kaixo | snowflake challenge day 4

Day 4

In your own space, create a fannish wishlist. No limits on size or type of fanwork; just tell us what you’d like to see. Leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so. And if you grant a wish, do the same thing!

1. Permission statement for transformative works. This is essentially a statement by you, the fanficcer to give permission (or not, or depending on what story) for people to remix your work or use it as a jumping point for theirs. This has all the details. Please save podficcers from Doing The Dance of Permissions, because fandom should be accessible to everyone.

2. Comment on more podfics. Us writers do whinge about lack of feedback on fic, but podficcers have it much worse than we do. Listen to them, if you like what you hear, go back and comment. Some guidelines on how to do that here I want to have more podfic in my fandoms, tbh. Just give them a try- there are LOADS out there. I've tried my hand at podficcing before, and it's hard. It's the intersection of performance and technical work. go ahead, make someone's day

3. Someone to walk me through Garageband. I have this fanfic that I've recorded, but I'm stuck on certain editing bits. I have the 2017 version, and most of the videos on YT are from 2014. Every time Apple upgrades garage band, they change everything. It's a bit of a long shot, but if you don't ask you don't get, right? I don't have Audacity, nor am I interested in downloading Audacity because I already have Garageband. (note, I have no interest in becoming a podficcer, but I'm interested in how the process works, especially for GarageBand).

4. A music mix. I am easy when it comes to most genres of music, but NGL, I do like tunes with a beat, because I do a lot of walking/running. If there's a fic of mine that inspires a fanmix, that would be interesting! But I wouldn't want to put anyone out, so a dance mix would be up my alley.

Current Music: music sounds better with you , stardust

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

summerstorm

I can totally see the appeal of podfic, but I also know sometimes podficcers get...defensive, I guess, when someone openly says they don't do podfic? And the thing is I don't but I'm always 100% happy to have my stuff podficced, it's just that I can't listen to it most of the time, 50% because I'm scared of my own writing (depending on how long it's been; I could listen now to most of my stories, since I haven't written a word in ages) and 50% because my brain can't parse it at all. I read much, much faster than audiobooks and podfics go. But I'm never quite sure how to express my blanket permission but zero intention to listen without offending anybody, sigh.

From:

kaixo

From the podficcers I speak to, I think they just want to know. If you say no on your profile, I will say that 99 percent of them will leave your work alone.

But I'm never quite sure how to express my blanket permission but zero intention to listen without offending anybody, sigh.

Well, podficcers know that not everything is for everyone (they are in a niche fandom, so they know). They understand that their audience is primarily for people who consume their content via hearing, not reading.

Re; permission statement you can always say in your statement that yes, you are open for your work to be podficced, and yes you want to be linked (so that you know where your work is, if you want it to stay and linked within AO3 say so), but NO, you're not interested in listening to their podfic of your work, AND lots of good luck to you! A lot of podficcers won't mind as long as it's plainly stated in the BP, honest. They just want to know.

From my limited interactions with podficcers, a lot of them tend to run into problems with writers who actually want to direct the podficcer/ reader of how they wish their work to be read in terms of tones of voice and such. Or writers who want a particular accent reading their fic(in HP fandom, you had to have a home counties accent to get permission to read some fic, I've been told), but that's bunkum. For instance, the fandom I'm in (football RPF) is filled with European players, but I've had my work read by two Americans with European characters. The most I've done with podficcers who've podficced my work is send them a sheet with phonetic pronunciations of words I think they may or may not know (with Americans and European soccer, I never assume).

I know that a lot of podficcers have expressed surprise when I'm like, No, I don't need to listen to the podfic before you post, no, I don't mind minor changes to sentences (because something that reads beautifully on the page can be clumsy in someone's mouth, trust me on that) as long as the plot and spirit of the fic is maintained and that there's a link to the original text. I'll admit though, I'm probably one of the more lax writers out there when it comes to podficcers, tbh. But I've seen the work podficcers do in terms of getting their works across, so I do try to be as helpful and unobtrusive as possible.

