Time to Debut Magazine Mix and Match

Time is finally going to launch Maghound.com, which, as Folio describes, is its "Netflix-like" service:

Maghound.com allows consumers to choose titles from a variety of publishers for a mix-and-match “subscriptions” where they pay one monthly fee and have the ability to switch titles at any time. Unlike traditional subscriptions, members aren’t locked in their memberships and can cancel whenever they wish. [President of Maghound Enterprises Dave] Ventresca says that Maghound.com offers “flexibility, choice, control and personalization.”

I think this has to be a relatively scary thing for publishers to get into. Until now, people I know would make a calculation regarding a magazine subscription: If you were going to spend more on individual issues than you would on the best discounted price you could find for a subscription, you went for the subscription.

The fear? That model pushes people into getting more subscriptions than they may want. Publishers like subscriptions, because they help guarantee that much more paid circulation, and that means being able to charge advertisers more.

But with Maghound, people can swap subscriptions at any time, and it doesn't seem to cost too much more than the "$12 for 12 months" approach, except you don't get locked in. So I'm betting there are going to be magazines that start to see their subscriptions numbers slip. That will translate into even more uncertainty at publications, which could drive even loonier and more desperate attempts to "attract" readers - a scary thought, because it usually involves some complex wishful thinking and not coming up with something that you know people want, even if they don't know that they want it. That would translate into stranger assignments and more hoop-jumping. You can bet I'll go to the site to sign up - and to see which magazines I might think of avoiding.

Contract Review: The Independent Traveler

Got this in - as always, I'm not a lawyer; this isn't legal advice (just my opinion and interpretation); I'm providing comments on contracts, but you still need to read one of the contracts to see how everything applies to your circumstances; and you should always negotiation for the best terms you can get:

• 1. Description of Services You have a contract governing all the writing you do for them, and individual "Schedules" contain the terms and deadlines for any given assignment. And then there is this sentence: "Notwithstanding any other provision of this Agreement, IT shall have no obligation to publish any Work produced or created by Author hereunder. " That means no matter what else is in the contract, they don't have to publish something that you've written, even if you have a Schedule saying that you have an assignment.


• 2. Acceptance This is the first time I've seen a contract that says acceptance happens according to the procedure in the assignment, or Schedule. So you have to read the assignment carefully, because something as fundamental as acceptance can change from one to the next.


• 3. Payment Again, the terms governing payment are on any Schedule. If they aren't there, then you have a fuzzy arrangement, particularly as payment depends upon acceptance. They say they pay 30 days "following receipt of a properly submitted and correct invoice(s)," but they don't indicate what property submitted means. Could that include a given format? Is there specific information you need that you might not ordinarily put on? Expenses are on you, unless the Schedule specifically states otherwise. Again, the assignment becomes at least as important to read as the contract.


• 4. Relationship of Author and IT; Author’s Business This is supposed to be the section where they set out that you are not an employee, but an independent businessperson. However, some of the details get a bit ... detailed. For example, "Author represents to IT that Author is maintaining a separate set of books or records that reflect all items of income and expenses of the business which Author is conducting. " Also, look at this: "Upon request, Author shall provide IT with proof of independent contractor status satisfactory to IT, including but not limited to tax records and the United Business Identifier (“UBI”) in the state where Author does business." You are agreeing that they can ask for your tax records and that you have to show them.


• 5. Insurance You might have to get insurance, depending. "Without limiting the foregoing, to the extent this Agreement creates exposure generally covered by Commercial General Liability and Professional Liability insurance policies, Author will maintain at its sole cost and expense such insurance policies covering its obligations under this Agreement. "


• 6 Ownership; Third-Party Materials Because of the phrasing in this clause, it seems like this is a generally contract for any type of contracted work. They want to own everything - including notes and copyright of what you write. Think of it as WMFH with notes included. You also waive moral rights, which doesn't mean anything if you're a US writer, but does if you're from Canada or Europe.


• 7 Confidential Information Apparently you're supposed to sign a separate non-disclosure, and in the case of conflict between that NDA and this contract, the NDA rules. Among the "confidential information" that you cannot reveal to anyone are the terms and conditions of the agreement. If you have any doubt if something is confidential, you ask them. I'll hazard a guess as to an affirmative answer.


• 8 Term and Termination They can terminate the agreement or any assignment at any time and pay you only for what you had done up to that date. If you hand't handed in a draft, my guess is that they could argue that they didn't owe you anything. If you argue that you had done research, I'm guessing that they could demand the notes and then own them. You can give notice on 30 days, but still have to complete any assignment that would be due before the termination date.


• 9 Author’s Data They can use your name, bio, and likeness, and can also license that to anyone they want regarding an article. Becusae you have no control over where they will sell it, you have no control over where you will appear and in what context. Also, they can allow others to further license the article as well as your info, meaning control is now completely out the window.


• 10. Warranties and Representations There are some broad warranties, like "the Work will not include the unauthorized use of name or likeness of any person, libel, slander, defamation, disparagement, piracy, plagiarism, idea misappropriation, and any invasion of the right of privacy." You cannot infringe anyone's copyright nor any other property right, including trade secret. What if you find out about some information that a company was hiding? Can they declare it a trade secret, putting you in breach of your contract?


• 11. Limitation of Liability They get a limit on the damages you can get from a court from them. If you have to travel (and this is a travel publisher), then you also have to take out a "reasonable" amount of travel insurance.


• 12. Indemnification You have to indemnify for an actual claim that you infringed a third party's "legal right," including copyright. For anything else, it's alleged breach type wording, so if someone even says that you libeled them, you're now indemnifying the publisher.


