Category Archives: Media

Shebeen Spirited September Meeting: this THURSDAY!

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Gaze into the Void

Gaze into the Void: image by Zbigniew M. Bielak

Come gaze into the void, or at least a warming glass of whisk(e)y with the scintillating members of the Shebeen Club this Thursday at six o’clock. Where else but the Shebeen? Don’t come early, because they won’t be open. And I PROMISE this time I won’t be two hours late. Jeremy Hammond could break out of MCC and kidnap Sabu on behalf of the Syrian Electronic Army and call me to interview them all live and I will still walk away from the keyboard instead of writing it up, I vow it.

All are welcome to our little literary gathering, and anyone with a freshly-written ghost or noir story will be accorded pride of place.

No cost to attend, pay for what you order, the kitchen is excellent and the bar is stunning. This week we’re in the Irish Heather’s snug instead of the Shebeen due to a double-booking issue.

For the facebook-inclined, there is an event, for easy calendar-addification.

If you’ve published a book, gotten a gig, or any other good news lately, by all means come out and boast. If you’ve got books or CDs, bring some along for signing and selling.

Job opening: Editorial Fellows at Gawker Media

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Deadlines in the monitor may be closer than they appear

Deadlines in the monitor may be closer than they appear

You know the Gawker Posse: io9, Gawker, Valleywag, Gizmodo, Jalopnik, Kotaku, Deadspin and Jezebel. They make metric shit-tons of money, and so (unlike Conde Nast) they can afford to pay their interns. Would you like to work for them? You bet you would! I hear the office has hot and cold running Adderall! Anyway, here are the specs, and NO you cannot work remotely. Interning means picking up the coffee, and if you lived in Vancouver it would be cold by the time you got it to NYC.

Gawker is once again hiring Editorial Fellows for our New York office.

Editorial Fellows are Gawker’s entry level editorial positions. The ideal Editorial Fellow candidate is a strong writer with a discerning eye for newsworthy stories, has a keen sense of Gawker’s voice, and will be able to work in the Gawker office four days a week.

The essentials:

  • You should want to be a journalist, reporter, writer, or something of the sort when you grow up—prior experience in media is a plus. This is a position we hope will transition into something permanent at Gawker, so a desire to write for us is a must.
  • Basic knowledge of Photoshop, FinalCut, and HTML.
  • You are over 18 and have the legal ability to work in the United States
  • Willingness to learn. We don’t expect you to know everything when you get here, but you should be willing to put the work in to figure it out. While we’ll never ask you to get us coffee, there is some basic administrative stuff—transcribing interviews and research assistance—that comes with the territory.

The stuff you’ll be doing:

  • Research and reporting: We are looking for a very strong writer who is capable of pulling together different kinds of information from multiple sources for editors
  • Spotting stories: Learning how to find and pitch stories from multiple sources and leads
  • Some video editing

Other things:

Editorial Fellows are paid, hourly employees. And if you’re really good (and lucky), one day you could be promoted to an Editorial Assistant.

If you think that sounds like something you’re into, apply here. You’ve got until August 30th to apply.

Selah.

Shebeen Club Reunion Party: Thursday, August 22

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Typical Shebeen scene

Typical Shebeen scene

We’re BACK, BITCHES!

That’s right, Vangroover’s classiest literary gathering returns for One Night Only. Or will commit to One Night Only. You know how that goes.

This upcoming Thursday, August 22nd at 6pm, let’s meet up in the Shebeen and talk about old times and new times and, as ever, bitch about getting paid on time. If you’ve published a book since the last time we got together, bring some and we’ll let you show off. If you’ve gotten a new writing/editing/publishing gig since we last met, boast and we will applaud you.  If you’ve created an entire spoken word opera based on the Kardashians, please, in the name of Wagner, keep it to yourself.

Who’s welcome? Everyone except hostile drunks. If you’ve never been to the Shebeen Club before, well, it’s a group for practicing literati, whether they’re making a living at it or not. Writers, editors, publishers, book illustrators, printers, journalists, bloggers, poets, and not a few reprobates. They add a certain style to the mix.

Dress code: Dress writerly. Nobody knows what that means so you can’t get it wrong!

Pay for what you order, and don’t forget to tip nicely. We don’t want them getting annoyed with us after eight years, do we?

For the Facebook-dependent, the event is listed, and I quite frankly got so excited I blew $50 on Facebook ads. What can I say, it’s been a couple of years since our last get-together, and I lost my head.

Directions: the Shebeen is a “secret” pub, so it’s not going to have a giant neon sign out front. Go to the Irish Heather, 210 Carrall Street at the foot of Gastown in Maple Tree Square almost kitty-corner to Chill Winston. Go into the Irish Heather and straight through and out the back door. Turn right, because if you don’t you will walk smack into a brick wall. The door to the Shebeen is just a little ways on, on your left.

The Menu: no dinner special this time, but the menu is constantly changing and always high-quality. Don’t show up early, because they won’t be open yet!

Job: Travel Editor, Fodor’s

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Set out for unknown shores

Set out for unknown shores

Oooooooh, this looks good, don’t it? Found this via a Simply Hired job alert (LOVE SimplyHired; it aggregates all the best job listings, and the support staff is awesome).

Your challenge:
Fodor’s Travel seeks an Editor to join the editorial team. This position reports to the Editorial Director. You will launch updates for 7 to 10 guidebooks a year; find and hire writers; edit copy and oversee editorial freelancers; and review book passes. Other requirements include: strong researching and communication skills; understanding of the requirements of multi-platform content; participation in social media; representing Fodor’s at relevant events.

Your profile:
Ideal candidate will have a minimum of 4 years editorial experience. Salary and title will be commensurate with experience. Individual must be at once detail-oriented and able to keep an eye on the big picture; proficient with writing, grammar and punctuation; passionate about travel; and possess 4 years experience with guidebooks. Excellent editorial skills and the ability to multitask efficiently are mandatory. Experience finding and hiring writers is desirable.

About our company:
Random House, Inc. is the world’s largest general trade book publisher. It is a division of Bertelsmann AG, one of the foremost media companies in the world.

All applicants must submit along with their resume a letter detailing their travel experience and why Fodor’s is of interest.

Submit application to:
Please apply using our online application process.

http://www.randomhouse.com

Selah.

Information Wants to be Invoiced

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Duane Lester confronts his plagiarist

Duane Lester confronts his plagiarist

Duane Lester is a blogger. Duane Lester knows his rights. And when he found out that this Missouri paper had printed a blog post of his as an original article, verbatim and without attribution or permission, he knew just what to do. And he videoed that shit.

I know RSS stands for “really simple syndication” but it does not mean you can take anything with an RSS feed and print it, verbatim, without permission or payment, in your newspaper, no matter how podunk it may be. Blog posts are writing, covered by copyright law, and if this had been me I’d have gone considerably more ballistic to Mister Bob Bull Shit and his Lois Lane sidekick, who should really know better. Bob’s the one with the money, and she’s the one with the brains, I’d bet.

The most important comment on this youtube, which has had 48,000 views, is this one:

One relevant item in Duane’s attitude is: he never changes subject, never stops repeating that they reprinted his work w/o credit or payment, never falls for the argumentative traps of “being from somewhere”, “copies being passed around”, “40 years older” or whatever. Keeping straight to the point helps. Not being sidetracked helps. Pursuing it steadily, keeping CALM eye contact, helps. Kudos on that.

SrAtoz

Congratulations to Duane and to SrAtoz. You give us heart!