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being political
SFWA politics, that is. For those of you who aren't members, sorry about this. For those of you who are members, and feel too delicate to wade into such things... it's time to toughen up.
I rarely speak publicly about SFWA. I am a lifetime member, have been a member since 1990 or thereabouts, and have also been a long-term volunteer for the organization, but I mostly stay quiet about my personal opinions therein. I can't, this year.
We have an election coming up. In a nice change of pace, we have two candidates in the ring for President from the very beginning: Russell Davis, SFWA's current Western Regional Director, and Andrew Burt, the current VP.
I know both men personally, over my years in the industry, and I have been following their actions in SFWA carefully for the past few years.
If you've also been following along at home, you already know who to vote for. If you haven't, here's my suggestion: vote for Davis.
Why? John Scalzi has the full rundown here, complete with his own rather scathing [if accurate] personal commentary. But I can give you a capsule explanation:
Russell Davis has put his time in the trenches. He's earned his bread as a writer (novels and short fiction) and as an editor (for a small but advance-paying press), and knows the reality of the industry. His platform is well-thought-out and practical, even if I don't agree with all of it. And, perhaps more to the point, he has the respect of people within and without SFWA; people he will need to accomplish anything in that position.
Andrew Burt has published five stories in the past decade, and one novel. I won't go into the possible disqualification of that novel being technically self-published, because the stories were enough to get him in, but it's worth noting that he seems to treat his writing not as a career, or even a beloved sideline, but as a step toward SFWA office. Is that someone we want leading our organization?
Even if you can overlook that, there's the fact that he has, over his term in SFWA, managed to alienate pretty much everyone who has ever worked with him, and a large number of people who stopped to actually listen to him, including me. Even for a lawyer, that's impressive. His last act as a member of the anti-piracy committee [leaving out any discussion of the right/wrongness of that action] created such a stink [the infamous inaccurate DMCA letter] that he -- rather than stepping aside for the good of the organization, had to be forced aside by the membership. In short, he is arrogant, narrow-viewed, and seems to believe that it doesn't matter what the membership or the outside world thinks, so long as he knows what is right for us.
If he is elected, for the first time in my twenty years as a member, I honestly believe that SFWA will not survive. And despite my gripes and disappointments with the organization, I still believe in it, and what it can accomplish. Allowing Andrew Burt to destroy it from within would be a damned shame, and one that we the membership can prevent. All it takes is that you vote.
note: comments welcome, but keep it civil. This thread I will be moderating, if needed.
I rarely speak publicly about SFWA. I am a lifetime member, have been a member since 1990 or thereabouts, and have also been a long-term volunteer for the organization, but I mostly stay quiet about my personal opinions therein. I can't, this year.
We have an election coming up. In a nice change of pace, we have two candidates in the ring for President from the very beginning: Russell Davis, SFWA's current Western Regional Director, and Andrew Burt, the current VP.
I know both men personally, over my years in the industry, and I have been following their actions in SFWA carefully for the past few years.
If you've also been following along at home, you already know who to vote for. If you haven't, here's my suggestion: vote for Davis.
Why? John Scalzi has the full rundown here, complete with his own rather scathing [if accurate] personal commentary. But I can give you a capsule explanation:
Russell Davis has put his time in the trenches. He's earned his bread as a writer (novels and short fiction) and as an editor (for a small but advance-paying press), and knows the reality of the industry. His platform is well-thought-out and practical, even if I don't agree with all of it. And, perhaps more to the point, he has the respect of people within and without SFWA; people he will need to accomplish anything in that position.
Andrew Burt has published five stories in the past decade, and one novel. I won't go into the possible disqualification of that novel being technically self-published, because the stories were enough to get him in, but it's worth noting that he seems to treat his writing not as a career, or even a beloved sideline, but as a step toward SFWA office. Is that someone we want leading our organization?
Even if you can overlook that, there's the fact that he has, over his term in SFWA, managed to alienate pretty much everyone who has ever worked with him, and a large number of people who stopped to actually listen to him, including me. Even for a lawyer, that's impressive. His last act as a member of the anti-piracy committee [leaving out any discussion of the right/wrongness of that action] created such a stink [the infamous inaccurate DMCA letter] that he -- rather than stepping aside for the good of the organization, had to be forced aside by the membership. In short, he is arrogant, narrow-viewed, and seems to believe that it doesn't matter what the membership or the outside world thinks, so long as he knows what is right for us.
If he is elected, for the first time in my twenty years as a member, I honestly believe that SFWA will not survive. And despite my gripes and disappointments with the organization, I still believe in it, and what it can accomplish. Allowing Andrew Burt to destroy it from within would be a damned shame, and one that we the membership can prevent. All it takes is that you vote.
note: comments welcome, but keep it civil. This thread I will be moderating, if needed.
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I particularly liked the description Scalzi made of Burt's writing career as an affectation.....
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And the phrase "head-shaking arse candle" made me want to send flowers. A thing of beauty, a joy forever...
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I yearly wonder why I re-up both my memberships to SFWA and IAMTW, but I end up re-upping for some reason. If I ever figure out why, I'll be much wealthier, I'm sure.
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Of course, from what I've seen of RWA, they've got even more, er, organisational issues. In a way, I'm pleased I don't qualify.
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I keep wavering on RWA, since I do, technically, qualify. They've done a lot of things right, mainly via the regional chapters, that I wish SFWA could emulate, but they also have a "prepublished" category that makes my teeth hurt...
Author's Guild isn't doing anything for me right now the Freelancer's Guild isn't as well, but I do keep an eye on them. They're the closest thing to a real union we've got, which is both a plus and a minus...
no subject