Gripes, complaints and general bad mouthing

[ScrLife]

What really pisses you off about screenwriting magazines? What's missing in their message? Do you feel talk down to? Do you feel barraged with topics you don't care about?

[pconsidine]

I swear – this is the last I will say on this matter, but I just had to mention this in light of such an open request for bitchin'. I hate sloppy work – typos, grammatical or other editorial mistakes, bad layout – especially in writing magazines..

A few examples:

–*An issue of scr(i)pt from last year (I think) where the article jumped to a page at the back – and wasn't on that page. In fact, it wasn't anywhere;

–*The most recent Creative Screenwriting, in the interview with David Hayter, there's a question that reads "Could you talk about the Lost in and Oz Bionic Woman pilots?";

– The first issue of the redesigned Cinescape where the text ran right to the edges of photos, making it incredibly uncomfortable to read (they fixed it in the following issue);

and, in the ultimate example of anal-retentiveness;

– In scr(i)pt's newest issue (page 66), there is a set of double quotes inside another quotation ("In 16th century Turkey, a boy invents something a lot like the accordion and annoys his neighbors by playing "Lady of Spain" a lot until villagers beat him to death with a goat.").

Of course, most likely those are all things that no one would notice if he wasn't me and it's not like I was reading with my little red pen, looking for mistakes. I just love magazines. I love them almost as much as I love movies. That's why I took a huge pay cut to stay in the magazine business. I love making magazines.

Bottom Line: I never like to feel smarter than the people I go to for information. I want to revel in their wisdom without so much as the tiniest hint that they are even mortal, much less that they make mistakes. Funny thing is that I'd rather see a major error of fact than stupid little mistakes. It's the little ones that make me sad.







(p.s. – if any of the above-named fine publications is interested, I'd be more than happy to discuss the possiblity of freelance work. :lol )

[Goreomedy]

Can someone blindfold Pc and plug his ears for a moment? Just until I'm through saying these next three words.

Print is dead.

I'd like to see a dedicated subscription Screenwriting website with weekly(timely!) content.

I appreciate Scriptmag.com's attempt at providing articles with their "free e-zine" section, but why not go full throttle? Don't let the ad crash of a few years ago scare you away from investigating this possibility.

The online format can open the door to all kinds of content possibilities. Script-to-screen comparison videos, audio commentary of script segments by the authors as a flash version of the text highlights the read-along, video interviews, hosted chats with top talent, etc.

Perhaps there's not enough demand to merit the above... I don't know.

For the current print mags, I'd like to see more focus given to new media like video games, web shows, animation, and to the short subject.

[AkDrifter]

I guess my only complaint would be ...

only every couple months ...by the month following receiving the issue I am itching to get the next one. I end up rereading the last one hoping to find something I missed the first time.

entertainment weekly can do it weekly.. theres 12 months, give me 12 ;)

[scriptmag]

PC -
We stopped jumping articles about 3 years ago for that reason. Also, according to the Ap Style guide, song titles are not compilation works and are therefore in double quotes even when within a double quote passage. Since our new Managing Editor Andrew Schneider has taken the reins with the Nov/Dec 2002 issue, you will find very vew mistakes in scr(i)pt. We strive very, very hard to make the magazine as clean as possible with a very small staff.
Thanks
Shelly

– In scr(i)pt's newest issue (page 66), there is a set of double quotes inside another quotation ("In 16th century Turkey, a boy invents something a lot like the accordion and annoys his neighbors by playing "Lady of Spain" a lot until villagers beat him to death with a goat.").

[shdavis]

It's annoying to receive subscription renewal notices six months prior to the expiration of the current subscription.

[pconsidine]

Shelly –

Thank you for honoring my retentiveness with a response (which was really more than it deserved). :) I'm investing in a new copy of the AP Style Guide as we speak.

In reality, scr(i)pt is one of the better-produced magazines out there. It's a very tough environment for magazine publishers these days and it's only getting worse. For what it's worth, I still think very highly of the editorial content of scr(i)pt. It might not be as timely as a weekly or daily pub might be, but within the limits imposed on it, it does a fine job.

[writerly]

1. Bad photo art. (The scribes on the cover often look like
employee directory shots -- awkward smiles and bad
overhead flourescent lighting.)

2. Low production value (these are magazines -- which are
suppossed to be glossy)!

this leads me to my last point

3. No/little female voice. (Hence my desire to read magazines
that look a little prettier; and columnists that don't just
look like LOTR fans with ponytails) :-)

If I had the wherewithal to do the production value, I'd start my own magazine online and make it much hipper and edgier. I do think Scr(i)pt is good and I have to say, ScreenTalk isn't half bad but it doesn't come out that often. However, that being said, I have found a helpful article or two in all of them at times.

