Feb 2012 Jan 2012 Nov 2011 Oct 2011 Sep 2011 Apr 2011 Jan 2011 Dec 2010 Nov 2010 Oct 2010 Sep 2010 Jul 2010 Jun 2010 May 2010 Mar 2010 Feb 2010 Jan 2010 Dec 2009 Nov 2009 Oct 2009 Sep 2009 Jul 2009 Jun 2009 May 2009 Apr 2009 Mar 2009 Feb 2009 Jan 2009 Dec 2008 Nov 2008 Oct 2008 Sep 2008 Jul 2008 Jun 2008 May 2008 Apr 2008 Mar 2008 Feb 2008 Jan 2008 Dec 2007 Nov 2007 Oct 2007 Sep 2007 Jul 2007 Jun 2007 May 2007 Apr 2007 Mar 2007 Feb 2007 Jan 2007 Dec 2006 Nov 2006 Oct 2006 Sep 2006 Jul 2006 Jun 2006 May 2006 Apr 2006 Mar 2006 Jan 2006 Dec 2005 Nov 2005 Oct 2005 Sep 2005 Jul 2005 Jun 2005 May 2005 Apr 2005 Mar 2005 Feb 2005 Jan 2005 Dec 2004 Nov 2004 Oct 2004 Sep 2004 Jul 2004 Jun 2004 May 2004 Apr 2004 Mar 2004 Feb 2004 Jan 2004 Dec 2003 Nov 2003 Oct 2003 Sep 2003 Jul 2003 Jun 2003 May 2003 Apr 2003 Mar 2003 Feb 2003 Jan 2003 Dec 2002 Nov 2002 Oct 2002

June 2003

Hello and Goodbye

By Jim Morrison

I had hoped with this column to deliver news about the status of our settlement talks with the databases in the class action copyright infringement case. Unfortunately, that's not possible yet.

In the past year, that has been atop my list of projects. But it's not the only new items on ASJA's agenda.

At our board meeting in May, we voted to issue a request for proposals to revamp our Writer Referral Service with the goal of greatly increasing the number of jobs posted there monthly. We don't know what kind of response we will get. But our intention is to remove the commission currently paid by members and finance the service solely through payments from those posting the jobs. Will it work? We won't know until we begin getting responses.

We also decided to take a look at better helping writers facing collection and other problems with publishers. This project is just beginning, but the idea is to have our Legal Affairs Committee, Writer/Editor Relations Committee and Warning List Committee work together to aid writers plagued by late—or no—pay.

We're going to reexamine our annual Friday members' meeting with an eye towards shaking up things. The members' meeting was transformed some years ago with panels concentrating on both the craft and the business of freelancing. However, many of those panels now appear during the Saturday sessions. Our charge will be to improve and make the members' day even more valuable.

Finally, we're going to explore partnerships with other organizations and corporations to better help members market and sell their reprints. Again, this is something just in the early stages, but seems promising. Will it work out? I hope we'll have an answer for members —and a little more change in their pockets—by the end of the summer.

I'm shaking my head as I write this because I should be summing up, not outlining new initiatives. This is my last column as ASJA's president. Lisa Collier Cool, who brings her extensive experience as a freelancer and author to the task, takes over next month. I hope we've accomplished a few things that have improved the value of membership and ASJA's standing in the publishing business. Anything we did came through the efforts of members, most of them volunteers. They are people who put aside paying work to improve things for the rest of us. So I'd like to name as many of them as possible.

Thanks, first, to Brett Harvey and Zeleika Raboy, our staff of two who sometimes seem to do the work of 20. Thanks to our officers and board members who continue to come up with idea after idea to improve ASJA. They are Lisa Collier Cool, Shari Steiner, Minda Zetlin, Sam Greengard, Margaret Littman, Andie Warren, Jennifer Pirtle, Russ Wild, Bob Bittner, Jack El-Hai, Sandra Lamb, Ann Monroe and Claire Walter.

Thanks to Melba Newsome, the Publications czar, and her crew including newsletter editor Barbara DeMarco-Barrett, Web editor Christine Larson and Webmaster par excellence Bruce Miller. In the past year, they've overhauled and vastly upgraded the newsletter and Web site (and Bruce has done amazing work creating the hybrid listserve/forum for members). Thanks to Erik Sherman, our contracts guru; Russ Wild, our conference chair; Jennifer Pirtle, our market reports head; Janine Latus, our recruiting chief; Andie Warren, our new member hostess; Claire Safran, the First Amendment committee chair of many years; Mark Fuerst, who ran the membership applications committee; Diane O'Connell, who put together superb New York meetings; Sarah Francis, who assumed the unenviable task of dealing with annual awards; and Paula Dranov, who heads our PR Committee. Ann Monroe and her committee have taken on the difficult job of reworking the Writer Referral Service and come up with an excellent plan.

Finally, I'd like to thank a number of members who have provided much-appreciated counsel over the past two years, including Florence Isaacs, Sue Russell, Sarah Wernick, Tim Harper, Rogier van Bakel, Donna Albrecht, Sophie Dembling, Rich Marini and Pat McNees. Sallie Randolph has donated a ridiculous amount of her valued legal insight to ASJA and deserves our appreciation.

When I became president two years ago, I mentioned it to my father, who has since died. He grew up and then still lived in a tiny Pennsylvania town and retained that small town view that such things are big news. A few weeks later, I was talking to him and he said, "I've been looking for your news in the paper." I was puzzled until he explained that he was referring to my becoming president of ASJA. "I thought maybe AP would pick it up," he added.

"No, " I said laughing, "it's not that big a deal."

Two years later, I think I was wrong. It was a big deal. I learned that during the annual conference when so many of you were so complimentary. And, yes, Tim Harper was right. I was shocked and a little embarrassed by the fuss. But thank you. I'll long remember it.

Being ASJA's president has been more work than I anticipated. I can honestly say I didn't know all I was getting into, especially when it came to the class action lawsuit against the databases.

However, it has also been more rewarding than I could ever have imagined.

I remain on the board as the past president and will be working on projects related to rights and copyright issues. Thanks for tuning in the past couple of years. It's been some ride.