January 20, 2010 by maikopunk
As someone who started out with dreams of a career in book publishing, I’ve lately been watching the e-publishing phenomenon with interest.
One thing is clear: as much as I love printed books, they have become nostalgic souvenirs for many and irrelevant to most. I have a wall full of books in my home, everything from cookbooks to childhood favourites. Every once in a while, I cull the shelves, carting off bags of novels I’m not likely to read again and freebies I never got around to in the first place. The rest stay, for now, because they’re useful references or because they’re a favourite story or by a favourite author. Many books are attached to my memories – books I bought while in Japan, for example, or my teenage collection of Sweet Valley Highs.
The book industry obviously can’t survive by appealing to sentimentalists; neither can authors, editors and publishers hope that they’ll find today’s audience (on the Web) by going to yesterday’s market (the bookstore). It’s scary to contemplate, but the fact is that the book, as a lumpy object, is dead. The ideas that used to be found in books may yet survive, just in a different form, or so says Sherman Young in his book called The Book is Dead: Long Live the Book, which is available in lumpy object form (!) via Amazon or can be previewed via the somewhat controversial Google Books.
Or to put it another way, as I heard Sean Cranbury say the other night at January’s edition of the Shebeen Club, the publishing industry needs to become less about creating an inventory and more about building platforms for ideas and stories and creating communities around them. And the authors will have to be that much more involved.
What’s a bit scary, and maybe this is a good thing, is all the new technology that “Publishing 3.0″ entails learning. As a reader, I’m confounded by the different models of e-readers and file formats; as a writer and editor, I’m not sure what tools to use or about digital copyright or about how one makes money from digital content. I don’t think I’m alone here. But there will be no going back, and for many types of books, a little less paper will be a good thing.
For others, I hope that the digital revolution actually makes it more profitable to produce a beautiful book in physical form. For example, file sharing and print-on-demand could make a book available in the form each individual reader desires, whether hardcover, paperback, audio, iPhone or Kindle.
The future of publishing still has room for print. I won’t be taking an e-reader into the bathtub anytime soon. I won’t be splattering the screen with olive oil nor consulting it from halfway across my kitchen. And I’d be right POed if a battery died right at the good part of a novel. But these are my personal preferences – everyone’s places and times for books are different. It’s time for publishers and authors to make ideas available where and how their audiences live.
Posted in Publishing | Tagged book publishing, books, e-books, e-publishing, shebeen club | 5 Comments »
October 8, 2009 by maikopunk
Or silenced: the BC government cuts off funding to the Association of BC Book Publishers, the BC Association of Magazine Publishers, and the long-running publication BC Bookworld. Is the BC Arts Council, which provides funding to many publishers, far behind? Arsenalia posts the shocking press release here.
When my full powers of speech return, I intend to write letters to this gang, as well as my MLA:
Premier Gordon Campbell
gordon.campbell.mla@leg.bc.ca
Fax: 250 387-0087
MLA: Hon. Kevin
Krueger (Min. of Tourism, Arts, and Culture) kevin.krueger.mla@leg.bc.ca
Fax: 250 953-4250
MLA: Hon. Rich Coleman
(Gaming)rich.coleman.mla@leg.bc.ca
Fax: 250 356-7292
MLA: Hon. Colin Hansen
(Min. of Finance) colin.hansen.mla@leg.bc.ca
Posted in Literary, Publishing | Tagged ABCBP, arts cuts, BC Bookworld, BCAMP, books and magazines, British Columbia, rant, writers | 1 Comment »
September 28, 2009 by maikopunk
Word on the Street Vancouver is one of my favourite literary/book geek events of the year. For one day, publishers, writers, zine and comic makers, schools, and associations come out to read, promote their newest works, and sell some backlist at serious discounts.
When I go, I have to bring a book bag for my haul and a bottle of water or juice, because my throat gets seriously sore from talking more in two to three hours than I do in an average week. Yesterday I was there and everywhere I went, I saw someone I knew. My friends at subTerrain and Anvil Press were manning their tables, as was my old knitting buddy Janet, who was holding down the fort at New Reliable Press, downstairs in the Word Under the Street area (comics and zines). Other former knitting mates Leanne and Mandy were also there, talking up their new book Yarn Bombing: The Art of Knit and Crochet Grafitti. In between, I saw former co-workers and classmates galore and got to talk to editors of my favourite local magazines, such as Event and Vancouver Review, and to cool writers and artists like Sarah Leavitt, who sells hilarious “Why Editors Have No Friends” magnets, and Darcie, the artist behind Later Comics.