• 13. General State of New York laws govern the contract. They want you to agree that any legal action has to take place in New York, and in Superior or District court, which I think means you cannot use small claims court lto get money you're owed. The prevailing party automatically gets costs and attorneys' fees, even if the court wouldn't otherwise award them. You cannot elect a trial by jury (which might work in your favor). This is the entire agreement, so what an editor tells you to the contrary is meaningless.

Publishing Needs to Focus on Smarter Editors, not Smarter Readers

Photographer director Rob Haggart had a great post on what goes on the cover of magazines. You can feel his pain in, between, and on top of the lines:

Who should we put on the cover? How about someone who actually wants to be there and that the audience cares about. How about someone we can spend some time with a write a meaningful story and take interesting pictures of. I look forward to the day when magazines can return to serving their audience and not the newsstand. Until then you're stuck with 109, free, biggest, hot, ultimate, travel, toys, secrets, great, perfect, best, sex, abs, weight-loss, getaway, new, insider, easy, delicious, shortcuts, paired with a celebrity you keep seeing over and over on the covers of magazines.

He knows of what he writes, because he's been there: a former director of photography for Mens' Journal and Outside.

I agree that the dumbing down comes from the editorial side, only in a different way than many of this think - that is, many editors are bringing less intelligence to the job and assuming that they are talking to people who know even less than they, when that may not be so. How many times have you seen editors set off on a topic or story angle that assumed the worst of their readers, or that wanted to prove a theory of theirs, no matter how much evidence suggested that they were wrong?

Maybe if we want better copy that will really attract readers, the industry needs to stop low-balling salaries of everyone other than the EIC so they don't have to focus so much on the next jump of their career, because they aren't having to live out in NJ on $28,000 with 4 roommates. Perhaps magazines could attract some people who not only love the work, but are smart and willing to consider things from the readers' vantage. And maybe have more of those editors actually talk with a lot more readers. What a concept, talking to your customers.

Three Considerations on Dealing with Growing Payment Cycles

On a writers' board, someone brought up the topic of clients that are trying to unilaterally stretch their payment schedules from 30 days to 45 or more. There should be two concerns when that happens. One is that we're in some times when certain types of clients - print publications, for example - are feeling a revenue pinch. Generally when a client, particularly a smaller one, starts paying later and later, it's a sign of economic troubles.

There's another factor at work as well. Remember that the commercial credit crisis hasn't suddenly stopped. One result is that many businesses, including large ones, don't have access to their usual amounts of credit, which is the lubricant for all sorts of business transactions. When things get tight on the lending side, you can find some of these larger clients choosing a different form of financing - late payment to vendors - that they think they can control.

Whatever the case, you want to consider your various options and what steps might be best for you in the short and long runs:

• Hit the 'Chutes If you have any sense that the company is in financial trouble, drop the client immediately. Usually I'm an advocate for phasing out clients over time and not dropping one until you have a replacement. However, if there are economic problems, the chances are overwhelming that they will continue to be bad. I'm not suggesting that you be rude or panicked. You can excuse yourself by blaming your schedule or simply stop pitching ideas. If you do not take action quickly, you can find yourself with thousands being owed money that you may never see. Generally speaking, making a break and doing intensive marketing is a less costly solution.
• Recalculate Client Viability Just as I think it's good to limit the total amount of business that any one client represents of your normal billing activity, I also think it's good to limit what is tied up in long payers - and to make sure that you're getting something from it in terms of higher rates. If it's more waiting for no more money, then it's time to recalculate the client's profitability and PIA factors and consider whether a replacement might not make sense.
• Get Something in Return The client wants you to give in on something. That means you're in a negotiation and should consider if there is something you could get in return to make things acceptable. Maybe you should increase your rates to cover the few percent that you lose in the time value of money (what borrowing that amount of money for a month or two might cost). Perhaps you should have late fees or, even better, a slight discount for accounts paid within a short amount of time. If you regularly do business, perhaps you could get a retainer relationship, with a certain amount of money guaranteed every month. Perhaps you'd get a greater share of more valuable assignments. Figure out what might make things desirable from your end (so long as you don't think the client's economic ship is taking on water).

Even if you find things slowing down, you can weather the storm and even arrange your business to eliminate the disruption of those checks hitting your mailbox.

Market Analyst Suggests Explosive Growth for E-Books

Many of us have been wondering just how e-book sales, particularly with Amazon's Kindle, have been going and just how they could change the industry landscape. There's an article on that very topic:

Pacific Crest analyst Steve Weinstein argues that global e-book sales at Amazon could reach $2.5 billion by the year 2012.

To figure this, Weinstein starts with the handiest analogue: iPod and MP3 player sales. He notes that between 2003 and 2008, digital music sales grew from 2 percent of the US market to 33 percent, largely on the back of Apple's ( NSDQ: AAPL) twin offerings. He doesn't expect the Kindle/e-books to track as fast, but he does think the market is off to a strong start already, and that the cycle will pick up steam as the Kindle comes down in price (that's already started) and the ecosystem matures. He also suspects the consumers will be drawn to the instant gratification aspect of Kindle titles, as well as the lower price per book.

MP3 music and e-books aren't exactly the same. People had wanted to buy single tracks for years and not be forced to purchase an entire album for one or two songs. However, they are analogous and the logical is reasonable, I think. Read the article and pay particular attention to the projections he's making for Amazon's profits. Part of that comes out of far lower costs (no manufacturing, warehousing, or shelving), but I wonder how much would come out of the pockets of publishers and authors.

Book Authors Must Get Ready for Instant Books

The Guardian had an article the other day about UK bookseller Blackwell's plan to install print-on-demand systems throughout their 60 chains - right now 40 pages a minute, but eventually 80, meaning that a buyer could get any of the million titles available in about 4 to 8 minutes.

