The Goodreads issue
Like many other authors, I’ve had some of my works posted at Goodreads, and like many others, I was really annoyed by it - not only was it done without my knowledge or consent, but I just couldn’t really wrap my mind around why? My initial thought was that perhaps someone was trying to make a virtual bookshelf for themselves so they could access their favorite fics easily. But aside from the star-rating system at Goodreads, there’s really nothing else Goodreads offers that can’t be done at AO3 re bookmarking, tagging, and file-type conversions. Furthermore, from what little I’ve seen of Goodreads, it seems to be geared more towards original writing than fanfic, and if I were a Goodreads user, I’d probably be annoyed about having to sift through all the fanfic to find what I want. So I posted a disclaimer on my profile asking my works not to be crossposted there, and shortly after they were removed.
Then out of curiosity, I removed that disclaimer to see what would happen...and shortly after, my fics were posted again. At this stage I’d gotten over my initial annoyance, so I just let it be. Firstly, it's not like the actual fics are there, just the basic information. They haven't reposted the fics or changed anything about them or claimed to be the author (which I have unfortunately caught people doing on other sites in the past), the fics are still credited to my name. And it’s kind of flattering that someone is paying that much attention to my profile, and cares enough that they posted my fics again as soon as I removed my disclaimer. If someone likes my fics that much and wants to share them, then okay, why not? At least now I know that if for some reason I should ever want to take down my fics, my wishes will be respected. (Goodreads even provides an option to contact the site if you want to claim rightful ownership over your works).
Mostly, when I think about the variety of posting sites, and how frustrating it is when a writer removes a much-loved fic, I can understand why someone would want to consolidate their reading in one place, or upload a copy to their online storage. Personally, that’s why I save all my favorite fics onto my hard drive. And when someone is looking for a deleted fic, I try to help them out by emailing them my saved copies. Realistically, as someone who posts content on the internet, be it fanfic or fanart or whatever, I’m fully aware that once it’s out there, I have very little control over it. And it would be highly unrealistic to try and stop people from sharing content directly through email. Not to mention highly hypocritical, considering the systems a lot of us use to watch these shows in the first place. And while most authors can easily post a note against crossposting, it’s conversely unrealistic to expect authors to post a list of all the things they are potentially okay with - direct sharing through email is generally a given (along with rec lists, fanart, etc)
But people are usually very accommodating about respecting your wishes about your work if you ask them nicely. I’ve been on both sides of that situation, since I used to run a site that hosted a small collection of guest works as well. And because people are usually very accommodating, there’s really no reason to be aggressive if something displeases you, or call the person a bitch etc without simply contacting the person in a polite manner first. Unfortunately, I’ve seen this happen too. And given the reality of control (or lack thereof) on the internet, you can only really rely on people’s good graces to respect your wishes, so being aggressive about it is a lot less likely to get you anywhere. What’s that saying about learning to accept the things you can’t change, and having the wisdom to know the difference? Maybe throw in a little do unto others too.
So yeah, while the Goodreads thing was annoying at first, I’ve come to terms with it. In the grand scheme of things, it’s not doing me any harm, and whoever’s doing it obviously cares about it a lot more than I do.
Then out of curiosity, I removed that disclaimer to see what would happen...and shortly after, my fics were posted again. At this stage I’d gotten over my initial annoyance, so I just let it be. Firstly, it's not like the actual fics are there, just the basic information. They haven't reposted the fics or changed anything about them or claimed to be the author (which I have unfortunately caught people doing on other sites in the past), the fics are still credited to my name. And it’s kind of flattering that someone is paying that much attention to my profile, and cares enough that they posted my fics again as soon as I removed my disclaimer. If someone likes my fics that much and wants to share them, then okay, why not? At least now I know that if for some reason I should ever want to take down my fics, my wishes will be respected. (Goodreads even provides an option to contact the site if you want to claim rightful ownership over your works).
Mostly, when I think about the variety of posting sites, and how frustrating it is when a writer removes a much-loved fic, I can understand why someone would want to consolidate their reading in one place, or upload a copy to their online storage. Personally, that’s why I save all my favorite fics onto my hard drive. And when someone is looking for a deleted fic, I try to help them out by emailing them my saved copies. Realistically, as someone who posts content on the internet, be it fanfic or fanart or whatever, I’m fully aware that once it’s out there, I have very little control over it. And it would be highly unrealistic to try and stop people from sharing content directly through email. Not to mention highly hypocritical, considering the systems a lot of us use to watch these shows in the first place. And while most authors can easily post a note against crossposting, it’s conversely unrealistic to expect authors to post a list of all the things they are potentially okay with - direct sharing through email is generally a given (along with rec lists, fanart, etc)
But people are usually very accommodating about respecting your wishes about your work if you ask them nicely. I’ve been on both sides of that situation, since I used to run a site that hosted a small collection of guest works as well. And because people are usually very accommodating, there’s really no reason to be aggressive if something displeases you, or call the person a bitch etc without simply contacting the person in a polite manner first. Unfortunately, I’ve seen this happen too. And given the reality of control (or lack thereof) on the internet, you can only really rely on people’s good graces to respect your wishes, so being aggressive about it is a lot less likely to get you anywhere. What’s that saying about learning to accept the things you can’t change, and having the wisdom to know the difference? Maybe throw in a little do unto others too.
So yeah, while the Goodreads thing was annoying at first, I’ve come to terms with it. In the grand scheme of things, it’s not doing me any harm, and whoever’s doing it obviously cares about it a lot more than I do.