Arr, Jim lad.
Since I left the Hell-Job on Friday I have:
tidied the entire flat so it is now all clean and lovely
cleaned out all the photos I don't actually want to keep (elbows and people I don't know)
spent all the iTunes vouchers work gave me as a leaving present
finagled a single ticket for the National Theatre's production of Frankenstein starring Benedict Cumberbatch as the monster! (It was EXPENSIVE. More than I thought, anyway. But I am so stoked. Also awesome about this production: Benedict Cumberbatch and the other actor are alternating who plays the monster and who plays Dr Frankenstein. Neat.)
started up two tumblr accounts and worked out how to use the damn things
went to visit a local film studio to see if we might use it for Taken/Quitados, the short film I am Assistant Producing this year (AWESOME, BTW.)
So feeling pretty accomplished right now! I start the New Job on Monday so plenty of free time this week to do some writing and such.
On a more studious note, I've been reading a few articles today by authors I love about publishing, e-publishing and internet piracy that I want to talk to you guys about.
I can't lay claim to sainthood in this arena by any value system. As I'm sure most of my flist do, I download a lot of TV shows to watch as they come out in the US rather than waiting for them to be shown here in the UK or buying them on DVD. I justify this by telling myself that they're not losing any money from me as I wouldn't be paying to access their TV channels anyway, etc, etc, I don't want to be spoiled, etc. This does not make it okay, and I am also aware of that. I wouldn't have to justify it if it wasn't a problem in the first place.
Now, the big TV companies? The movie studios? (I don't, as a rule, download movies, but let's assume that I did.) Them I'm not so concerned about, because I don't live in the US, and my opinion - my business - never seems to carry any weight with them when they decide whether or not to keep my favourite shows on TV or whether to make a sequel to my favourite films. But authors? I do care about them.
anywherebeyond (YA author Saundra Mitchell) has written a really eye-opening post about the direct impact ebook piracy is having on her livelihood and on the trajectory of her career. ( “Free” Books Aren’t Free.) I've never pirated a book, and have no intentions to, but the numbers alone really stunned me. So I followed a few links, and read a bit more, and winced a bit more every time.
Kimberly Pauley:And furthermore…why illegal downloads suck (i.e. status of a third Mina book)
Barbara Caridad Ferrer:An Open Letter to Book Pirates…
Seanan McGuire/Mira Grant:"As to hanging, it is no great hardship...": Internet Piracy, and Who It Hurts
As a related aside, Why Do eBooks Cost So Much? (A Publisher’s Perspective)
So if you see me buying a few more books, a few more things on DVD in future, don't tell me 'you could have got that for free on the internet', because it's a choice I want to try to make. Even though I am so, so broke. Especially after buying the Cumberbatch ticket.
But I feel good about paying for it.
So feeling pretty accomplished right now! I start the New Job on Monday so plenty of free time this week to do some writing and such.
On a more studious note, I've been reading a few articles today by authors I love about publishing, e-publishing and internet piracy that I want to talk to you guys about.
I can't lay claim to sainthood in this arena by any value system. As I'm sure most of my flist do, I download a lot of TV shows to watch as they come out in the US rather than waiting for them to be shown here in the UK or buying them on DVD. I justify this by telling myself that they're not losing any money from me as I wouldn't be paying to access their TV channels anyway, etc, etc, I don't want to be spoiled, etc. This does not make it okay, and I am also aware of that. I wouldn't have to justify it if it wasn't a problem in the first place.
Now, the big TV companies? The movie studios? (I don't, as a rule, download movies, but let's assume that I did.) Them I'm not so concerned about, because I don't live in the US, and my opinion - my business - never seems to carry any weight with them when they decide whether or not to keep my favourite shows on TV or whether to make a sequel to my favourite films. But authors? I do care about them.
anywherebeyond (YA author Saundra Mitchell) has written a really eye-opening post about the direct impact ebook piracy is having on her livelihood and on the trajectory of her career. ( “Free” Books Aren’t Free.) I've never pirated a book, and have no intentions to, but the numbers alone really stunned me. So I followed a few links, and read a bit more, and winced a bit more every time.
Kimberly Pauley:And furthermore…why illegal downloads suck (i.e. status of a third Mina book)
Barbara Caridad Ferrer:An Open Letter to Book Pirates…
Seanan McGuire/Mira Grant:"As to hanging, it is no great hardship...": Internet Piracy, and Who It Hurts
As a related aside, Why Do eBooks Cost So Much? (A Publisher’s Perspective)
So if you see me buying a few more books, a few more things on DVD in future, don't tell me 'you could have got that for free on the internet', because it's a choice I want to try to make. Even though I am so, so broke. Especially after buying the Cumberbatch ticket.
But I feel good about paying for it.