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Topic: "Smart Money" EIC -- avoid!
| Author | Message |
| seeattleme | Posted – 3/31/2008 12:01:52 AM | show profile Wow. So like there's no reason for bitterness, ever? I work with many excellent editors. For many excellent magazines. MANY have been very bitter. Keen, realistic, open, honest, and bitter. Like the Sassy staff after it was bought by Petersen. The Ms. Lang-era staff when Ms was nearly folded. Bitter because they CARE. My bitterness (not a bad thing, ask anyone who's been in a war (class, social, econimic, political) or faced hardship) is due to the years I was abused and taken advantage of as a freelancer and a lower level staffer --before I was at the point where that didn't happen anymore (a few key bylines, a coupla big awards, two powerhouse editors having my back every step of the way). Is there ANY way any of YOU can see PAST my alleged "bitterness" for what it really is: A realistic (if not pretty) view of what journalism can be as you ascend, what to expect and how to ascend regardless, what to watch out for and what to not get blown over by, how to reallistically figure out what's going on and how to reallstically approach it? Despite my "bitterness" (hey! any of you read Ron Rosenbaum, EVER????the greatest living journalist EVER)?) talk about bitter...)my "rage" my "tone" my bad typing, and my tendency to type in all caps when I want to make a point, have I NEVER given any GOOD advice on this board. NOT ONE TIME? Is there anyone out there who can say--sincerely--that I have NEVER said anything worthwhile? In the end, there are two points I always make --and frankly, I'm done making them and am about to make A Nikon-girl like exit from thisboard: 1. If you don't like my posts, for whatever reason, don't read them and if you accidently read them, don't respond to them--especially with personal attacks about me, my professionalism. my career, things about which you know absolutely ZERO. 2. As with stolen ideas, and kill fees, and editors notes, and countless other topics since 1996, I have been right. I remember on this baord when posteres posted about ideas they had pitched that "appeared " in mags six months later, boarders claimed these people were paranoid and that this "never happens". (I am a pro. My pitches are researched , specific, often three pages long and include art work suggestions THAT ARE USED>) These days a post goes up and there are at least several posters who say where they work it does happen, OFTEN (usually the women's and teen magazines). These posters are still ridiculed ("we get similar ideas ALL THE TIME," blah blah) just a lot less often. I've been accused of trolling, "changing my screen name" which when asked, I 've admitted to and explained why, being bitter, etc. So WHAT if I'm bitter? Seriously, is that a serious accusation? SOme of our greatest writers, journalists and politicians were "bitter". "Bitterness" is anger, it shows you actually care about something. I'm not downwith the seven minute manager way of living life. If i were, I'd be in PR or real estate or fucking human resources. I am a journalist, I am angry and bitter like most journalists (read the latest CJR study, posted on this board) and I am proud of it. because that's how this profession is not only going to survive the downturn, it's how it will survive the Jayson Blairs and the US Weeklys and the STAR magazines and the Cosmos and how it will become BETTER in the future. I am done with people who are in this profession only to make money. Good luck with that these days, by the way. |
| Rulebook2 | Posted – 3/31/2008 1:31:40 AM | show profile Brilliant! I'm calling bullshit. I'm sorry, but I am. I don't expect anything to be resolved or uncovered, but I have to do it because one else has, and I'm puzzled by that. That's the only thing that makes me pause. I'm not in publishing, so maybe my perspective is way off on this. Enough jibber-jabbering: Granitegirl, there's no way you've ascended to the level of success that you claim to. It simply cannot be. People rise for two main reasons: talent and political savvy. I certainly don't see the writing talent. I mean, making coherent points isn't exactly your strong suit. Yeah yeah, this is just a message board and you don't care. I've read the litany before so spare it if you want. But still, good writers, and DEFINITELY kingpin writers such as yourself, well, they get casual with grammar, they sometimes construct things in a hurried manner, but you can still tell the craft is there. So I'm ruling that out. As far as playing the political game, that's certainly something toward which I have no direct insight. But seriously baby, given the rantings, the ravings, the unbalance, the boasting, the bluntness, and the overall grating nature that oozes from most of your posts (not all; sometimes I like the hard-line bitterness because there are times when it's warranted), you really don't seem like much of a professional navigator. Again: yesyesyes, this is just a message board, and you could be a beacon of proffessional standards and excellence outside this silly little board, but I don't think human expression is that elastic. We're not talking about different shades here; what you're proposing with the "I rant and am bitter and use caps here, sure, but I am a successful writer who has won a million awards"-routine...I mean, sorry to get all 80's catch phrase on ya, but it does not compute. It's a tough, tough pill to swallow. So, as the kiddies say, IMHO: you're either full of shit, or you are bipolar or something, which would be equal parts interesting, amazing, and humbling. So there you have it. I'm honestly not trying to play "gotcha" here. I just could not take the incongruence any longer and had to make my feelings known. I do ask one thing of you, Granite: please don't leave the board. You're stuff is too entertaining. And that isn't sarcasm. |
