6 ms·

Why I Told CBS Corporation To Sue Me Without Wearing A Shirt

51 points by lionhearted 15y ago

GiraffeNecktie 15y ago
I started reading the previous rant from the author - the letter to the CBS president - and stopped at the point where he goes ballistic because his 'immediate' payment took six weeks. For a giant corporation to cut a check six weeks sounds pretty immediate to me. I feel sorry for his agent.
deleted 15y ago
[deleted]
- deleted 15y ago
  [deleted]
  - zbowling 15y ago
    Went ahead and deleted it after the down vote party started. I was referring to the long back story and video on all the other posts.
asto 15y ago
More like "Why I told CBS Corporation to sue me while not wearing a shirt". When I read the title, I thought he wanted them not to wear shirts when they sued him! Edit: changed "you" to "him" and "he" after zbowler pointed out that the author is not the one who posted on HN
- zbowling 15y ago
  He is just the author, not the editor.
  - zbowling 15y ago
    in reply to your edit, actually I was referring to the fact that he is an author, and editors usually catch mistakes like that and not to the person that posted to HN (although reading his twitter, timing would lead me to be believe they are the same person).
zbowling 15y ago
YouTube seems to be hating on this video. He only tears up about ~$60 that I can tell. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hhVJl-OBEY4#t=861s http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hhVJl-OBEY4#t=861s
- lionhearted 15y ago
  $50 USD, $70 USD worth of yen, $30 USD of euros, $16 USD of yuan, and I'm not sure the exchange rates on Singapore or UAE. It was well-spent.
- deleted 15y ago
  [deleted]
- vasco 15y ago
  I was under the impression that it is illegal to tear up money, is this the case in the US as well?
smtf 15y ago
Here is a direct link to the youtube video. The video in page on Marshall's site wouldn't load for me: http://youtu.be/hhVJl-OBEY4 http://youtu.be/hhVJl-OBEY4
MengYuanLong 15y ago
Wow. So I read through his post, watched the video, and read the letter he wrote to S&S. All the while, I couldn't help but feel I recognized/knew/ or had read this guy's stuff before. Somewhere around his mention of accomplishing super-human feats and cyclothymia, I connected him to the "Stop Being a Fucking Joker" rant. I look forward to reading additional commentary about op's post and Mr. Marshall; but, I can't help but feel a distaste for his seemingly common use of public shaming. Perhaps a more effective and less aggressive form of communication would allow him to avoid these public spats. Then again, perhaps it is all part of a very effective pr campaign. After all, I now know who this guy is and am able to identify his writing.
- lionhearted 15y ago
  These are great points, I'd like to address all of them - First, yes. Second, I've never released contact info or identifying details of anyone on my side - an employee, investor, or partner. Ever. It's always obfuscated pretty well - you have to protect people. Third, everyone in an organization or the specific people will know, but that's what you get with me. Radical honesty/transparency... it's awesome, it's so liberating, and people are thoroughly informed that that's how it goes with me. It's not for everyone, that's for sure Fourth, I'm gentler/nicer to people who are quiet, etc - you obviously don't hear about that... I try to communicate in a person's desired style, which is aggressive for driver-type people, but I'm more creative/relaxed with creatives, and very calm with calm people. Fifth, the publishing industry's bullshit needs to end, and I need to air this out publicly. It's the only leverage anyone has. Merlin Mann's "Cranking" essay is what gave me confidence to stand up publicly, take a lot of abuse, and look to improve things. Thank you for sharing your honest thoughts here.
  - MengYuanLong 15y ago
    Thank you for your response. One thing I love about Hacker News is the frequency that you get to engage in actual discussions with the authors. I am somewhat weary/apprehensive of your style, but I must confess I find it rather intoxicating. I certainly plan to read through more of your postings and archives. Most of all, I am glad to hear you adjust the message to the audience. I would expect nothing less from a marketing savvy individual but it is still comforting to read. Good luck with your fight, it is unfortunate that so many industries continue to cling to outdated business practices and models.
mindcrime 15y ago
Amazing, absolutely amazing. The world needs more people like this. I don't even care if you agree or disagree with his fundamental position, or any specific details of what he's talking about.... but I admire the man for the willingness to do his own thing, to essentially tell a $MEGACORP to go fuck themselves, and to spit in the eye of the haters. A little less political correctness, a little more uninhibited behavior and a healthy splash of controversy are always welcome, as far as I'm concerned. Yeah, that delivery doesn't "work" for everybody, but some people need a little shock-value to capture their attention. And some people are inspired by seeing others show the willingness to step outside the perceived boundaries of their world. Go Sebastian!
- lionhearted 15y ago
  Thank you. A lot of people dislike me, but the people that appreciate what I'm doing keep me going, and we do a hell of a lot together. Godspeed.
