Preparing to launch

Sometimes a project becomes a series of backwards steps. Case in point: there's been some [small] interest in my novel, "The Purple Doom" that I recently completed as part of the National Novel Writing Month competition.

I'd like to capitalize on that modest interest, but that desire has led me down a trail of prerequisites.

1) The novel needs to be edited and cleaned up a little (OK, a lot -- I did some crazy-mad typing there at the end). So I don't really want to post it raw, so that means it will be about a month before it's available -- at which time all interest will be gone. But wait! "The Purple Doom" is actually the fourth novel I've written about these characters. I should post the others.

2) The first novel, "Murder Squad" was written a few years ago. It's finished and edited, but it still needed another pass.

3) But before I could post it, I needed to decide on format. Should it go up as a text file? A PDF? A Word document? I think I might go with a PDF, which means I've got to convert it to that format.

4) But wait. What kind of copyright do I want? Well, I've already decided on using a Creative Commons license. Anyone can enjoy and share "Murder Squad" for free. If someone wants to make money of it, though, I'd like them to contact me. But I need to register the work with Creative Commons before finalizing the format, as the CC language needs to go into the document.

5) But the form asks for the author's URL and the work's URL. Well, I can have the "Murder Squad" download live on our FTP site, but I don't have my own website! Should I use my FaceBook page? Not the best first impression. Should I construct a new site for this? Probably not -- the whole idea is to get "Murder Squad" out as quickly as possible.

So once I get the infrastructure worked out, then it all should flow very quickly. But in the meantime, I feel like I'm starting not at Square One, but Square Negative Five!

- Ralph


Day 171 of the WJMA Web Watch. (Which will happen first? Will "Murder Squad" be posted, or will their website go live?)

The Dorktones -- Creatively Uncommon

Yesterday I held up Jonathan Coulton -- and the release of his new album -- as one of the prime examples of how artists are using social media to their advantage.

But Coulton certainly wasn't the first. A Dutch garage band trio called the Dorktones did it all back in 2005 (that's a long time in Internet years). The band had a very successful podcast that extended their reach far beyond their native Holland.

In 2005 they decided to enlist their fans to help them with their latest album. The Dorktones posted source tracks for a song and had an Open Source Song contest. The concept of Creative Commons was still in its infancy, but the contest rules pretty much outlined the same set of rights. Fans couldn't profit off of their remixes, but they could freely use their entries "for educational and personal use." And there was a winning entry, which was a win for everyone.

By sharing their track, the Dorktones expanded their fan base and connected more closely with those fans (I still follow them).

And the Dorktones continue on today, conquering new worlds. They have a MySpace account, and -- of course -- YouTube videos.



I suspect that they all have day jobs, but so what? The Dorktones are having fun, and they literally have a worldwide audience. So check out the track, explore the site, and discover one of the Internet's true pioneers -- the Dorktones!

Creative Commons Leads to Uncommon Opportunities

Jonathan Coulton continues to serve as the model for the 21st Century New Media artist. He launched his career by posting -- and giving away -- a new song every week for a year. Coulton's fully embraced the concept the Creative Commons license, which is to allow fans to use his music as they will. They can share it with friends, they can remix it, they can use it as the basis for something of their own. The only string attached is one of credit -- if you use Jonathan Coulton's music, make sure he's credited.

And so what's been the result of this craziness? After all, if an artist's music isn't locked down under copyright, if every single play and every single copy doesn't generate revenue, won't the artist starve? That's the stance of the RIAA.

Coulton shared some thoughts in a letter on the Creative Commons website.

"...there was something so compelling about the Creative Commons license, the idea that you could attach it to a piece of art you had made and declare your intentions - please, share my music, put it in a remix, make it into a music video. I was thrilled and emboldened by the idea that I could give my songs legs, so that they could walk around the world and find their way into places I would never dream of sending them. I immediately started licensing my songs with CC, and a year later I quit my job to create music full time."

[not sounding very hungry to me; much less starving]

"...my growing audience started to feed back to me things they had created based on my music: videos, artwork, remixes, card games, coloring books. I long ago lost track of this torrent of fan-made stuff, and of course I’ll never know how many people simply shared my music with friends, but there’s no question in my mind that Creative Commons is a big part of why I’m now able to make a living this way. Indeed, it’s where much of my audience comes from - there are some fan-made music videos on YouTube that have been viewed millions of times. That’s an enormous amount of exposure to new potential fans, and it costs me exactly zero dollars." [emphasis mine]

And now Jonathan Coulton's released a new album in a form that would give any member of the RIAA nightmares. As a fundraising premium for the Creative Commons organization (he considers it giving back to the community), "JoCo Looks Back" is being released as a limited edition USB thumb drive. In addition to 20 of Coulton's most popular songs, (and album artwork), the 1GB drive also has the source tracks for all the songs.

Which means you can remix, rearrange, and rework Coulton's material to your heart's content. And because it has a Creative Commons license, you're legally allowed to do so. Jonathan Coulton gives you permission.

I'll be sending in my contribution to get this drive -- how about you? I'll be doing it for several reasons:

1. 1) I'm a fan of Jonathan Coulton, and I want the songs.
2. 2) As a musician, I'm interested in seeing how he put his tracks together
3. 3) Creative Commons is the sane answer to new media copyright and fair use.

If you're any kind of creative artist, you need to know about Creative Commons licensing. Don't try to protect your work in the 21st Century with 20th Century tools.

- Ralph

Day 152 of the WJMA Web Watch.