Jay Lake: Writer

[awards] Well, lookie here

Hugo nominations are out

I draw your attention to:

Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form
(436 Ballots / Bulletins)

* The Dark Knight Christopher Nolan & David S. Goyer, story; Jonathan Nolan and Christopher Nolan, screenplay; based on characters created by Bob Kane; Christopher Nolan, director (Warner Brothers)
* Hellboy II: The Golden Army Guillermo del Toro & Mike Mignola, story; Guillermo del Toro, screenplay; based on the comic by Mike Mignola; Guillermo del Toro, director (Dark Horse, Universal)
* Iron Man Mark Fergus & Hawk Ostby and Art Marcum & Matt Holloway, screenplay; based on characters created by Stan Lee & Don Heck & Larry Lieber & Jack Kirby; Jon Favreau, director (Paramount, Marvel Studios)
* METAtropolis by John Scalzi, ed. Written by: Elizabeth Bear, Jay Lake, Tobias Buckell and Karl Schroeder (Audible Inc)
* WALL-E Andrew Stanton & Pete Docter, story; Andrew Stanton & Jim Reardon, screenplay; Andrew Stanton, director (Pixar/Walt Disney)

Tags: Awards, Cool, Publishing, Writing

Posted: 5:06 pm Thu March 19 2009 | Comments(0) |

[process] The gentle art of revision, OR, how to read your own book nine times

I am always learning from my writing. I’m now most of the way through the revision process on Pinion, f/k/a Tourbillon.

The rough draft, written last fall, was 199,400 words long.

On 3/4 I did a close read of it, editing as I went along. I finished that on 3/10. The main purpose of that draft was to get the book firmly inside my head. The manuscript stood at 198,800

3/12-3/13 I did a pass for deep, hard cuts at the scene and sub-scene level. With the book in my head, I could much more effectively judge where certain elements could be cut. This was pretty difficult, as Pinion has six point of view characters, with intertwined plot arcs. So cutting in one place often created structural, plot or continuity problems elsewhere. That got me down to 168,800.

3/14-3/18 I did a very deep line edit. This involved very slowly going through everything post-cut, as well as back to the prose in each phrase and sentence. This wasn’t as conceptually difficult as the previous hack-and-slash revision pass, but was much harder work, because of the intense attention to detail. That got me down to 160,700.

Tonight and tomorrow I’ll be working on the fix-it notes scattered through the manuscript from the previous three passes, as well as writing the two new scenes necessitated by the large-scale cuts — continuity bridges to account for deleted action which advanced the plot. My (quite reasonable) goal is to have it in to by tomorrow night. I expect to be somewhere around 162,500, with the newly inserted material.

By the beginning of May, I’ll get change notes back from , as well as my various first readers. That will generate two more revision passes. One to deal with the change notes themselves (however intensive that may be), and one for yet another very deep line edit to finalize the manuscript. The book will go back in for formal acceptance before the end of May.

After that, I’ll see it on copy edit (maybe fall, 2009), hardback galleys (maybe late fall, 2009) and mass market paperback galleys (maybe fall, 2010).

So, counting the rough draft, before this book is done I will have worked through it nine times.

And people wonder why I generally don’t read my own work in final published form…

Tags: Pinion, Process, Publishing, revision, Tourbillion, Writing

Posted: 4:14 am Thu March 19 2009 | Comments(2) |

[links] Link salad wishes it was a fisherman

The Banal Evil of the Google Copyright Settlement [ jlake.com | LiveJournal ] — The comments threads in both cross-posts are very interesting. This weekend (after Pinion is delivered) I plan to catch up on the issue and do an updated post.

The Guardian on the Google search settlement — (Thanks to .)

Penny Arcade on “Syfy”

World’s first proper flying car makes debut flight — Oh, boy. As crappy drivers as most people are…

?otD: How far away from dry land?

3/19/2009
Body movement: 40 minute suburban walk
This morning’s weigh-in: n/a (travel day)
Currently reading: The Confidence-Man: His Masquerade by Herman Melville; Watchmen by Alan Moore etc.

Tags: cars, Links, Personal, Publishing, Tech

Posted: 3:59 am Thu March 19 2009 | Comments(1) |

[writing] Progris riport, day 15, revising Pinion

All the way through this very tight, close pass. Done. Down to 160,700 words.

Tomorrow and Friday I make yet another pass for the fix-it notes, mostly continuity errors or gaps. Probably come to a turn-in draft of about 162,500. It will go to and to my first readers, with a change letter and reader notes for a final revision pass in May.

I feel like I’ve been running marathons.

Tags: Books, Pinion, Tourbillion, Writing

Posted: 7:12 pm Wed March 18 2009 | Comments(0) |

[publishing] The banal evil of the Google copyright settlement

Google’s motto famously is “Don’t be evil.” Yet the Google Book Settlement is nothing but evil, an assault on copyright so profound even the Mouse lawyers at Disney never thought to try such a broad rights grab.

In the simplest terms, the Authors Guild sued Google over their Google Book Search service, claiming copyright violation. Google has settled for an amount ranging between $60 and $300 per work. By comparison, statutory damages for willful infringement of copyright range up to $150,000 per work.

Now, as it happens, I’d be pleased to have my work inside the Google Books environment. I’m a big believer in electronic distribution and alternative publishing models, and I’m willing to tolerate the miniscule financial impact in return for the wider availability.

The problem isn’t the fact of Google Books, or the level of the settlement. The problem is the conditions of the settlement.