- DanBC 15y ago
  You know that "uninhibited behaviour" is a result of a serious mental health problem (bipolar), right? Being mentally ill isn't really a lifestyle choice.
  - srl 15y ago
    He said "a little more". There's a difference between being knowingly irrational from time to time and killing people on a whim.
    - teaspoon 15y ago
      Just so you know, bipolar people are knowingly irrational from time to time and rarely kill people.
    - DanBC 15y ago
      But people with bipolar don't get to choose whether it's a little more or a lot more. That's the nature of the illness. You start with an exciting, powerful, bit of extra oomph, which is narrowly balanced between useful extra capacity to get stuff done on one side and out of control mania on the other. This can last months or years. Sometimes followed by a crash; and the crashes are nasty. (Obviously there are different forms of bipolar, and not all forms follow that pattern.) (Also, I don't get why you chose to link violent behaviour with mental health problems. People with mental health problems are much more likely to be the victims of violence than the perpetrators.)
xiaoma 15y ago
I just watched the video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hhVJl-OBEY4 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hhVJl-OBEY4. It's an extended rant directed at his agent. Summary: It seems he pissed off his publisher and his agent recommended he find another publisher and pay back what the publisher forwarded him. He doesn't think he'll be able to find another publisher or sell that many books, so he took off his shirt and made a long video in which he continually chastises his agent, rips up some of his money and rants about how the industry is crumbling and the internet will destroy them.
- lionhearted 15y ago
  Incorrect. Correct summary: I think the publishing industry is a cartel that abuses their editors, copy-editors, writers, authors, and so on. They're anti-modern, treat people bad, and threaten them. I'm taking a principled stand against them, and already walked away from $50,000 to do it. If you disagree, just say so instead of being passive aggressive. Then real dialog happens. Edit: This has been upvoted, and then downvoted. Hold on a second - this guy mis-summarizes in a snarky way instead of just saying what he thinks. He could write, "He's arrogant" (perhaps) or "I disagree with his style" (your call) or "I think publishing is awesome and in the right here" (you're crazy if you think so) - but instead, he mis-summarizes what's going on. That's basically the definition of passive-aggressive: Not saying what you really think, and being hostile anyways. I say, "Hey, say what you think and get a dialog going" (I addressed some thoughtful points below, and answered them all) - and you upvote him with his petty snark, and not the guy saying "Hey, if you disagree, say it and we can discuss"? Wouldn't you like a more honest world? No?
  - vasco 15y ago
    How do you know with such certainty that what he wrote isn't what he thinks?
    - lionhearted 15y ago
      > How do you know with such certainty that what he wrote isn't what he thinks? Do you want an actual, serious answer? So, I try to always get at the subtext of people's words. You never 100% know for sure what anyone else is thinking, but you can put some intelligent guesses on it, and then ask people what they're actually thinking and see if you're right. If you practice, you get better at it. Figuring out what people are thinking when they say something is just a skill like any other, and can be improved by practice. His tone there ignores all the points that were made, and focuses on the most petty interpretation of my actions. I had research numbers, trends, talked about marketing/distribution shifts, whatever... so what's he really mean with his snark? I'm being really open here, maybe it's offensive, but here's how I analyzed it - I think the emotion is roughly "I don't like this!!" and he doesn't analyze why. He then takes the worst possible interpretation, and puts that up in to assert some sort of... aloof superiority? It's hard to put great words on this, but he's basically writing off everything I said about trends, distribution, agency, everything with a hand wave. Why do that? Because he had some negative emotional reaction, of course. But instead of asking himself, "Why do I dislike this?" and saying that, he just snarks out and gets passive aggressive. Honestly - again, hyper-honesty - I think it's pretty weak and pathetic. Call me arrogant, say my tone is wrong, disagree with my analysis, call me a dick, say my points are out of touch, whatever, honesty is cool and we can work with. But ["I don't like this!!" -> Snark] is... well, it's weak, don't you think?
DanBC 15y ago
We need cstross to explain what "the cartel" does - trawl through slush piles, work with authors to produce manuscripts, edit, typeset, print, and distribute books. ebooks should make a lot of this easier and better and more efficient, but the workflow and tools don't appear to be there yet. And Sturgeon's Law (90% of everything is bullshit) is skewed to 98% with self-publishing. It's interesting to note that Sebastian had this revelation after taking $65,000 of Simon & Schuester's money in advance for a 50,000 - 60,000 word book that he has not given them. (Weirdly, he's written 180,000 words, so why he doesn't just send that and get it edited down to 50k is confusing.)
