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Remember your mother telling you “If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all”?  Well, I’m not suggesting that each and every blog should be all sweetness and light, but something publicists et. al. don’t mention when they suggest that you go forth and blog is that blogs can be as demotional as promotional.  If you turn people off or bore them or rant on and on about your editor/copyeditor/cover/sales/etc.  it can actually be damaging to your career.  If you come across as offensive, indiscreet or difficult to deal with, you might find that publishing houses are reluctant to deal with you.  Once something is out in the ether, it’s never truly gone, even if it’s later friend-locked or erased, it’s cached somewhere.  Plus, there’s no telling how many people have already buzzed about your blog, quoted you, saved the post, forwarded it to their friends and family.  Basically, publishing is the biggest small world there is (except maybe the film industry).  Everybody knows everybody else at maximum one remove.  Yes, in our business Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon is a very dull game. 

Does this mean I’m suggesting you don’t tell it like it is?  Well, yes, if it’s an issue between you and your publishing house, it should stay that way.  You wouldn’t like your editor to blog all over the Internet about your inability to properly place your commas or the plot holes present in your first draft, patched only because of their eagle editorial eye.  Have the same courtesy in return.   Publishing is a business, which means professionalism should be more than just a buzzword.




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Comments

( 24 comments — Leave a comment )
[info]jaylake wrote:
Jun. 2nd, 2009 02:55 pm (UTC)
Are you talking about the unfortunate "die, you fucking copy editor" rant which appeared, then vanished, yesterday from an author blog?

Because, erm, yes...
[info]crystaljordan wrote:
Jun. 2nd, 2009 03:06 pm (UTC)
Wow. Apparently, I missed all the fun yesterday. Which I'm strangely okay with.
[info]jaylake wrote:
Jun. 2nd, 2009 03:08 pm (UTC)
Well, unless you're a fan of train wrecks. Some of the stuff the writer said was probably either actionable or prosecutable, or both.
(Anonymous) wrote:
Jun. 2nd, 2009 03:10 pm (UTC)
Ouch.
[info]crystaljordan wrote:
Jun. 2nd, 2009 03:11 pm (UTC)
Ouch.
[info]moirarogers wrote:
Jun. 3rd, 2009 02:13 am (UTC)
Yeah, and it's preserved in a couple places already, reinforcing that nothing dies on the internet. Ever.
[info]rclementmoore wrote:
Jun. 2nd, 2009 03:07 pm (UTC)
I must have a guilty conscious. I'm twitching with the need to go read over my posts and make sure I've not let anything slip out. Mostly I'm very paranoid about this.

On the other hand, I HAVE had to go back and delete stuff I've said about my HUSBAND on a bad day. I'm sure the same thing applies.
[info]jaylake wrote:
Jun. 2nd, 2009 03:08 pm (UTC)
Having met you, I can say you're delightfully incendiary in real life...
[info]rclementmoore wrote:
Jun. 2nd, 2009 05:47 pm (UTC)
Aw. That's sweet. Though I suspect you may be just saying that to make up for making me laugh myself into unconsciousness.
[info]crystaljordan wrote:
Jun. 2nd, 2009 03:12 pm (UTC)
I'm glad I'm not the only one who twitched a bit and had a frantic moment of reviewing my recent blog posts for incriminating material.
[info]michele_lang wrote:
Jun. 2nd, 2009 04:14 pm (UTC)
Hah, I did it too :) Guilt is my transmission belt, I swear :)
[info]rclementmoore wrote:
Jun. 2nd, 2009 05:49 pm (UTC)
Oh no. I immediately went to my blog and looked. Because God knows we've all THOUGHT things in the heat of the moment.
(Anonymous) wrote:
Jun. 2nd, 2009 09:41 pm (UTC)
I did the SAME thing. Paranoia set in. And while I've had great editorial experiences recently, I was searching my mind for something unfortunate that I might have stuck into an unmemorable blog entry...

~ Chloe

http://chloeneill.com
[info]oatmellow wrote:
Jun. 2nd, 2009 03:33 pm (UTC)
such good advice. I'm almost sorry I missed the copy-editor rant mentioned in the comments, but at the same time, it's really for the best. Train wrecks are unnecessary time sucks and I really don't need anymore help in the procrastination arena.

[info]j_cheney wrote:
Jun. 2nd, 2009 03:47 pm (UTC)
Oh, darn! I totally missed yesterday's fiasco. Probably for the best.

You can't repeat the "Once it's out there, it's out there" often enough.
[info]deannahoak wrote:
Jun. 2nd, 2009 04:19 pm (UTC)
I linked this over on my blog at deannahoak.com. The bad thing about creating a huge public fuss is that others (even freelancers, if that's who the complaint is centered toward) won't want to work with you, even if they know that they could do a good job....And it's the good ones who have a choice.
[info]jhetley wrote:
Jun. 2nd, 2009 04:38 pm (UTC)
I'm glad Jay pointed elsewhere . . .
[info]debbiemumford wrote:
Jun. 2nd, 2009 05:36 pm (UTC)
Beautifully stated, Lucienne. (And I agree, I'm glad Jay deflected attention...)
[info]oneminutemonkey wrote:
Jun. 2nd, 2009 08:06 pm (UTC)
This is why I'm very careful with what I say and post online these days. It's not so much walking on eggshells, as asking myself, "Is this what I want random people to see when they come and visit me?" and "Will this accidentally start a war on the Internet?"

Not all of us have the resilience of Harlan Ellison, after all... :)



[info]cjmarsicano wrote:
Jun. 2nd, 2009 08:22 pm (UTC)
Most of my blogging is about music, so that place would be the past place for doing such a thing... even though I'm working on a fiction novel. There are more polite and positive ways to discuss non-positive things, anyway.

(And doing comments on the fly tends for unintended mispellings!)

Edited at 2009-06-02 08:23 pm (UTC)
[info]deborahjross wrote:
Jun. 3rd, 2009 03:42 am (UTC)
I've always assumed that anything I post will be read not only by my friends but by lurkers who may not have my most tender interests at heart. If I don't want it public, it doesn't go online.

That said, sf/f publishing may not be the intimate "family" it once was, but it is still all connected. Sometimes it seems we all mill around, changing author/editor/publisher hats every few years. I don't expect to like everyone, or for everyone to become my friend, but I do try to behave as if we are going to work professionally together in the future. This practice has saved me untold grief.
[info]writertracy wrote:
Jun. 3rd, 2009 06:38 pm (UTC)
That's why I keep telling friends who want to write that pen names won't help a writer hide what they're doing from their grandma (or pastor, rabbi, warlock, congressman, potential boss, life partner etc.). Thanks to the internet, there is no life compartmentalization. So you shouldn't put anything out there that you don't want to have to answer for later.
[info]jongibbs wrote:
Jun. 3rd, 2009 09:17 pm (UTC)
Excellent advice, thank you :)
[info]rachelcaine wrote:
Jun. 4th, 2009 01:54 am (UTC)
I miss all the interesting train wrecks. And yes, I also had the "Wait, was that me? What the hell did I do?" moment. Are we all wired that way? I think we are. Yay?

As all too many job applicants have recently learned, it's all hard-partying fun and games until the interview prints out your Facebook page about all the evil things you've said about your former bosses ... ouch.

True for writers as well.
( 24 comments — Leave a comment )

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