Getting back to things
Oct. 8th, 2007 07:21 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
chrystallineDragoncon was fun and interesting. Part of my motivation for going was to market my Tshirts, because the kind of people who go to Dragoncon are the kind of people who would enjoy my sense of humor. So, I ordered four of my favorite designs to wear while I was there.
I was right; I got comments on them every day. The first day, when I was driving to Atlanta, the cashier at McDonalds expressed an interest, but was too afraid of shopping on the internet. Random people on the sidewalk commented as I headed in to find my staff meeting, and during the break between the meeting and my first shift, I accompanied hobsonphile to the autographs room. She had specific people she wanted to see, but as we passed Peter S. Beagle, I exclaimed, “Oh, The Last Unicorn! Have you ever read it?” and she said no, and I told her she had to read it. I expected she’d continue on and check it out later, but she turned right around and stopped at his table and got an autographed copy of his newest edition. I’d've loved to, but my finances were too tight to buy anything on this trip. As we stood there talking, his business manager (interesting story there, too) noticed my shirt and started to write down the URL, so I offered him my card. He was a very personable man, and I wish I’d written down his name, because I found out later at a panel that he is also a writer, and I’d like to look for his work.
We also went through the merchant room briefly, but it was kind of overwhelming. It was a huge basement room absolutely crammed full of tables and dividers and stuff - cool stuff. And lots and lots of people. It was hard to move, it was so crowded. I didn’t get to go back more than once, because I was too busy with staffing, but it was interesting to see all the different things that were offered. There was a lady selling some beautiful jewelry, but as I mentioned above, I couldn’t spend money on the trip, and she had no card I could take to find her later.
I did manage to hand out a lot of cards myself, though. I figured I wouldn’t see an immediate boost in sales, but in the month since the con, I’ve had several more than usual. Small things, mostly, but every little bit helps. One lady asked me for a special design, (which is now ready) and I told her, sure, I could do that. Probably the most comment came on the Poor Yorick design, which is gratifying, because it hadn’t sold well yet.
Also have to comment on the Tie-in Novel panel, because it was hilarious to me to hear Richard Hatch sounding just like a fanfic author, wanting to explore deeper issues with the characters, but being frustrated by the publishers and TPTB at BSG because they were stuck in the way the characters were originally. Being pro published has its downsides - a fanauthor just writes what s/he wants, and posts it. He had to cave to the will of TPTB, and he hated it. He mentioned, too, a few things that may explain the not-so-wonderful quality of the one BSG spin-off of his that I’d managed to find and read; sounds like the editor yanked him around quite a bit, and then published a rough draft without any editing. Meanspirited, that one - hope I never have cause to work with that editor.
In one of the most fascinating twists (to me), I was able to attend a panel on Copyright and Fanfiction, and met a fan-friendly lawyer. This excited me, because as I’ve mentioned before, I have ideas about how fanworks can be published for profit without copyright infringement. It’s fairly well-known in fandom that certain classes of fanworks, like fanart, can be sold for profit as long as it’s hush-hush so nobody important notices, but I want better. I want legal agreements and open fandom. So, I was thrilled to meet someone who might be willing to help set this up. I’ll post more when things are closer to being ready to do something.
I mentioned the new job; I like it. It’s mostly printing out computer files and running copies, with a little lamination and comb binding on occasion, but it fits me much better than most of the jobs I’ve ever had before. It helps that I’m working with people who can understand me when I talk about technical things; it gets frustrating being the only one who can speak geek and having people look at you like you’re out of your mind because you mentioned something technical. I’ve lost count how many times I’ve fixed a technical problem for someone and had them exclaim over how complicated it was, when it’s as simple as an unplugged cable, or a missing screw, or a dirty mouse. Just… :: headdesk ::
New boss is into writing, and introduced me to a site called EditRed, so I signed up. For years I’d been harboring the foolish idea of having my poetry published for money, but I thought about it, and seriously, who buys poetry anymore? I decided, hey, why not post my poetry. Might get some good commentary, and maybe some decent traffic.
The site’s okay, but the policies they have in place are going to keep it small indefinitely. Free users can only post up to ten entries of any type, and a paid subscription is about $80 a year. My own webhost doesn’t cost me that much a year, and I have a lot more control of it. Also, there’s a ranking system in place, but instead of having users vote each other better rankings, the ranking is a reward for desired behavior - reciprocal commenting, adding readers, etc. The reader system is strange. It’s like LJ’s friend system displayed in reverse; you add a reader and it gives them access to your Readers Only entries, but you are not displayed on their page - they’re displayed on yours. I’m not keen on it. You’re expected to add as a reader anyone who comments on your work, and reciprocate comments, which can be complicated if they don’t have much to comment on. This weekend I received a comment from a guy who only has one entry - and everything I’d want to say has already been said by other commenters. I don’t want to dogpile on the guy with things that need to be fixed, but I can’t honestly tell him I think it’s fabulous either.
When I hit the ten-post limit, I re-edited everything so I could fit all my current poems on there, and decided I’d go back to DeviantArt with them. I posted all of them on dA, and before I’d finished posting them, I had two faves and a comment. I was all :O but also 
and replied, as customary, to thank them for the faves. That was the upside. The downside is that a spammer apparently triggered on poetry, and sent me some 54 Notes from five different accounts. I did, of course, report them not only to dA, but also to their affiliate marketing companies. I have very little tolerance for private message spam.
Originally published at Chrystalline. You can comment here or there.
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(no subject)
Date: 2007-10-11 01:08 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-10-12 12:55 am (UTC)There's a book of short stories (http://www.amazon.com/dp/0152055088?tag=cdlauryl-20&camp=0&creative=0&linkCode=as1&creativeASIN=0152055088&adid=16A9BRVWRNH0KHZ1RF6C&) she's published; one of the shorts in that book is set in the Enchanted Forest and features a Frying Pan Of Doom which seems to belong to a young man who is horribly embarrassed about it and who wishes he had a better weapon to wield. I won't give away the ending, but it's hilarious.
Unfortunately, I didn't think to get her email address, so I can only hope she checks back and sees that it's there. Off the top of my head, I'm not sure who Anne Bishop is, I'm afraid.
Peter's business manager
Date: 2007-10-24 10:37 pm (UTC)Re: Peter's business manager
Date: 2007-10-24 11:41 pm (UTC)