- lionhearted 15y ago
  I only got paid the first 1/3rd, and walked away from the second 2/3rds after we were almost complete. Writing that honest letter cost me $42,900. Maybe I'm a jerk, maybe you want to defend how badly traditional publishing treats their authors and staff (do you really think they can't do better? much better?) - but yeah, I walked away from around $50k here, and the writing was already agreed by agent and editor to be excellent at that point. Principled stand, man. Most people don't get it, can't get it. But I think things need to improve, so I'm going to try to force things to improve.
  - cperciva 15y ago
    Quitting a job you hate is not "taking a principled stand". Taking a principled stand would be if you said "I love working with you, but I can't do it if you're going to continue to (print books on paper made from unsustainable forestry practices | allow the Chinese government to censor books | do other random evil stuff)". The fact that you wrote a multi-page rant about how much you hate working with them demonstrates that you're quitting for your own sake, not because of any "principles".
    - lionhearted 15y ago
      > Quitting a job you hate is not "taking a principled stand". I disagree. How much would the world change if everyone started doing it tomorrow? > you're quitting for your own sake, not because of any "principles". We're already written. I told them they need to improve how they treat people, audit and remove bureaucracy, and do better for everyone to keep working with me. I didn't ask for any terms for myself. Just doing better in general, modernizing, and treating everyone better. I probably could have gotten my personal goals met easily with a personal letter, instead I'm in a public fight. You can be as cynical as you want, but I walked away from $50k, a solid credential, and a lot of open doors to try to improve an important-but-badly-flawed-industry. Anyways. Keep your cynicism and skepticism. I admire it, actually, and the open dialog. But if you change your mind later, will you write it publicly? A lot more is going to happen going forwards.
cperciva 15y ago
Really hard to judge this without seeing the letter the author was sent. If "repayment... more money than you even got" means pay back the advance plus interest because the book is being cancelled, this seems entirely reasonable. If it's "pay back the advance plus a million dollars because we feel like being unreasonable", that's a completely different story of course. But it's definitely pegging my crazyometer.
- lionhearted 15y ago
  Read for yourself - http://www.sebastianmarshall.com/an-open-letter-to-simon-and-schuester-ceo-carolyn-reidy http://www.sebastianmarshall.com/an-open-letter-to-simon-and... I think it was raw, honest, and necessary. Maybe too mean? But again, it was 100% true. > If it's "pay back the advance plus a million dollars because we feel like being unreasonable", that's a completely different story of course. Ah, you missed the context. My agent was telling me that if I don't shut up and agree to terms immediately, I have to pay back his share of the advance to the publishing house. And I negotiated him up after he signed me from the standard 15% to 25% because I like people to be well-played. He didn't address when things were bad, forced bad terms in the contract to go through, didn't negotiate in my favor, and now threatened me... the whole industry is scummed up, man. People need to know what really happens - there's lots of stories like this, but most get hushed up. > But it's definitely pegging my crazyometer. Yeah, mine too. But don't you have to be a little crazy to walk away from a guaranteed $42,900 and fight a multi-billion dollar corporation with a massive legal team?
srl 15y ago
Thank you for doing this. Not that I give a damn, quite frankly, about the publishing industry. (I probably should, but I don't.) But the "shut up or we'll threaten to sue you - and just the threat will ruin you for a decade" meme is popping up all over the place (patent trolls, illegitimate MAFIAA takedowns taking years to resolve, and so on), and too often people go the logical route, sit down, and try to piece together their new life from under the boot. Every batshit-crazy shirtless nut we have is one more good role model for how to deal with this brand of thuggery. So thanks, and keep it up.
- DanBC 15y ago
  > "shut up or we'll threaten to sue you - and just the threat will ruin you for a decade" That's not what's happening here. Perhaps you could point me to what's been said that makes you think it is what's happening?
vonskippy 15y ago
I'm pretty sure they have drugs for that now. The manic part, not the douchebag part (I"m pretty sure you're beyond help on that one).
corkill 15y ago
I don't understand, what would agents like Jim do if there was no "publishing cartel"? What are they currently doing that they would continue doing? I think not wearing a shirt makes it: -less likely I will share it -harder to assign credibility (even though I have already read your work and know your smart) -harder to focus on what your saying and finish video These shirted videos are awesome http://www.sebastianmarshall.com/my-approach-to-business http://www.sebastianmarshall.com/my-approach-to-business

