cerenestories

[cerenestories]

Posting this for the people who think that Tolkien's world-building was something complete and entire and finished before he started to write.

You always learn and discover your story and your world as you write. Sometimes you are just the first reader.

[cerenestories]

This is why I am constantly at odds with my desire to post work online. I keep hearing more stories like this and I have yet to figure how to secure my work but still make it easily available for the average reader.

Fanfiction Authors: HEADS UP

(Non-authors, please RB to signal boost to your author friends!)

An astute reader informed me this morning that one of my fics (Children of the Future Age) had been pirated and was being sold as a novel on Amazon:

(And they weren't even creative with their cover design. If you're going to pirate something that I spent a full year of my life writing, at least give me a pretty screenshot to brag about later. Seriously.)

I promptly filed a DMCA complaint to have it removed, but I checked out the company that put it up -- Plush Books -- and it looks like A LOT of their books are pirated fic. They are by no means the only ones doing this, either -- the fact that """publishers""" can download stories from AO3 in ebook format and then reupload them to Amazon in just a few clicks makes fic piracy a common problem. There are a whole host of reasons why letting this continue is bad -- including actual legal risk to fanfiction archives -- but basically:

IF YOU ARE A FANFIC AUTHOR WITH LONG AND/OR POPULAR WORKS, PLEASE CHECK AMAZON TO SEE IF YOUR STORIES HAVE BEEN PIRATED.

You can search for your fics by title, or by text from the description (which is often just copied wholesale from AO3 as well). If you find that someone has stolen your work and is selling it as their own, you can lodge a DMCA complaint (Amazon.com/USA site; other countries have different systems). If you haven't done this before, it's easy! Here's a tutorial:

HOW TO FILE A COPYRIGHT COMPLAINT FOR STOLEN WORK ON AMAZON.COM:

First, go to this form. You'll need to be signed into your Amazon account.

Select the radio buttons/dropdown options (shown below) to indicate that you are the legal Rights Owner, you have a copyright concern, and it is about a pirated product.

Enter the name of your story in the Name of Brand field.

In the Link to the Copyrighted Work box, enter a link to the story on AO3 or whatever site your work is posted on.

In the Additional Information box, explain that you are the author of the work and it is being sold without your permission. That's all you really need. If you want, you can include additional information that might be helpful in establishing the validity of your claim, but you don't have to go into great detail. You can simply write something like this:

I am the author of this work, which is being sold by [publisher] without my permission. I originally published this story in [date/year] on [name of site], and have provided a link to the original above. On request, I can provide documentation proving that I am the owner of the account that originally posted this story.

In the ASIN/ISBN-10 field, copy and paste the ID number from the pirated copy's URL. You'll find this ten-digit number in the Amazon URL after the word "product," as in the screenshot below. (If the URL extends beyond this number, you can ignore everything from the question mark on.) Once this number has been added, Amazon will pull the product information automatically and add it to the complaint form, so you can check the listing title and make sure it's correct.

Finally, add your contact information to the relevant fields, check the "I have read and accept the statements" box, and then click Submit. You should receive an email confirmation that Amazon has received the form.

Please share this information with your writer friends, keep an eye out for/report pirated works, and help us keep fanfiction free and legally protected!

NOTE: All of the above also applies to Amazon products featuring stolen artwork, etc., so fan artists should check too!

#writing blog #writing #posting writing #ao3 fanfic #original story

[cerenestories]

The hills are leaving with the floods but not before turning brown with the droughts. The thyme and rosemary come back smaller and weaker and in fewer number now. The sun does still rise but it rises on a hotter world where the poor fear the next year and the rich add another level on their raised beach home.

I want to believe it will all still be there tomorrow, next month, next year, next decade... But it's thinking like that that got us into this mess.

No shade on Louise though... Her meaning is not my meaning ... But I couldn't help what hit me up on reading those words, knowing what I know.

Sunrise, Louise Glück

#when poetry hits in a different way

[cerenestories]

They're everywhere.

I once saw a picture taken by a teenager on their early ride in to school. It was still darkish, the street lights were still bright, and the world was scattered with random mirrors thanks to all the recent rain puddles. He saw the most beautiful early morning sky accented by storm clouds, dark trees, and a red stop light... all of it reflecting in a large puddle by an unassuming curb. It's a beautiful image. I thought he had snagged off the web to use as his screen saver, but no... It was just him appreciating the beauty of that early morning sight.

