Comments | telesilla: Meta/Rant: It's like deja vu all over again!

telesilla

Meta/Rant: It's like deja vu all over again!

May 14, 2007 20:08

Once upon a time--back in the mid 90s--John Ordover, the then Star Trek editor of Pocket Books, posted on alt.startrek.creative advertising a contest for fan writers. If you wrote a fic that fit into their guidelines--which were the same stringent ones tie-in writers had to follow--you could win a cash prize and be published in an anthology. If I ( Read more... )

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fanlib mimbo May 17 2007, 06:46:32 UTC

hey everyone,
I'm Chris one of the founders of FanLib> it's really late and i have been working on the site all day. I'm exhausted but i just realized what was going on here and all of the commentsts are making me sick. we're a small company with 10 emplyees who work 16 hours a day to try and make a great website. we're real people! with feelings and everything! we have been working on this and dreaming about it for a long time and you are just here to shit on it without giving us a chance. i care deeply about what you think but this is crazy. we're good people here and you make us sound like we're an evil corporation or the govt. sending your kids to war or something. we really are all about celebrating fan fiction and fan fiction readers and writers. im sorry this is so short and please excuse the fact that i am cutting and pasting this across a bunch of ljs but i gotta get some sleep.
chris

Re: fanlib jrho May 17 2007, 11:19:56 UTC

While I accept that you are trying to make money off this endeavor, please accept that there will be a large number of people who think you are scum of the earth for doing it. Seriously, this is sort of the point of capitalism: you try to make money with Company, and other people try to stop you. Please also accept that you will have to do a much better PR job if you expect anyone to change their minds about the dubious merits of your service.

Re: fanlib annlarimer May 17 2007, 14:08:14 UTC

You sound completely professional and your posts inspire my confidence.

Re: fanlib darkrosetiger May 18 2007, 19:19:15 UTC

This? Is a thing of beauty.

Re: fanlib msilverstar May 18 2007, 19:42:59 UTC

ROTFL!

Re: fanlib perfica May 20 2007, 04:05:53 UTC

Couldn't have said it better myself.

Re: fanlib jrho May 17 2007, 17:03:41 UTC

Also, having just looked at your user info, I must say that you missed another opportunity for PR. You have no interests listed, only one friend, no posts, only 16 comments, and this lj has been active since October 2006. Your lack of ability to do anything of interest with a simple lj does not inspire confidence about your abilities to run a website.

P.S. Try spell check next time.

Re: fanlib truwest May 18 2007, 08:50:58 UTC

Oh, geez...as somebody in Silicon Valley who's been involved in fandom and in other 2.0 communities, I can't not say something ( ... )

Re: fanlib azurelunatic May 18 2007, 23:32:30 UTC

Well-said. (Here via metafandom, if rather indirectly.)

Re: fanlib mimbo May 22 2007, 14:29:09 UTC

"Thus you need to come across like a reasonable, sincere, customer-oriented adult involved in a professional, competent, ethical, trustworthy business."

Is laughing *really* *really* hard.

Have you seen their web design? Funny how they seem to have missed the fundamentals of marketing all around.

Re: fanlib karadin May 19 2007, 13:23:05 UTC

I post fanfiction and fanart on my own website, I archive in places that are ad-free and non-profit, there are thousands of such sites, run by fans for fans, and I think we will be happy staying where we are, thank you.

Re: fanlib kerravongenius May 20 2007, 12:10:14 UTC

I don't mind the fact that you're trying to make money.
I don't mind much the fact that you're trying to make money out of other people's work. If people are stupid enough to let you, that's their own fault.
I do mind slightly the fact that a lot of those you are taking advantage of in this way seem to be just kids. As a father, you should be against the exploitation of kids.
What angers me to the point of fury is that you believe we are stupid enough to fall for this.

Still no Blake's 7 writers on your list, I trust. That makes me proud of my fandom.

Here's an idea: Why not write some fiction of your own and make money from that?

Re: fanlib mrschimpf May 23 2007, 05:28:13 UTC

Hey Chris, here's an idea of how not to attract readers to your site ( ... )

(The comment has been removed)

Re: fanlib telesilla May 24 2007, 04:57:02 UTC

I really really don't like deleting comments in my LJ but I think I'm going to have to this time. I might have left it up although I really don't think flaming is the answer to anything, but you used faggot as an insult and as a dyke, that doesn't play in my LJ, even if--especially if--you're using it to agree with me.

I'm glad you're outraged, don't get me wrong.

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