Be Excellent To Each Other

I think I suffer from white woman's guilt, whereby any time I am having a bad day or something negative happens I have to weight it up against the awful time that starving kids are having in Malawi.

Anyway, so I wanted to post this in the Nay thread yesterday, but then does it belong alongside the ongoing problem of car crashes when I just want to moan? I don't know. I am pretty upset about it, but guilt about what rung of the big ladder of nays I should hand this on abounds.

So instead I am going to have a moan about a

Quick explanation: I sometimes take on magazine commission work. The pay is bad. A pair of socks is £70. That will take somewhere between 10-30 hours to knit, that's not including the time taken to conceptualise and then write the pattern. The money isn't worth it, but I have the opportunity to sell those same designs myself 6 months after publication to make up for the small change paid for 6 month exclusivity contract.

So, I designed and knit a pair of socks that were supposed to be published in a magazine three issues ago. They have been juggled from one issue to the next and eventually I was told they'd be put in the special Christmas issue, out this week. This is already irksome as though I submitted the work 3 months ago, the exclusivity runs for 6 months from publishing, so this delays me self-publishing the same design by an equivalent three months.

The publisher should send me contributor copies, but it is hit and miss as to whether they get sent, which is also irksome. As I didn't want to wait to find out any longer whether it had been published (as the information I had received was quite patchy) I decided to go along and just buy the magazine, figuring that if I ended up with two copies that Jazzy might like one. So, that's £6, about 1?10th of the fee. Sheesh.

My socks are in there, but spot the problem:



It was such a heart sinking moment. After all of that time and hours of work, then all of the wait, just for zero recognition. I am so incredibly fed up. It means that I have nothing to show my family or friends, nothing to add to my portfolio. I can't just tell the people to ignore the name as really, it is my design. I'm so very fed up about it. I emailed the magazine last night but as yet I haven't had even a courtesy response. I am additionally nervous that my knitted samples (the socks in that picture, as my samples, belong to me) will go astray and I have already been lead around the houses for payment.

I submitted this design the best part of six months ago. It was hours of work and effort. I just feel I should not have bothered.

That's shit Is it likely to be just an administrative mix-up with names, or do you think it's a calculated move?

Either way, surely a sternly written e-mail to the editor or the publisher would get it sorted - did you e-mail them, or one of the staff writers? I assume you retain the copyright etc. for the design (if it works that way for knitted items) so they should bend over backwards to make sure you're credited properly.

I think they have ed. I'd hope so, anyway. I've emailed the editor and commissioning editor as they are the contacts I usually deal with, but as yet I have heard nothing. I do retain copyright throughout, though they have exclusivity over copy sale for 6 months from first publishing date.

Have they broken contract terms?

I'll have to have a look to see if it mentions anything specifically.

I'd be furious.

Are there other publications to approach for work like this? I'd leave these fuckers for dust.

Oh Meems, I'm so sorry. How frustrating for you. I hope that you hear back off them soon, mistakes get made, but to not even respond to you is just downright rude!

File a DMCA takedown request for their website for copyright infringement.

That's shit. Really shit. Do magazines still have the equivalent of AP's Colin The Publisher? If so I'd be writing to them by recorded delivery (always shows you mean business). At the very least there should be a grovelling apology in the next issue.

Suspect part of the problem is that these days magazines are usually churned out into templates by an editor and a staff writer. Sub editors don't exist any more and staffing levels are at an all time low.

Oddly enough I'm proofing Secret Project X at the moment before it goes off to be duplicated and the person who did all my designs gets a big plug for their website in the credits including their logo.

That's awful Mimi! And I'd say it's definitely a nay up there with any of the shite I usually spout on here. Someone needs an arse-kicking at that magazine. I hope it all gets sorted out in your favour.

Send Russell in to hurt them.

Dude, they're knitters.

They have pointy sticks.

I originally emailed them on Tuesday. As I hadn't heard from them by midday today I sent a follow up email to chase this up. I'm annoyed that they hadn't emailed me back to begin with (an excuse was given thatthis was the first time they'd checked their emails, but it would be a coincidence thatthey happened to sit down an check their emails two minutes after I sent the follow up communication).

I recieved no answer to my question about thw knitted samples. They said that payent would be properly sorted and that they'd put a note on their website.

I have asked for clarification on whether there would be a correction printed in the next issue (no-one looks at the website) and to chase up those samples.

There are other publications, but pretty much all of tehm are run by Future Publishing, but I may send out feelers to The Knitter (another Future magazine) just because I like their mag.

One of the only independant knitting magazines shut after it published a load of patterns that they had no right to and didn't pay for work they had comissioned, and a number of designers and writers were done out of money for that (myself included). Outside of this there are a few general 'craft' magazines, but knitting patterns in those tend to be (understandable) very basic. I shall start looking for book contributor calls, though I shall have to pay good attention to the exclusivity terms for those as unless the pay is a lot greater it won't be worth the loss of sales from the 6-month drop off of publisher exclusivity.

I'm quite annoyed by this whole thing. As another magazine editor said, it's one of the most basic and important jobs - check the byline.

I'd say fuck them, they've made far too many basic mistakes, and if you've not been paid the legality of the contract is dubious. Not to mention the copyright infringement.

Start selling.

They've still not replied regarding my questions about the samples and notification either.

Really narked.

urgh that's really bad. Their initial error is really bad, especially because you know they can never make it up in any way that will help enough, and then on top of that not responding immediately and with major apologies etc makes it even worse!

I'm sorry how shitty this is Mimi, but on the positive side you've come up with the best thread title in the history of the forum.