[HConn]

Cover price is too high.

[AnconRanger]

No gripe or bad mouthing, but-

I've never bought a screenwriting magazine. Been at the great screenwriting quest for a couple years or more like a bear trying to tear down a beehive he can't reach, but I've never bought a magazine dedicated to screenwriting. Maybe I should. I've read or skimmed through a few of them at the library or bookstore, but never pulled out my pathetic, spider-webbed wallet to take one home. Cheap and broke are surely a couple of reasons why, but I think there are more reasons I can't put my finger on.

I've bought and subscribed to other writing magazines. Those may be more in tune with my interests or something.

Don't know but thought I'd chime in.

[johanh]

for some reason they pop up and go away and pop up and go away from the stores here in scandinavia. either distribute them here or don´t.

[bbarlen]

One thing that I find strange about Scr(i)pt magazine is the fact that you read things like this all the time:

I hopped into my Toyota(R) and ate a Snickers(R) bar. We then went to Pizza Hut (TM).

Why do you feel the need to include those copyright / registered trade mark symbols after any brand name item mentioned in the magazine? It looks terrible in my opinion, and I don't know ANY other magazine that does it.

[scriptmag]

Hey Red -Pen -
Stick up for me on the Quality of Screenwriting Mags board, would ya? I know you are the Eagle Eye!!!!
Thanks
Shelly

[pconsidine]

You got it!

bbarlen –

Including legal symbols like "®" and "™" aren't matter of style but matters of law (as the name "legal symbols" implies). I can think of several other magazines that do it as well and yes, it's a little bothersome. However, that's the nature of the business.

Sure, some magazines don't do it and they get away with it. But in a magazine that deals solely in intellectual property, it only makes sense to dot all the i's and cross all the t's. All it takes is one nuisance lawsuit to put a magazine out of business completely. And independent magazines are far more at risk than ones owned by massive conglomerates with giant legal departments. If we need to put up with a few ®'s and ™'s to keep scr(i)pt coming out, then I think we can all take one for the team, right?

[pconsidine]

Johanh –*

International magazine distribution is a total nightmare for U.S. publications. It totally sucks that scr(i)pt doesn't show up more regularly, but considering all that's involved in getting the magazine from the U.S. to your local news stand, I'm amazed that it gets there at all. There are issues of international postal rates, different channels for distribution for each country, the cost associated with getting readers in foreign territories and the dozens of local middle-men that need to get a piece of the action. It generally adds up to a very unfavorable climate for international distribution of U.S. magazines.

What some publishers are doing (especially in technical areas) are producing digital verisions of their magazine and e-mailing them to foreign territories. The issues with electronic distribution are far easier, especially since many foreign readers have already invested in broadband, which makes delivering a 10MB PDF file more of a realistic option.

Maybe we can take a little survey for the folks at scr(i)pt and see if it's worth doing?

[bbarlen]

Pete,

Thanks for your reply. I guess I still just don't understand the necessity of the symbols. If you're writing an article about someone who uses a Macintosh computer to type their scripts, how would it be possible for Apple to sue the magazine for printing "Macintosh" without the symbol?

The only place I've seen it aggressively used is with the AMPAS Oscar name, on DVD boxes and things like that.

Has someone ever been sued successfully for just mentioning a product name in a magazine article?

BTW, I really like Scr(i)pt magazine, I read every issue, but that's just something that's always bothered me about it, and since it's the point of the thread, I figured why not ask the question!:D

[pconsidine]

Has someone ever been sued successfully for just mentioning a product name in a magazine article?

I don't know. The only instances where I've seen people get into trouble for not putting it in is when they're using something like "band-aid" or "xerox" in the general sense that they've come to mean and not specifically referring to those brand-name products. Both Band-Aid® and Xerox® went on the warpath a while back, trying to preserve their value as brand names. Their legal departments wrote quite a few angry letters to magazines and publishers of all kinds, but I don't know what came of that (if anything).

[HConn]

It's not that companies will sue you for leaving off the (tm). It's that they must contact you to demand you include the symbol after their trademarked name. It's called "defending your trademark." If they let that stuff slide, they can lose the right to use that trademarked term exclusively.

Aspirin and trampoline were once brand names. Now they are generic term anyone can use because the companies didn't defend their use.

Additional note: I can't speak to scr(i)pt, but Writer's Digest used to run ads for companies that wanted to defend their trademarks. It was ad space bought to remind writers everywhere to write "Post-It brand self-adhesive notes" instead of post its, for example. As a result, the magazine editors started running a column on trademarks, to entice more advertisers.