From: owner-jewel-digest@smoe.org (jewel-digest) To: jewel-digest@smoe.org Subject: jewel-digest V3 #273 Reply-To: jewel@smoe.org Sender: owner-jewel-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-jewel-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk jewel-digest Wednesday, May 20 1998 Volume 03 : Number 273 * If you wish to unsubscribe, send an email to jewel-digest-request@smoe.org * with ONLY the word unsubscribe in the body of the email * . * For the latest information on Jewel tour dates, go to: * http://jewel.zoonation.com and click on "TOUR" * OR * go to the OFFICIAL Jewel home page at http://www.jeweljk.com * and go to the "What, When, Where" section * . * PLEASE :) when you reply to this digest to send a post TO the list, * change the subject to reflect what your post is about. A subject * of Re: jewel-digest V3 #xxx or the like gives readers no clue * as to what your message is about. Today's Subjects: ----------------- such a pitty ["*sp@cegrrrl*" ] RE: Poetry Contest ["Pease, Kevin" ] The View and MTV Live and Charlie Rose, etc [Stevie3103 ] Megastore poetry reading attendees! Online magazine wants you to [Mike C] Please, no more posts complaining about the poetry contest rules [Mike Co] Jewel in Seventeen's Daily Cafe [Zaria2 ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 20 May 1998 16:04:16 -0700 (PDT) From: "*sp@cegrrrl*" Subject: such a pitty I know a lot of people are posting about jewel's poetry readding and another post is most likely the last thing you want to hear, but I have to put my two cents in so to speak. I can honestly say that I was the only EDA at the megastore in Sacramento, even worse... there were only four people there to watch the reading. The sound was bad but the people at the store were nice enough to let us sit on the floors complain about the volume factor and block traffic. To top it all off they gave us a free promo poster plus to free stickers. Of course I was happy to get my pre-signed book. Being that Sacto is a small town there are a load of presigned books there. If anyone still just has to have a pre-signed book drop me a line. Dani(elle) the strange angel *{\o/}* /_\ ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 20 May 1998 17:07:15 -0400 From: "Pease, Kevin" Subject: RE: Poetry Contest Bear with me here... I agree with Wizard's basic point that HarperCollins is asking a lot of a writer by asking him or her to give up all rights to a submitted poem, but I don't agree with some of the other points being made. (Wizards original comments preceded by this symbol: >> ) >> Lets remember that HarperCollins exists for one purpose: to further their own greed. >> Do you really think they give a rat's ass about poetry or literature? Do you think they >> are in business to add beauty to our lives? They don't care about you, they don't >> care about Jewel (except as far as they can profit off her), they don't care about art. >> They care about turning a profit, and they will use the winning poem to that end. I think this is an unfair characterization of HarperCollins; Yes, their aim is to make a profit, as is the same with ANY business... however, to say that they don't "give a rat's ass" about poetry or literature is probably not accurate. Publishing companies serve a necessary purpose - if Steinbeck / Conrad / Melville (just a few examples) had to print and bind and distribute copies of The Grapes of Wrath / Heart Of Darkness / Moby Dick themselves, do you think anybody ever would have even heard of those books, let alone would they be, in many cases, on the required and suggested reading lists of most high schools across America? Unfortunately, if any writer is going to achieve more than transient local fame, he or she has very little recourse but to hook up with a publishing company which will accomplish the business of publishing and distributing that writer's work to a larger audience. Yes, HarperCollins probably will attempt to use the winning poem to turn a profit, which I don't blame them for. They are a business after all, and the people who work for that business have to do what they do to feed their families, just like you and I have to. The fact that I would be surrendering all rights to my writing has also prevented me from entering the contest (not that I think I'd win, but who knows? :), but I think you're being overly critical of HarperCollins; I really don't think they're all sloping-browed Neanderthals who would just as soon burn a book for warmth as read it. Realistically, why would you want to get into a business where you'd be working with writers, if you hated reading & thought that books and literature were a waste of time? I'll bet if you surveyed the employees of HarperCollins (let's remember, people do make up the company... "HarperCollins" isn't some Teenage-Mutant-Ninja-Turtle-esque monstrosity that lives in the sewers beneath the city and plots the overthrow of Earth - it's a company, made up of people, and run by people), they probably do enjoy reading, and probably read at higher than a 5th grade "Archie and Jughead" comic book level. That said, I agree that I think they're asking a whole lot for a writer to give up all rights to their writing in return for 500 dollars, and I think the policy is misguided, at best; BUT... I don't think that HarperCollins is asking that because they're out to deliberately put the screws to a promising writer, it was probably a well-intentioned idea for protecting themselves from a lawsuit at a later date which they didn't really think through all that well. >> Unfortunately for the poet, it will no longer be their possession and they will see no >> money from it. They may, however, one day see their poem in a greeting card or >> some other mundane format; while HarperCollins is raking in the dough, the poet will >> just have to get back to their plodding, pedantic job at the gas station or wherever, >> because they no longer have any legal rights or recourse. Trust me, I used to work in a store that had two full 50 foot aisles of cards... if