to have lots of English-language titles for German customers as well, since the company says the store has over 650,000 titles in total.
"When the German Publishers and Booksellers Association launched their own ebookstore last November through Libreka.de, they also began with approximately 25,000 German-language ebooks for sale (which is still the count displayed on the site).
"Amazon says their title counts also include 'thousands of independently-published German-language titles through Amazon's Kindle Direct Publishing service,' which obviously is now available in Germany as well. The so-called '70% royalty option,' which has previously applied only to ebooks sold in the US, UK and Canada, is now extended to Germany and Austria.
"Seven of the top 10 bestselling titles this morning were priced at 13.99 Euros or greater, with the No. 1 title priced at 19.99 Euros, and no title in the top 20 costs less than 8.99 Euros. Many of the ebooks are priced between parity with print prices and 20 percent below those prices (though ebooks carry higher VAT).
"The family of Kindle reading apps is available in German, but the Kindle ereader itself still provides only an English-language keyboard (German keyboards have a somewhat different layout) and English-language menus. Selling at 139 Euros (or about $200 at today's exchange rates), the wi-fi device costs considerably more than in the US."
Wow! So, I guess it's time to hire a translator, huh? lol So ... what else you got? How about this? Kindle books you can borrow from the library?
Now, that's a win for readers, librarians and authors. Yay!
Saturday, 16 April 2011
Quotation for the Week of April 17
"A friend is someone who will help you move. A real friend is someone who will help you move a body."
-- Unknown
-- Unknown
Thursday, 14 April 2011
Did the Mainstream Media Miss the Scoop?
Don't get me wrong. It's not that I'm not happy for the indie authors mentioned in this article. Nor do I mean to diminish their accomplishments, of course. And I'm glad that self-publishing is much less stigmatized than it once was.
However, if you're going to write an article about indie author success, you'd have thought the journalists at ABC might have bothered to keep up with the New York Times ebook bestseller list.
This article is dated April 7, 2011. Nancy C. Johnson and Victorine E. Lieske are two self-published authors who made the New York Times ebook bestseller list on March 6, 2011. Hello? And you people call yourselves journalists???
I might add that these authors each stayed on the list for several weeks. Plenty of time to be noticed and mentioned in this piece. (Or by someone in the media other than Publishers Lunch! Pathetic!)
And note to New York Times: NOT WHAT SHE SEEMS (the ebook) was published by Victorine E. Lieske, not CreateSpace. Get your facts straight ...
PS: There was some other author who made the list, too. Twice. But that's neither here nor there. :)
However, if you're going to write an article about indie author success, you'd have thought the journalists at ABC might have bothered to keep up with the New York Times ebook bestseller list.
This article is dated April 7, 2011. Nancy C. Johnson and Victorine E. Lieske are two self-published authors who made the New York Times ebook bestseller list on March 6, 2011. Hello? And you people call yourselves journalists???
I might add that these authors each stayed on the list for several weeks. Plenty of time to be noticed and mentioned in this piece. (Or by someone in the media other than Publishers Lunch! Pathetic!)
And note to New York Times: NOT WHAT SHE SEEMS (the ebook) was published by Victorine E. Lieske, not CreateSpace. Get your facts straight ...
PS: There was some other author who made the list, too. Twice. But that's neither here nor there. :)
Saturday, 9 April 2011
Quotation for the Week of April 10
"The trouble with the rat race is that even if you win, you're still a rat."
-- Lily Tomlin
-- Lily Tomlin
Thursday, 7 April 2011
Avoiding Needless Jargon
A guest post by Rick Holton
Organizations need jargon. Every industry or organization has its own specialized terms that express common ideas clearly and succinctly. Often these terms take the form of acronyms. It's far easier, for example, to refer to CBC 16 than to the Corporate Banking Center in Far Rockaway.
The problem arises when we attempt to use these shorthand terms with people who aren't in our industry or organization. We are so familiar with them that we forget others may not know them. The following tips will help us remember to write or talk so people will understand us.
Use Simple Words
Highly jargonized speech has always been with us. If you read the terms "downgradient from" or "avian activity," for example, you can tell you're in the engineering or environmental world.
Although there may be fine shades of meaning (unknown to me) between these terms and "downhill from" or "birds," the average person is not going to know the difference, so you should use the simpler words.
Expand Acronyms When Necessary
Acronyms present a special problem. Not only might they confuse the uninitiated, but they can have several alternate meanings. CBC, for instance, can also mean Complete Blood Count (OK, so I've watched a few doctor shows), Canadian Broadcasting Corp., or Carolina Bird Club.
When I was a banker, we required prospective borrowers to give us a personal financial statement, referred to internally as a PFS. I would occasionally hear officers, however, tell a new client that we would need a PFS from them. When the client looked at them blankly, the officers would explain by expanding the acronym.
Remember: The Goal Is to Communicate
Sometimes people use jargon as a euphemism or to avoid responsibility. Just think of Alexander Haig's "That's not a lie; it's a terminological inexactitude," or Janet Jackson's "wardrobe malfunction." Politicians are particularly adept at using jargon-laced speech to hide the fact that they're committing themselves to nothing.