Edited Date: 2018-01-04 09:24 pm (UTC)

From:

summerstorm

Oh goodness, those people sound like people I would not want to do anything for! I'm all about people interpreting my work; my one regret about finding it hard to hear podfic things is I would be fascinated to see how other people interpret my character voices. I totally agree with you with my blanket permission, no issues with accents (I'm ESL myself), no problem with sentence modifications (I'm a run-on sentence writer! I know people need to breathe, all right?). If you have a few minutes to spare, feel free to lmk if my statement works? I put it on the sticky in my journal, so it's easy to find. :)

Are you on DW a lot? Your profile seems sparse, so I thought I'd ask before I asked to friend you. You seem like someone I'd like to get to know, basically.

Edited Date: 2018-01-04 09:37 pm (UTC)

From:

kaixo

Yes, I've read your statement. It's good. You've given permission, and you've given boundaries. I'd highlight this part In some cases I may not listen to it or read it . You don't have to give reasons why, your reasons are your reasons. You're giving permission, and the limits of said permission, it's up for them to work with it. Or not. But the point is, permission is there.

my one regret about finding it hard to podfic things is I would be fascinated to see how other people interpret my character voices.

It's interesting! I will say that 90 percent of the time, I'm all, "Oh, those are choices that I'd have never thought about doing," but I'm a Brit, so I tend to think that my writing comes off as sarcastic and dry with a bit of humour and bluster and I hate everyone. Then people read the work and it's a lot of warmth and sweetness and I'm like, "Where did you find that? I didn't put that THERE!" but everyone's their own universe and carries their own experiences, tbh. I think if you keep that in mind in terms of others riffing on your work, you'll appreciate it.

I gotta say though, I've actually had someone podfic a piece of fic I did, and it's like... 1000 times better than what I wrote, tbh.

I'm normally on tumblr as howsareasy/spacetofall, but because the podfic fandom is here, I hang around like a spectre, mute and observing. We'll see what happens at the end of this challenge though!

From:

itsadrizzit

Echoing what's been said, but...

I do think your statement is fine. I'm a podficcer and I can say that most will absolutely respect a blanket no unless you do it in a way that somehow shames or diminishes podfic as a legitimate work/art. There has been a lot of fairly ugly discourse in podfic history with non-podficcers saying some very unkind things about podfic and so I do think there is possibly some residual defensiveness in some cases,

However, if you put your statement out there that says you are open to podfic and other transformative works, but you will likely not listen/comment, that's fine. Some people might get defensive about you not giving a reason and assume that it's because you don't think podfic is valid, but honestly, those people are wrong, IMO. Just like I don't owe anyone an explanation for why I prefer podfic over fic, you don't owe anyone an explanation for why you prefer fic over podfic. You're coming out and saying "yes, please make your art" and that's great. I don't need the author to love my work, I just need to be able to make my work.

In short, you're doing great. Thanks for adding a transformative works statement!!!

From:

analise010

As a podficcer, I can say, it's not important to us whether you listen or not. Not like, in a mean way, but we're doing this for our own reasons and you listening won't affect us.

SIDE NOTE - Some podficcers get defensive when people say, "I don't do podfic and therefore, it is garbage, so don't touch my things." It's an unfortunate prejudice, but many of us have had authors say some pretty harsh things, from "Podfic doesn't count as a fanwork" to "Your voice is awful. Don't record my fic." Many people have their guard up for reasons independent of you.

From:

sophinisba

Hi there! Another podficcer dropping in from the Snowflake challenge and I think your AO3 profile statement is great. I actually did a post about this subject back in 2012 that you might appreciate: A note to authors who are not podfic fans, from me, sophinisba. It's, eh, a little dated at this point because we weren't as used to the AO3's related work functions so there was more in the way of personal requests to add links. If anything I'd say there's much less expectation these days on podficcers' part that the author would listen or comment.