51 points by lionhearted 15y ago

I started reading the previous rant from the author - the letter to the CBS president - and stopped at the point where he goes ballistic because his 'immediate' payment took six weeks. For a giant corporation to cut a check six weeks sounds pretty immediate to me. I feel sorry for his agent.

deleted 15y ago

[deleted]

deleted 15y ago
[deleted]
- zbowling 15y ago
  Went ahead and deleted it after the down vote party started. I was referring to the long back story and video on all the other posts.

asto 15y ago

More like "Why I told CBS Corporation to sue me while not wearing a shirt". When I read the title, I thought he wanted them not to wear shirts when they sued him! Edit: changed "you" to "him" and "he" after zbowler pointed out that the author is not the one who posted on HN

zbowling 15y ago
He is just the author, not the editor.
- zbowling 15y ago
  in reply to your edit, actually I was referring to the fact that he is an author, and editors usually catch mistakes like that and not to the person that posted to HN (although reading his twitter, timing would lead me to be believe they are the same person).

zbowling 15y ago

YouTube seems to be hating on this video. He only tears up about ~$60 that I can tell. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hhVJl-OBEY4#t=861s http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hhVJl-OBEY4#t=861s

lionhearted 15y ago
$50 USD, $70 USD worth of yen, $30 USD of euros, $16 USD of yuan, and I'm not sure the exchange rates on Singapore or UAE. It was well-spent.
deleted 15y ago
[deleted]
vasco 15y ago
I was under the impression that it is illegal to tear up money, is this the case in the US as well?

smtf 15y ago

Here is a direct link to the youtube video. The video in page on Marshall's site wouldn't load for me: http://youtu.be/hhVJl-OBEY4 http://youtu.be/hhVJl-OBEY4

