Sunday, March 22, 2020

Again with the Erosion of Income

Again with the Erosion of Income Tired of hearing about how writers are not getting paid? I imagine the writers needing to eat from that income arent. I had a quick unsubscribe of 19 readers within 30 minutes of releasing last Fridays newsletter. Some people do not want to hear that writing on the cheap is not a good thing, because its all they know how to do. People, listen. When pricing is the only factor, you will likely not have a long term relationship with someone. That means editor or reader. When people want to buy you cheap, thats their driving force. There is no LIKE in the factor. Dont make cheap a habit or that becomes your brand. Here are comments from readers that showed they understood the severity of this issue: I agree wholeheartedly that as writers we need to support one anothers efforts If more writers ignored these requests (**from editor for free writing), those markets would either have to find the funding to pay writers properly or realize that if they cant, then maybe they need to look closer at how well they run their businesses. When you give away your work or go for the easier low pay ones you subconsciously tell yourself that you are not good enough to get paid. Worse, getting into the poor or non-paying markets offers a false sense of success. The result of all of this is that you dont have any reason to improve your skills, which would get you into better paying markets. So, I was feeling a little under the weather, and gave my doctor a call. I asked him if he wouldnt mind seeing me for free, since it wouldnt really take much time and he was just fitting me in last minute anyway. Can you believe he turned me down? Claimed hed spent eight years in school, worked his ass off as an intern, was still paying off med school bills, yada yada yada. Well, Ive got options. I go down to the corner drugstore and ask my buddy the manager to give me some free meds. And he starts this whole rant about costs and staffing and insurance and he wouldnt give them to me. I figure, what the hell, Ill just suck it up and get to work. I call up one of my authors and tell him hes booked for a signing, and I promised twenty copies at authors price to the group. Told him I wont be paying him royalties on those. I mean, I cant work for nothing, right? Thank you for this! Ive turned down fabulous projects because of ridiculously low pay and said no to fabulous money because of ridiculous contract clauses. I would never treat anyone that poorly. Its up to each of us to do the right thing and say no. Were saying no for ourselves and for all writers. When we all say no, the low pay and egregious contract clauses would disappear overnight. Good smackdown, Hope. Im with you. If you give your work away, thats what your work is worth. In a race to the bottom, everyone drowns. I was reading an online article from The Guardian this morning on the widening gap between top earners in our industry and the rest of us (theguardian.com/books/2016/jan/15/earnings-soar-for-uks-bestselling-authors-as-wealth-gap-widens-in-books-industry). It was interesting, but much more interesting were the comments, which appear to have been from readers rather than writers. Not only do they not care, but they also think writers are in the wrong in complaining about how much (or rather, how little) they get paid. Definitely an issue for us to resolve in private rather than in public, Philip Pullmans recent action notwithstanding. (NOTE: Regarding that last comment, in case you didnt know, Philip Pullman, author of The Golden Compass, stepped down as patron from the Oxford Literary Festival because they were not paying writers to make appearances. Good man.) A festival organizer asked an acquaintance of mine for names as presenters. She gave them mine. But without me saying anything, she told me she understood my stance about being compensated, and shed let me have that conversation with them. Like I was the exception, but Ill take that reputation all day long. Wouldnt you like to be known as a decent writer who expects payment for their services, or rather someone who gives it away and can be easily had for free?

Thursday, March 5, 2020

Riots Racism And Hysteria Essays - Lynching In The United States

Riots Racism And Hysteria Essays - Lynching In The United States Riots Racism And Hysteria The difference between race riots from 1917 to 1919 As a passageway in to the decade that would be known as the The Roaring Twenties , the years between 1917 and 1922 was one an minor doorways in time, known not so much for what occurred as what would come. Stuck between one decade battered by war, deprivation and another decade consumed with material and illusions of greatness, the United States was a country in the midst of monumental change. Amid the societal and economic chances, the arts and sciences flourished, ushering in jazz and giving way to some century's most influential works of literature. However, a review of newspaper headlines at the time reveals a country that had grown disgusted with the victory and bitter with peace. Inflation was raging, the national debt had grown and maimed veterans, and impoverished war widows were everywhere. The people's sacrifices during the war seemed to generates none of the benefits that the wartime politician has had promised. But unrivaled economically, America would enter the third decade of the 20th century, vowing to remain uninvolved in foreign entanglements, turning inward, conservative and hostile to unions, Socialist and every children. However, it was the white man burden the African-American that faced persecution for jobs, equalization, decent living quarters and and the pursuit of happiness . However, it was the summer riots for these unalienable rights that uprooted the United States. What makes a riot in a city unique? Could it jobs, the area of the country or just fear? That is the purpose of this paper. Urban race riots were not new to the United States. Melinda Meek Hennessey cites thirty-three major riots, episodes in which more than a single life was lost, as occurred during Reconstruction. In addition, while whites initiated many of these riots, African-Americans remained inactive to violence. Hennnessy writes, blacks fought back at least initially, and usually until they were overwhelmed by superior white numbers and firepower. The beginning of the 20th century, there were riots in New York, and again African- American did not response violently. However, for the first time, African-American organized a large, eloquent protest from the black community. This organization, published a book, Story of the Riot which a true view how African- American were treated. The group has a hearing but lawyers could not ask questions of the witness perhaps the first use of institutional racism. The New York Times Index for the period between 1917 and 1921 shows 17 different events that might be classified race riots. There were riots in 1917 in Chester and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and in Houston, Texas. However, a great riot of historical importance occurred in East St. Louis. Between 1910 and 1917, the african american population of East St. Louis increased from 6,000 to 13,000. African american began seeking jobs meeting white resistance. Friction from owners who had slaves -master mentality, and pay their wages lower to blacks because management feel that blacks would be more loyal. Friction from whites who had moved from the south. Friction from whites who were not hired. The results turned against black workers and not against the company. The leading example of this is the Aluminum Ore Company who bought in blacks from the south as strikebreakers. This would lead to one of the reasons for the riot. One reason for the riot was the growth of blacks in the city. The white population considered blacks to be a southern problem . St. Louis was not exception. It had been assume perhaps that, adapt to a subordinate and segregated position, interacting with whites only on the basic of an accommodative system defined and operated by whites. Blacks, therefore, were expected to confirm to the system of segregation inside and outside the factories where there separate facilitates for blacks and whites . This did not happen in St Louis, perhaps for the first time management seemed either to employ blacks in preference to whites or to provide an atmosphere of fair opportunity. That the purpose of the move by management was to maximize profits ,was hardly recognized by white workers: thus, they thought that to remove blacks from the labor market as viable competitors would solve