A serious blog about satire in the news, free speech, and the media.
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Articles on the practical matters of managing a humor website, from the technical to the legal and everything in between.
Self-Publishing for Fun, Profit and an Ounce of Legitimacy
August 28, 2006
Self-publishing has had a sketchy reputation amongst writers, readers and publishers alike due to a combination of understandable problems. It can be high cost (both for the author and the buyer), low quality, and the sales will invariably be a fraction of what they would through a traditional publisher. But there are ways around most of these problems, assuming you're willing to do the work.
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On Being Hax0red - Rebuilding After A Hacker Attack
July 24, 2006
I love email from my friends - jokes, comments, suggestions, viral video. Hell, I'll even re-read the crap falsely attributed to George Carlin that limps in every six months or so. What I don't want to read is, "Dude, you appear to have been hacked."
...Read a first-hand account of a satire site brought down by hackers, and an analysis by a security expert.
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Am I Famous Yet? - Making It Big (or Not) as a Syndicated Columnist
Syndication, in plain language, means making work available through a variety of venues. Written columns are a product, and distribution follows a similar pattern to that of any product: the writer is the manufacturer, the syndication network is the wholesaler, and the newspapers and magazines are the retailers. Up until the advent of the internet, syndication was a mark of success, an indication that there was an audience for your material.
...You already write content on a regular basis; all you need is for someone to pay you for doing it. But while the print world still remains a more viable venue for paying column jobs, the economics of the syndicated newspaper column have changed.
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Am I Famous Yet? Making it Big With (or Despite) Your Satire Site
(November, 2005) Eleven years ago, The New York Times created a team to begin work on a digital newspaper that would be distributed via the newly emerging World Wide Web. There were many issues regarding a Web-based newspaper to be resolved, but none was more vigorously debated than whether or not to charge digital readers for access to the online edition.
...The Times decision was one of the most powerful progenitors of the now deeply embedded concept that all content on the Web should be free. As a result, satire and humor sites give their content away. In fact, not only do you give it away, you beseech people to take it from you.
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All Rights Reserved? Not So Fast, Mister
(October, 2005) You have copyrighted your Web site and its contents, right? Sorry, that is a trick question. Under current law, you don't have to do anything. The mere act of creating a literary work gives you ownership. Problem is, in a dispute you would have to prove that you created the work, and when. So, it's best to be in everybody's face from day one, leaving absolutely no doubt that you created the work, and when.
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All's Fair In Love and Satire... Or Is It?
(June, 2004) If you run a satire site, chances are you're going to offend someone eventually. Besides, that's the point, right? However, you should be prepared for the possible legal ramifications of what you're doing.
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