MengYuanLong 15y ago

Wow. So I read through his post, watched the video, and read the letter he wrote to S&S. All the while, I couldn't help but feel I recognized/knew/ or had read this guy's stuff before. Somewhere around his mention of accomplishing super-human feats and cyclothymia, I connected him to the "Stop Being a Fucking Joker" rant. I look forward to reading additional commentary about op's post and Mr. Marshall; but, I can't help but feel a distaste for his seemingly common use of public shaming. Perhaps a more effective and less aggressive form of communication would allow him to avoid these public spats. Then again, perhaps it is all part of a very effective pr campaign. After all, I now know who this guy is and am able to identify his writing.

lionhearted 15y ago
These are great points, I'd like to address all of them - First, yes. Second, I've never released contact info or identifying details of anyone on my side - an employee, investor, or partner. Ever. It's always obfuscated pretty well - you have to protect people. Third, everyone in an organization or the specific people will know, but that's what you get with me. Radical honesty/transparency... it's awesome, it's so liberating, and people are thoroughly informed that that's how it goes with me. It's not for everyone, that's for sure Fourth, I'm gentler/nicer to people who are quiet, etc - you obviously don't hear about that... I try to communicate in a person's desired style, which is aggressive for driver-type people, but I'm more creative/relaxed with creatives, and very calm with calm people. Fifth, the publishing industry's bullshit needs to end, and I need to air this out publicly. It's the only leverage anyone has. Merlin Mann's "Cranking" essay is what gave me confidence to stand up publicly, take a lot of abuse, and look to improve things. Thank you for sharing your honest thoughts here.
- MengYuanLong 15y ago
  Thank you for your response. One thing I love about Hacker News is the frequency that you get to engage in actual discussions with the authors. I am somewhat weary/apprehensive of your style, but I must confess I find it rather intoxicating. I certainly plan to read through more of your postings and archives. Most of all, I am glad to hear you adjust the message to the audience. I would expect nothing less from a marketing savvy individual but it is still comforting to read. Good luck with your fight, it is unfortunate that so many industries continue to cling to outdated business practices and models.

mindcrime 15y ago

Amazing, absolutely amazing. The world needs more people like this. I don't even care if you agree or disagree with his fundamental position, or any specific details of what he's talking about.... but I admire the man for the willingness to do his own thing, to essentially tell a $MEGACORP to go fuck themselves, and to spit in the eye of the haters. A little less political correctness, a little more uninhibited behavior and a healthy splash of controversy are always welcome, as far as I'm concerned. Yeah, that delivery doesn't "work" for everybody, but some people need a little shock-value to capture their attention. And some people are inspired by seeing others show the willingness to step outside the perceived boundaries of their world. Go Sebastian!

lionhearted 15y ago
Thank you. A lot of people dislike me, but the people that appreciate what I'm doing keep me going, and we do a hell of a lot together. Godspeed.
DanBC 15y ago
You know that "uninhibited behaviour" is a result of a serious mental health problem (bipolar), right? Being mentally ill isn't really a lifestyle choice.
- srl 15y ago
  He said "a little more". There's a difference between being knowingly irrational from time to time and killing people on a whim.
  - teaspoon 15y ago
    Just so you know, bipolar people are knowingly irrational from time to time and rarely kill people.
  - DanBC 15y ago
    But people with bipolar don't get to choose whether it's a little more or a lot more. That's the nature of the illness. You start with an exciting, powerful, bit of extra oomph, which is narrowly balanced between useful extra capacity to get stuff done on one side and out of control mania on the other. This can last months or years. Sometimes followed by a crash; and the crashes are nasty. (Obviously there are different forms of bipolar, and not all forms follow that pattern.) (Also, I don't get why you chose to link violent behaviour with mental health problems. People with mental health problems are much more likely to be the victims of violence than the perpetrators.)