| barrio99 | Posted – 3/31/2008 7:42:31 AM | show profile From me, it wasn't an accusation. It was an observation, and I'm willing to bet you lose a lot of opportunities because the chip on your shoulder, perhaps blaming others for your failures, and, yes, your bitternes shines through and surely turns people off. And it appears you don't realize it, even though it surely holds you back. Like the previous poster I guess I also don't believe you're quite as successful as you say you are. I've written for some of the biggest and most influential pubs, but a lot I am sure would take some serious luck/work to even return my calls, including, say, Vanity Fair and the New Yorker. If I want to try someday I will. If I get ignored, I'll move on. I've been doing this for 15 years and got into the national publications pretty early in my career. But I still watched Yalies get way ahead of me on staff because of who they knew through their Ivy networks; i watched lesser writers get an expensive, giant, fun feature in Marie Claire because of their name; I watched a fellow freelancer get hired instead of me because she is a compulsive liar and makes up sources and shouts loud enough about how great she is. I would sometimes get angry at the time, i got grumpy about it now and then, I vented to friends and family. But other people's success has nothing to do with my own, no matter how they come about it. I also have to agree with a previous poster: railing about magazines stealing ideas is the sign of an amateur. Not that it never happens, but so often writers think they have this groundbreaking idea which is actually old news and containes no proprietary information. Thus it's probable a similar thinking staffer thought of it too. |
| caitlinkelly | Posted – 3/31/2008 1:11:27 PM | show profile All that anger and bitterness aren't doing you much good, are they granitegirl? You forever trumpet your working-class street cred -- as if you're the only person in the industry who has this -- and forever whine about how everyone everywhere gets screwed. Yup, some people do get screwed. It's happened to me numerous times in my 30 years in this industry, (OMG, I am soooooo surprised...not) but I somehow managed to work staff for three major dailies and three national magazines, win an NMA and get a book published. So, funny thing, you can get SCREWED, even over and over and over...as many of us have and will....and **still** succeed. How? You keep showing up and making friends and allies and keep doing the best work you possibly can (freelancing even at appalling rates -- work faster, kids!) -- and try to imagine an alternate universe where everyone gets exactly what they deserve. As one wise older friend told me, when I was 18 and outraged at the first of these terrible blows; "When you got up this morning, who told you life was going to be fair?" One of my former colleagues has produced fewer bylines in his full-time six-figure job than I did last year freelancing for the same publication. It's sorely tempting, in the face of all that, to sink into the LaBrea tarpits of bitterness and envy and resentment and....what will that produce? Sitting and stewing won't lengthen your resume and reveling in that much rage will likely affect your health and even shorten your life. Making $ in this industry and being even really annoyed at its many injustices are not mutually exclusive. Neither are fighting for writers' rights and selling your work. The only people I know who survive and thrive are able to move past whatever hurts and miseries befall them, professional and personal. And a little larger perspective is useful. As you move into your 40s and 50s, and friends and colleagues in your cohort sicken and die (Dith Pran, yesterday to name one,) these endless work-related dramas get really, really old. Priorities shift. |
| TheSecondShift | Posted – 3/31/2008 3:22:40 PM | show profile Agreed. I'm all for a little kvetching here and there because I think it's necessary to know that you aren't the only one going through things. I slap my hand to my head, sigh about the injustice of it all for a beat, contemplate a career in zoology or pharmaceuticals for half a day, then finally turn on my computer and just get on with it already. I'm comfortable with my process, especially since I find freelancing to be lonely business at times. Unfortunately, not everyone lives in a major city or area where they can get together IRL with colleagues and like-minded friends and hold safe commiserating and networking sessions. But that's why these forums exist, yes? It's the only outlet some may have and learning that you are not unique can actually be quite comforting. I'm not sure if it's fair to take rants here and speculate about someone's real life sitch, but I'm also not up on the history which I'm beginning to believe is playing a part here. But I'm not a therapist nor am I interested in playing one (unless I contemplate yet another career shift). As long as someone isn't attacking me *personally, they can spin in circles until their head explodes and I can choose to be witness or not. >Making $ in this industry and being even really annoyed at its many injustices are not mutually exclusive. Neither are fighting for writers' rights and selling your work. |