As with most technological changes, there are ups and downs. The pros for authors is the ability to keep books available at stores, where people are doing their buying. Yes, a majority of book sales happen outside traditional bookstores, but don't knock that big an audience. Even if your book isn't on the shelf, there's a chance that someone could find it.

But now for reality. This is going to be a big marketing onus on the writer. Publishers barely support a brand new book in its first three months of life, so who is going to create buyer awareness of your title? You are, or else you aren't going to get sales off these machines. And for how long does the publisher get to keep your book on the backlist? Have you checked the out-of-print clause in your publishing contract recently? It may be that so long as there is one edition - like a print-on-demand one - the publisher gets to keep the title as active. But if you get the rights back, is the book even going to be in the system? How easily can you get another version ready?

There are no set answers, just questions that require some thinking for those of us who want to make a living in this industry.

What's Black and White and Red All Over: the Newspaper Industry

Here's a link to a New York Times story about how the newspaper industry is going "from bad to worse" with double-digit ad revenue plummets:

On top of long-term changes in the industry, the weak economy is also hurting ad sales, especially in Florida and California, where the severe contraction of the housing markets has cut deeply into real estate ads. Executives at the Hearst Corporation say that one of their biggest papers, The San Francisco Chronicle, is losing $1 million a week.

Over all, ad revenue fell almost 8 percent last year. This year, it is running about 12 percent below that dismal performance, and company reports issued last week suggested a 14 percent to 15 percent decline in May.

If you're still writing for newspapers as anything more than a hobby or outlet of self-satisfaction, it's time to rethink your business model - quickly.

Contract Review: Adams Media

Here's my take on the latest Adams Media contract I've seen - and remember, I'm not a lawyer, this isn't legal advice, and always try to negotiation your contracts:

• First Paragraph They are calling the “Work” everything including the final draft, all interim drafts, and all drawings, photographs, and so on. This will cause a complication in about 14 seconds.


• Section 1. Acknowledgement of Rights. They want this to be work made for hire, which means once you’re done, you can never make another penny off it. They own it and can do with it as they like. That’s bad enough, but now for the problem I mentioned: The definition of work in the previous graph means that they’re not just talking about the finished product, but everything leading up to it, and everything in it. What if you use photographs from a collection with permission or want a drawing done? They want to own it, so they want you to get a copyright transfer. But what if the person with the rights isn’t willing to do that? There is no provision for having a permission form that is anything less than copyright assignment.


• Section 2. Right to Publish Work. They’re reiterating that they have all the rights and can do with this anything they want, and that you cannot.


• Section 3. Delivery of Manuscript. They've been known, as many other series publishers have done, to set deadlines assuming that you will send in material even before you’ve had a chance to see the contract. I’m a firm believer that all dates in contracts should be based on when they are signed, or at least when you got to basically agree to the deal. If you use photos, note the format in which they want them delivered. There is no allowance for digital photography, so technically, if you wanted to include a color digital photo, you’d have to get it turned into a slide.


• Section 4. Originality of the Work. It’s understandable that they don’t want plagiarized material, and they can use every means to make sure it’s original (though “every means” is too broadly stated). But there’s a bigger problem here: “At its sole discretion, the Publisher may deem a Work as containing plagiarized content, and therefore unacceptable, and may cancel this Agreement at any time, requesting return of all payments made to date.” Their sole discretion? In other words, they can declare you to be a plagiarist unilaterally, and you wouldn’t necessarily have any recourse to challenge the statement. How did they come to the conclusion? Where is their evidence? No mention of their having to produce any of that. At worst, this could become a club brought into play at any moment.


• Section 5. Revision of the Work. The first sentence, “Author shall promptly make such changes in the Work as the Publisher may request,” puts a time onus on you. They can ask for any change, you have to make it, and nothing about working under a “reasonable” schedule.


• Section 6. Publication of the Work. They can use your name and likeness and bio and authors others to do so in the process. However, there isn’t anything saying that they must give you credit. In fact, the last sentence starts, “In the event the author is credited on the cover…”


• Section 7. Background Information and Permissions. If you have people listed in photos, you may have to get them to sign releases, as well, which could be logistically impossible in some cases.


• Section 8. Verification of Facts. If you mention any facts – and who would do that in a non-fiction book? – you technically have to verify them all and give the “checking material” to them.


• Section 9. Author’s Warranties and Indemnity. The warranties are broad – you cannot write anything that, if published, will infringe rights of privacy or publicity, infringe copyright, or be libelous. Now, the contract is interpreted under Massachusetts law, so you could claim to be a journalist, which gives you more protection than the general populace gets. However, if you are mentioning others that are not public figures, you might well get releases from them to be safe. The indemnification is a problem because it has the phrase, “or any allegation which if true would constitute a breach.” In other words, if someone makes a claim of some injury that would be a breach of the warranties, you are indemnifying the publisher, even if you didn’t do anything. That sort of language is a deal-killer for me.


• Section 10. Compensation. They really are cheap bastards, aren’t they? Notice the last part: “The Author may also receive a fee for publicity appearances, if such appearances will be deemed necessary by the Publisher in writing.” It should be a reasonable request and you should be able to turn it down. They own the material, for heaven’s sake, so why should you be at their beck and call?


• Section 11. Termination. Subsection c is a problem, because they can terminate the Agreement at any time, “at its sole discretion,” before they formally accept the Work. That is ridiculous – they can kill the deal for any or no cause. The publisher also has complete control of whether it will let you keep anything or if it will pay you anything beyond what you had already received. If they decide to pay you what they think is a proportional amount, then they get the rights to what you have already written.


