fandom wrath in action

[rm]

http://jonquil.livejournal.com/891016.html

Comments

[liminalia.livejournal.com]

Now to get his book deal rescinded...

[villeinage.livejournal.com]

jinx!

I ask in all ignorance--how does that work?

I understand they have a large advance?

[brewsternorth.livejournal.com]

A cool quarter-mill according to jonquil's post (an insider in the publishing industry found the info from Publisher's Lunch). Ergo, short of legal action, there's not much to stop this going ahead.

[xtricks.livejournal.com]

That's not entirely true, non-fiction books are expected to go through a certian amount of fact checking before publication. Wildly innacurate info can result in the contract being rescinded (and would be written into the contract).

[sethg]

If The Bell Curve and Liberal Fascism could get published, any piece of inaccurate crap can get published. At worst, the authors would just move from Penguin to a less prestigious but more ideologically congenial publishing house.

[p-zeitgeist.livejournal.com]

It seems not unlikely that they pitched this project under false pretenses. After all, they launched their research here under false pretenses -- they may not have misrepresented themselves to such a degree as to constitute fraud, but if they pulled the same stuff on the publisher and agent we've seen here, I'd assume that the publisher has good cause to pull the contract.

If they want to, and that's the rub. Publishers don't like to cancel contracts -- usually some of the money's already been paid out, and it's hard to get it back despite the fact that the author will have a contractual obligation to repay it. And they may still see this as a winner, because if the authors' credentials aren't as solid as they claimed, at least they're controversial.

On the other side of the argument, using minors in research (about illegal activities, too, in ways that don't properly protect their identities) is a cultural hot button, and an approach along those lines might put the fear of God into a publisher. An actual minor whose survey responses were connected with her could be a very scary figure indeed, especially if her family happened to include, or be friendly with, a plaintiff's lawyer.

[lady-ganesh.livejournal.com]

On the other side of the argument, using minors in research (about illegal activities, too, in ways that don't properly protect their identities) is a cultural hot button, and an approach along those lines might put the fear of God into a publisher.

I think we should keep signal-boosting that. On the original survey it didn't even ask you your age or indicate you should be over 18. He also indicated wanting to-- not sure if he did-- promote the survey on ff.net.

[sunhawk.livejournal.com]

Yes, let's!

[jonquil.livejournal.com]

Highly unlikely, alas.

[liminalia.livejournal.com]

You think Penguin will still publish an unscientific survey by an unqualified researcher who has lost any sort of credibility? :( Oh well, I guess we can always slag it on Amazon when it comes out.

[karnythia.livejournal.com]

I think they will pull it if enough fuss is raised over the age of the study participants. A whole lot of fandom is underage.

[sparkymonster.livejournal.com]

http://www.gailross.com/project_health.htm
http://www.gailross.com/about.htm

Ogas is represented by Gail Ross Literary Agency. He's either directly represented by Gail or by her second-in-command, Howard Yoon.

Use this information wisely.

[xtricks.livejournal.com]

You know what's hilariously un-funny about that? When you go to the 'about' on gail ross - the first sentence is about 'make her daughters proud'.

I'm boggling a bit.

[jonquil.livejournal.com]

People who actually work in the publishing industry have said so, in so many words; one said that she'd spoken to science editors who knew books they were publishing were false and did so anyway.

[xtricks.livejournal.com]

Sure, it happens all the time, espeically in areas where there are multiple interpretations/strongly competeing theories. Few are so egrigious and the changing technology allows (some)groups to respond more vehemently than was possible in the past.

[sethg]

As a BU alum, I am relieved that the school has disowned this guy.

[sunhawk.livejournal.com]

Like I said just a second ago, faaaaaaaaaaaantastic!

[tsarina.livejournal.com]

Wait, this person has a book contract with a huge advance? Clearly I am in the wrong game.

[pantryslut.livejournal.com]

My thought precisely.

[karnythia.livejournal.com]

I said it elsewhere, I'll say it here. People need to contact Penguin and apprise them of the research practices and the lawsuit potential therein.

[tacittype.livejournal.com]

I adore the idea of him having to pay back his book advance.

The thing that worries me about this is that Penguin will see the stack of correspondence and get excited by the level of interest and see dollar signs, because interest = profile boost = money. We'd have to be very careful about what we said when we approached Penguin to make it clear it's the legal side that we're unhappy about (as karynthia suggests), not just that we're personally offended. Perhaps we need a pro forma letter?

rm: My seething fury isn't leading me to intelligent letter writing. Do you have any interest in mustering one?

[coraa.livejournal.com]

I agree. While I concur with others that they're not likely to pull it at this point based on ethics alone (sadly), the fact that a lot of fandom is underage and they didn't do age screening (or at least not from what I've heard) would seem to be something that Penguin might actually care about.

[(Anonymous)]

Paper parrot homunculus succubus.

[copperbadge.livejournal.com]

Did you see ogi_ogas's new post?

Shemales in the subject line, irrelevant brain modeling theory in the body.

Classy shit, man.

[sethg]

But "shemales" is a word that's defined in Wikipedia! So it must be OK!

[weirdodragoncat.livejournal.com]

Yeah...and I love how he conveniently ignored the specific use of the word in that Wikipedia entry to further his own end.

[copperbadge.livejournal.com]

I like how the entire body of the post has NOTHING AT ALL to do with the subject line.

OMG the internet is going to set him on fire.

[weirdodragoncat.livejournal.com]

Too late...it already did. People carpet bombed him with macros to the point that he apparently got tired of it and set everything to friends only.

[copperbadge.livejournal.com]

LOL

Way to interact with fandom there boyo. Stronger than him have tried and failed.

Oh man that is so awesome.

(Is Sai Gaddam still on vacation? Seriously, I wish we could see his face when he gets back. "YOU DID WHAT?")

[copperbadge.livejournal.com]

I thought he was planning on reclaiming it. You know. In the name of shemales everywhere.

[sethg]

Very noble of him. If only the shemale community understood how deeply he cared about them.

[copperbadge.livejournal.com]

They're just misguided. He knows what's best for them, after all.

[britgeekgrrl.livejournal.com]

Effin' mindboggling...

*sighs*

[eumelia.livejournal.com]

Oh god!

Is there no end to the Fail!?!?

This is just painful.

[wordweaverlynn.livejournal.com]

Do not meddle in the affairs of fans. They are smart, they know how to do research, and they will gladly kick your ass to the curb.

[weirdodragoncat.livejournal.com]

OMG! This soooo needs to be a bumper sticker!

[fmanalyst.livejournal.com]

And a lot of us are academics who not only know how to do research properly but who also sit on hiring committees.

[wordweaverlynn.livejournal.com]

Yes. Fans also have long memories.

I've posted directly to the gentleman, suggesting that he's already done enough damage to his career -- even before he started citing Wikipedia as a source for using "shemale" in order to be less offensive to the T* community.

I suspect he thought fans would be easy prey naive, ignorant, and compliant, as opposed to being savvy, well-educated, articulate, and contentious. He neither understands nor respects the people he wants to write about.

Interesting! He seems to expect his research subjects to be stereotypically feminine. Perhaps the backlash against his project will prompt him to reexamine all his assumptions about gender.

[eumelia.livejournal.com]

I've been trying to write a comprehensive post about this mess for days and this link will certainly play a part!

[gairid.livejournal.com]

Hmm. When I go to ogi_ogas I see that the journal is still there but I can no longer see any entries.

[brewsternorth.livejournal.com]

Probably found the Wrath of Fandom too hot to handle and f'locked it tight.

[virginia-fell.livejournal.com]

Oh, snap.