On the road again

Thursday, November 15th, 2012 10:59 am
rolanni: (ferris wheel)

Today it's your turn, Skowhegan!  We're off for the long-delayed eye exams, and to run various errands, probably including new glasses (sigh).

For those wondering What On Earth the Woman is Doing, I offer the following notes on progress:

1.  Reviewed and signed contracts for seven novels and one novella.  Steve put them all in the mail yesterday evening.

2.  Threw away 2300-ish words on the commissioned short story and started again, this time with an outline and a break-out of POV for each scene.  The new iteration stands at 839 words, and feels much better.

3.  Regarding yesterday's report of piracy, someone asked how books get pirated.  Short answer is that someone buys a legitimate copy and decides that it is their right, and their duty, to make it available to as many people as possible, for free.  Before ebooks were as common as they are now, some people spent what I can only imagine was days, scanning books and uploading them to pirate sites.  I'd say you have to admire that kind of dedication, but, honestly?  I don't.

As to why they do it...some justify their behavior by saying that they can't find the books through legal channels (obviously untrue in the case of Necessity's Child).  Others will say that they're working to throw off the tyranny of copyright/the big publishers/millionaire authors; that they are in fact, vanguards of The Revolution.

In the end, it really doesn't matter why they do it; they're still stealing.  Not only that, they know they're stealing and they know it's wrong, which is why they make with the justifications.

4.  As reported elsewhere, I am currently somewhat short of spoons (see Spoon Theory).   This means that I may be scarce on The Intertubes; I promise to check in when I can.

...I think that catches everything up.

Everybody play nice.

rolanni: (Pissed isn't she?)

So, today's news from Google Alerts is that  a person of no melant'i, who goes by the screen-name "Hocham," asked in something called the mobilism forum for a copy of Necessity's Child by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller.  Hesheorit was willing to give 10WRZ$ for a copy, because they couldn't wait until February.  The request was posted at 1 p.m. yesterday.

At 3:20 p.m. yesterday, another person of no melant'i, this one hight "Mage" posted a link to a pirated copy of our novel, thus, one supposes, earning his 10WRZ$.

Of which we, the authors, receive not one cent, or WRZ$.  Worse, the pirated copy is now out on the web for even more persons of no melant'i, of which there appear to be quite a number, to download for free, or for the exchange of WRZ$.

May I just say that I am so very, very tired of having our work stolen?  I just, really, want to put my head down on the desk and weep.  Apparently "Hocham" is a fan of our work (I'm going by the "can't wait until February" aspect of hesheorit's post), and yet thinks it's PERFECTLY OK to steal from us.

What, I wonder, does "Hocham" think writers live on?  Mist and buttercups?  What, I wonder, will "Hocham" do for hesheorits next Liaden book if there is no next Liaden book?

We've talked about "numbers" here before.  If books don't do well for publishers -- if they don't "have numbers" -- series have been cancelled.  It can and does happen.

Will "Hocham" and "Mage" take responsibility for their actions?  Or will they just go on to their next "favorite author" and kill them, too?

Honestly, we don't need fans like this.

Authors write for a number of reasons -- and one of those reasons is to earn money.  If they don't earn money, they may continue to write, but those stories will never be published, so that's sort of a moot point.

Don't steal, for ghod's sake.  Is that so damned hard?  And don't download pirated books.

* * *

In other news, contracts arrived yesterday for the Carousel books and for the Five Book Liaden Universe® dash.  So, yanno, yay!

I hope we'll be able to see all of these published for y'all.

Pirate Weather

Monday, August 6th, 2007 08:18 pm
rolanni: (Jack Sparrow)
We had weather today; a nice, crunchy line of thunderstorms, complete with torrential downpours, timed with suspicious exactness to begin just as I was leaving for my doctor's appointment.

I see that there's going to be a Pirate Fest at the wicked town of Rockland in September, which looks like a lot of fun. Who knew Rockland still had an event-free weekend in the town schedule?

Progress on Duainfey

Zokutou word meterZokutou word meter
44,119 / 100,000
(44.1%)


Today's Special:
Cook allowed no one else to make pastry; she had once told Becca that pie-making was better than prayer for settling the mind.
rolanni: (Sleepy)
[livejournal.com profile] kinzel has been busy over at ebay again, I see. On offer at the moment, a first edition, signed trade paperback I Dare -- with a bid already in place! -- and a hardcover Partners in Necessity. This one's especially sweet -- not only is this edition worth, in the opinion of one amazon.com used book vendor, a whopping $325, the copy we have on offer has been personalized to Meisha Merlin art director Kevin Murphy. This book also has a bid on it already, so step up and don't be shy.

Both auctions run through June 10.

In other news, I have thrown a Buncha Stuff(tm) out and finally taken the boxes full of last year's tax papers outta here. I have a floor!

Also?

I have 'way too many stuffed animals.

And that's not counting the cats.

Saw Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End sometime last week -- Thursday? -- and liked it fine. Yes, it was long; yes, it was messy. Yes, I'm sure that, if the writers could go back now, tidy up the draft, and make all three parts internally consistent, it would be Very Much Better. *yawn* I adored that Barbossa got a chance to shine -- Good Ghod! Was Geoffrey Rush having the time of his life, or what?

Vacation's almost over, though when I report to work at the convent on Tuesday it'll be on the summer schedule -- two 7.5 hour days per week. This is a Good Thing, in that the health insurance is covered and also because I'll be plenty busy elsewhere. Got necessary outpatient operation on the schedule for July, sigh. Still gotta figure out how to fit in that whale watch. Got a book to write. Um, eek.

Maybe if I sneak back down to the ocean, nobody'll notice?

For a while?

Hmmm...

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