• Section 12. Independent Contract. This is pretty straightforward.


• Section 13. Notices. Again, straightforward and self-explanatory.


• Section 14. Waiver or Modification. Also straightforward.


• Section 15. Applicable Law. The contract is governed by Massachusetts law.


• Section 16. Arbitration. The arbitration clause is problematic. Not only does the process potentially eliminate such basic protections as discovery, but this clause doesn't even state which of the dozens of sets of rules of the AAA would be used, how many arbitrators would be involved, or how the arbitrators would be chosen. Arbitration is also a lot more expensive than most companies think, and depending on the rules, there can be hefty minimum dollar amounts that you can raise. And if you found they breached the contract and you had to take legal action, you might not want to travel to Boston for their convenience. Trying to get this clause struck would be wise.


• Section 17. Assigns. You cannot assign any of the work on this without getting written approval from the Publisher. I’d argue that it would cover research assistants and any other help that you might ordinarily use (or not).


• Section 18. Author copies. Self-explanatory.


• Section 19. Entire Agreement. This is the whole agreement, so don’t expect emails or verbal assurances from anyone at the publishing company to make any difference.


• Section 20. Notices and Payments. This clause generally says that money will be paid to the agent, and they can also have terms about the size of the agent’s commissions. Be sure that there is no conflict between what this says and anything you’ve previously signed with the agent. If this states something higher, then the agent now gets more. Generally, if I’m using an agent, I might direct money to be paid to the person (though I prefer having two checks cut – one for the agent and one for me), but if all the money goes to the agent, take out all the business about how much the agent should get. The agent isn’t a party to this contract, and, presumably, you already have an agreement with the person.

That’s about it – not a great contract, particularly with having to sign over the ownership at relatively low rates of pay.

Tool: Google Trends

If you ever need to add keywords into your writing - which could easily happen either in Web corporate work or when writing editorial headlines that you want to grab attention - it helps to know how well a search term does. That's why you should check out Google Trends. It doesn't work for all terms, as it filters out anything that gets less activity than some secret threshold measure of popularity. But you can take a term and see both the search volume index (a relative measure of demand) and an index for how often the term is used in searching news items.

Check this example of trends for the search term chocolate. Not only are there graphs of the ebb and flow of user interest, but it marks some points by given news stories, so you might have a sense of why there was a sudden spike at one point. (It's imprecise, however, so there may be no story link to a given rush of interest.) Then you can see relative strengths in different countries, cities, and even languages.

Plus, you can actually compare the relative strengths of different search terms, so you can see which ones you might use, or not. Here's an example of searching on chocolate, cocoa, and carob. Also notice that you can restrict the examination to searches originating from a given country or that happened during a specific year.

Announcement: Program for Classical Music and Opera Writers

NB: I have no affiliation with the program and know nothing about it.

Advance Announcement

5th NEA Arts Journalism Institute in Classical Music and Opera Writers

Location: Columbia University's Journalism School

Dates: November 8-18, 2008

We are pleased to announce the 5th NEA Arts Journalism Institute in Classical Music and Opera at Columbia University’s Journalism School. With 100 alumni around the United States, the Institute is the most important professional development opportunity for journalists who cover classical music. Most expenses are covered. Join a faculty of leading critics, reporters, scholars, and experts in the field for an unsurpassed immersion in the world of classical music. The program includes writing workshops, classroom instruction on music and journalism, visits to New York’s top classical music institutions, and attendance at some of the most important concerts of the 2008 season.

Application Deadline: AUGUST 19, 2008

Inquiries: Email nea_institute@earthlink.net to request an application.

Additional details will be posted at the Journalism School’s website.

Concert Highlights:

• Valery Gergiev conducts the Kirov orchestra at Lincoln Center
• New Metropolitan Opera production of Berlioz’s “The Damnation of Faust” directed by Robert Lapage (first MET staging in a century)
• Israel Philharmonic performs Tchaikovsky’s 4th Symphony, conducted by Gustavo Dudamel
• MET Opera New York premiere of John Adams’ “Dr Atomic”
• Bernstein Festival performance at Carnegie Hall featuring the New York Philharmonic conducted by incoming music director Alan Gilbert

Scientific Journal Gets Hoaxed

I actually ran this on my photography blog yesterday, but thought that readers of this blog might find it interesting: a scientific journal ran a piece about Thomas Edison supposedly being involved in the murder of a rival, even though there are enough red flags in the text to put you in the running of the bulls in Pamplona. The object lesson is that if a story smells funny, maybe you should take a deeper look before becoming the likely victim of a prank.

Some Notes on the Print Front

Let's start with an interesting piece by London-based Fortune editor-at-large Richard Siklos, who looks at a range of opinions about, and strategies for, the print news business:

• Rupert Murdoch thinks that print will be around for at least 20 years, or until after his death.


• Sam Zell had decreed that the Chicago Tribune (I originally typed that as Tribute, which perhaps is apt) and LA Times will have 50-50 splits between editorial and advertising, and is reducing the news hole to reach that. To be fair, magazines have done this for many years as well. It's just that Zell seems determined to destroy his newspapers' abilities to deliver news to achieve this goal. And he wants to measure the productivity of journalists. Good luck - I'd like to see the "manager" who was able to get as much done in a day as a newspaper reporter must routinely.


• US News & World Report is going to bi-weekly issues and might as well become the US News & World Report About Health and Money.
  
• The Christian Science Monitor may shift from a daily to weekly format.

