Sophinisba Solis (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
sophinisba) wrote2011-11-20 03:55 pm
sophinisba) wrote2011-11-20 03:55 pm
Entry tags:
Blanket permission again
So, say you're a fanfic writer. You watch the latest episode of your show, or something that just happened in your offline life reminds you of the book characters you've loved since you were ten, or you read another fic and it gives you an idea for something you'd like to write. The next step might be to open up your word processor or Google docs or Written Kitten, or maybe you start typing directly into the comment box at the kink meme or at your friend's journal. Maybe it won't come to anything, but you want to get some words down right now. Working on a new project when the idea is fresh can be really exciting and fun (or also really scary and difficult, or both, depending on what kind of writer you are).
Okay and then, say the way you participate in fandom is to make podfic. You are reading a fic and you start hearing it in your head and then you start saying the words aloud and enjoying how sexy/funny/poignant/awesome they sound. You love this fic and you bet other people do too and at least one or two of them would like to listen to your reading of it. You would like to open up Garageband or Audacity right now and start recording, and see how it goes. If you know the author has given blanket permission, you can do that.
In fact, you can always do that, but if there's no blanket permission there's always a chance that you won't be allowed to share the podfic you're making. And most of the time there isn't blanket permission, so you don't start recording. You start searching, check the author's journal profile to see if there's a podfic policy. If it's not there, you try checking their fic index or their AO3 profile. Maybe you go look at the Blanket Permission to Podfic list thatparaka, klb, and others have been maintaining at Fanlore. But, although there are now more than 500 authors listed there, this author probably isn't one of them.
So you get to write to the author, and if you're friends already that might be easy, but they might be busy or their LJ notifications might not be working or for some other reason they might not answer for a few days or more, and in the meantime you're not recording.
Or they might be a stranger, and you don't know anything about them, like whether they tend to answer emails or whether they even know what podfic is. Or maybe you know them kinda sorta, maybe you've even podficced them before and they said of course you could record, but they didn't say "any time", or maybe they didn't ever comment on that other podfic when you posted it.
If you are new to making podfic or if you are shy, sending that kind of email or PM or writing that kind of comment to a stranger can be especially difficult, and maybe you put it off. And though most authors like the idea of being podficced and will write back right away to say yes, there are all kinds of reasons why they might not. So you wait for days, and maybe weeks. You try to tell yourself it's just a missed communication but you start to wonder whether they author's not saying anything because they heard something else of yours and thought it sucked, or if you've offended them in some other way.
And look, I'm not saying that we have the right to record every story we like. Some authors don't like podfic. Some authors don't like their old fics. Some authors have privacy concerns and need to discuss each potential podfic specifically and set limits on how they can be identified. We care about the authors' feelings and we don't want to do something they're uncomfortable with, and if they say no (or if they don't answer) we either don't record at all or don't post. We are not trying to change that or push people into something they don't want.
What we're saying is that authors who are so inclined could do a small thing to save us a lot of time and worry.
The thing is, most of the time the holdup is not because the author doesn't want podfic. Sometimes it just doesn't occur to them that anyone would be interested in their work. Or maybe they don't have any social anxiety, or maybe they do but they think they're very approachable, and it doesn't occur to them that writing to ask for permission might be really difficult for someone. They figure, "Probably no one's interested, and if they are they can always just ask."
And often, the asking is easy (*waves to author friends who answer my permission requests within minutes*), but sometimes and for some people it's hard. The asking also creates expectations, even if we don't promise anything. Twice in the past week I've written to an author and gotten podfic permission from them, but haven't recorded the story because I wanted to do it as part of a set, and I haven't been able to get permission for the other story that would be part of the set. Sometimes things come up and you just never finish, and since you know that that might happen you don't want to write to the author unless you're sure you can go through with finishing and posting. Again, that can be especially difficult if you're new to podficcing and don't really know what you're capable of finishing, or whether you're going to be brave enough to post.
So, dear authors, even if no one has ever expressed interest in podficcing your stuff, even if you don't think you're intimidating in the least, please take a few seconds to think about whether you're against it. If not, please consider taking a minute to add a sentence to your profile and/or masterlist to make potential podficcers' lives easier (and, possibly, to save yourself the time and effort of answering their requests). Here are some examples of statements that you can copy or adapt if you want:
-I give blanket permission for anyone to podfic any of my stories.
-If you would like to podfic any of my stories, please go ahead! Drop me a link when it's done!
-You do not need to ask my permission to remix, podfic, translate, create art for or create secondary fanwork of any fanwork I have created. You should credit me and include a link back to my work. And please let me know because I'd love to see it.
-If you're interested in podficcing one of my stories, please get in touch with me first by [preferred method of contact].
-If you want to podfic one of my stories, I will say yes, but I'd like it if you could check in with me first by [preferred method of contact].
-I give permission for people to podfic my stories, with the exception of...
