Information, Please

Well, back to matters related to writing and publishing...

I'm pretty picky about the writing contests I enter. But unfortunately, it's difficult to know beforehand how a journal, publisher, or organization is going to (mis)handle one key aspect of contest management: notification of contest results.

It really peeves me when I find out the results of a competition only when the organizer deigns to mention them on a blog--and only because I regularly check that blog. This is, in fact, how, just today, I discovered the outcome of a competition to which I submitted my work (and an entry fee) more than four months ago. Apparently, the results were made public online about a week ago.

Never mind that the organizers have my e-mail address (entries and fees were submitted online). Never mind that, when the organizers recently posted an announcement on a discussion board calling for submissions to ANOTHER of their contests, I wrote to inquire about this one (no one replied). It's irritating that they couldn't be bothered to let me know when to expect an announcement, let alone to inform me of the results directly.

I assure you that this is not a matter of sour grapes. Sure, I'd be happier if I'd won or placed in the contest that sparked this particular post. But one thing is certain: I will never submit to these organizers' contests again.

--Prunella Peeve

And They Lived (Un)Happily Ever After

Someone sent me an email about how to be happy. Much of the advice was silly but the most annoying one was not to read books that don’t have happy endings, because they will “poison” your mind. So we are basically supposed to trick ourselves into thinking that life is happy, by avoiding any non-happy (i.e. realistic) movies or books. I don’t see anything wrong in reading some books with happy endings and some with less than happy endings. Different things for different moods or different phases in our lives, perhaps.

--Curly

Why I Will No Longer Write for a Certain Publication

1) It's sloppy. Each issue contains numerous formatting inconsistencies, plus spelling errors (including repeated misspellings of my own name).
2) It's unpredictable. I've asked the editor for an editorial/publishing calendar numerous times. Doesn't seem to exist.
3) Its Web site is out-of-date.
4) Despite multiple requests--one of which was actually acknowledged by return e-mail-- I seem unable to obtain a contributor's copy of the issue containing my last (as in most recent, as well as final) piece. Never mind my subscription copy.
5) I can't seem to script an e-mail to the editor these days without waves of irritation and annoyance washing over me.

What factors can make you swear off writing for a particular publication?

--Prunella

Prunella's Return, and a New Rant Resource

Prunella lives!

I must apologize for my long absence. Please be assured that this blog has not been far from my mind. Especially on Sundays.

That's when I read and enjoy the "Complaint Box" in the Sunday "Metropolitan" section of The New York Times. Today I noticed this note alongside the column itself:

"Steamed? Dish out the peeves. Send your essays of up to 500 words to metropolitan(at)nytimes(dot)com."

If only guidelines that don't specify pay rates didn't peeve me so much!

--Prunella Peeve

Negative Negotiation

I complained in a previous post about late payments and I want to mention another payment-related peeve here. I quote a price before doing a job and the customer and I agree upon it, as you would expect. What you perhaps wouldn’t expect is that some clients try to renege or re-negotiate after they have gotten the completed assignment from me. You don’t go to a clothing store, look at a price tag, then go up to the cashier and offer a lower price, do you? And you certainly wouldn’t go home with a new dress and then go back to the store and ask for some of the money back, do you? So why do people try that with freelancers and small-business owners?

In my own case, I know I am a bit of a pushover and I am female, so perhaps people want to see how far they can push me. But even so, I don’t know what makes them feel they can even try. If we’ve agreed on a fee, that’s the final fee. Don’t expect a discount, especially after I’ve finished the work.

--Curly

Late Payments

I run my own small business and it frequently annoys me how customers pay their bills late. I usually invoice them within a day of sending them the completed work and I give them a month to pay. And yet they can’t seem to get organized and/or to respect me so they can pay me on time. It is a waste of my time to have to keep reminding them and I find it offensive and obnoxious. You would never go to a grocery store or an antiques shop and take the products and then suggest paying a month or two later, or perhaps not at all.

Prunella knows exactly who I am talking about when I mention a recent situation regarding late payment: I had given a lecture somewhere and they’d know I was coming for months, so you’d think they could have cut a check in advance or at least organized themselves to do so shortly after I’d been there. But, no, I had to keep reminding them to pay me and I finally received a check close to a month later.

I pay my bills on time, but I can’t do so unless my clients pay me on time. So why can’t they show me (and the economy!) some respect and pay their bills in a timely fashion?

--Curly

Don't Be Rude, Attribute!