But it may be that all the business issues ignore a significant factor of people's underlying reading habits actually changing. Andrew Sullivan, writing in the London Times, finds that he now approaches text significantly differently than before the Internet:

In researching a topic, or just browsing through the blogosphere, the mind leaps and jumps and vaults from one source to another. The mental multitasking – a factoid here, a YouTube there, a link over there, an e-mail, an instant message, a new PDF – is both mind-boggling when you look at it from a distance and yet perfectly natural when you’re in mid-blog.

When it comes to sitting down and actually reading a multiple-page print-out, or even, God help us, a book, however, my mind seizes for a moment. After a paragraph, I’m ready for a new link. But the prose in front of my nose stretches on.

His piece is interesting, worth reading, and disturbing. If someone like Sullivan has a difficult time facing a page of uninterrupted text, what does that say for most people? And how could this change the way writers approach their craft?

A third article may have some answers: Michael Agger in Slate on how people read online. He starts off with a bit of parody on usability expert Jakob Nielsen. There's an interesting fact that he attributes to Nielsen: on-screen reading is 25 percent slower than reading on paper, at least when it comes to conveying information.

Consider for a moment that your reading speed was suddenly slowed by a fourth. Would you keep reading as much or as often as you do? Or would you get frustrated and either try skimming or completely move to a different activity? The reader cannot change the experience, other than by walking away, so Nielsen argues that the writing must change:

• highlight keywords
• use meaningful subheadings
• rely on bulleted lists
• include only one idea per paragraph
• use the old newspaper standby, the inverted paragraph, with the conclusion at the top
• cut the word count by at least half

Definitely click on the link and read to the end, including an example where Nielsen's lab tested multiple variations of a single promotional message.

Contract Review: American Express Publishing

Just got one of these contracts crossing my desk - please remember:

• I'm not a lawyer.
• This isn't legal advice.
• It's always smart to at least try negotiating changes that you want.

Now that we've gone through the usual, time to look at the contract:

• Section 0 So it's not really called zero but is the first sentence in the agreement. Because the contract is between you and American Express Publishing, don't let the assigning magazine name limit your interpretation of rights clauses.


• Section 1 This is an ongoing contract covering your assignments for the publisher until one of you terminates it. Notice that they talk about articles that would be "suitable for publication in Departures and Black Ink magazine." In other words, there seems to be an assumption that it could appear in one or both.


• Section 2 You must file electronically as the editor says no later than the date in the assignment letter you get. The clause includes the phrase "time being of the essence," which means timing is so critical that even being a day late might be enough to let the publisher kill the assignment without paying you. There is no provision for getting a verbal OK from an editor to have a few more days. If they don't accept a piece, they can keep sending it back for more correction until it's the way they like, and you are agreeing in advance to meet whatever time deadline you're given for the revision, again time being of the essence.


• Section 3 They have the right to publish the work first. They get a wide range of exlcusive uses, from their acceptance to six months after first publication. Those uses include creating derivative works (book or made-for-TV movie, for examples), republishing and reprinting, translation and publication of any translation, publicly perform and display the work, license any rights in it at all anywhere in the world. Even after the exclusivity period is over, they can continue to license the work anywhere. You give up so-called moral rights, but they agree to exercise "reasonable editorial judgment to respect the integrity of the Work," a clause that is nice to see, particularly as you don't get moral rights if you're a US writer. You can use other rights as you want, but there's a big catch: "You agree to ensure that the Magazine will receive the following credit upon the exercise of any of the rights retained by you in the Works: 'First published in Departures] in 2008, which credit shall be placed in close proximity to the applicable Work and be of the same size and style as credits customarily given to first publishers of similar works." That should more reasonably be that you'd try to get that done, but you don't control the publisher and cannot ensure that the credit will actually appear. In addition, this tangles up your marketing, and you want to be able to licese a use even if the publisher won't consider a credit to another publisher.


• Section 4 Here's another secretly sticky clause. You grant them the right to use your bio, name, picture, and even voice "in connection with Publisher’s exploitation of the rights granted in this Agreement, whether in a commercial or editorial context." So, if the publisher licenses an article in a commercial context, even if it makes this look like an advertorial or worse, you can be associated with it. That could be a problem if an editorial client took objection to your doing such "commercial" work, even if you did it as editorial. Now, it's not unusual for virtually any publisher to provide reprints to companies mentioned in an article, but this is something you want to be aware of, as there is no limitation on what they can do.


• Section 5 You get paid the fee mentioned in the assignment letter on acceptance, though it doesn't say how long they have to pay. Also, they can decide to not accept a piece (apparently for any reason) and only pay a kill fee of 25 percent.


• Section 6 This gives the details of getting reimbursed for pre-approved expenses.


• Section 7 You agree that until the end of the exclusivity period or notification of non-acceptance, whichever comes first, you won't license an article that is "substantially similar." Remember, though, that the exclusivity only ends six months after pubication, so this could put the story and your approach on ice virtually forever. In areas that publish an international edition, that extends to 18 months. I've been asking publishers for a window - maybe a year - past which such exclusive rights and first uses go out the window.


• Section 8 You are responsible for fact-checking, and they can do so on top of what you do.


• Section 9 Here is the warranties section. You assure them that you own the work and that it hasn't been previously published or commercially used. You promise that there is nothing defamatory or obscene, that infringes someone else's rights, or that breaches a confidentiality agreement that you have signed. Because, as we'll see later, this is interpreted under New York State law, you're probably in good shape, though a "knowingly" would be nice. You agree that you'll obtain official permission for any material you don't own. Any legal permissions you get in writing you must be ready to copy and send the copies to them. Because of the phrasing, you're technically obligated, so far as I can tell, to get written permission even for quotes from people you interview.


