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Should I warn you?

JanyJany
edited April 2007 in - Writing Tales

Comments

  • JanyJany
    I`ve got to be very, very careful what I say now because I can positively FEEL Webbo breathing down my neck, but it must out:
    I got my copy OF WN today and shock/horror: on page 6, at the top, Gillian Thornton, bless her cotton socks, whose praises I have sung on page MN1, is telling us that a certain magazine concerned with miniature things (OK Webbo?) is asking for submissions!
    This magazine is published by a company beginning with "A" with whom I had my by now famous altercation re. payment, when I wrote something for another of their publications - also concerned  with small things (back off a bit, Webbo!). I eventually was paid, but if the magazine at the top of page 6 pays 35 Pounds per page then that is exactly what they still owe me for a published article in 2001...
    If anyone really wants to write for them - and among miniatures magazines it´s one of the best, I`ll admit that, it would be advisable to be very, very, very careful...
  • CarolCarol
    Well put Jany.
  • BetsieBetsie
    Oh dear - eggshells - we get the gist
  • JennyJenny
    What an easy way to make a profit - ask for submissions and then not pay for them.
  • JanyJany
    I`ve since heard through the grapevine that I am by no means the only one who has been treated so badly by this company which starts with "A" and whose boss has a "K" in his name.. I will gladly forward any info required on this subject.
  • StirlingStirling
    I don't understand something.  Why are we allowing ourselves to be censored.  If we are saying something that is based in fact, what is the problem?.

    Freedom of speech?.
  • JanyJany
    No, it`s Webbo worrying that Talkback will be taken off the web if the people I am talking about decide  to take umbrage....
  • JennyJenny
    I can understand Webbo's concerns, but I've always thought that if something is true, it can't be legally considered slander or libel.

    I suppose that's another long-held belief that's wrong!
  • Jay MandalJay Mandal
    I used to think that, too, Jenny, but I've got a feeling there's some reason why "It's true" is not always a defence.
  • neilneil
    Quite apart from whether this has got anything at all to do with Webbo, there's something else I don't understand. If, as Jany says, 'among miniatures magazines it´s one of the best' it presumably attracts all the best and most knowledgable writers in the field. Why is this if the magazine's business practices are so suspect?
  • CarolCarol
    Who actually says it is? And how many miniture magazines actually are there?
  • AnyankaAnyanka
    "How many miniature magazines are there?" - Dozens and dozens, but they are very hard to find without a magnifying glass.



    Sorry [skulks away].
  • SilentTonySilentTony
    Anyanka that actually made me laugh out loud.
  • CarolCarol
    Groan. I should have thought.
  • JanyJany
    Neil and Carol: there are about half a dozen magazines on the market geared to miniatures and dolls house makers. Some are interesting and lively glossies, with gorgeous photos, lots of how-to advice and interesting articles. Others are cheapies printed on inferior paper and with boring contents. "Dolls House World" and "American Miniaturist" (both by a publisher beginning with "A") belong to the first category. They attract the pros in the mini-world who either write their own material or whose work is so brilliant they get written about. They also call out for submissions from amateurs, as they`re  always on the look-out for something new. If you write for them and they give you the feeling the magazine is one big happy family, if the editor bombards all contributors , irrespective of status,with topics she wants you to write about and if you get to see yourself in print in 5  editions, then you get a really warm feeling, believe me. But if, when it comes to getting paid, you are lied to, fobbed off and eventually verbally insulted, it can break your heart. Then you get angry, and want to warn others, especially if almost 2 years later you still hear about other contributors this has happened to and who have suffered very severe financial loss.I repeat: I`d be happy to forward all the info I have on this subject to anyone interested. I have to restrict myself to the bare bones here, so as not to run the gauntlet of Webbo. For you who don`t have the faintest idea what I`m on about, please go right back to the thread "A word of warning" from December 2005. I rest my case.No, one more thing: since AM started up in November 2002,they`ve had at least 5 editors. Says enough?
  • JennyJenny
    Why aren't they arrested for fraud?
  • CarolCarol
    Jany,is it the amateurs who are having payment problems? As obviously the other 'professionals'- using this term to distinguish- would be less likely to continue to supply work if they weren't paid.
    Are they wiggling out of payment by how they word the acceptances/contracts?
    It is an inportant issue really for all hard working writers.
  • MrD MrD
    In the above postings there are several references to Webbo. Does that mean that Webbo will block a posting, surely information on magazines that dont keep their end of the contract, namely paying for the articles, should be included here.
  • CarolCarol
    If you look at the Acceptable Use Policy, you will see that can happen Mr D.
    While some Talkbackers have had problems, the company involved could see the comments here as a serious slur on their credentials- even if some see their comments as valid based on their own experience. It may then come under the terms of the User Policy, and bring down trouble on individuals.
    We should always remember there is a thin line between opinion and libel in the current world.
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