OK, so it's not a perfect rhyme, but I'm too steamed right now to wax poetic anyway. As I imagine I may have mentioned earlier on this blog, I routinely produce a free newsletter. Each issue is prefaced with a copyright notice and a specific request to forward the newsletter in its entirety if people wish to share it.

And yet, I have very often found segments of my newsletter simply cut and pasted and shared with others, WITHOUT ATTRIBUTION, on Listservs/discussion groups to which I belong. With the most recent issue, this has already happened twice (by two individual errant posters). Worse, the moderator does not seem to be posting my polite notes to the group pointing out where the material came from.

I've already written to each of the errant posters. One has already responded and apologized. I should be fair and give the other one much more time to respond before rendering any judgments on that situation.

But really, people, what is so hard about this? DO NOT CUT AND PASTE OTHER PEOPLE'S WORK, ESPECIALLY WITHOUT APPROPRIATE ATTRIBUTION.

It's really very simple. Not to mention ethical. And polite.

--Pru

Here Come the Idiots

At my local library, there is a special shelf with a label “Here Come the Girls!” The books on that shelf are primarily by Virginia Woolf, Iris Murdoch, Isabel Allende, and a couple of “chick-lit” writers. This is offensive on a number of levels. First of all, these are women, NOT girls. Also, are these really the main, or the best, examples of female authors? Are there no other authors who can represent womankind? And why is that needed, anyway? There is no equivalent shelf called “Here Come the Boys!” What is the library thinking?

--Curly

Setting Things Straight

As a curly-haired woman, I get extremely annoyed at the idea that all hair should be shiny, slick, and, yes, straight. I can’t even count all the times I’ve seen a television commercial or an advertisement in a publication that shows “before” and “after” views of a woman. Before, she has tangled and coarse curly hair. After she has used some fancy product or been to a certain salon, she has a waterfall of straight locks. Clearly the idea is that straight and shiny is always preferably to a thick bird’s nest of curls. Hmph. Personally, I prefer my curls and I wish other curly-headed types would revel in their natural looks as well.

--Curly

On Writing Contests That Are Truly Popularity Contests

I spend a lot of time learning about (and sometimes, even entering) writing contests. There's one kind of contest I just won't enter. I try not to promote this sort of contest to other writers, either (unless there's some really extenuating circumstance). The contest type in question is far less a writing contest than it is a popularity contest.

Such contests award prizes on the basis of electronic "votes" from readers. Trouble is, it's pretty easy to envision people with large and devoted families (and/or Facebook followings) "scripting" their own wins, regardless of the quality of their work.

What do you think of such contests?

--Prunella

Easy-to-Read

I am a doctoral student in a field within the humanities and as such, I have to read theory. My peeve is that a lot of theory seems to be purposely written in a dense, confusing style. Why can’t people write clearly? My theory about that is that either people think they sound smarter when they use big words or complex concepts or that they are trying to hide the fact that they actually have nothing to say. I’ve been praised for my simple-to-understand style, although I was also warned that people may be so taken aback by it that they may assume I’m not intelligent or well-spoken. What a strange state of affairs it is when big words are thought to equal big ideas, when often it is quite the opposite.
--Curly

A Little Gratitude, Please!

This is a peeve somewhat related to Curly's post here. The new angle is this: When I see that a former classmate, colleague, or teacher has published a book or won a big prize, I'm often moved to write a note congratulating that person. Right away.

But you'd be amazed how often the messages go unanswered, or are answered only after quite a delay. (Or maybe you wouldn't be so amazed. Maybe this is even more common than I realize.)

So here's my message for all those big shots out there: If you're too busy/important to acknowledge little ol' me and my good wishes, you can bet you won't hear from me the next time. (If there is a next time!) So there!

--Prunella

Why the Delay?

A piece of writing I expected to see published at the end of the summer/early fall at the latest (it was written and submitted in June) has yet to see the light of day in print. I've followed up a few times with my editor, but I hate the sense that I'm "nagging." I wish the editor would just let the contributors know what is happening. Why the delay? When can we expect to receive the magazine with our work? Will it happen this calendar year?

--Prunella

Busy Moms Revolt

I was flipping through a food magazine the other day and noticed an advertisement for detergent. Food can drop onto clothes and tablecloths, so it makes sense that there are such ads in a food magazine. But the caption stopped me.

It started off by saying how quick-acting this detergent was and then explaining that that’s why “busy moms” choose this product.