In some cases, people use jargon (and other forms of stilted prose) because it makes their message seem more important. In fact, it just keeps them from communicating effectively, and they are forgetting their goal.
Resist the Urge to Turn Nouns into Verbs
One source of modern jargon is the impulse to turn nouns into verbs. My first day of business school, I was surprised to learn that I could access the facility from the rear. A friend of mine once worked at a company where they turned detritus into a verb. You didn't throw anything away - you detrited it.
Particularly egregious is the use of "impact" as a verb (the proper word, by the way, is "affect") and the adjectival formation "impactful." These terms are mainly promulgated by second-tier news publications and local newscasters. You will seldom see "impact" as a verb in top-level publications like the Wall Street Journal, and don't hold your breath waiting to hear Brian Williams refer to something as "impactful."
Watch Out for Adjectives with Double Meanings
Another source of confusion is giving existing adjectives new meanings. In a bank training class, the instructor kept referring to "checkable deposits." My thought was, "Hey, we're the bank; we ought to be able to check them." Turned out, he was referring to deposits against which one could write a check.
Ditto for "actionable." If the things on your to-do list are actionable, it now means you can act on them. Don't use this expression with lawyers, however, for whom it will always mean something that can be litigated.
Remember Your Audience
Your use of jargon should depend on whether your audience is likely to understand you. If they already know what CBC or PFS means, by all means use them. If they don't know, don't test their ability to figure them out. In business, you only have a few seconds to get your message across, so you should make the reader's task as easy as possible.
You should also remember the principle of conservatism. No-one is going to criticize you if you use the verb "affect," but if you use "impact" as a verb, there are still some people who will think you're a hack.
Rick Holton is owner of The Holton Group, which specializes in business writing and consulting.
Organizations need jargon. Every industry or organization has its own specialized terms that express common ideas clearly and succinctly. Often these terms take the form of acronyms. It's far easier, for example, to refer to CBC 16 than to the Corporate Banking Center in Far Rockaway.
The problem arises when we attempt to use these shorthand terms with people who aren't in our industry or organization. We are so familiar with them that we forget others may not know them. The following tips will help us remember to write or talk so people will understand us.
Use Simple Words
Highly jargonized speech has always been with us. If you read the terms "downgradient from" or "avian activity," for example, you can tell you're in the engineering or environmental world.
Although there may be fine shades of meaning (unknown to me) between these terms and "downhill from" or "birds," the average person is not going to know the difference, so you should use the simpler words.
Expand Acronyms When Necessary
Acronyms present a special problem. Not only might they confuse the uninitiated, but they can have several alternate meanings. CBC, for instance, can also mean Complete Blood Count (OK, so I've watched a few doctor shows), Canadian Broadcasting Corp., or Carolina Bird Club.
When I was a banker, we required prospective borrowers to give us a personal financial statement, referred to internally as a PFS. I would occasionally hear officers, however, tell a new client that we would need a PFS from them. When the client looked at them blankly, the officers would explain by expanding the acronym.
Remember: The Goal Is to Communicate
Sometimes people use jargon as a euphemism or to avoid responsibility. Just think of Alexander Haig's "That's not a lie; it's a terminological inexactitude," or Janet Jackson's "wardrobe malfunction." Politicians are particularly adept at using jargon-laced speech to hide the fact that they're committing themselves to nothing.
In some cases, people use jargon (and other forms of stilted prose) because it makes their message seem more important. In fact, it just keeps them from communicating effectively, and they are forgetting their goal.
Resist the Urge to Turn Nouns into Verbs
One source of modern jargon is the impulse to turn nouns into verbs. My first day of business school, I was surprised to learn that I could access the facility from the rear. A friend of mine once worked at a company where they turned detritus into a verb. You didn't throw anything away - you detrited it.
Particularly egregious is the use of "impact" as a verb (the proper word, by the way, is "affect") and the adjectival formation "impactful." These terms are mainly promulgated by second-tier news publications and local newscasters. You will seldom see "impact" as a verb in top-level publications like the Wall Street Journal, and don't hold your breath waiting to hear Brian Williams refer to something as "impactful."
Watch Out for Adjectives with Double Meanings
Another source of confusion is giving existing adjectives new meanings. In a bank training class, the instructor kept referring to "checkable deposits." My thought was, "Hey, we're the bank; we ought to be able to check them." Turned out, he was referring to deposits against which one could write a check.
Ditto for "actionable." If the things on your to-do list are actionable, it now means you can act on them. Don't use this expression with lawyers, however, for whom it will always mean something that can be litigated.
Remember Your Audience
Your use of jargon should depend on whether your audience is likely to understand you. If they already know what CBC or PFS means, by all means use them. If they don't know, don't test their ability to figure them out. In business, you only have a few seconds to get your message across, so you should make the reader's task as easy as possible.
You should also remember the principle of conservatism. No-one is going to criticize you if you use the verb "affect," but if you use "impact" as a verb, there are still some people who will think you're a hack.
Rick Holton is owner of The Holton Group, which specializes in business writing and consulting.
Saturday, 2 April 2011
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