a poem makes it into a greeting card, the card company that makes it isn't getting rich off that one card. My store used to resell the cards for about 30% more than what we paid for them... then, from the wholesale, take out the money for the distributors, the money for the printing and packaging companies, and you really don't have a ton of money left over for the card company. Add to that the fact that if they're very lucky, they'll maybe sell 50 or so of that particular card per year in any given store... and well, I'd say maybe their take is a couple thousand per year off of that one particular run of card. That's not exactly Fortune 500 material, which is the reason that card companies make hundreds of different styles and types of cards; cumulative effect, yes, they're making good money. But off of any single given card, they're not "raking in dough". Again, I'm not condoning the fact that they could use a poem they receive for that purpose, and share little or none of it with the person who wrote the poem, but I think you also have to look at it realistically - I don't think anybody's really "raking in dough" off of poetry sales - the publishing company isn't going to get rich off of one poem, nor is the gas station attendant (or whatever) going to get rich off of one of his or her poems, even if it's an astoundingly good poem that everybody on earth can identify with. >> HarperCollins would sell runaways into slavery if they could make a profit without >> being indicted. And whats an even better way to make a profit without being >> indicted? Exploit the fans of a pop phenomenon! I think that's a bit of an exaggeration, for obvious reasons. It's easy to imagine a "corporate giant" would be capable of selling people into slavery, but you're losing sight of the fact that that "corporate giant" is made up of and run by people, who also need to eat, put a roof over their heads, and support themselves and their families. It's in their best interests to help their company turn a profit, so they can accomplish those things. But I doubt that any person at HarperCollins would agree to help bring back the slave trade to America, nor do I think that they said, "Hey, what better way to pad our bottom line by $10,000 than to exploit the fans of a pop phenomenon?" Again, I think the contest is a well-intentioned attempt at generating some additional interest in Jewel's book and encouraging a little bit of fan participation. The fact that they want the writer to give up the rights to his or her poem is asking a bit much, in my opinion, but I don't think that means they're unethical rats who would just love to break into our homes, steal our children, and sell them overseas for a hefty profit. There's reaction, and there's over-reaction. >> In my opinion, anyone who would sell out their art is a hack. You have no right >> calling yourself an artist, you are a businessman. It is possible for one to be both, >> but their is a big difference between making a living off your art, as opposed to >> treating your creation like a commodity. What is that difference? Say I had a kick-ass poem that I could submit (which I don't, in truth... my writing wanders mostly in the areas of "not so hot" and "downright terrible"... :), and I was almost sure it would win 500 for me - and say I also had just lost my job, and desperately needed money - is that okay, then, to be a "hack sellout"? What's the difference, really, between treating your creation like a commodity, and "living off your art"? If I was writing poetry that somebody was willing to pay me for, I'd be living off my art, and treating it like a commodity - it's being packaged and sold by someone, and I get money for creating it... I really fail to see the difference, except "living off your art" sounds a lot nicer that "selling your art like a commodity." >> toothpaste commercials instead of passing yourself off as a creative entity. Perhaps >> "You're Not Fully Clean Until You're Zestfully Clean" is prose more suited for your >> abilities. So if I write a really great, Maya Angelou / Robert Frost / Shakespeare caliber poem, but for some reason decide that I'll part with it for $500, I should go work for an ad company writing jingles? I think that's a bit harsh. You don't know the circumstances of the writer, and you don't know why they entered the contest. For a lot of people online, entering a contest like this is probably the only chance at exposure their poem will ever get. Let's be honest, I've seen a lot of poetry on the web, and in various mailing lists, and most of it just isn't ever going to sell. I happily include my own writing in this category. I don't mean to detract from the personal value, and perhaps limited friends-and-family appeal, of a lot of people's writing, but if poets like Maya Angelou were born everyday, then Maya Angelou wouldn't be all that notable, would she? If somebody really wants to enter the contest, hoping that maybe they'll make $500 off of it, and maybe their work will, at least just that once, receive a wide exposure, I'm not going to hold it against them and call them a hack sellout, and tell them they sold their soul to the corporate devil. I wish anybody who enters the contest the best of luck. I also hope that if they are selected as the winner, and lose the rights to their poem, they're willing to accept the consequences of that. Really, the beautiful thing about someone's feelings is, there's always more where the first one came from... it's not like by selling their poem, they're going to suddenly become emotionless, illiterate, soulless robots, incapable of writing another word. They can still say "I wrote that", and if art is more about *art* than it is about money & fame, then it really doesn't matter how much or how little money they get for it, or whether or not they get famous. They still created it, and that's what counts, not who reads it, or who published it, or how much the check was written for. Kevin Pease kpease@clariion.com ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 