Information Wants to be Invoiced

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!

Truman Capote, Shebeener in Spirit

Truman, Truman, Truman.

Truman, Truman, Truman.

Truman Capote “assumes the position” after a strenuous evening of Shebeening. The mark of a true pro is the fact that he doesn’t spill his drink even while unconscious.

In related news, they let people into Studio 54 dressed like Barrettes Girl?

VCon Debrief: the Shebeen Club for October 3

VCon Poster

VCon Poster

Calling all SciFi fans… just a quick and dirty note to let you know our next Shebeen Club meeting will be this coming Monday, October 3, upstairs at the Revel Room, 238 Abbott Street just off Water in Gastown. Once again, they’re laying a special menu on for us as part of the meeting, for only $20: please pay your proprietor Ian Alexander Martin of Atomic Fez publishing. Dinner and a drink is included with your admission.

VCon, for those of you who live in the 17th Century, is the biggest event of the year for speculative fiction of all kinds. We’re hoping to coax a few special guests to overcome their shyness and share Monday with us. Given that the guests of VCon run the gamut from Larry Niven to, well, the Shebeen Club’s Fearless Leader, it’s guaranteed to be an entertaining and speculative indeed crew.

Please note: the Shebeen Club meeting is NOT officially a cosplay event. But discreet Spock ears are welcome.

6pm-9pm Monday, October 3 2011, Revel Room Upstairs lounge, 238 Abbott Street, Vancouver

$20 cash includes dinner, a drink, the VCon debrief, and our glamorous and scintillating company.

This is short notice, so while RSVPs are welcome, they’re not compulsory. Just show up with your smiling face and try not to wear a red shirt.

Jack Layton was afraid of NOTHING I tell you!

Jack Layton was afraid of NOTHING I tell you!

No-One Likes to See This as a Result

Well… poop.

It seems that Borders USA is looking even less likely to continue business than before last week’s auction.

For those of you just joining the saga, Borders USA has been battling the “Going Out of Business Sale” demons for nearly a year. Borders UK folded a couple of years ago, and the Australian version a few months ago, but the American chain looked like a solid contender for continuing life; especially when reports of Barnes & Noble were filled with stockholder revolt.

What with local, long term businesses such as Duthies and its offspring Ardea Books, plus specialty shops like Biz Books and others finding it impossible to operate and pay ever-increasing costs for city property and commercial business taxes, adding the above to the mix makes one wonder “will I ever walk into a book shop again?”

When it comes to pass that — as is the case with Borders’ auction last week — no one is even interested in placing a bid for a multiple-location, national chain of stores, no matter what those stores offer, you really have to wonder about things.

Sorry, no answers here, nor even much in the way of hope, just a post to note the placing of another brick in a construction of something. I’ve no idea even what that construction is shaped like, but one does feel a tad that the final form will look a bit dreary.

Blast.

Someone Please Explain This to Me

…preferably as though I was aged for the target market of the book.

I’ve said for some length of time that eBooks need to be approached as being a replacement (if they can be said to ‘replace’ anything) for Mass Market Paperback editions of titles. they fulfill the same approach as the Penguin or Pocket editions of any novel: get the words to the eye-bones of the readers as easily as possible. There’s no requirement for them to last forever, they’re not meant to be cherished, they aren’t supposed to survive thousands of readings un-molested. They’re meant to be read, possibly re-read, and that’s about it really.

So, based on that, eBooks are the same, except they’re able to withstand multiple readings. None the less, however, they present the words in the simplest and plainest format for the express purpose of getting words to the eye-bones of the readers.

Thus, can someone please explain why this MMP costs TWELVE dollars:

“I Shall Wear Midnight” (Discworld Novel 38), by Terry Pratchett {paperback}

“I Shall Wear Midnight” (Discworld Novel 38), by Terry Pratchett {paperback}

…yet the eBook below costs NINETEEN dollars:

“I Shall Wear Midnight” (Discworld Novel 38), by Terry Pratchett {electronic book}

“I Shall Wear Midnight” (Discworld Novel 38), by Terry Pratchett {electronic book}

…which is actually 50¢ more than the Hardcover edition of the work in the listing above it?

Don’t blame the un-identified retailers, they’re working with the Recommended Retail Price set by the publishers, which in this case is Transworld and Corgi, who seem to be bound and determined to ensure no eBook is ever purchased by any individual in the history of man.

Authors: talk to the houses who publish your work and insist they no longer ignore the way their are slicing their own throats. Electronic bindings are not some sort of luxury, especially as one has already bought some fancy electronic goo-gaw to read the books on in the first place. They can make money through volume sold just as easily as if they locate the handful of people in the marketplace daft or rich enough to pay top dollar for the option of carrying less paper.