However, this year, I didn’t buy nearly as many books and magazines as I expected. For most of the magazine tables I saw or visited, I already had the latest edition, and for the comics and zines, I didn’t see a whole lot that I just had to have. There seemed to be just fewer publishers and exhibitors overall at the festival than in previous years. It was at both ends of the scale – some indies I had come to expect to see there didn’t show and neither did some of the more established houses in town. Not a lot of bookstores come out, either, except for Book Warehouse and Black Bond. Come to think of it, the Poetry in Transit Bus wasn’t there either this year.
Hope that it’s just a temporary blip and that everyone will be out in force again next year. Until then, I’ll need a lozenge.
Posted in Literary, Publishing | Tagged books and magazines, comics, events, fairs, festivals, Vancouver, word on the street, yarnbombing, zines | Leave a Comment »
September 11, 2009 by maikopunk
Kirby Ferguson, also known as Goodie Bag, is a mad genius. His videoblog/monologues may not all be work-safe viewing, but they’re brilliant nonetheless.
Some of my favourites that I’ll share with you:
Trajan is the Movie Font: A rant on the ubiquitous font of movie posters. Designers take note: “Have a wild fling with Comic Sans … just be sure to trash the files in the morning.”
I Love Progress Bars: “It’s very comforting to be nestled within a timeline.” I think of this video whenever I am asked the inevitable question of whether or not I’m looking for another permanent, full-time job. The secret answer is that I fear “spinning stuff” – the opposite of progress bars.
The Distraction Machine: Why is working on a computer so hard? The answer: infinite distractions! It’s like working on “a typewriter that dispenses pornography”! Not to mention Youtube, Facebook, Yelp, Craigslist…
Talent is Hard Work: You could put in all the toil in the world, but without luck, you’re screwed either way. Thanks, Kirby.
Happy weekending, warriors.
Posted in Off Topic | Tagged Goodie Bag, Kirby Ferguson, monologues, videos, vlogs | Leave a Comment »
September 8, 2009 by maikopunk
As the kids get back to school (aaah, sweet nostalgia from this former school nerd), perhaps some of the adults in this country might want to think about joining them. A new Literacy Map of Canada, based on an extensive survey by StatsCan, shows that nearly 48 percent of adults in this country have low literacy levels (Level 2 and below).
This means that a large segment of the population can only deal with simple, clear materials, if at all. The reasons for Canada’s surprisingly low literacy rate are not clear – given that free, well-stocked public libraries exist in nearly every community (cities did not necessarily have better literacy rates than rural areas, either), high-speed internet is now available almost everywhere, and we have a generally good public education system in Canada.
For some, there may be a general disregard for reading and writing, despite the volume of written material that is processed and distributed in our information (or knowledge) economy. But I suspect there are many who have simply learned how to cope with and/or hide their lack of literacy skills.
It doesn’t help either that just in time for the new school year, public adult literacy programs are being cut and literacy programs are increasingly left to non-profit societies that, guess what, have also suffered budget cuts (ABC Canada is one national organization; Frontier College is another).
But if all else fails, if all the literacy coordinators get fired and there aren’t enough volunteer tutors to cope with the demand, simply pick up a book and show your country some love.
Posted in Language | Tagged Canada, literacy, reading | 5 Comments »
September 3, 2009 by maikopunk
After an outcry by arts groups, mainly by Vancouver’s wonderful Alliance for Arts and Culture, it seems that the government types have reinstated the approximately $20 million in funding that only days ago they threatened to pull.
Not surprisingly, spokespersons for arts groups are a little skeptical, as again, this was money that had already been not only promised, but put in the pipeline. But I suspect, too, that many groups were cautiously optimistic about budgeting for that gaming money the grants come out of; the literary magazine where I volunteer on the board certainly was. And believe me, no one wants to be “dependent” on grants, and no one is sitting back waiting for a handout. Until you’ve been inside the (usually) cramped offices of a festival, a small magazine or theatre company, you have never seen so much done with a shoestring budget and if they’re lucky, some willing volunteers.
