In Which the Author Discusses the "M" Word

[greygirlbeast]

Only slightly late, Sirenia Digest #46 just went out to subscribers. My great thanks to Vince, Spooky, and Gordon. I do hope that everyone enjoys "Charcloth, Firesteel, and Flint" and "Shipwrecks Above." If you are a subscriber, #46 should be in your in-box. If you're not a subscriber, that's easy to fix.Not much to say about yesterday, as it was

Comments

[ellistrae]

I can't speak for the publishing industry since I know nothing about it, other than what you've posted here, but the music industry is definitely FUBAR in terms of how badly the artists get shafted by their record labels. I have a good friend who has been in a band for about 20 years, they even had a number one song on MTV in the 90's. There is always the assumption that if you have a record deal then you must be rolling in money. Nobody understands that musicians are given an advance by the record label but then once the record is finished, they are expected to pay back the record label with sales. Not enough sales = label does not make the advance back, therefore the artist is in debt to the record label. Tour support is virtually non-existent these days as well. So artists expend valuable time and energy to produce a kick ass album and see virtually nothing for it, because the label stands there with their hand out. Now, if the labels would actually PROMOTE their artists, this might be OK, but many of them don't. For

[txtriffidranch]

Gibby Haynes of the Butthole Surfers summed it up best: "There's nothing in the world worse than being famous without money." He related in an interview after the Surfers song "Pepper" hit the top ten that the album Electriclarryland might actually have made some money for the band if they hadn't had to pay for their tour. (And don't forget the old three-album contract stunt, where the label never really gives up any money. A first album may be decently promoted and played, but the money for the first album isn't paid out until after the second and third albums are released, and the labels go into all sorts of contortions to make sure that they're never publicized or even released.)

[cdennismoore]

One of the hardest truths I ever faced about writing was that I may very well never make a living from it. But I faced it and, actually, since then I've found myself much more free in what I write.

Thanks for this entry.

[cdennismoore]

Also, I'm all for an artist doing whatever they can to make a living in their field. I love seeing what new marketing strategies people come up with.

[sfmarty]

Excellent post. Most fairly new writers get very little advance and if the latest book (new writer, old timer, doesn't matter) doesn't sell really well, they either don't get another book published, or the 'advance' goes way down.

Amanda is doing what she can to keep on earning. Good for her. Good for you too.

BTW, I am horrified at what happened with the Beowulf book. That is plain theft.

[greygirlbeast]

BTW, I am horrified at what happened with the Beowulf book. That is plain theft.

You are, of course, correct. But we were up against Harper's lawyers and Paramount Studio's lawyers, so....there you go. But I'll never write another novelization, ever.

[txtriffidranch]

Heh. That sounds like my last writing relapse, where I made the mistake of writing a movie review for Science Fiction Weekly. I finally got paid for said review, three months after the contracted date, but only because I threatened to out Bonnie Hammer's personal phone number and address if I didn't get my money. If I'd threatened a lawsuit, even in Small Claims, the Skiffy Channel would have just laughed and said "Get in line."

Agent?

[beerdiablo]

A naive question but should your agent have been able to anticipate/prevent this?

[jdack]

Kind of illustrates that old bit where [Famous writer] is asked to give advice to young would-be writers, and he/she says: "Don't be a writer. Being a writer sucks. Be an astronaut or something."

I wondered aloud once, long ago, why anybody would write, having learned of its perils. I was told "nobody wants to. Writers don't have a choice."

[jillianrainbird]

Thanks for posting this. Probably what nobody wants to hear. But better to know.