Ponder Ponder Ponder

I'm afraid I have been thinking (A Dangerous pastime/I Know) Sorry, that song had that running through my head most of the morning.

But I have been thinking about a lot of things recently. Some stuff I have been reading on the Internet and others from my own fevered brain going into overtime.

This week a lot of what I have been reading has to do with the relationship between fans and professionals and business and where the lines blur and cross in odd ways.

This week Harlequin announced it's pay to play line which was to be entitled Harlequin Horizons until it was pointed out to the PTB at the company exactly which line it had crossed and what it was going to cost them. I think they were amazed at how much anger was directed at them. Harlequin Romances have been held up for ages as the "I can write better than that" books that have quite a following. But they branched out and created other imprints that were found in the bookstore not in the Romance section or at least in some bookstores. Others grouped them all together. The pay scale still kind of stinks but it was a writing credit that would allow you to join the Romance Writers of America and counted for other writer's groups as well like the Science Fiction Writers of America or the Mystery Writers of America. Now Harlequin is changing its tune rather fast and distancing itself from its new publishing venture.

This, of course, led to another round of shouting over vanity vs. self publishing and which is what. These days it seems to come down to who owns the ISBN at the end of the day and even then it is kind of dubious. A lot of vanity companies are trying to re-invent themselves as self-publishers but the bottom line is that they are still vanity publishers based on their business practices. Remember that the money flows towards the author not the other way around.

Then there is the WorldCon debate. Which, I swear, rears its head about every 5 years. I remember this debate before the Internet and it has only gotten more heated with the Internet. WorldCon is a strange beast. You pay money to the city that you would like to see get the convention. Then, if they win the bid, you get so much off your membership but you do have to pay more money or "convert" your membership from supporting to attending. It is very much a literary convention but the number of publishers sending representation on their dime is diminishing rapidly. In fact the amount that publishers spend on promotion at any convention has rapidly decreased over the past 10 years. The conventions can't count on that money any more to supplement the printing of the programs for the attendees. WorldCon is decreasing in numbers of attending members while more narrow focus conventions (ie: CostumeCon) seem to be increasing in membership but they look outside their immediate group to find others that might enjoy the convention too. Worldcon has had an "our way or the highway" point of view for as long as I can remember and it is hurting the convention but I think that the dead notices are premature.

There is another debate that re-ignited (yet again) in the doll groups about what is and isn't a doll. The traditionalists had another go at those Art Doll types. And one sculptor informed the world at large that they don't make dolls, they make art and don't belittle their art by calling it a toy (doll) which, of course, set off a bunch of doll makers. So what is a doll is, apparently, still up for great debate. There are Art Dolls that I just don't get. I don't see them as dolls but they are to someone. The traditionalists are closing ranks as to what can be let into their shows and what the dealers can sell at the shows. The ceramic industry seems to be in decline where the ball jointed dolls are becoming more popular among collectors. I figure this will go its regular cycle and then everyone will be friends again.

I am grateful for fans who don't take all of this too seriously.

Ponder Ponder Ponder

I'm afraid I have been thinking (A Dangerous pastime/I Know) Sorry, that song had that running through my head most of the morning.

But I have been thinking about a lot of things recently. Some stuff I have been reading on the Internet and others from my own fevered brain going into overtime.

This week a lot of what I have been reading has to do with the relationship between fans and professionals and business and where the lines blur and cross in odd ways.

This week Harlequin announced it's pay to play line which was to be entitled Harlequin Horizons until it was pointed out to the PTB at the company exactly which line it had crossed and what it was going to cost them. I think they were amazed at how much anger was directed at them. Harlequin Romances have been held up for ages as the "I can write better than that" books that have quite a following. But they branched out and created other imprints that were found in the bookstore not in the Romance section or at least in some bookstores. Others grouped them all together. The pay scale still kind of stinks but it was a writing credit that would allow you to join the Romance Writers of America and counted for other writer's groups as well like the Science Fiction Writers of America or the Mystery Writers of America. Now Harlequin is changing its tune rather fast and distancing itself from its new publishing venture.

This, of course, led to another round of shouting over vanity vs. self publishing and which is what. These days it seems to come down to who owns the ISBN at the end of the day and even then it is kind of dubious. A lot of vanity companies are trying to re-invent themselves as self-publishers but the bottom line is that they are still vanity publishers based on their business practices. Remember that the money flows towards the author not the other way around.

Then there is the WorldCon debate. Which, I swear, rears its head about every 5 years. I remember this debate before the Internet and it has only gotten more heated with the Internet. WorldCon is a strange beast. You pay money to the city that you would like to see get the convention. Then, if they win the bid, you get so much off your membership but you do have to pay more money or "convert" your membership from supporting to attending. It is very much a literary convention but the number of publishers sending representation on their dime is diminishing rapidly. In fact the amount that publishers spend on promotion at any convention has rapidly decreased over the past 10 years. The conventions can't count on that money any more to supplement the printing of the programs for the attendees. WorldCon is decreasing in numbers of attending members while more narrow focus conventions (ie: CostumeCon) seem to be increasing in membership but they look outside their immediate group to find others that might enjoy the convention too. Worldcon has had an "our way or the highway" point of view for as long as I can remember and it is hurting the convention but I think that the dead notices are premature.

There is another debate that re-ignited (yet again) in the doll groups about what is and isn't a doll. The traditionalists had another go at those Art Doll types. And one sculptor informed the world at large that they don't make dolls, they make art and don't belittle their art by calling it a toy (doll) which, of course, set off a bunch of doll makers. So what is a doll is, apparently, still up for great debate. There are Art Dolls that I just don't get. I don't see them as dolls but they are to someone. The traditionalists are closing ranks as to what can be let into their shows and what the dealers can sell at the shows. The ceramic industry seems to be in decline where the ball jointed dolls are becoming more popular among collectors. I figure this will go its regular cycle and then everyone will be friends again.

I am grateful for fans who don't take all of this too seriously.