Comments | ursulav: I Still Have Most Of My Organs, Actually

ursulav

I Still Have Most Of My Organs, Actually

May 18, 2012 00:38

So there’s this publishing horror story making the rounds the last few days-the saga of Mandy DeGeit, who submitted a short story to a small press that did anthologies and discovered that it was published with a whole lot of changes, including animal abuse, which she never saw, never okayed, and never had an inkling of until the bizillion copies ( Read more... )

publishing

Comments 56

shatterstripes May 18 2012, 00:48:44 UTC

My one experience with a publisher so far has been pretty awesome. Lo Scarabeo did a great job on my Tarot deck.

Of course since English isn't their native language there wasn't really editing on the book, beyond "oh geeze this is turning out about 2x longer than we budgeted for, I can push it a little but SOMETHING NEEDS TO GO".

But aside from that? The object itself is great, it's gotten some promotion, and if the Muse taps me on the shoulder and says "You need to do a second Tarot deck", I'll be offering it to them first thing, no questions asked.

edit.

> Small presses are fraught with peril, mostly in the form of well-meaning people who have no idea how much work they’re getting into and how much money they won’t be making, so yes, vet your small press thoroughly.

yeah I'm kind of backing into setting up a small press focused on SF/fantasy graphic novels and oh my fuck I am so gonna be in over my head at some point. I am at least trying to structure it in ways to severely limit the Not Making Money part.

(slightly OT, but... ladywind May 18 2012, 01:02:41 UTC

I got a Lo Scarabeo printing of your deck for Giftmas, and I'm completely base over apex for it. Thank you for producing such an affectionate Gibbsmack of a deck. :D )

Re: (slightly OT, but... shatterstripes May 18 2012, 01:44:24 UTC

Glad you like it! I'm continually delighted that other people can connect with it, it took a good while to find a publisher willing to take the risk on such an idiosyncratic deck.

Re: (slightly OT, but... endis_ni May 18 2012, 09:41:50 UTC

What's your deck called? I've been slimming down my collection (it's with heavy heart I write that I'm down to my last 40 decks) but any friend of Ursula's is worth the buying.

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drharper May 18 2012, 00:48:54 UTC

*If you try to argue this point with me, I will close the thread and delete it. I’m not in the mood right now.*

I'm not a writer but SO much agreement here. There is a VERY SMALL number of things that are legitimately comparable to rape. Editorial malfeasance is NOT one of them.

timprov May 18 2012, 01:01:09 UTC

Not least, wantonly rewriting stories seems like an awful lot of work.

sofawolf May 18 2012, 01:04:50 UTC

Technically we send Kevin the Gin, and you the wine... But, we know how it goes. :)

ursulav May 18 2012, 01:17:38 UTC

In that case, YOU ARE DEAD TO ME FOREVE--oh, look, wine!

shatterstripes May 18 2012, 15:56:16 UTC

Oh man you send liquor to your authors? Okay I am totally gonna toss "Five Glasses of Absinthe" your way when I take it off of hiatus.

sofawolf May 18 2012, 21:44:42 UTC

We treat ALL our talent well, but do go the extra mile for those who have nine very well-performing titles with us, yes.

Plus, we owe Kevin for the extremely efficient provisioning of jumper cables at a time when we were away from home and in dire need of them. So, he gets a lifetime subscription to the "odd Gin that we find while we travel about" club.

draike May 18 2012, 02:07:31 UTC

I remember the first time that I got a cover I did back with an element that had been wee down in the corner blown up and pasted in the middle of the cover, about fifteen times the size it should be (and thus blurry) and with a white-pixel-cut-out line around it. I felt ill.

I'm so glad this hasn't happened to just me. There was a business 3 years ago that commissioned a watercolor landscape painting from me. When I saw it hanging in their office later, they weren't hanging the original. They had a print made, blew it up, and it looked like they had turned the saturation up to dangerous levels. Raw umber had become cadmium orange. Worst of all, they left my bleed edges showing - staple marks and all - instead of putting a mat in the frame or making it big enough to crop them off.

I think I died a little inside... especially after they told me clients were coming in and complimenting on what a wonderful painting it was.

mirhaxa May 18 2012, 02:23:43 UTC

Sadly, art is like children, you do your best and then free them into the world, hoping they'll find a true love who cares about them.

gabyrippling May 18 2012, 14:50:47 UTC

I am dying a little inside as a lawyer. [American] Visual Artists, please acquaint yourselves with the Visual Artists Rights Act. Know it. Love it. It is there for you. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visual_Artists_Rights_Act
Also, NY, CA, and MA law all have additional protection for artists.
Too many contracts for visual artists include VARA waivers off the bat.
Also, the first commenter's post sounds to me like a clear violation of copyright (without even getting to VARA). Obviously, most artists don't want to sue their customers or hint at it, but it's a remedy if you hate it. They're not allowed to take an original and just make a copy of it and change it (unauthorized "derivative work" = copyright violation).

ursulav May 18 2012, 21:57:34 UTC

I can't speak for the other commenter, but that one very much fell under "blood from a turnip" for me. They had no money anyway, I had no money to waste on what was basically outrage, and it was just a "I want to move on with my life and Never Deal With This Again" moment. I could see moments when litigation would be useful, but in this case, it was just a lot of heavy sighing.

Thread 5