The Writer's Strike

I'm amazed that I don't see more discussion about the Writer's Strike on my writer's lists. Maybe it's understood that we support the writers' guild, but I'm not so sure about that. One major issue of this strike is that currently media producers can offer clips of shows as "promo" on the internet without paying writers for that content. Okay, that sort of seems fair. Except that the length of a clip for "advertising purposes" can be the entire show. Does it seem fair then? Watch this before you answer Why are short story and novel writers silent on this? Do they think this issue doesn't affect us too? It does. We need to wake up and pay attention because with the world of publishing changing, electronic publishing and media rights will affect us more than they have in the past. And since so few of us have agents to protect our rights, media companies are getting bolder about taking advantage. Last year, I sold a story to a fairly big publisher for an anthology. The call was for one time North American print rights only. For the amount they were paying that was reasonable. However, when I got the contract, the rights they asked me to sign over included the ability to reprint my entire story for "advertising purposes." I told the publisher that up to 50% of the story was enough for "promo." You know, a clip. They said no, it had to be 100%. Not a big deal, you might say, except that this publisher owns several websites and magazines. If I would have signed that contract, they would have had the right to republish my story as many times as they wanted to, any time they wanted to, in any of the media outlets they owned without paying me another cent or without getting my permission. That isn't one time North American rights. That's my electronic publishing rights too, and it affects my ability to sell that story to anyone else today and for the rest of my life. So I pulled my story. You'd think other writers would be supportive about someone standing up and saying, "This isn't right." No. Only Kate Dominic agreed that it was a terrible contract and that the call for submissions had been misleading. Other writers warned me that by taking a stand, I branded myself a problem writer and no publisher would ever touch my work again. They warned me that I shouldn't ever mention my issues with that contract, as if it was somehow shameful or wrong to question the wording. They argued that other writers signed that contract with no problem. Well, maybe the other writers didn't read their contracts carefully enough, or understand what they were signing away, or maybe they believed that the publisher had their best interests at heart. Right. Just because someone else was fine with signing away his/her rights for a fraction of what they're worth doesn't mean I should be too. So, was refusing to be a doormat career death? Hardly. I've sold about 10 stories and another novel since then. Creative people should give away their work free for "Promo purposes?" Please. Who writes this stuff?