And if for whatever reason you don't want to put anything about podfic or secondary fanworks on your profile or index, consider leaving a comment that says something like "I give blanket permission" at the permission to record? *\o/* post on![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
amplificathon (Dreamwidth), the permission to record? *\o/* post on ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
amplificathon (LJ), or for that matter this post of mine that you're reading. We will add your name and a link to the Blanket Permission to Podfic page at Fanlore, and we will be grateful.
Okay and then, say the way you participate in fandom is to make podfic. You are reading a fic and you start hearing it in your head and then you start saying the words aloud and enjoying how sexy/funny/poignant/awesome they sound. You love this fic and you bet other people do too and at least one or two of them would like to listen to your reading of it. You would like to open up Garageband or Audacity right now and start recording, and see how it goes. If you know the author has given blanket permission, you can do that.
In fact, you can always do that, but if there's no blanket permission there's always a chance that you won't be allowed to share the podfic you're making. And most of the time there isn't blanket permission, so you don't start recording. You start searching, check the author's journal profile to see if there's a podfic policy. If it's not there, you try checking their fic index or their AO3 profile. Maybe you go look at the Blanket Permission to Podfic list that
paraka, klb, and others have been maintaining at Fanlore. But, although there are now more than 500 authors listed there, this author probably isn't one of them.So you get to write to the author, and if you're friends already that might be easy, but they might be busy or their LJ notifications might not be working or for some other reason they might not answer for a few days or more, and in the meantime you're not recording.
Or they might be a stranger, and you don't know anything about them, like whether they tend to answer emails or whether they even know what podfic is. Or maybe you know them kinda sorta, maybe you've even podficced them before and they said of course you could record, but they didn't say "any time", or maybe they didn't ever comment on that other podfic when you posted it.
If you are new to making podfic or if you are shy, sending that kind of email or PM or writing that kind of comment to a stranger can be especially difficult, and maybe you put it off. And though most authors like the idea of being podficced and will write back right away to say yes, there are all kinds of reasons why they might not. So you wait for days, and maybe weeks. You try to tell yourself it's just a missed communication but you start to wonder whether they author's not saying anything because they heard something else of yours and thought it sucked, or if you've offended them in some other way.
And look, I'm not saying that we have the right to record every story we like. Some authors don't like podfic. Some authors don't like their old fics. Some authors have privacy concerns and need to discuss each potential podfic specifically and set limits on how they can be identified. We care about the authors' feelings and we don't want to do something they're uncomfortable with, and if they say no (or if they don't answer) we either don't record at all or don't post. We are not trying to change that or push people into something they don't want.
What we're saying is that authors who are so inclined could do a small thing to save us a lot of time and worry.
The thing is, most of the time the holdup is not because the author doesn't want podfic. Sometimes it just doesn't occur to them that anyone would be interested in their work. Or maybe they don't have any social anxiety, or maybe they do but they think they're very approachable, and it doesn't occur to them that writing to ask for permission might be really difficult for someone. They figure, "Probably no one's interested, and if they are they can always just ask."
And often, the asking is easy (*waves to author friends who answer my permission requests within minutes*), but sometimes and for some people it's hard. The asking also creates expectations, even if we don't promise anything. Twice in the past week I've written to an author and gotten podfic permission from them, but haven't recorded the story because I wanted to do it as part of a set, and I haven't been able to get permission for the other story that would be part of the set. Sometimes things come up and you just never finish, and since you know that that might happen you don't want to write to the author unless you're sure you can go through with finishing and posting. Again, that can be especially difficult if you're new to podficcing and don't really know what you're capable of finishing, or whether you're going to be brave enough to post.
So, dear authors, even if no one has ever expressed interest in podficcing your stuff, even if you don't think you're intimidating in the least, please take a few seconds to think about whether you're against it. If not, please consider taking a minute to add a sentence to your profile and/or masterlist to make potential podficcers' lives easier (and, possibly, to save yourself the time and effort of answering their requests). Here are some examples of statements that you can copy or adapt if you want:
-I give blanket permission for anyone to podfic any of my stories.
-If you would like to podfic any of my stories, please go ahead! Drop me a link when it's done!
-You do not need to ask my permission to remix, podfic, translate, create art for or create secondary fanwork of any fanwork I have created. You should credit me and include a link back to my work. And please let me know because I'd love to see it.
-If you're interested in podficcing one of my stories, please get in touch with me first by [preferred method of contact].
-If you want to podfic one of my stories, I will say yes, but I'd like it if you could check in with me first by [preferred method of contact].
-I give permission for people to podfic my stories, with the exception of...
And if for whatever reason you don't want to put anything about podfic or secondary fanworks on your profile or index, consider leaving a comment that says something like "I give blanket permission" at the permission to record? *\o/* post on
amplificathon (Dreamwidth), the permission to record? *\o/* post on amplificathon (LJ), or for that matter this post of mine that you're reading. We will add your name and a link to the Blanket Permission to Podfic page at Fanlore, and we will be grateful.