I just watched the video at <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hhVJl-OBEY4" rel="nofollow">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hhVJl-OBEY4</a>. It's an extended rant directed at his agent.<p>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.
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.<p>Somewhere around his mention of accomplishing super-human feats and cyclothymia, I connected him to the "Stop Being a Fucking Joker" rant.<p>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.
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.<p>But it's definitely pegging my crazyometer.
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.<p>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.<p>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.<p>Go Sebastian!
More like "Why I told CBS Corporation to sue me while not wearing a shirt".<p>When I read the title, I thought he wanted <i>them</i> not to wear shirts when they sued him!<p>Edit: changed "you" to "him" and "he" after zbowler pointed out that the author is not the one who posted on HN
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.<p>I feel sorry for his agent.
Here is a direct link to the youtube video. The video in page on Marshall's site wouldn't load for me:<p><a href="http://youtu.be/hhVJl-OBEY4" rel="nofollow">http://youtu.be/hhVJl-OBEY4</a>
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.<p>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.<p>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.)
YouTube seems to be hating on this video. He only tears up about ~$60 that I can tell.
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hhVJl-OBEY4#t=861s" rel="nofollow">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hhVJl-OBEY4#t=861s</a>
Thank you for doing this.<p>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.<p>So thanks, and keep it up.
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?<p>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<p>These shirted videos are awesome <a href="http://www.sebastianmarshall.com/my-approach-to-business" rel="nofollow">http://www.sebastianmarshall.com/my-approach-to-business</a>