All,
I had an idea yesterday - not sure it will go anywhere, not even sure this is the correct forum to post this in...
Has anyone any interest in forming an aquarium-related author's consortium? I wonder if there would be substantial benefits from various authors getting together to discuss issues related to our work. For example, it seems fairly widespread that some authors are paid more than others for the same type of work - do you know where you stand? There was a magazine that was having problems making payments to authors - if you knew that in advance, would you have thought twice before sending them an article? What about publishers signing contracts and then invoking "kill fees", or stalling for a year as they "think about your book proposal" - and then say "no thanks" just before they come out with a similar title of their own? On the flip side - wouldn't it be great to learn which editors are a joy to work with, which ones are looking currently for book titles, etc.?
I see some potential drawbacks - a few people are very jealous about their editor contacts, and feel that they are in competition with other authors. I think much of that stems from the vacum we all work in - few of us ever really talk to one another (But the few times I have, I've often ended up collaborating on a project). It certainly won't please the publishers if we organize too much, but it might help us earn more than $6.50 per hour (which is what I made on my last book!)
PM me if you are interested in discussing this.
Jay Hemdal
I had an idea yesterday - not sure it will go anywhere, not even sure this is the correct forum to post this in...
Has anyone any interest in forming an aquarium-related author's consortium? I wonder if there would be substantial benefits from various authors getting together to discuss issues related to our work. For example, it seems fairly widespread that some authors are paid more than others for the same type of work - do you know where you stand? There was a magazine that was having problems making payments to authors - if you knew that in advance, would you have thought twice before sending them an article? What about publishers signing contracts and then invoking "kill fees", or stalling for a year as they "think about your book proposal" - and then say "no thanks" just before they come out with a similar title of their own? On the flip side - wouldn't it be great to learn which editors are a joy to work with, which ones are looking currently for book titles, etc.?
I see some potential drawbacks - a few people are very jealous about their editor contacts, and feel that they are in competition with other authors. I think much of that stems from the vacum we all work in - few of us ever really talk to one another (But the few times I have, I've often ended up collaborating on a project). It certainly won't please the publishers if we organize too much, but it might help us earn more than $6.50 per hour (which is what I made on my last book!)
PM me if you are interested in discussing this.
Jay Hemdal
