Don't Do Unto Others

            Anyone who has spent a large amount of time on the internet has, at one point or another, run into the trolls. Some are harmless jokers, some are pranksters who sometimes go a little too far and some are just bullies looking for someone to pick on.

            In most cases (the exception being some – not all – of the bullies), these people don’t actually intend malice – in fact, in my experience a lot of them don’t even know they are doing any harm! These are just people finding ways to entertain themselves and, unfortunately, people are hurt as a by-product.

            On occasion, these trolls are confronted about what they are doing. Their response is generally the same: they are exercising their right to free speech. They feel that being asked to stop imposes upon their own freedom.

            In a blog post earlier this year, I touched on the fact that true freedom can’t exist because, as part of a society of free people, having freedom comes with responsibilities. The biggest of which is to respect other people’s freedom.

            I recently came up with an excellent way of illustrating this point. As a general rule, people are legally permitted to defend themselves if they are attacked. In other words, if a person walks up to you and throws a punch, they are essentially giving you permission to hit them back.

            Technically that person is allowed to throw that punch – after all, having freedom means they’re free to do what they like. But it is also your freedom, as well as theirs, to not be punched. By violating your freedom through choosing to punch you, they are at the same time violating their own freedom by inviting you to punch them back.

            Therefore, the way I see it, by exercising their freedom, they are infringing upon their own.

            The same goes for words, spoken or on the internet, or any form of communication for that matter. Any time someone says something hurtful or offensive, they are infringing upon the very freedom they are trying to express.

            There’s a very old phrase used to explain this idea: “Do unto others as you would have done to you.” Very often it is interpreted as, “Do unto others what they done did to you”, better known as, “An eye for an eye.” The problem is that this just leads to a never-ending cycle. Think of kids having a poking war in a car, each one poking the other because they were poked first. Strange to think that adults behave that way – and countries, for that matter.

            So, next time you run across one of those cyber-bullies (perhaps the ones in real life, too), just laugh to yourself in the knowledge that with each nasty thing they say, all they are doing is undermining their own freedom, giving them a paradoxical existence. Then feel free to ignore them and move on because, as a paradox, they can’t possibly exist and are therefore not worth listening to.

            I'm thinking we could also change that “Do unto others” phrase into one more readily understandable. I'm in favour of “Don’t do to someone what you don’t want them to do to you because if everyone respects everyone else you never have to worry about getting hurt.” Okay, so it’s a bit of a mouthful, but it gets right to the point and doesn't leave much room for misinterpretation. Plus, in a few generations we’ll be able to say “Don’t do to someone” and the person doing the doing will instantly stop just so they won’t have to hear the rest of the saying.

Click here to find the charity anthology containing a couple of my short stories.

If there's any subject you'd like to see me ramble on about, feel free to leave a comment asking me to do so.

Write On Con

            There is nothing quite like a gathering of aspiring authors, at least from my experience. The online conference I attended last week, Write On Con, was set up perfectly to cater to the crowd it drew.

            Unfortunately, I wasn't able to participate as much as I would have liked, but I did try to keep up with what was going on. I’ll try to give you an idea of what the event was like.

            The conference mostly took place on the forums, which actually opened for business long before the actual event. This was wonderful because it allowed attendees to come early, meet each other and share advice on their books and query letters.

            There were sections of the forum designed specifically for that – authors could post their query letter, the first 250 words of their book and the first five pages of their book. Because authors are such a friendly bunch, they were more than willing to step up and share their knowledge. As far as I could tell, everyone who posted something got at least one response.

            Then, when the conference officially started, the Ninja Agents came out. This was a group of agents who volunteered their time to cruise through the queries on the forums, giving advice and possibly even requesting work. Again, they were exceptionally helpful and that alone was worth attending the event for.

            The forum also had a section for authors to find critique partners. A critique partner is nearly essential for an author because, no matter how impartial you try to be, you can never be the best judge of your own work. You can also never catch all your own mistakes. Luckily I have Colleen for that, as well as my parents (someday I’ll tell you about my extensive editing process), but not all writers are as lucky as I am. For them, who better to look over their work than another author?

            There were also live events where authors could directly ask agents questions. I can’t tell you about those as I didn't manage to get to any, but from what I heard they went very well and were quite informative.

            Of course, there was also the off-topic section, where just about everything was being talked about. The one topic, however, became a highlight of the event – Larua Tisdel (author and artist) made the extremely generous offer to sketch other authors’ characters. She’s still working on the list now, after the conference is over. She’s very close to mine, so drop by later this week to see what she’s done.

[Insert Picture Here]

            That about covers it for the conference. Even with my limited attendance it was exceptionally fun and informative. I fully intend to return next year, although hopefully I’ll be attending as a helpful published author by then.

Click here to find the charity anthology containing a couple of my short stories.

If there's any subject you'd like to see me ramble on about, feel free to leave a comment asking me to do so.

Of Music and Maille

            Oooh, this is new! I'm actually writing my blog while still at an event. Hopefully I won’t get interrupted too often, but if I wander off I hope you don’t mind.

            Festival of Friends is a music festival, rather than the usual medieval fairs or geek conventions we go to. We were uncertain of how well we’d do here, but we've done quite well for ourselves. People love our stuff! And because this isn't the sort of event people usually find chainmaille at we drew a lot of attention.

