Musings on the LOTRFF debaucle

[aearwen2]

As frustrating and down-right maddening as it is to see a fine archive like LOTRFF ruined in days by someone wanting to mine fanfiction for advertising dollars, I think there's a lesson here for all of us.

For the Keith Manders of the world (dubbed the Sala-Mander elsewhere, a very fitting moniker!) it is that not all of fandom is a bunch of starry-eyed, air-headed, nit-wit fangurls and/or unwashed social misfits who can be lured by "Oooo, Shiny!" There are a goodly number of us - and not just in the Tolkien fandom, although I admit to a significant level of bias here - who are highly intelligent, well-educated, SUCCESSFUL adults participating in what, in essence, is to us a hobby. We understand that we exist in a grey area of copyright laws. We are not amused by assumptions that we'd willingly let someone else rake in the dough from adverts posted all over OUR stories.

And for us fanfiction writers, the fate of LOTRFF should be a wake-up call. We enjoy the idea that we may post our little hearts out for free on these little archives set up and maintained by fellow fandom geeks, but we really don't get it that this is costing those nice folks significant green to keep them running. Some, like LOTRFF's Adora, evidently, run up loans simply to keep the lights on. And where are we?? Sitting back and kvetching when one goes dark or has a "glitch" as if it was a personal affront.

Been there, done that. It's not something I'm very proud of now.

Well, I don't know about you guys, but I'm gonna be donating on a far more regular basis to those archives that I read regularly and/or post my work to. I don't want another one sold to a predator like the Sala-Mander again - someone who ninjas ownership away from innocent (and ignorant) site owners who are vulnerable to fast-talking snake-oil salesmanship. I don't want to see HASA or SoA "monetized" - and possibly draw down the ire of the Tolkien Estate about all our ears.

I hit the button and gave money to HASA this morning. Sometime next month, I'll see if Nilmandra has a similar button somewhere at SoA. FFN has their damned banner ads, so they're already getting their funding. And that, dear friends, is the extent of my fanfic archive list. Well, OK. Maybe OSA - I used to post there and have a bit of my stuff there, so I should cough in their direction too, eventually. I'll do it gladly, tho.

The heart of the matter is that "you get what you pay for." We've enjoyed this blooming of fanfiction due to the hard work and investment of time and money of others - but if we don't shoulder at least a little bit of the load, we'll end up with exactly what we've paid for: NOTHING.

Time to pony up, folks.

Comments

[nierielraina.livejournal.com]

I'll be making a donation this weekend. Can't afford much while the elfling is here, but will definitely be giving more now. :(

[engarian.livejournal.com]

I've had a regular monthly contribution to HSA for several months now. It's an automatic payment. I refuse to donate to SoA, something I would love to do because I love the site, until Nilmandra allows me to post there. It just pisses me off that she won't give me the green light. I'll look into helping MPTT since I'm posting my stuff there right now, and I really do need to get on the stick and donate to SWG. So many sites, so little cash.

- Erulisse (one L)

[surgicalsteel.livejournal.com]

*is nosy* If it's none of my business, tell me and I'll drop the question - but did Nilmandra give you a reason why she wouldn't let you post to SoA?

[engarian.livejournal.com]

No, it states that they are not required to give any reasons and that you can re-apply after three months. Larner says Nilmandra is very capricious and to just apply again when the time is up. But I have a lot of friends who post there and I know I write as well, or at least better than some others, as they do. It's frustrating because Nilmandra is a Minnesota gal and I would love to support a local business (in essence). I know I can only do gen there, but that's OK, most of my work is gen at this point.

- Erulisse (one L)

[surgicalsteel.livejournal.com]

*raises eyebrows*

Hm. Well, there's an awful lot I could say about that, but I won't hijack Aearwen's LJ space to do it. If you ever want my 100% unvarnished opinion on the matter, though, e-mail me. ;)

[randy-o.livejournal.com]

*cough* What Steel said. It isn't about how well you write. Some of the best writers in LOTR fandom have been rejected by SoA.

[engarian.livejournal.com]

Ummm, I feel as if I am among friends. Perhaps the rejection is, in itself, a goal to be achieved on the twisted road of participular participation. (Yes, I know that participular is not a real word, but doesn't it have a wonderful sound when it trips off the tongue?) I figure I'm fortunate that I found LC. Some of the most amazing authors are on there and many of them have been kind enough to assist me in my own writings, like you and like Surgical among others.

- Erulisse (one L)

[aearwen2.livejournal.com]

I can tell you why she rejected me. I was fresh from writing in another fandom and had never even HEARD of POV. In her rejection email, she said that she'd tell me exactly why she'd rejected me, but I'd have to ask her since she didn't volunteer that information as a rule. So I wrote back and said, "YES! Tell me!"

According to her, my first and only submission had "too much head-hopping." The story was unprofessional and beneath the standard of quality that she was trying to maintain at SoA. She told me I had potential and told me to get a beta – and come back when I'd learned to write.

I had read some of NiRi's work at FFN and SoA, and so, although VERY discouraged, I wrote another story and then wrote to NiRi, practically begging her to beta it for me. She recommended that I join GoI.

The rest is history.

FWIW, once I heard some of the stories from those who knew Nilmandra, I decided she had done me two favors: (1) I wasn't gonna have to worry about pleasing her at SoA; and (2) got me involved in a writer's workshop that, while they were merciless in beating a tight POV into me, did help me grow as a writer. I read that story again not long ago and cringed. It really was attrocious.

FWIW, for the most part, I don't regret either my rejection at SoA or my treatment at GoI.

Offered for what it's worth...

[nelyo-russandol.livejournal.com]

Yes, I'll scratch my pockets too. I've paypalled some stuff to HASA a couple of times, but probably not as much as I should. I would be interested to know what percentage of donations comes form authors and how much readers contribute.

[randy-o.livejournal.com]

I got off the pot and made a donation to HASA last night. HASA is very candid about when it needs money, and it is open about how that money is spent.

I think that if Adora had been open and said, "Guys, I'm within X-amount of dollars of not being able to pay the fees this month," she'd have gotten her donations.

[crowdaughter.livejournal.com]

Thank you for this post. Yep, this has kicked me into donating to HASA, too, now.