So yes, I get irked with the Philistine responses to the stories of these arts cuts:
- Get a job!
- If you were a “real” business, you’d be out of business!
- Fund education and health care, not ballerinas and poems!
The first two, well, I think they require a whole other post to explain how cultural work is WORK and how public investment in it creates wealth down the road. To the third – no one denies health care and education are essential, along with clean water, parks and transportation and a million other things that are part of our commons. However, it’s time to lift those eyelids and realize that things like convention centers and Olympics are not. Those big projects on champagne budgets, and not social services and education and health care, are what has created massive holes in the public purse.
For now, though, let’s celebrate the small victory of how arts advocates speaking out for their cause in resulted in getting back what was promised all along.
Posted in Off Topic | Leave a Comment »
September 1, 2009 by maikopunk
I have a bad habit of watching/reading the news in the morning. Today is Budget Day in the province formerly known as Beautiful British Columbia, and the preview announcements of cuts, cuts and more cuts are enough to send a person straight back to bed. The one that hits closest to home is the announcement that millions of dollars earmarked for various arts organizations is being yanked – after assurances were made that the money was there, that it was coming…
Inevitably, instead getting mad at this latest deception, the peanut gallery turns on each other, debating the “usefulness” and “economic returns” of the arts. Artists are by turns selfless heroes, grant-sucking leeches or worst, out-of-touch elitists. Surely when times are hard, artists should take it on the chin and realize there are more pressing matters, like the homeless, education and healthcare. (Or, if you’re a cynic – Olympics and highways and raises for those hard-working politicians.) By the way, artists – get a job!
Let’s put aside the argument whether or not the arts are necessary – that is film, television, theatre, dance, writing, painting, photography, ceramics, carving, multimedia, and any other creative form – because we are humans and we need culture and we need to express what’s important, whether or not times are hard. In short, everyone benefits from the presence of artists and arts groups. Studies have shown that arts do have economic benefits too – encouraging people to go out and spend money when they go out to see a show or giving business to art supply stores, printers, fabric stores, and a host of other services and suppliers.
But of course, you can’t put a price on the intrinsic benefits – such as the goodwill created towards those in poverty, when for example, a book is published that changes the way the reader views the homeless or a photography project encourages citizens to take pride in their own community. These are things not done for money and personal gain, but to give a gift to the world.
These gifts do not come cheap to the giver, and it’s no secret that most go unappreciated. Maybe Andy Warhol got to lounge around at the Factory, but for most creative folks, the day job provides the bread to keep the creative fires burning. Far from depending on grants and handouts, many people work hard and even go into personal debt to finance their vision. And if there’s an exemption from paying taxes for artists, I’d love to hear about it.
Posted in Off Topic | Tagged arts, arts cuts, British Columbia, culture, economy | 1 Comment »
July 8, 2009 by maikopunk
One of my favourite Seinfeld episodes was on last night, the one where Kramer gets a intern. Kramer’s intern serves “Kramerica Enterprises” by setting up coffee shop trips with Jerry (“Do you need directions, Mr. Seinfeld?”) and assembling chicken wire. The scam comes to an end when the internship supervisor notices the tasks are mainly menial labour in a single guy’s apartment that “may or may not contain a chicken.”
Hmmm, I could use an intern myself. Someone to walk my dog, sort my mail, Dewey decimal my bookshelves and CSS the heck out of my website, while I focus on the strategic goals of Christine Inc. Er, I mean, write stuff. Along the way, my intern would gain valuable career experience into the world of professional writing. Benefits would include attending literary events with me, meeting my writer friends (contacts are valuable), and let’s not forget the free coffee (Folgers, but its free). Did I mention my dog is really cute?
Aah, but its a competitive world out there. Every day I go to my local Craigslist (Vancouver, BC, one of the world’s most liveable cities) and see that hundreds are already beating me to the punch in hiring all the good interns. They’re offering opportunity and free coffee, too. Sometimes a little money if the intern already has experience and their own equipment.
I don’t want to insult anyone by paying minimum wage (or an insulting piecework wage, like $5-10 for custom-written 500-word articles), so maybe we could work out a revenue sharing arrangement. It’s not exploitation; it’s an opportunity! Exploitunity!