I as the copyright holder am required to either opt-in to the settlement, and receive my payment, or opt-out of the settlement, and preserve my right to separately seek redress. My opt-in/opt-out claim must be postmarked by May 5, 2009, or I lose the ability to defend my copyright.

In other words, Google has asserted a license to my copyright without my prior consent, and further asserted that claim stands unless I proactively state otherwise.

This is theft.

This is no different from me deciding I can come to your house, use your lawnmower, borrow your car and cook on your grill, and then telling you that unless you tell me in writing by a certain date that I cannot use your property, my right to use your property stands.

My copyright is my property as surely as your car or computer are your property. I cannot assert use without your permission.

And the real problem here isn’t Google’s theft. They’ve agreed to compensate for it, and provided a mechanism.

The real problem, the evil here, is the notion now being put into practice that a copyright license can be asserted by a third party in the absence of the copyright holder specifically forbidding it.

All through modern copyright history until now, a licensor seeking a subright was required to negotiate with the copyright holder before exploiting that license. No differently from a tenant seeking to rent a property is required to negotiate with the landlord before they move in.

As of now, I no longer control the subrights to my copyright. Under the terms that Google and the Authors Guild have set up, anyone who wants to make a commercial use of them can do so. It’s up to me to notice, to be aware, and to take steps to defend my copyright. If I don’t, well, too bad for me.

And if you don’t think Hollywood lawyers aren’t already all over this, you’re dreadfully naive.

This has the potential to radically change publishing in ways which are very unfriendly to content creators and copyright holders. Google has done an evil thing to copyright holders, something we may well all come to regret bitterly in the years to come.

Just to make matters worse, the position which seems to be emerging within the publishing industry is, “take the settlement and move on, Google’s too big to fight, and at least you’re getting paid.”

That’s bullshit. That’s like giving away the entire store because the guy stealing the first few candybars is too big to fight. I don’t know why every author in the country isn’t suing Google for statutory damages, right know.

Actually, I do. They’re one of the richest companies in the world. If I brought a suit against them, they would just lawyer me to death or bankruptcy. Google gets to change copyright law for all of us, just because they’re too big to fight.

That’s evil.

Larry and Sergey, if you’re reading this, ask yourself if this is what you meant Google to be? And Eric Schmidt, you as well.

Google (in which I am a stockholder) has gone from being one of my most respected companies to just another Enron, another AIG, another Halliburton.

Corporate evil which is too big to fight.

Thanks, Google, for nothing.

Tags: Personal, Publishing, Writing

Posted: 9:52 am Wed March 18 2009 | Comments(24) |

[links] Link salad and the spiders from Mars

The Accidental Teen Book, vol. 2: Steampunk Style! (with bonus free comic!) — A YA librarian talks about Mainspring [ Powell's | Amazon thb | Audible ].

on why there is no tipjar

The Muppets do St. Patrick’s Day

Internet, Mobile Phones Named Most Important Inventions — In response to the shouted-out question, “What are some of the greatest inventions of all time?,” nearby office workers in a recent informal survey gave the following answers: the wheel, the engine, the ballpoint pen, diapers and the cheese Danish. (Thanks to .)

Prospects for Red Dwarf ‘Earths’ — More skiffy exoplanetary coolness from Centauri Dreams.

?otD: What did Ziggy play?

3/18/2009
Body movement: 15 minute isometrics at gym, 40 minute suburban walk
This morning’s weigh-in: n/a (travel day)
Currently reading: The Confidence-Man: His Masquerade by Herman Melville; Watchmen by Alan Moore etc.

Tags: Books, Culture, Funny, Links, Mainspring, Personal, Publishing, reviews, Science, Tech

Posted: 3:49 am Wed March 18 2009 | Comments(0) |

[writing] Progris riport, day 14, revising Pinion

Four chapters close-edited on Pinion today, down below 163,000 words. One charges ahead.

Tags: Books, Pinion, Tourbillion, Writing

Posted: 6:04 pm Tue March 17 2009 | Comments(0) |

[photos] The Child cooks

got these photos of cooking bacon.

Photos © 2009 .

Tags: Child, Food, Photos

Posted: 4:01 am Tue March 17 2009 | Comments(1) |

[links] Link salad for an Omaha Tuesday

says it all about SyFy — Heh.

Todays xkcd is an awesome intersection of technogeekery and litgeekery

Recreating the Mona Lisa in burger grease — (Thanks to , I think.)

A Machine That Speeds Up Evolution — Interesting story about bioengineering, though the headline is cooler than the copy.

?otD: Where am I? On the road again?

3/17/2009
Body movement: 55 minute workout at gym – mixed lower body and cardio
This morning’s weigh-in: n/a (travel day)
Currently reading: The Confidence-Man: His Masquerade by Herman Melville; Watchmen by Alan Moore etc.

Tags: Art, Funny, Links, Personal, Publishing, Science

Posted: 3:56 am Tue March 17 2009 | Comments(0) |

[writing] Progris riport, day 13, revising Pinion

5 chapters today. (Well, 4 and 2/3.) About 2/3 of the way through the manuscript on this pass, down below 164,000 words. There will be one more quick pass after this very low-level edit to fix a couple of continuity problems which are too high-level to deal with right now. I continue to be pleased with my progris.

Tags: Books, Pinion, Tourbillion, Writing

Posted: 7:45 pm Mon March 16 2009 | Comments(0) |