xiaoma 15y ago

I just watched the video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hhVJl-OBEY4 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hhVJl-OBEY4. It's an extended rant directed at his agent. Summary: It seems he pissed off his publisher and his agent recommended he find another publisher and pay back what the publisher forwarded him. He doesn't think he'll be able to find another publisher or sell that many books, so he took off his shirt and made a long video in which he continually chastises his agent, rips up some of his money and rants about how the industry is crumbling and the internet will destroy them.

lionhearted 15y ago
Incorrect. Correct summary: I think the publishing industry is a cartel that abuses their editors, copy-editors, writers, authors, and so on. They're anti-modern, treat people bad, and threaten them. I'm taking a principled stand against them, and already walked away from $50,000 to do it. If you disagree, just say so instead of being passive aggressive. Then real dialog happens. Edit: This has been upvoted, and then downvoted. Hold on a second - this guy mis-summarizes in a snarky way instead of just saying what he thinks. He could write, "He's arrogant" (perhaps) or "I disagree with his style" (your call) or "I think publishing is awesome and in the right here" (you're crazy if you think so) - but instead, he mis-summarizes what's going on. That's basically the definition of passive-aggressive: Not saying what you really think, and being hostile anyways. I say, "Hey, say what you think and get a dialog going" (I addressed some thoughtful points below, and answered them all) - and you upvote him with his petty snark, and not the guy saying "Hey, if you disagree, say it and we can discuss"? Wouldn't you like a more honest world? No?
- vasco 15y ago
  How do you know with such certainty that what he wrote isn't what he thinks?
  - lionhearted 15y ago
    > How do you know with such certainty that what he wrote isn't what he thinks? Do you want an actual, serious answer? So, I try to always get at the subtext of people's words. You never 100% know for sure what anyone else is thinking, but you can put some intelligent guesses on it, and then ask people what they're actually thinking and see if you're right. If you practice, you get better at it. Figuring out what people are thinking when they say something is just a skill like any other, and can be improved by practice. His tone there ignores all the points that were made, and focuses on the most petty interpretation of my actions. I had research numbers, trends, talked about marketing/distribution shifts, whatever... so what's he really mean with his snark? I'm being really open here, maybe it's offensive, but here's how I analyzed it - I think the emotion is roughly "I don't like this!!" and he doesn't analyze why. He then takes the worst possible interpretation, and puts that up in to assert some sort of... aloof superiority? It's hard to put great words on this, but he's basically writing off everything I said about trends, distribution, agency, everything with a hand wave. Why do that? Because he had some negative emotional reaction, of course. But instead of asking himself, "Why do I dislike this?" and saying that, he just snarks out and gets passive aggressive. Honestly - again, hyper-honesty - I think it's pretty weak and pathetic. Call me arrogant, say my tone is wrong, disagree with my analysis, call me a dick, say my points are out of touch, whatever, honesty is cool and we can work with. But ["I don't like this!!" -> Snark] is... well, it's weak, don't you think?

DanBC 15y ago

We need cstross to explain what "the cartel" does - trawl through slush piles, work with authors to produce manuscripts, edit, typeset, print, and distribute books. ebooks should make a lot of this easier and better and more efficient, but the workflow and tools don't appear to be there yet. And Sturgeon's Law (90% of everything is bullshit) is skewed to 98% with self-publishing. It's interesting to note that Sebastian had this revelation after taking $65,000 of Simon & Schuester's money in advance for a 50,000 - 60,000 word book that he has not given them. (Weirdly, he's written 180,000 words, so why he doesn't just send that and get it edited down to 50k is confusing.)

