true, but they didn't... course if they knew the right people they could have also got a contractor that would have told them that the work they were requesting wouldn't meet code.
well, if it had been licenced it likely would have been up to code and might not have catastrophically failed. Yes, that is a bunch of 'ifs and maybes', but as someone who had to live in a craphole where the landlord played fast and loose with things like health and fire codes, those things are there for a reson.
The costs would be similar, except for one key difference... for Harry Potter and the Next Big Thing the publisher will pay for it to be edited in order to hold on to the author, for Granny Jem's the author will have to pay for it themselves (either before publication, or as a cut out of their royalties).
Ever hear the phrase "a happy employee is a productive employee"?
That secratary is going to be doing crap work all day worrying about her cat, if the designer had spend the 30 odd seconds it would have taken to just make the poster (instead of the couple hours of time they wasted pulling the prank) her productivity would have been greatly increased.
If you want to fire someone for wasting time, fire the designer. If he was really that rushed for time a simple "no" would have got the job done far faster than dicking around for hours, wasting both their time.
most published works that are, as you put it "absolute shit" are so because some yotz thought they could whip up a story and push it in just one to two years. Find me a GREAT fantasy novel that has been completed in less than five (note: I'm not talking 5 years for draft 1, I'm talking from "this would be a good idea for a book" to seeing it on the shelves).
If you can find me anything that would generally be considered a classic in the fantasy genere that went from initial concept to published work in less then five years I will concede the point that any author who takes 10 years to write a book is utter crap, my husband included.
Your utter ignorance of actual professional writing (as opposed to hobby writing where you can turn out a turd in a year), is staggering.
If I found out an employee of mine pulled a dick move like that to another employee they would be cleaning their desk out before I finshed yelling at them.
as in 12+45 is the type that makes up a good portion of the math section.
shouldn't people who can't do that have failed out long before? I have to wonder the geometry section consists of "find the circle" or the art section being "what is the difference between right and left?"
Can we no longer assume even the most basic level of intelligence for people going for their GED? I mean, how the hell do you even get to the point where you would sit the test and not know that?
the MAJORITY of published works take between half a decade to more to complete. People like King who can write 5 books a year are the outliers. Dune took 8 years, many of A.D. Foster's works have taken close to a decade from inception to publication.
To be blunt, your ignorance of professional writing is showing. Sure, maybe you can churn out an unpolished, unedited, unrefined, plot-hole ridden POS in a year... but pro quality takes longer.
Maybe I missed it, but how did they gather their data? Does Harry Potter and the Next Big Thing count as one book or one million sold? Does Granny Jem's Guide to Catholic Churches in the North West count as one book or 5 sold?
Yes, the advertisement on a very select few books can be insane, but just how many books get that treatment? Looking at it from a total books sold per publisher, yes, it can be impressive. However, when looked at amount spent on the average title the numbers trend down drastically.
You don't write a book 9-5. You live it. I can't count the number of nights I've woken up and found him madly scribbling down some idea he came up with while laying in bed so he won't forget it by the next morning (hell I've done this several times on my own book). So yes, I would call it 10 "man-years" as you don't really get to 'stop' being creative if you want to write anything worth reading.
There is also the question of how you define "work". Ya, you have to pay those loaders minimum wake to move box A to truck B. I've done that kind of job, it's painful work, it's annoying work, but it is far from what I would call "hard work". You are told what to do, when to do it, and when you are done you are done... creating doesn't have that. No one can tell you how to write a book, there are no forklifts to make it easier either, there is no whistle at the end of the shift to let you know you can stop and go home.
Now, in the case of physical items, such as printed books, etc, there is the issue of mass producing it, distribution, deals with resellers, etc, etc. I can see where merely _creating_ the original can potentially pale in comparison to the work it takes to actually make/move/sell the item.
Obviously you have never written a book. My husband has been working on his fantasy novel for 10 years, tweaking it, changing it, improving it. Find me a single publisher that would spend 10 years developing the marketing or infrastructure to sell a book
They pay graphical artists to come up with book covers that reflect the nature of the book sometimes, often it is paied out of the money they would have given to the author
They pay copy editors to refine the style and grammar of a manuscript. HA! Maybe if you are JK Rowling... everyone else has to have their own editing.
Marketing and advertising costs Again, usually either non existant except for extremely popular books (*twitch* Twilight *twitch*), or fronted for the author to be paid back later out of their sales.
The majority of actual costs publishers have to deal with are getting dead trees to print the book on, and getting the physical books to stores.
Problem with that is good old fashioned price fixing. "We will give you 20%, nothing more", next guy says "We will give you 20%, nothing more" third guy says.... well you get the idea.
For a physical book, you can not do any serious volume without signing on to a major publisher, and they have you by the short hair (and they know it) because they have total control over the market.
Slashdot Mirror
true, but they didn't... course if they knew the right people they could have also got a contractor that would have told them that the work they were requesting wouldn't meet code.
well, if it had been licenced it likely would have been up to code and might not have catastrophically failed. Yes, that is a bunch of 'ifs and maybes', but as someone who had to live in a craphole where the landlord played fast and loose with things like health and fire codes, those things are there for a reson.
so.... ion propulsion then?
If I had not already posted in this thread I would SO mod you up for that!
what the hell are they going to do with all those sharks?