This is all pretty disgusting Meems.

is true. Except possibly the history of the internet.

Still no reply about the samples, and I won't get one over the weekend.

Was annoyed, now feel pretty disgruntled.

I wondered if I have ever felt gruntled?

Write them a letter demanding that they return your gruntle. Sucky situation.

You need to write to readers wives for that.

Sorry, late to the party here (have been on holiday last week which was its own disaster, culminating in poor Mrs C getting salmonella), but just adding my voice to the chorus of forum-discontent Mimi. What a bloody cheek - and a disgrace.

Of course, accidents happen - even ridiculous cock-ups like this, but the fact they haven't come back with a apology (or anything at all) is just the pits IMO.

I'm with Zarz on this - leave these for absolute *dust* - but on the other hand don't let this dishearten you from the stuff that you do do and love, which is lovely. Just do it for someone else.

Thanks Cavey and everyone else. I hope the Cavewoman is feeling better, too.

Over a week after I emailed there was a post made today on the blog of the magazine. You can read it in full, it won't take long.

It's not an apology, nor does it even say that they made a mistake. And I've not had any kind of response tot he email I sent asking if my knitted samples were safe. But oh well.

I think I may look around for someone else looking for designers to commission, or just work on my own stuff for a while

Thank you to all. I seriously love you guys, everyone here, even the ones that like to be angry or those I speak with hardly ever for so many reasons. I may cry.

I'm not going to cry. I am in a funny mood. I shall have a hot chocolate.

Shut up, dick.

wauw that is seriously underwhelming as a rectification or apology
don't cry, chocolate of any kind will help

I'm not teary, it's just rubbish, isn't it?

I've had some shortbread instead of chocolate, and muchos tea

It's completely rubbish
you knew as soon as it was published wrong that a rectifitation would never reach all the people who read the magazine, but this isn't even making any effort.
Like everyone else I'd like to say dump them for good, but if they have a monopoly in a field you really want to do something in that's hurting yourself as much as them.
Glad you're not too sad and have tea and biscuits

hehe, thanks Miki

I got my socks back yesterday, and they sent me a PDF with the name changed (I don't know if I am supposed to Pritt Stick this over the wrong one. Maybe print it out a few thousands times and tour WHSmiths hand amending each copy, but it made me giggle.

Anyway, I've got the socks, so that's one thing.

On a more positive note I have been asked to review a product. I actually often turn these down because it takes quite a lot of time to review things (not to write the review, but to actually 'test' the product, especially as it was yarn, but I thought I'd ask for details of what they wanted reviewing, and they basically said 'anything'. So Russell chose himself a jumper pattern and I selected the appropriate yarn and they've posted both to me today. Anyway, it's a free jumper, right?

Say you designed the pattern and its a fiver less if people contact you directly. Its not like they check stuff before print [sub please check]

The spirit of Amiga Power COMPELS you to DISSEMINATE the TRUTH!

Ergo review the sweater, give it 3% and say it's worse than the chemical warfare in Syria.

Or do it the Amiga Action way, give it 73% and say the sweater is nice because it's nice. Then print a picture of a pair of socks.

ZOMG.

I have just spent the better part of an hour providing pattern support to a knitter who was knitting one of my designs from a magazine and has come across a load of chart/legend errors.

So, I have a look and aye, they are wrong.

But, you know where they are not wrong? They are not wrong on the charts or legends that I sent to the magazine.

Someone who is paid to check commissioned patterns for errors has taken my error-free pattern and just filled it with errors.

I know that errata creeps in. But it shouldn't be inserted by someone tasked with checking for errors. Plus, it makes me look like an idiot AND now I find myself providing pattern support for nothing because a) it's my reputation as a designer that can be damaged and b) it's certainly not the knitter's fault.

Put the correct pattern up on your blog, so at least if you get any more enquiries you can just point them to the link instead?

It's actually under an exclusivity contract, so I can't. What I'll do is put the errata on my blog, link to the errata and republish at the 6-month exclusivity period end the original charts with the proper legend and written pattern.

It's just so much that I have a bruise on my forehead from the headdesking.

I'd post it on your blog anyway. It sounds like a magazine run by morons so I doubt they'll even know what to do when someone breaches their contract.

It's not the same pattern anyway, the one they published has different charts and legends

True.

Fuck those magazine idiots.

Get YOUR pattern on YOUR blog, Mimi.

Hehe, thanks guys. I am cheerier now as the girl I have been helping out sent a really receptive and happy response to the help.

I actually have the PDFs for all of the patterns already published, ready to go when the exclusivity period is passed, so I can just push a few buttons and go whizzzzoooom.

I had a Quorn burrito in anger.

A no-meat-o?

I don't think its possible to angry-eat Quorn. Mild vexation-eat possibly.

I get angry when I eat Quorn.

I wasn't angry when I ate it. I was angry when I had the idea. Then my tummy was happy and so was I. I also had a yoghurt and twenty billion mugs of hot chocolate.

I was going to say the same thing.

So they published the wrong pattern with the wrong name? At least they got it in the correct magazine.

Bunch a knitwits.

No, this is a different pattern from the month before the one where they got the name wrong.

Russell and I were re-editing and proofing the first of the sock patterns that I did for them too, and they again inserted errors that weren't on my initial submission into that one. Not quite such big ones, but still, they are supposed to check for and remove errors, not add them in

I'd be worried about defamation if that were me. People might be put off paying money for your patterns if they try the ones in the magazines and there are constantly mistakes in them. Could it possibly be some sort of sabotage?