• Section 10 Either party can, in the face of the other side's material breach of the contract, request in writing that it be cured. The other party has 30 days to do so. If they don't, the first party can terminate the agreement.


• Section 11 You agree that you'll keep a copy. (Does this mean that there are writers who send in an assignment and then not keep a copy? That is a scary thought.)


• Section 12 The publisher can go to court to protect its rights from other parties, and you have the right to join in with your own lawyer.


• Section 13 A big problem here - you indemnify the publisher both for actually breaches and alleged breaches. The alleged language should come out. The publisher can withhold money it owes you should someone have a legal claim that the publisher attributes to you and should it decide that it wants money to cover its costs.


• Section 14. This says that you are independent of the publisher and lists the things for which you are responsible.


• Section 15 You have no right to use the publisher's logos, trademarks, etc., that would imply endorsement by the publisher. So, unless you get explicit permission, forget about including a magazine cover image to go along with your article on your own web site.


• Section 16 You won't divulge the double-secret business plans of the publisher.


• Section 17 While the publisher can assign its rights and obligations to other parties, you may not. Technically that would mean you couldn't pay someone to do research for you.


• Section 18 You both agree to interpret the contract under New York State law. Furthermore, you agree not to litigate claims on a class action basis (sounds like someone trying to avoid another class action copyright suit). You also waive the ability to seek "consequential, incidental, exemplary, special or punitive damages," which means that if they could find a way to infringe your copyright on the article, you couldn't use access to extra damages, even if you had registered your copyright in time. Other than agreeing to NY law, this sounds like a section you'd want to kill.


• Section 19 This is the entire agreement, no matter what an editor might promise instead either on the phone or through an email.


• Section 20 If you both want to change the contract, it must be done in writing.


• Section 21 Some sections of the contract - for example, the rights grant - survives even a termination of the agreement. (However, if one of you terminates the agreement before they use the article, that doesn't mean they can keep the rights.)

Learning What You Need to Know

If I talked about the freelance business and said, "writing aside," you might think that wouldn't leave much, other than the usual business activities. But there is at least one other thing: what you need to do the job. You might have experience in a half dozen or more different types of writing, in a few industries, and with a set of software tools. But what do you need tomorrow and next week, month, and year? Requirements of clients change over time, and the best way to keep the business coming in is to anticipate them:

• By the time most writers have heard of something, such as blogging or wikis, you start to face significant competition.


• When few people can provide a service that comes into demand, they can generally get a premium price, thanks to the law of supply and demand.


• Keeping ahead of trends gives you the appearance to clients and prospects of someone in-touch and knowledgeable.

That's all well and good, of course, but how are you supposed to get the inside line on what is coming up? Simple - you do some research, and here are some places to start by seeing what people are talking about early on:

• Job Sites Whether you choose Monster.com, Craigslist, or anything inbetween, you'll find at least some entries from technology adopters that mention things you've never heard of before. Do a web search for the terms, and pay attention to the ones that are a technology, particularly when mentioned only a handful of times in ads. That means they are past the curiosity stage but not yet in wide acceptance.


• Tech Blogs Forget magazines, as by the time they cover something, it's usually old hat. Slashdot.org is a great place to see what the technical literati are looking at, as are Ars Technica, Boing Boing, TechCrunch, and Techdirt.


• Industry Sites If you write about a given industry, whether as a corporate writer or doing consumer or trade journalism, check the online sites devoted to it. When you first start seeing mention of technologies, that's evidence of the beginning of the adoption curve, which means it's time to move into high learning gear.


• Conferences If you have a chance to hit a technology trade show, go and chat with people. Ask what they find interesting, even if there is little being done commercially with it yet. Also look at the exhibits and see who is touting cutting-edge technology, which may also be a clue.

An E-Paper Roundup

Technology can have such an impact on the world that sometimes you need to keep in touch with new developments if you want your head to stay above water. I think e-paper is such a technology for the publishing business. This Kindle is just the beginning: these low-power, high contrast screens can start putting content anywhere:

E-paper displays are already showing up in consumer applications, even though consumers may not recognize them. Jennifer Colegrove, an analyst at market researcher iSuppli Corp., identified several product categories in addition to e-book readers, including displays for wearable and carryable products like watch dials, cell phones, credit cards and security-system cards; instrumentation applications like the capacity meter on Lexar JumpDrive USB drives; and signage. Point-of-sale devices like electronic shelf labels can be updated remotely, Colegrove explains, or promotional signage can be updated by time of day -- breakfast specials in the morning, for example, and dinner in the evening.

That means almost anything could display content, possibly creating entirely new markets. Can you imagine writing marketing copy to wrap around a product? I'd recommend taking a look at this Computerworld article.

Outlasting the Amateur Onslaught

Though a chain of links (Google pointing to a photographer in the Phillipines who noted a post on Digital Photography review), I came across the following online discussion among a group of photographers. It's worth reading, because it shows that writers are not the only ones facing the market onslaught of "amateurs." I'm not making claims about who shoudl be considered amateurs or not, nor do I know that this discussion was representative of pro shooters. But through page after page, you will see complaints that strike a resonant chord:

• Amateurs give away their work.


• Amateurs have "regular" jobs that let them give away their work.


• Publishers trying to reduce their operating expenses turn away from pros.


• Photographers are seeing rates plummet, at least in the lower and mid-tier markets.


• Many photographers are frustrated and don't know what to do.

One of the interesting posts came from a self-described amateur photographer:

I'm one the amateurs you describe and I'm surely not gonna give up just because of a rant of an unsuccessful pro.

I earn my living elsewhere, can afford professional equipment, can take pictures that get published, and enjoy doing it. It's not about what you studied or whether you decide to describe yourself as a "pro" - it's about the photos and about contacts with people.