Posted in Business | Tagged craigslist, internships, jobs, pop culture, rant, Seinfeld | 1 Comment »
June 26, 2009 by maikopunk
Admittedly, I’ve not been feeling rah-rah-rah about the writing/editing game lately. But this post came along just in time to provide some motivation: Five Opposing Thoughts on an Art Career.
I hope it picks you up, too.
Posted in Business, Writing | Tagged motivation | 2 Comments »
June 25, 2009 by maikopunk
I don’t normally post links to YouTube videos, but I was sent this one today and found it cathartic: The Vendor-Client Relationship.
Lady getting highlights: “It’s just a test … then if my husband likes it you can roll the costs over into the next time.”
Posted in Business | Tagged freelancing, funny, videos | Leave a Comment »
June 25, 2009 by maikopunk
Here is one my favourite resources/inspirational thingies. I used to keep this list pinned up over my desk (but then I moved and took it down and didn’t put it back up again).
Here they are, for you (my favourite is #14 – love the word “teahead”):
1. Scribbled secret notebooks, and wild typewritten pages, for yr own joy
2. Submissive to everything, open, listening
3. Try never get drunk outside yr own house
4. Be in love with yr life
5. Something that you feel will find its own form
6. Be crazy dumbsaint of the mind
7. Blow as deep as you want to blow
8. Write what you want bottomless from bottom of the mind
9. The unspeakable visions of the individual
10. No time for poetry but exactly what is
11. Visionary tics shivering in the chest
12. In tranced fixation dreaming upon object before you
13. Remove literary, grammatical and syntactical inhibition
14. Like Proust be an old teahead of time
15. Telling the true story of the world in interior monolog
16. The jewel center of interest is the eye within the eye
17. Write in recollection and amazement for yourself
18. Work from pithy middle eye out, swimming in language sea
19. Accept loss forever
20. Believe in the holy contour of life
21. Struggle to sketch the flow that already exists intact in mind
22. Dont think of words when you stop but to see picture better
23. Keep track of every day the date emblazoned in yr morning
24. No fear or shame in the dignity of yr experience, language & knowledge
25. Write for the world to read and see yr exact pictures of it
26. Bookmovie is the movie in words, the visual American form
27. In praise of Character in the Bleak inhuman Loneliness
28. Composing wild, undisciplined, pure, coming in from under, crazier the better
29. You’re a Genius all the time
30. Writer-Director of Earthly movies Sponsored & Angeled in Heaven
Posted in Writing | Leave a Comment »
April 21, 2009 by maikopunk
My friend Rob sent me a link to the blog My First Dictionary. It’s gloriously dark and ironic. Rob is awesome.
Posted in Language, Off Topic | Tagged blogs, fun | 1 Comment »
April 17, 2009 by maikopunk
My two favourite stops to look for freelance writing and editing job leads each morning are Freelance Writing Jobs, a network site out of the US with a daily list of leads culled from from the web, and Canadian Freelance Writing Jobs, a blog focusing on jobs and contract positions for writers in Canada.
Both are run basically by individuals who perform this great service to their fellow writers. And both, I think, take some abuse when they lapse in giving this free service. Which is just stupid, but when something’s free I guess we come to expect it and depend on it. But on those days I don’t get *my* leads, it sort of kicks me in the butt and reminds me I should be a bit more proactive in getting work instead of waiting for that perfect gig to present itself.
For starters, Angela of CFWJ posted this list of where to get gigs other than Craigslist. To her tips, I would add going to events, both with writers and with business people who aren’t writers. I have also been exploring the world of bidding sites, both government ones and ones designed for freelance contracting, like Elance. The government ones, like Merx (in Canada), are maddeningly hard to browse and require some patience with hoop-jumping to register for. If anyone has experience with Elance to share, I’d be glad to hear about it.
Posted in Business, Resources, Writing | Tagged bidding sites, freelancing, jobs | 1 Comment »
April 2, 2009 by maikopunk
From time to time, you can get a little blue about the prospects. You wonder if you’ll ever be hire to write or edit anything again, ever. You apply for things day after day after day, and never hear back. And often, you apply for jobs or write proposals for projects that you’re 99 percent sure you’re never going to get.
