Bun fight!

Well, wow. That's all I can say. I don't think I like being called a 'scab' by anyone, especially a luddite.

The Science Fiction Writers of America forums are ablaze once again because of Howard V. Hendrix, the current V.P. of the organisation.

After a 'kiss me, I'm brilliant' list of accomplishments, we find this little nugget:

I'm also opposed to the increasing presence in our organization of webscabs, who post their creations on the net for free. A scab is someone who works for less than union wages or on non-union terms; more broadly, a scab is someone who feathers his own nest and advances his own career by undercutting the efforts of his fellow workers to gain better pay and working conditions for all. Webscabs claim they're just posting their books for free in an attempt to market and publicize them, but to my mind they're undercutting those of us who aren't giving it away for free and are trying to get publishers to pay a better wage for our hard work.

So, the V.P. of an organisation that deals with futuristic works thinks authors who give their work away for free on the net are scabs.

There are plenty of comments about this, so I can't say much more. I'm not a member, thankfully, and there are plenty of authors who are opting out of this organisation - for good reason, it seems if this is the calibre of ranting.

All I can say to this is: PICK ME!!!