Tag: (business) Publishing Industry

X is for eXposure (just work with me on this one)

Erin Penn 1 Comment

Image acquired from the Internet Hive Mind 

When it is okay not to be paid:

  1. Creating your own marketing (such as a blog).
  2. Deciding to write fanfic in an existing universe because it is fun. Singing for the joy of it. Painting to paint, instead of working on cover art.
  3. Helping friends / others grow (because you want to).
  4. Exchange of skill sets in a de minimis manner (example: trading critique reads) – legal definition of de minimis applies – watch out doing stuff as “make a cover for a developmental edit”; trading the larger stuff is a Tax Event, and while such exchanges are legal, the actions need to be recorded under both income and expenses.
  5. Anything else creative you decide of your own free will with no coercion to so, while being able to keep a roof over your head and food on your table.

When it is not okay not to be paid:

  1. The person is using you for marketing to produce money or enjoyment for THEM without an EQUAL (or appropriate trade – not all trades need to be equal, they do need to be equitable) benefit for you.
  2. The company is using you as a draw to increase income (without giving you the opportunity to earn appropriate income to services given) – example, paneling at a con is a TRADE of exposure as marketing and networking; this would be fine; a bookstore asking you to do a reading without being willing to carry your books, not so much. A coffee shop asking you to sing (and, oh, you can put out a hat), not good; YouTube providing a platform to upload your songs to show the world, while they collect adverting money – acceptable.
  3. Family expecting you to do things requiring a lot of prep time, without recompense. Example: showing up at a potluck, everyone brings something is fair; expected to sing at every wedding – to a special chosen song which you have to learn, practice, show up for at rehearsal, and arrive early at the wedding in a special outfit does not equal a rehearsal dinner (maybe) and the reception.
  4. People thinking general “exposure” meets the requirement of targeted marketing.
  5. When you are exhausted, don’t have time, and feel guilted for “not helping”. In this case, no one is taking advantage of you but you. STOP IT! (Creativity takes energy, it needs to be renewed by taking a break!)

When someone asks you to do something for “exposure”, stop a moment and change the word to “marketing”. Does it meet your marketing plan? Does it take you off in an unexpected direction for marketing you hadn’t thought of? Then, yes, good exposure. Otherwise, the answer is no.

Other Cool Blogs: Media Chomp

Erin Penn


Photo by Manny Becerra on Unsplash

2023 saw many things, one of them being the writer’s strike and the actor’s strike fighting for the rights of creators against studios wanting to use “AI” to replace the costly background work. They wanted to scan an actor once, pay that actor, the make-up artist, and the costumer for one day, and then use the image in perpetuity. The studios also wanted to use AI to write the base for screenplays of movies and television shows, then use writers to tweak them better, playing them for the lesser work.

Sure it saves money, but at what cost? I’ve talked about how long it takes to become a good writer – about one million words. Same for acting, one million of other people’s words, spoken with your interpretation. Makeup artists and costumers also have to learn their craft. Using AI (and it isn’t really artificial intelligence, more like statistical amalgamation – artificial intelligence is about emulating decision-making) to replace the “background” mean actors won’t have a chance to learn their craft, unless they have the TIME and MONEY to spend practicing without pay. As it is now, actors knows that they’re most common line is “do you want fries with that?” But to decrease the opportunity to nothing will undo television and movies. The top 100 will be the only 100. And all those that support the industry – costumers and makeup artists – will likewise be unnecessary, since there will be no one to practice their craft with.

Writers … well, that statistical amalgamation of words … means we will have no truly bad movies, but nor will be have great ones. AI does the average. Like the actors, if AI is writing the “made-for-TV” movies, then the writers have nothing to learn on either.

Yes, the studios save money, but by gutting the entry level positions. The few ads for movies would be “Entry Level position for Named Main Character, three days to record script and scan body. Pay at Scale.” Just like the “entry level position, need master’s degree, part-time, temporary.”

The writers and actors, both separately and together, said “no way.” And used the only power available to them when the studios would budge, withholding work.

Have you ever wondered how long workers have been striking? A Cool Blog at Media Chomp published some memes about possible the first strike in (written) history, where the workers building the tomb of Rameses the III went on strike for better wages.

It really gets amusing, because first the management offered basically a pizza party to satisfy them. The workers responded with a picket line.

And workers have been striking ever since. Read to the end, because the cosmetics need indicates occupational safety needed to be addressed even in slave labor.

The cool blog is: https://mediachomp.com/ancient-egyptian-workers-strike/

 

Editing Rant: Down vs. Out

Erin Penn

Photo 100319086 / Bad Advice © Baramee Thaweesombat | Dreamstime.com
One common piece of advice I have given often is:
Get the WORDS on the PAGE. You can’t edit it if it hasn’t been written.
I’ve even passed on advice given by other authors along this line.
That being said, DON’T PUBLISH the first draft.
The first draft is just that – one pass. Nothing polished.
A writer needs to work things over, tumble the stone until rough edges are knocked off and the colors shine through.
One of my author friends reports that a current piece of advice is “better to push out a poorly edited book than have nothing at all.”
Really, WHAT?
The concept is to have something out there for people to read, to stumble across. Content, content, content. That is how people find you and get to know you.
Except the content sucks. People associate you with the suckage. Not.a.good.thing.
Also, this not only harms your reputation as a creative, it harms the greater community as people start expecting badly written books. Things out there just to make money.
Publishing just to publish is BAD advice.
To pull the two pieces of advice together.

DOWN BUT NOT OUT

Get things down on paper or the computer screen. You can’t fix things that haven’t been written. It’s okay to suck on the first try – you will create bad stuff. Everyone does. The object is to create something to fix.

Do NOT push out that initial writing. It’s got to be worked and edited.

Down but not out.