And weirdly, those jobs you’re not even sure you’re qualified for, but are excited about anyway, are the ones you get. At least, this seems to be the theme of my freelancing life!
For example, today I got a letter notifying me that I had qualified as a supplier to write for a prominent government agency. I just happened to see the RFQ (request for qualifications) for writing services on BC Bid a few days before the deadline. I wasn’t doing much of anything at the time, so I thought, what the H—, I’ll pull a little proposal together.
I got it in on time, but never heard anything. From my previous experience writing proposals for an IT company, I knew that sometimes the evaluation process takes awhile. Still, the RFQ mentioned stuff about proponents possibly having to make an oral presentation, and I never got called to do that. But then out of the blue, I get the acceptance letter.
It’s been a similar story with all my favourite jobs in the past year. When I applied to be a Scout for Yelp.ca, I thought, I’m not cool and hip – I’m really kind of a homebody… how am I going to write 35+ reviews a week of the Vancouver’s hot spots? But I applied, and got it, and ended up writing almost 400 reviews. And when I saw a posting to proofread a huge government report, I wrote the proposal, thinking all the while, this will probably go to one of the editorial firms, or a team of people. But I got that contract too.
So maybe I didn’t totally believe in myself while going after these opportunities – but with a little time, a few qualifications, and a lot of formatting and proofreading, they’re there for the taking.
Posted in Business | Tagged confidence, freelancing, job hunting, proposals, self-esteem | Leave a Comment »
March 26, 2009 by maikopunk
I found a link to this discussion board that illustrates very starkly both why you should be skeptical of very low-paying ads for writers on Craigslist, and why you shouldn’t write samples specifically for a job unless you know who you’re sending it to: Getting Free Professionally Written Articles.
You’re welcome.
Update: Looks like they figured out people were looking at the discussion, so here’s the how the “sample scam” works:
- Scammer posts ads on various Craigslists saying that they are start-up needing content, and offering to pay $10-20 an article.
- To apply, they ask you to send a resume (to seem “authentic”) and write a sample article on a given topic. Usually with some specifications.
- When they start getting apps with the nicely written articles that just happen to be the right length and perhaps full of keywords too, the “employer” turns around and posts them on whatever content site they’re affiliated with, and collects the money for the pageviews or fees.
- And the original writer never sees a dime, nor probably has an idea what happened to the “job” they applied for.
Wow, I sure do wish I, too, could be free of soul, conscience or ethics. Just gotta watch out for the ones who are.
Posted in Business, Writing | Tagged dubious job ads, job hunting, samples, scam, warning | Leave a Comment »
March 5, 2009 by maikopunk
I was alerted that yesterday, March 4, was National Grammar Day. I didn’t mark the holiday by doing anything special (like a grammar rodeo). Nonetheless, the website for National Grammar Day contains enough links to grammar-oriented blogs, grammar tips, and awards for bad grammar to keep an editor busy for awhile.
Posted in Editing, Resources | Tagged Grammar, grammar websites, National Grammar Day | 1 Comment »
March 4, 2009 by maikopunk
From the Lorraine Murphy (aka raincoaster) fabulous organizer of the Shebeen Club, and now instigator-in-charge for the Lower Mainland contingent of the Federation of BC Writers comes Crime Pays:
Info from e-mail:
Who: The Federation of BC Writers and the Shebeen Club
What: a wicked good fundraiser for the Fed
When: Monday, March 16th, 6-9pm
Where: The Vancouver Police Museum, 240 East Cordova Street, Vancouver
Why: it would be criminal to miss this party!
Wanted: YOU!
Come help the Fed celebrate 32 years of getting away with murder. Whether infiltrating schools, divvying up swag, or distributing subversive publications, the Federation of BC Writers has been operating unchecked in our province for decades.
Do you enjoy the vicarious thrill of rubbing shoulder pads with the Lost Literati of the Wild West, surrounded by instruments of murder and mayhem in the cosy confines of the police museum? Do you have what it takes to make your bones as a Fed member? There’s only one way to find out! Come out to the party and make us an offer we can’t refuse.
Admission: $20 minimum donation includes a drink and appetizers. Click here to register. If you won’t be attending, but would like to support the Fed, you can click the Paypal button in the sidebar to make an online donation in the amount of your choice.