lionhearted 15y ago
I only got paid the first 1/3rd, and walked away from the second 2/3rds after we were almost complete. Writing that honest letter cost me $42,900. Maybe I'm a jerk, maybe you want to defend how badly traditional publishing treats their authors and staff (do you really think they can't do better? much better?) - but yeah, I walked away from around $50k here, and the writing was already agreed by agent and editor to be excellent at that point. Principled stand, man. Most people don't get it, can't get it. But I think things need to improve, so I'm going to try to force things to improve.
- cperciva 15y ago
  Quitting a job you hate is not "taking a principled stand". Taking a principled stand would be if you said "I love working with you, but I can't do it if you're going to continue to (print books on paper made from unsustainable forestry practices | allow the Chinese government to censor books | do other random evil stuff)". The fact that you wrote a multi-page rant about how much you hate working with them demonstrates that you're quitting for your own sake, not because of any "principles".
  - lionhearted 15y ago
    > Quitting a job you hate is not "taking a principled stand". I disagree. How much would the world change if everyone started doing it tomorrow? > you're quitting for your own sake, not because of any "principles". We're already written. I told them they need to improve how they treat people, audit and remove bureaucracy, and do better for everyone to keep working with me. I didn't ask for any terms for myself. Just doing better in general, modernizing, and treating everyone better. I probably could have gotten my personal goals met easily with a personal letter, instead I'm in a public fight. You can be as cynical as you want, but I walked away from $50k, a solid credential, and a lot of open doors to try to improve an important-but-badly-flawed-industry. Anyways. Keep your cynicism and skepticism. I admire it, actually, and the open dialog. But if you change your mind later, will you write it publicly? A lot more is going to happen going forwards.

cperciva 15y ago

Really hard to judge this without seeing the letter the author was sent. If "repayment... more money than you even got" means pay back the advance plus interest because the book is being cancelled, this seems entirely reasonable. If it's "pay back the advance plus a million dollars because we feel like being unreasonable", that's a completely different story of course. But it's definitely pegging my crazyometer.

lionhearted 15y ago
Read for yourself - http://www.sebastianmarshall.com/an-open-letter-to-simon-and-schuester-ceo-carolyn-reidy http://www.sebastianmarshall.com/an-open-letter-to-simon-and... I think it was raw, honest, and necessary. Maybe too mean? But again, it was 100% true. > If it's "pay back the advance plus a million dollars because we feel like being unreasonable", that's a completely different story of course. Ah, you missed the context. My agent was telling me that if I don't shut up and agree to terms immediately, I have to pay back his share of the advance to the publishing house. And I negotiated him up after he signed me from the standard 15% to 25% because I like people to be well-played. He didn't address when things were bad, forced bad terms in the contract to go through, didn't negotiate in my favor, and now threatened me... the whole industry is scummed up, man. People need to know what really happens - there's lots of stories like this, but most get hushed up. > But it's definitely pegging my crazyometer. Yeah, mine too. But don't you have to be a little crazy to walk away from a guaranteed $42,900 and fight a multi-billion dollar corporation with a massive legal team?

srl 15y ago

Thank you for doing this. Not that I give a damn, quite frankly, about the publishing industry. (I probably should, but I don't.) But the "shut up or we'll threaten to sue you - and just the threat will ruin you for a decade" meme is popping up all over the place (patent trolls, illegitimate MAFIAA takedowns taking years to resolve, and so on), and too often people go the logical route, sit down, and try to piece together their new life from under the boot. Every batshit-crazy shirtless nut we have is one more good role model for how to deal with this brand of thuggery. So thanks, and keep it up.

DanBC 15y ago
> "shut up or we'll threaten to sue you - and just the threat will ruin you for a decade" That's not what's happening here. Perhaps you could point me to what's been said that makes you think it is what's happening?

vonskippy 15y ago

I'm pretty sure they have drugs for that now. The manic part, not the douchebag part (I"m pretty sure you're beyond help on that one).

corkill 15y ago

I don't understand, what would agents like Jim do if there was no "publishing cartel"? What are they currently doing that they would continue doing? I think not wearing a shirt makes it: -less likely I will share it -harder to assign credibility (even though I have already read your work and know your smart) -harder to focus on what your saying and finish video These shirted videos are awesome http://www.sebastianmarshall.com/my-approach-to-business http://www.sebastianmarshall.com/my-approach-to-business