[citation needed]
ok, we know the graphic designer had hours to dick around on this, but how sure are you that the sectratary had tones of time?
The costs would be similar, except for one key difference... for Harry Potter and the Next Big Thing the publisher will pay for it to be edited in order to hold on to the author, for Granny Jem's the author will have to pay for it themselves (either before publication, or as a cut out of their royalties).
Ever hear the phrase "a happy employee is a productive employee"?
That secratary is going to be doing crap work all day worrying about her cat, if the designer had spend the 30 odd seconds it would have taken to just make the poster (instead of the couple hours of time they wasted pulling the prank) her productivity would have been greatly increased.
If you want to fire someone for wasting time, fire the designer. If he was really that rushed for time a simple "no" would have got the job done far faster than dicking around for hours, wasting both their time.
most published works that are, as you put it "absolute shit" are so because some yotz thought they could whip up a story and push it in just one to two years. Find me a GREAT fantasy novel that has been completed in less than five (note: I'm not talking 5 years for draft 1, I'm talking from "this would be a good idea for a book" to seeing it on the shelves).
If you can find me anything that would generally be considered a classic in the fantasy genere that went from initial concept to published work in less then five years I will concede the point that any author who takes 10 years to write a book is utter crap, my husband included.
Your utter ignorance of actual professional writing (as opposed to hobby writing where you can turn out a turd in a year), is staggering.
If I found out an employee of mine pulled a dick move like that to another employee they would be cleaning their desk out before I finshed yelling at them.
Louisiana, yes, other states, can't speak to that.
You're wrong.
We do have a separation of church and state, and it is far more robust than yours.
as in 12+45 is the type that makes up a good portion of the math section.
shouldn't people who can't do that have failed out long before? I have to wonder the geometry section consists of "find the circle" or the art section being "what is the difference between right and left?"
Can we no longer assume even the most basic level of intelligence for people going for their GED? I mean, how the hell do you even get to the point where you would sit the test and not know that?
the MAJORITY of published works take between half a decade to more to complete. People like King who can write 5 books a year are the outliers. Dune took 8 years, many of A.D. Foster's works have taken close to a decade from inception to publication.
To be blunt, your ignorance of professional writing is showing. Sure, maybe you can churn out an unpolished, unedited, unrefined, plot-hole ridden POS in a year... but pro quality takes longer.
Guess you don't like Tolkien, or Clavell, or Herbert (ok, Dune took 8, but close).
People like King who can curn out 5 books a year are the abnormals of the writing world, not those who take 10 or more.
I have but one question to ask you:
How many years did it take Tolkien to write LoTR? (hint: more than 11, less than 13)
Brought to you from the same state with two-digit addition on their GED test.
Maybe I missed it, but how did they gather their data? Does Harry Potter and the Next Big Thing count as one book or one million sold? Does Granny Jem's Guide to Catholic Churches in the North West count as one book or 5 sold?
Yes, the advertisement on a very select few books can be insane, but just how many books get that treatment? Looking at it from a total books sold per publisher, yes, it can be impressive. However, when looked at amount spent on the average title the numbers trend down drastically.
You don't write a book 9-5. You live it. I can't count the number of nights I've woken up and found him madly scribbling down some idea he came up with while laying in bed so he won't forget it by the next morning (hell I've done this several times on my own book). So yes, I would call it 10 "man-years" as you don't really get to 'stop' being creative if you want to write anything worth reading.
There is also the question of how you define "work". Ya, you have to pay those loaders minimum wake to move box A to truck B. I've done that kind of job, it's painful work, it's annoying work, but it is far from what I would call "hard work". You are told what to do, when to do it, and when you are done you are done... creating doesn't have that. No one can tell you how to write a book, there are no forklifts to make it easier either, there is no whistle at the end of the shift to let you know you can stop and go home.
It is not so much a singular event, more a combination of all the "we own your soul".
Now, in the case of physical items, such as printed books, etc, there is the issue of mass producing it, distribution, deals with resellers, etc, etc. I can see where merely _creating_ the original can potentially pale in comparison to the work it takes to actually make/move/sell the item.
Obviously you have never written a book. My husband has been working on his fantasy novel for 10 years, tweaking it, changing it, improving it. Find me a single publisher that would spend 10 years developing the marketing or infrastructure to sell a book
They pay graphical artists to come up with book covers that reflect the nature of the book
sometimes, often it is paied out of the money they would have given to the author
They pay copy editors to refine the style and grammar of a manuscript.
HA! Maybe if you are JK Rowling... everyone else has to have their own editing.
Marketing and advertising costs
Again, usually either non existant except for extremely popular books (*twitch* Twilight *twitch*), or fronted for the author to be paid back later out of their sales.
The majority of actual costs publishers have to deal with are getting dead trees to print the book on, and getting the physical books to stores.
Problem with that is good old fashioned price fixing. "We will give you 20%, nothing more", next guy says "We will give you 20%, nothing more" third guy says.... well you get the idea.
For a physical book, you can not do any serious volume without signing on to a major publisher, and they have you by the short hair (and they know it) because they have total control over the market.
Signed
A "slightly" bitter author
funny, I would have thought it would have had more to do with doing a entire project (not just the proposal) and getting squat for it?.