Dress code: Trenchcoat and fedora, deerstalker and cape, jailhouse stripes, uniforms, Bond Villain suits or femme fatale slinkwear all optional but encouraged. Attitude absolutely mandatory.
Raffle prize donations, bribes, and sponsorship applications very welcome: please email lorraine.murphy at Gmail dot com. Anything related to crime or the theme of noir is particularly welcome, eg detective books, Martini glasses, etc, or anything black or white.
If you’d like to perform a reading of some of your dark material, please contact me as well and we can make arrangements.
The Crime Pays fundraiser will be our Shebeen Club meeting for the month of March, so I hope to see everyone there, dressed fabulously and behaving infamously!
Many moons ago, I went to another Shebeen event on the topic of crime, and it was great, so I expect this event will be just as fun. Who’s in?
Posted in Literary | Tagged crime pays, event, federation of BC writers, fundraiser, shebeen club | 2 Comments »
March 2, 2009 by maikopunk
I can answer that question pretty simply: I write because I’m hungry. Not just for food, but for communication. To talk to someone and create some kind of reaction with them.
When I was a kid, dreaming of being a famous writer someday, the books I read did two things: they created something beautiful in me and they told a good story. These things I try to do in my writing today, although I had never anticipated the Web and the way it would change the way we read and write.
For example, today there’s not only the demand for good, clean copy on the Web, but also this thing called search engine optimization (SEO). For a writer, SEO means making sure your article has appropriate keywords sprinkled throughout that match what someone might put into a search engine to find articles on the topic you’re writing about. It also involves making careful decisions as to your article’s title and subtitle, so that searchers can tell instantly what you’re looking for. There’s a bunch more techy stuff to it too (terrifying), but I try not to get bogged down in that. As a writer, I have simply become more aware of being reader-friendly and thinking about what they might might want.
And that’s great. But a lot of the writing people want done for the Web is promo and sales material – in itself not a bad thing – designed to get to the top of search engine results by simply stuffing in keywords. You can even buy article spinning software to “write” articles around certain keywords. And this is not why I write – just to fill up space, feed the hungry content maw of the Web, and claw whatever comes out the other end to the top of Google results. There isn’t a whole lot of room for clever titles and surprising leads and slow dives into the material in this Web genre.
But the Web is undoubtedly where the work is for writers today. And writers of every generation have had to adapt and gear their material to where their audience is and how their audience will discover their materials. For Shakespeare, it was through the theatre. For Dickens, it was through the magazines in which he serialized his works, like a Victorian Melrose Place. For Hemingway, it was through novels. And throughout much of the last century, magazines, especially New York glossies, have been proving grounds on the way to a book contract. Each form has its own constraints and ways to hook the audience – which has never meant that writers have had to pander or dumb down the material.
Webwriting can be artful and creative and surprising – and it doesn’t have to be all about text, either. I think what has changed is how we get the work to the audience, and on the crowded, stuffed, and shouting plain of the Web, it’s not easy to get attention. Although I’ve never used the suggested techniques of going to influential bloggers and asking them for links, nor do I truck much with feeds, social bookmarking, and other aggregators, I suppose it’s not realistic to hold to the ideal of just sitting in a room and hoping your writing finds its way out, magically. But I think that good content (maybe optimized, but preferably relevant, well-written, and published in the right place) will find a reader, as it always has.
Posted in Webwriting, Writing | 2 Comments »
February 23, 2009 by maikopunk
Am I getting cranky in my old age, or is a university degree officially worth nothing nowadays: http://toronto.en.craigslist.ca/tor/wri/1048831736.html.
Here’s the text of the post, which seems to be getting flagged a lot:
Hi,
I have a few essay assignments for English course of University level available.
Would like to receive above B mark.
Please contact me for details and let me know your expected financial compensation.
If this works out well I’ll have regular essay gigs in the future if you’d like.
Thanks!
Newsflash: an English course is supposed to teach you to write, and it seems like the poster could use some help, not a writer to do it for them.
Think I need to go have some more coffee and calm down.
Posted in Writing | Tagged craigslist, dubious job ads, rant | Leave a Comment »
Older Posts »