Busy moms? Are they the only ones doing the laundry? What about dads? Or are they too busy with their jobs to help out at home (which includes by implication from these kinds of ads cooking, child-minding while cooking and eating, doing laundry, shopping for household products, etc.)? And is this detergent not good for people without kids, too?

You may think I am overwrought about this. But I have noticed many, many such ads that focus on moms, especially busy ones. Are we still at a point in time where women (especially mothers) are responsible for the home?

--Curly

More Agents' Pet Peeves

Chuck Sambuchino is back with another serving of ways to tick off a literary agent (this time, worldwide). Remember, we already pointed you to similar content last month.

--Prunella

How to Annoy an Agent

Apparently the team at Writer's Digest has an article coming soon on "literary agents' chapter 1 pet peeves," featuring what agents really and truly "hate to see in chatper 1." And apparently there was too much information to include in said article. So you'll find some of it here.

--Prunella

If You'll Be Late, You Should Update

Here's another post directed to literary editors and publishers. Time and again, I've entered writing contests with the understanding that the contest results should be made public by such-and-such date. Then, such-and-such date rolls around, and no information is available. The entrants haven't been notified, and when they check the contest Web site, all they see is the same outdated information. If results will be delayed--ESPECIALLY for a fee-charging contest--the least the administrators can do is update the Web site with that information, and a new target date for notification. Bonus for said administrators: avoiding those e-mails from time-sensitive entrants like me.

Similarly, for weeks verging on months I've been awaiting a May 31 publication date for an online publication's new issue release. That's because some of my work is included in that issue. Well, May 31 has come and gone, and there's nothing new on the site. There's certainly no news about the delay.

And that peeves me.

--Prunella

Time Keeps On Slipping

People so often don’t recognize or value the time or effort other people’s jobs take, nor do they often see the importance of other people’s work. For example, some time back, a customer asked me to edit a book. I’ve been editing books for close to a dozen years now, so I do have some experience looking over a text and judging how much time it will take and how much work is required.

The book had around 60,000 words, so it wasn’t terribly long. But I do have many other customers, so I couldn’t begin right away. However, I was told this was a rush job. How much of a rush, I asked? Well, the project was first mentioned to me on a Sunday and the next day, which happened to be my birthday, was when I was told that the editing needed to be finished by, well, Tuesday. In other words, the publisher wanted a book edited in a day.

I didn’t tell them that I wasn’t working on my birthday. Instead, I politely explained that there was no way that this was possible (even if it hadn’t been my birthday, I wouldn’t have agreed to the job) and that I hoped they would find someone else. In the end, they decided to skip the editing process, because they were so anxious to get the book out. The book has now been published, but I haven’t had the time to look at it, to see what the language is like. If they couldn’t spend the time (and money) to make sure the book was as good as possible, I can’t waste my time to check it out now.

--Curly

Information, Please!

Dear Correspondent:

Yes, we've corresponded before--we might even be considered friends of a sort--and so I am therefore perfectly willing to consider your most recent request to post a link to your new story/poem/essay/interview/commentary on my blog.

But please, can you make it just a tad easier for me to do you this favor?

Yes, you're quite right to give me the title of the ezine or blog that has published your magnum opus. But, my dear correspondent, you haven't quite gone far enough.

So, as I told you in my last response, I would appreciate some additional information. Specifically, I would like you to send an actual link I can click on to see the piece myself. Then I can paste the link into my own post, too. Just so you know: I'm much more likely to post something you send me than something you tell me to look up on my own.

Similarly, and just to avoid the problem we encountered the last time this situation came up, I am not asking for a link to the blog/ezine's home page so that I can then search for your work myself. I am asking for a direct link to your work.

Am I asking for too much?


Sincerely,

Prunella Peeve

Know Your Audience

Since I manage a group of writing-related resources, including a blog and a newsletter, I'm often asked to post information for others.

Trouble is, too often I'm contacted by people who haven't bothered to check the content of said blog and newsletter. If they'd done their homework and actually looked at the blog or the newsletter, they'd know that the person they're addressing is unlikely to advertise their expensive conferences, or to spread the word about their publication that pays only in copies.

But they haven't bothered to get to know their audience (some admit as much when I write back to them explaining why I can't help them out--one person recently confessed that she'd never seen the blog or newsletter but had been given my e-mail address by someone else). So they've wasted their time, and they've wasted my time. And they've peeved me.

--Prunella Peeve