Protective Measures: Avoiding Awkward Podfic Situations

[podmod]

For the most part, podficcers and authors get along pretty well but there have always been the occasional situations where things don't go as smoothly. Maybe an author doesn't get podfic, has been rude or hurtful in their response to a request for permission to podfic. Maybe they asked for something unusual when giving their permission, such as a

Comments

[starrylizard]

I already have an open podfic policy and am very pro-podfic, but as an author I find this list somewhat confronting and very uncomfortable. Like, if you say no to one person, you could end up on this list and nobody will ask you any more. You might make people feel they have to say yes all the time or be "black-listed". I know you're saying that isn't the point, but that's rather how I would feel if I ended up on this list. Particularly if the "no" was said in a respectful way and was for a particular fic or under particular circumstances, it may not be something I even want out there discussed publicly. What if later I do give someone permission for something I had earlier said no to and then people diss me for not giving x permission, but giving y permission? etc. etc. Basically, writing fiction is a very personal thing and as a writer I think if I decided to have more control over my own words, that's up to me and should be discussed nicely between me and anyone wanting to make further art out of my work. And I should have

[shinetheway]

Um

[arwen_lune]

I'd like to know that by asking you, I'm taking a risk.

But isn't the risk that you'll be told 'no'? Because you always run that risk unless you only pick work from people with blanket permissions

I would also question that your right to change your mind and withdraw permission from podfic you've already said yes to

That is not what I read in starrylizard's post - she only talks about changing her mind in the sense of telling somebody no, then later changing her mind and telling somebody else yes.

[starrylizard]

Thank you, yes. That was what I meant.

[starrylizard]

Hi shinetheway. Sorry if I've upset you somehow, I am rather tired as I said and I think perhaps some of what I said has been misunderstood.

I do have an open podfic policy, meaning anyone can podfic my works at any time without permission. I put that in there to show my own stance, however I understand why many podficcers may not choose to take this stance and I was trying to state how this list may make one (any writer) feel. A list of anti-podfic authors is useful. It may well stop podficcers accidentally badgering someone who is absolutely, positively not interested.

I should probably say in the interest of disclosure, I also podfic. I just keep the accounts very separate, though the link is pretty clear if you go looking. I've been knocked back for permission in a number of ways from a simple "no" to someone asking more and then politely declining, to someone telling me how they dislike podfic or even hate podfic. I simply move on, after all I don't start recording until I hear from the author.

I would also

[shinetheway]

Hi! No, you didn't upset me, and I thought you phrased your post beautifully, tired or not--I just thought you were eloquently arguing FOR exactly what it turns out that you're AGAINST. :) Which just goes to show how strong your argument was. So for every time you used the first person and I used the second person in response, let's just make it about the third person? Because I think we're in agreement on many things, just arguing different perspectives on it

[starrylizard]

I still feel rather uncomfortable, though I can see what the list is meant to be and I realise there are altruistic motives behind it. I'm uncomfortable at the possibility for abuse and the highly subjective nature of what could be considered a bad response. I see this morning that there has already been quite a bit of discussion on the DW version of this post, so I'll leave it be though. I should probably say that the post above yours mine was the one that got me thinking, but maybe the mods won't list that individual based on that post

[arwen_lune]

Yeah, I get that that's not an awesome reaction to get from an author, but to my eyes it's firm, and irritated with people who have ignored her. Not angry or abusive.

[starrylizard]

And it also looks like it could have easily been avoided.

[nikojen]

Yep, this.

I find it kinda ironic that we've got cesperanza on the list for archiving people's work without permission, but then at least two of the others are clearly speaking from a place of having been burned by someone recording their work (and thus archiving it) without explicit permission, but they get put on the "hostile" list instead of just logging them as "blanket no" and moving on.

I'm sure most of these authors have little enough regard for the podfic community that being put on some list isn't going to cause any sleepless nights, and I know it's increasingly the "official" stance that author's don't have a right to feel violated if someone records them without permission, but but I don't feel comfortable with it at all.

[starrylizard]

uh huh.

[shinetheway]

Okay, fine, you make a very good point. And I agree that we can debate people who deserve to be on the list and don't deserve to be on the list. We can say that the person who rants about people posting without her permission but then it turns out that when people ask for her permission she ignores them--so does she care? does she not care? if she cared she'd just say "no", right?--we can say she deserves to be on a list but this other author doesn't. That's fine

[starrylizard]

I have no particular horse in this race (I have blanket permission to podfic etc. and no regrets, but I also don't process audio fiction very well in general, so I don't listen to it, either), but I just want to point out that there's been a lot of discussion of how anxiety-inducing asking authors for permission is for podficcers--which is valid--but I definitely know authors who are deeply uncomfortable with podfic who find saying "thanks but no thanks, I'm not comfortable with that" equally anxiety-inducing. And it's true they could have a blanket no policy (although I've found I still get asked permission for translations and occasionally podfic despite having a blanket yes policy), but regardless, I think "anxiety" is often a reason authors might not respond to requests