> They will work for discount / free or the honour of having their work
> published.

Yes, that's me. Face it or go play somewhere else.

There is a lot of smart observation in that remark. Complaining won't make the problem go away, and complacency will wind up in your professional diminution and possible financial ruin. You need to find ways to accomplish a few objectives:

1. Know that value delivered begets success. People do business with service providers because they are trying to gain some value from the exchange of money for work. If you cannot deliver quality - that is, what the customer expects in the way the customer expects it - then you cannot succeed. Business is a series of exchanges in things valued, and you can only do well if you have something with perceived value.
   
2. Improve your quality. I know many writers take umbrage when I or others have suggested that quality was the root of success. I certainly don't hold myself out as the be-all and end-all of writing. I'm constantly trying to improve my craft, my reporting, and my business practices. But over the years, that effort has turned into more extensive word-of-mouth among clients and prospects, better clips, and greater ease in delivering what clients are really looking for. Everyone - but everyone - can get better, and if you find that the concept stings, you should take a cold, hard look at how you write and how you run your business. I've never known a person who was successful beyond luck or birth to operate in any other way.


3. Improve your markets. Amateurs have a difficult if not virtually impossible time in cracking top markets - or in staying there - because they don't have the abilities, experience, and willingness to deliver consistently what those markets require. Conversely, amateurs will gravitate toward lower-end markets because there are lower barriers to entry. In short, the bottom feeding clients want something for nothing, and they see writing as a commodity. You should drop such customers because they keep you from moving forward and destroy a sense of satisfaction in the work.

Complaining will do nothing, and nothing will change the course of markets. However, you can find ways to move against the tide and differentiate yourself from the crowd.

Is It Delta Sky Good?

Nothing heavy - just a bit of humor from the Onion in the satircal form of a supposed letter from the editor in chief of Delta Sky magazine. Do you get the sense that maybe someone's query was rejected?

Some Additional Views on the Kindle

The Kindle gets press because Amazon is such a big name that has shown it's not afraid to bully publishers and authors. In fact, if the product really takes off, publishers are going to have an enormous problem; so far as I know, you can only get compatible content through Amazon. I think it's clear that the company wants to become the Apple of downloadable music: Make the device that people want and become the only significant source for satisfying your content cravings.

There has been some additional press on the Kindle since the Book Expo America (BEA) in LA a week or so ago. Paul Krugman in the NYT thinks that a predominantly digital e-book model will drive book prices down to nothing, where they become something you give away to promote other activities, like bands making money on touring, licensing, and merchandise. Danny Hatch's Business Common Sense blog had an entry about the Kindle and Jeff Bezos's pitch for it at BEA. Apparently Amazon claims that the Kindle actually increases print sales:

According to his research, for every e-book bought, Kindle readers buy printed books as well. Kindle increases purchases (e-books plus printed books) by a factor of 2.6.

Who knows what would actually happen? What I do know is that people tend to use forms of communication that work best for particular reasons. Sending e-mails can be fine, but don't replace all uses of the phone. Instead, you could argue that people used to use the phone for virtually everything because it was less of a time sink, but that it wasn't really practical for everything, like having a record of an exchange. Many types of reading you do in a book don't work well on a screen - at least in my experience, and I've been reading heavily from screens for about the last 25 years, literally.

There are some other potential impacts on the book business that the Bezos presentation suggest:

• Amazon wants every book in print available as a Kindle title, which they admit is a big copyright issue. As Hatch notes, is it worth making a Kindle version of a niche title that sells little? That's a tricky question: some, like Chris Anderson and his idea of the long tail, might suggest that digital was the only way to go in such cases. Maybe that type of title is only available electronically, or for POD. That would suggest to me that POD vendors would have to find ways to directly print from popular e-book formats so there isn't double production work.


• Bezos touted how titles never go out of print, leveraging that long tail idea of bringing in money with no investment in inventory or story. POD could offer the same, but in either case you must ask how your book contract reads, and when a title goes out of print and rights revert to you. You're going to want a minimum - maybe 500 or 1000 copies a year - on the number selling via e-book and POD combined. Anything under that triggers the out-of-print reversion clause. But if you don't get such minimums in a contract, you will be stuck for the 35 years it takes, at least in the US, for you to be able to legally recall all rights.


• The Kindle only shows four shades of gray for now, so books depending on illustrations and colorful displays might only work in print. If you don't like the e-book route, that is something to consider in your conception of the book.


• There is built-in audio, so it could become an audio book player as well. (And why not music?) Authors might want to revisit the licensing out of audio book rights, as they might become more important.

One more point that should be read in its entirety:

A member of the audience asked Bezos if Kindle would change what authors and publishers do? “Wait and see,” was the reply. For example, Kindle could revive the old Charles Dickens model of publishing serials—or partsworks—that come out in sequence. Also, unlike printed books, if statistics change, the new material can be inserted, so that the Kindle book is always current.

And it's back to Krugman's point that things could change for authors. No more second editions, for example, which would mean an end to significant continuing revenue for some authors. As for the Dickens idea, where would the parts come out in sequence? That worked for him because he could publish the books in parts in newspapers and then reissue them as full editions. But with newspapers dwindling and magazines feeling the crunch, what would the outlets be? And how about the other major part of Dickens's income - lectures and readings? Are you ready for lessons on how to effectively read on stage and therapy to deal with issues of stage fright?

Some overtly happier thoughts: when people download books, they probably cannot return them, as with buying software or music. Also, publishers no longer have the "returns" issue that makes them and their authors crazy. Can you imagine a royalty statement with no need for reserves against returns?

It could be a different world, indeed.