To The Substitute Art Teacher - Jordan Bolton

#appreciate everyday beauty in all the small moments

[cerenestories]

SEE... This is the algorithm at work... Teasing me with more snowy world images..

x

#aaahhhhhh #i want snooooow!

[cerenestories]

Okay, the algorithms are like your subconscious... picking up on all your subtle choices to present you with the thing your heart wants that you can't name. And for me... It's...

SNOW

Every fifth thing I find on Tumblr and Pinterest is another beautiful painting of a snow covered barn, road, street, house, tree... And the occasion tiktok of a cat catching snowflakes.

Where's the damn snow!

#snow #i want snow #give me snow #the algorithm is teasing the hell out of me!

[cerenestories]

I'm writing the second draft for my finished novella and tinkering on a serial story while I work out some old novels. The novels fell into a drawer in past years but I want to finish them (once I have new outlines for the endings). I also want to get back to my secret comic though it means relearning that tablet and stylus again.

ITT: Tell me about something you're making or doing

I'm gonna write a story about a werewolf 🐺

#I also do watercolor painting but I think this will be a full-on writing year for me and I only have so much time to give to these things.

[cerenestories]

When I was young, paperbacks were around 5-7 bucks and the hardbacks 20.

I miss those days. And yes, they were made better back then... at least the mainstream ones. I could only find genre fiction as little mass market paperbacks until a big bookstore came to town.

why doesnt anybody ever talk abt how much more expensive books have gotten just in like. the past 10 years. paperbacks regularly cost like more than 20$ now and i just saw a hardcover for almost 40!!! when i was a kid paperbacks were at Most 12$ and hardcovers were like 20$ max. what the hell has happened. what is the world coming to

#book prices #ahh the good ol days #when it was expensive to get a hardback but at least you got a damn well made book

[cerenestories]

Me when someone asks "what do you want to do today?"

reading in bed. painting by marta astrain.

#art #books #reading #i gotta get started on my 2024 pile

[cerenestories]

I love this artist's work. Each piece could be a book cover. They feel like wonderful story prompts too.

Haunting Remnants by Max Suleimanov

#art #digital art #story prompt #cover art

[cerenestories]

x

#all that window needs is a cat #books and views

[cerenestories]

Totally me lol.

Happy New Year to all you readers out there.

Happy New Year!

#books #reading #goals 2024

[cerenestories]

Something to say... to myself

Fiction writing always has something to say, even when you think it doesn't.

And I've found that my stories are messages I first want to share with myself. I want to tell myself specifically that it's okay if love is complicated. That it's easier to move forward if you accept yourself for who you are. That regrets are part of life but you shouldn't dwell on them.

I write not just to have a fun place to escape to, but to ask a question and find the answer I need. There are times when I don't even know I have a question (or need an answer) until I've finished the story.

It sounds a little crazy, but it's true.

#writing #writing blog #creative writing #fiction

[cerenestories]

For the record, I might also use a WordPress in the near future but I am DONE with all other social media websites. They are dead to me.

#social media #writing blog #wordpress #no more toxic hellsites for me

[cerenestories]

There seems to be a constant debate about whether posting original work on a blog or community is worth the price of a publisher considering such work "already published".

And just to settle it in my own mind, I declare it's worth it.

In light of this, I'm planning on releasing a serial story in my world of Ceres and I will be posting it here. I hope to start posting it with the new year provided I have a far-reaching outline to follow.

If there's anything I learned from posting serial fanfiction, its that it's best to have nearly the whole story ready to go when you start posting. Otherwise, writing oneself into a corner can become a real threat.

#cerenestories #writing #serial story #new year #writing blog

[cerenestories]

Where can I buy one?

A Christmas cartoon for the Guardian. Happy Holidays, everyone!

#books #christmas #I could turn every piece of furniture into a bookshelf.

[cerenestories]

I need to slow down on the faving... It takes me five minutes of scrolling to find a post I faved yesterday.

#faves #faving things like I'm popping bubblewrap