Comments on: Monday Guest Blog by Lisa http://tworavenspress.wordpress.com/2008/06/23/monday-guest-blog-by-lisa-9/ A blog about life in a small literary publisher ... on a remote Scottish croft Tue, 10 Nov 2009 14:26:56 +0000 http://wordpress.com/ hourly 1 By: Sharon http://tworavenspress.wordpress.com/2008/06/23/monday-guest-blog-by-lisa-9/#comment-258 Sharon Tue, 24 Jun 2008 09:06:22 +0000 http://tworavenspress.wordpress.com/?p=100#comment-258 Alex - that's appalling. And Lisa, I'm afraid I don't believe in free speech any more - or free anything else very much - in this country. We imagine we still have it because no-one has actively taken it away, but it's being eroded more and more with every year that goes by, and often in ways that we don't notice till it's too late. Spot the paranoiac!! - But never give it up if there's anything you can still use to fight with. (There goes the closet revolutionary). And Alex, I'm with you on Google Alert! Alex – that’s appalling. And Lisa, I’m afraid I don’t believe in free speech any more – or free anything else very much – in this country. We imagine we still have it because no-one has actively taken it away, but it’s being eroded more and more with every year that goes by, and often in ways that we don’t notice till it’s too late. Spot the paranoiac!! – But never give it up if there’s anything you can still use to fight with. (There goes the closet revolutionary). And Alex, I’m with you on Google Alert!

]]> By: Lisa http://tworavenspress.wordpress.com/2008/06/23/monday-guest-blog-by-lisa-9/#comment-255 Lisa Mon, 23 Jun 2008 21:24:49 +0000 http://tworavenspress.wordpress.com/?p=100#comment-255 I find that very shocking, Alex. What a horrible introduction to blogging. I do like your method of outfoxing the Google alert, however ;) I find that very shocking, Alex. What a horrible introduction to blogging.

I do like your method of outfoxing the Google alert, however ;)

]]> By: Alex Pheby http://tworavenspress.wordpress.com/2008/06/23/monday-guest-blog-by-lisa-9/#comment-254 Alex Pheby Mon, 23 Jun 2008 18:31:41 +0000 http://tworavenspress.wordpress.com/?p=100#comment-254 As someone who has been threatened with legal action over the content of his blog ( http://thestoryofthei.wordpress.com/ ) I can personally attest to the paranoia of writers and their representatives. Google Alert combined with the insularity of the publishing world is a bad recipe if you have an interest in reading opinion on the industry. All it takes is for an author to take a dislike to something you say and they can be on to you in minutes. I had a certain Booker winner's publisher get in contact with a senior staff member at the university where I work/study with whom they were acquainted (he's a famous writer) who asked me to remove comments I made within a day of making them - this on a blog read by an average of ten people a day... being in no position to fight a legal battle I had to agree. A week or so later, the same person got in touch about something else, and again I felt it better to take it down. In future I will have to be a bit less open (perhaps write satirical poetry) and also remember to spell people's names in the modern urban style - substituting letters for numbers as in ' Al3x Ph3by' - thereby outsmarting the mighty Google Alert. As someone who has been threatened with legal action over the content of his blog ( http://thestoryofthei.wordpress.com/ ) I can personally attest to the paranoia of writers and their representatives. Google Alert combined with the insularity of the publishing world is a bad recipe if you have an interest in reading opinion on the industry. All it takes is for an author to take a dislike to something you say and they can be on to you in minutes. I had a certain Booker winner’s publisher get in contact with a senior staff member at the university where I work/study with whom they were acquainted (he’s a famous writer) who asked me to remove comments I made within a day of making them – this on a blog read by an average of ten people a day… being in no position to fight a legal battle I had to agree. A week or so later, the same person got in touch about something else, and again I felt it better to take it down.
In future I will have to be a bit less open (perhaps write satirical poetry) and also remember to spell people’s names in the modern urban style – substituting letters for numbers as in ‘ Al3x Ph3by’ – thereby outsmarting the mighty Google Alert.

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