            We've even continued the pattern of selling a tie at every show we've been to. Just before I sat down to write this, one of the vendors across the aisle from us could no longer resist the ties he’d been admiring all weekend.

            Oh! We also have someone who wants to stock our products in her shop! That’s exciting news.

            I haven’t wandered around the festival that much – I'm a little afraid of being disappointed. Festival of Friends was an annual event for my family to attend, but a lot has changed. Instead of being out in a park, it’s moved to a fairground and that has changed the entire feel. It feels... well, like a fair. Not that it’s a bad thing; it’s just different.

            The music has changed a lot, too, but that’s a good thing. There’s a very good variety, ranging from folk to rock (the later it gets, the younger the music gets). And the crowds attracted? All ages. It’s not often I see such a diverse crowd. We've even encountered a number of fellow geeks! (One of the security guards was at ConBravo! Where we had a table two weeks ago.)

            Backtracking to when Festival of Friends was at the park, I simply must share a story from when I was a kid. This is the story of the time I got lost. Well, actually it’s the story of the time my family got lost. We were at the festival and my parents had been talking about leaving and I was adamant about staying. So, there I was, watching the band playing on stage, and my parents got up to go juggle. I looked around, couldn't find my parents and panicked. I thought they’d left without me!

            So, I did what any kid would do – I tried to catch up with them. I ran all the way to the car which, to my relief, was still there but, to my despair, was devoid of any family members. However, I had been taught very well – I knew that if I got lost, I was to stay in one place until I was found. Plus, if I stayed by the car, there was no way those dastardly abandoning parents of mine could leave without me.

             I waited. And I waited. Crouched down beside the car (probably crying), I waited. During this time, there were announcements I couldn't hear at every stage of the event telling people to look out for me and telling me to report to the missing children’s tent while my parents themselves (and any other relatives still at the event) frantically searched for me. They did eventually find me, but not until their second trip to the car because, with me crouched down, they couldn't see me.

            And that is the story of the time I caught my parents trying to abandon me and I cleverly outwitted them when I was somewhere between the ages of six and eleven.

            Well, I should sign off before the crowds of the last rush show up. Next week I may have something interesting stories as I plan to be attending a free online writer’s conference this week. Write On Con. If you’re an author, you should check it out.

P.S. Be glad that I edited this between the time when I originally wrote this post (surrounded be music, talking and distractions) and the time I posted it. Be very, very glad.

Click here to find the charity anthology containing a couple of my short stories.

If there's any subject you'd like to see me ramble on about, feel free to leave a comment asking me to do so.

The Hunt for an Agent is On

            Agents are the unsung heroes of the publishing world. I haven’t even met one yet and I'm astounded by the amount of work I've discovered they do.

            First and foremost, they are talent scouts. They wade through piles upon piles of submissions sent to them by authors hopeful of representation, seeking out the ones they want to represent. Note that I didn't say the best ones – every agent turns down plenty of books they enjoy depending on the current book market, what they are specifically looking for and, sometimes, because of how busy they are. The rejections they send out are frequently as hard for them as they are for the author whose book is being rejected.

            Next, a large number of them offer editorial services – they will work with an author to get their book into peak condition before moving on to sell the book to a publishing house. At this point, they turn into lawyers, negotiating contracts that ensure that their authors not only get paid what they deserve, but don’t have any nasty surprises such as discovering they no longer own the rights to their own book.

            After that, many agents stay on to help with marketing the books, which in this day and age is largely the author’s responsibility. This is ongoing work they do throughout the course of the book’s printed life.

            It should also be noted that most of this work is done before the agent gets paid. In fact, until that contract is negotiated, the agent isn't even certain they will get paid. What if no publisher wants the book? All that hard work goes down the drain, along with a crushed and defeated client.

            Needless to say, agents are a valuable resource to any author – not to mention, having an agent is often the only way to catch the attention of the major publishing houses. That’s why I'm currently trying to get one.

            It’s a challenging process, involving finding agents who are interested in my genre of book then writing a query letter to them. A query letter is much like the cover letter you write when trying to get a job, only instead of telling an employer how perfect you are for the job, you’re trying to get the agent interested in your book at the same time as telling them the entire plot, the length of the book, who you are and why you’re the right person to write this book, and why the agent is a good match for the book. All of this in a page or less. If the query isn't good enough, you get an impersonal form letter of rejection with no feedback on where you went wrong (you can hardly blame them; I just told you how much work they do).

            To add to the challenge, agents have tons of these queries to go through. One agent I follow on Twitter had over 400 submissions come in overnight last week! So this query letter has to stick out – it needs to be both personal and professional, at the same time as saying “Hey! Look at this great book!” as modestly as possible.

            Luckily I've had a bit of help in this department. I had the privilege of beta testing some of the courses offered at getabookdeal101.com which have helped me gain a great deal of insight into the entire process – not to mention a lot of positive encouragement.

            Now, armed with knowledge, I have begun my hunt for an agent. With any luck, I should have an agent within the next few months and those of you waiting eagerly to read my whole book will find that the wait is nearly over.

            Incidentally, I should mention that this blog was in no way written to flatter any agents who might happen along while investigating my queries. Really.

            But the thought did cross my mind...

Click here to find the charity anthology containing a couple of my short stories.

If there's any subject you'd like to see me ramble on about, feel free to leave a comment asking me to do so.