Writing Memorable Phrases

Marketing expert Al Ries had an interesting piece in AdAge about some of the techniques that make for good marketing slogans. It seemed to me that the principles would not only apply to headlines and deks, but as ways of putting in the nuggets of memorable writing that can help make an article stick. (To say nothing of getting those doing corporate work to write better slogans.) Here are the techniques he mentioned (though read the article, because the examples are good):

• Rhyme and alliteration Used well, they can make language stick to the mind of the audience.


• Double entendre This is in the literal sense of a double meaning, and not necessarily a sexual double entendre. The tension between the two meanings helps cement the writing.


• Repetition This is a more sophisticated use than literally repeating the same thing. Instead, you use the concept two or three times in a row, underscoring it.


• Reversals This can be in the sense of chiasmus - the rhetorical structure where you use parallel construction but invert or reverse the latter ("Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country") - or a literal melding of opposite mental concepts, like sweet and sour.


• Pass-along phrasing Not only do you want the wording to be memorable - that is, lending itself to unconscious incorporation into memory - but you want it to contain words or concepts that one customer might use to pass on the message to another.

In addition to his strong list, I noticed three other points that I think bear consideration:

• Keep customers close Frame a concept with the customer in mind. Most of the winning slogans he mentioned communicate a vision of something the customer wants: a tractor that keeps running, non-messy chocolate, a newly cleaned drain, the promise of a job, getting your rear out of a sling by knowing the document you send will arrive by the deadline.


• Express big by talking small There is a specificity to the benefit or image that is important. For example, "You deserve a break today" speaks to a small benefit that people would like, and the delivery is an antidote for the larger disappointments of life.


• Specificity The more concrete the imagery, the more powerful the statement. I think that's why the "absolutely, positively" in the FedEx slogan works so well - because it conveys the real need of a member of the audience.

It would have been interesting to see some of the "bad" examples turned around. For instance, the EDS slogan "Expertise. Answers. Results." (which puts all the focus through the first two words on EDS, not their customers) could well have been changed to "Problems. Answers. Profits." or "Problems. Solutions. Pleasure." They aren't brilliant, but at least bring some sense of the customer in.

Young Readers Have "News Fatigue"

AP did a study - and wrote a story about it (and provided a link to the study) - that has some great insights into the news reading habits of younger (18 to 34) people, and points to some ways of addressing where their preferences and news delivery don't connect. The work was done by anthropologists in an ethnographic study:

• Overwhelmed by facts. Younger readers are drowning in information and have trouble navigating their way to deeper background and ultimate resolution of stories.


• Direct people. There needs to be a variety of content that satisfies consumer needs, with links that clearly get people to the relevant news they want.


• Old models don't work. Existing ways of packaging news simply don't work for younger audiences, and the new "let the user decide" self-aggregation approaches aren't any more satisfying for the audience than for the news organizations.


• Constant grazing. Younger readers "consume news across a multitude of platforms and sources, all day, constantly. That includes online video, blogs, social networks, mobile devices, RSS, word of mouth, Web portals, and search engines.


• Too many headlines. People are spending too much time "above the fold" (using the newspaper term) and actually see a problem in keeping up with news when everything becomes headlines and quick updates. A 24-hour news cycle produces excess of surface and a depth deficit.


• Repetition begets repulsion. People lose interest when the same stories get repeated and there is no development.


• Email is good - for some things. An email message is a natural vehicle for an update, and it's important to give people a way to get to depth from there.


• Readers are bored. As a result of seeing the same things in the same way, they keep moving from one place to another. It's important to give them ways to "quickly decide whether a news environment merits further exploration."


• In-depth links often aren't. Clicking on links for greater depth in stories often resulted in "the same content from a different 'news brand,' or on a different platform."


• Multitasking audience. Younger people tend to multitask when looking at news stories, so it takes more to catch their attention long enough to get involved with greater depth information.


• Learned helplessness. People find themselves feeling overwhelmed by news that they don't know what to do with, and feeling that it's all negative anyway, which makes them want to tune out. Satirical takes on the news in a way that at least lets them laugh while delivering information, providing an important emotional balance. "[Howard Stern] talks about things in a way I can relate to. I don’t need an anchor to tell me a script. I get it. For a lot of news it’s a case of if we don’t laugh, we’ll cry. I’d rather trust a satirist than a wax-faced suit on network news."


• Passive acceptance. Because of the emotional flailing, people were more likely to passively receive rather than actively seek news.


• Using emotional understanding to structure delivery. "The implication for the news industry is not to flood the marketplace with repetitive content, but to counter the audience’s anxiety and overload with compelling content delivered in innovative ways, whether it be with technology or tongue in cheek. It is important to keep in mind that learned helplessness is a chronic condition that can be reversed."


• Under promise and over deliver. Television trends show that younger audiences want things that deliver more than they appear to. That's a big reason why the cable fake news shows do well, because they start with entertainment, but actually dig into real questions that regular media often passes up.


• Get to the end. Story resolution is key to these people, with sports and entertainment being important, for one reason, because they offer a beginning, middle, and end. (Of course, the danger of using that sort of storytelling in other areas is that you could force journalists' narratives onto facts and ignore their actual implications.)

Here's my own digested summary. Younger people have different habits, but those are reinforced in unproductive ways by writers, editors, producers, and publishers who assume that they aren't interested in depth. The real problem is that navigation is poorly developed and labeled, and that more doesn't necessarily mean more depth, just more of the same.

The report is worth reading, because it also has examples of how some news operations are trying to address these issues. You need to know because this becomes a tool in many ways for a freelance writer: ammunition to help push for deeper reporting and longer stories on the web, an approac