20 May 1998 20:12:55 EDT From: Stevie3103 Subject: The View and MTV Live and Charlie Rose, etc I'm mad at myself for not being here last week. I was in Washington DC last week so i did not get a chance to check mail and everything. So, i need to know if anyone has these items they can make for me: May xxth: PBS- Charlie Rose Show (whenever it airs) Tuesday, May 19th: "The View"- ABC Network Tuesday, May 19th: MTV Live Segments Taping Wednesday, May 20th: CNN "Showbiz Today" Taping Broadcast time unknown Thank you so much Stevie ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 16 Mar 1998 21:59:39 -0700 From: Jeremy Falcone Subject: Virgin and MTV Live Hello all! I was @ the Virgin reading, which was nice, but actually I enjoyed the MTV live more! We had front "couch" seats for that. My dad supplied the microphones for both MTV and the Virgin reading (Sennheiser) and so we got "backstage" passes to both. @ MTV the host (starts with a C) was really interesting - I don't know if anyone saw it, but her last poem was "Sara Said" I believe, the one about teen pregnancy, and then MTV had the host go to a segment about Pepsi. He nearly broke down during the break, he said he felt so horrible for going from such a serious topic to such a trivial one. Also, the stage manager was upset because Jewel didn't seem to like being there, according to him. It was really, really neat! (Le)Nedra was behind us and we got to talk to everyone! My dad was standing to the back and he shook her hand and wished her happy birthday, and then when she went on she commented about that! Virgin was neat as well, although there were... hmmm... unpolite people who wouldn't shut up and who left in the middle of it! When we finally got in they gave us special visitor passes and so I got to go down in the back and was able to snag 2 of the nice posters ... all in all a wonderful day! It was kind of neat seeing real EDA's ... they are no longer just on the computer. Did anyone tape the MTV live? We were on there! So if anyone did, please email me privately! Thanks! Jeremy Falcone ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 20 May 1998 22:34:45 -0400 From: Mike Connell Subject: Megastore poetry reading attendees! Online magazine wants you to write for them! Sender: owner-jewel@smoe.org Precedence: bulk Hi folks, Dustin Rabin, publisher of the online magazine SODA wants someone who attended the poetry reading at the Virgin MegaStore in NYC to contact him about possibly writing a review of the event for his magazine. If you attended and wish to be considered, you can write Dustin at: soda@sodamag.com He may be interested in anyone who was at the MTV Live show too :-) To see a previous article the magazine did on Jewel, check out: http://www.sodamag.com/backissues/soda05/jewel.htm Mike :-) ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 20 May 1998 22:38:21 -0400 From: Mike Connell Subject: Please, no more posts complaining about the poetry contest rules Hi folks :-) You think there's been a lot of posts complaining about the rules of the poetry contest? Ha!! :-) There's like 10 or 12 more here waiting to be sent....however....sorry, I won't be sending them on. No sense beating a dead poet ;-) They all pretty much make the same few points. Look, either enter the contest or don't. I could go on about my thoughts on this, but I won't...it's all been said....and there's nothing that can be done about the signing away of rights, or the fact you have to have web access to enter the contest or to be in the USA to enter. (or whatever the concrete rule on *that* one is....kinda loopholey if you ask me) I gotta share one thing someone told me about this though....it's kinda funny....kinda true....about the $500 grand prize and signing away the rights....one EDA said (about a contest entrants' poem) "I know some list members who would PAY JEWEL $500 just to read the ____ing thing :-) Mike :-) * If you are new to the Jewel list and need a helping hand * The Jewel EveryDay Angels List Homepage & Guide is at: * http://www.spectra.net/~ducksoup * * If you have list related questions, feel free to email me * at Ducksoup@spectra.net * * DuckofPrey@aol.com WhyADuck55 on AOL Instant Messenger ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 20 May 1998 22:26:30 EDT From: Zaria2 Subject: Jewel in Seventeen's Daily Cafe Here's what they said: PIECES OF JEWEL: Last night I trekked over to the Virgin Mega Store in New York City's Times Square for a poetry reading by none other than Jewel. The 23-year-old "You Were Meant for Me" singer was taking a break from her movie Ride With the Devil (formerly To Live On) and was in town to promote A Night Without Armor: Poems, her new book. Decked out in a semisheer pink shirt, a knee-length beige skirt and really cool silver sandals, Jewel read a handful of compositions from A Night Without Armor (a collection of more than a hundred of her poems) including "As a Child I Walked," "Wild Horse" and "You Tell Me." She also answered questions from the audience (the store was packed with fans, many of them male) -- and even chatted with callers at Virgin's stores in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Orlando and Montreal, where the reading was being simulcast on television screens. When asked why she was releasing a book of poetry, Jewel said, "Writing, to me, is just how I breathe." She revealed that she'd been writing poetry long before she began her career as a singer-songwriter -- and that for her, poetry is the form of self-expression that's closest to her heart (she says she writes poems in her journal every day). But rest assured that Jewel won't be ditching her music career for the literary life any time soon (whew!) -- when one concerned fan asked if she'd be able to balance her writing with her music, she insisted that she'd be doing both for years to come. "I have this overwhelming desire to communicate with people," she explained. Good news for us. Love, *Jen* ------------------------------ End of jewel-digest V3 #273 ***************************