Every writer, author, and creator must decide for themselves the ethics of using LLM generative AI. I've made my decision.

Independent creators: do you have a statement of ethics? Learn how a public statement of your principles and ethics can help build community and attract friends and fans to your work.

I post my gross earnings as an independent author and creator. If you're an indie author or otherwise make some or all of your living as an independent creator, I challenge you to do the same. Here's why...

The secret authors need to know when they want to sell books on social networks.

I know this isn't a new subject, but I've been thinking about it lately. Social media and social networks like Twitter, Facebook and the like are great for keeping in touch at a distance, bringing people together for causes and crises, and maintaining a kind of loose thread between friends and acquaintances. I'm wondering if the ease of communication social networks allow has made people less likely to connect with one another in more direct ways when possible, like over the telephone or in person. It's convenient, after all, to reply to a tweet or a Facebook status or note... but I wonder if it makes us less likely to make the effort when it comes to less convenient but more personal contact? I know I've been guilty of responding to an e-mail instead of making a phone call, or being satisfied with trading comments on Facebook instead of driving to actually see someone. And I readily admit that my recent desire to reach out to people (and, ideally, have them reach out to me) has probably colored my perception on this... but it's made me wonder: does social media make us lazy social creatures? What do you think?

I'm having a hard time articulating this blog entry. It's hard, because I've made a decision to not be involved with the Los Angeles Podcasters Group's (LAPG) booth at the Podcast & Portable Media Expo in a month and a half, and the decision is based on a combination of ethical, personal, and purely gut reasons. So it's hard to explain it, and yet I feel the need to blog about it. It's hard to explain, because I don't particularly want to get into the personal reasons (I sense that bad feelings and perhaps some flared tempers would result.) Let's just say I don't mesh with some of the participants, and the perceived motivations that seem to drive their actions. I wrote a post on the LA Podcasters' forum to, more or less, state my reasons. Read that, if you want. It explains most of it. I guess it's enough to say that I want to meet people, and interact, and network, and build relationships, and all of that... I don't want to stand around in a convention hall and wait for people to come to me and my Los Angeles comrades. See, I long for community, and I don't…

All right, folks! Here's a reminder that it pays to speak, to act. Earlier this week, it came to my attention that Nike was using a knock-off of classic, iconic Minor Threat album cover art to promote a skateboarding tour. Dischord Records never gave permission to use, never approved of, and never condoned the Nike ad campaign. In fact, they were diametrically opposed to it. Unfortunately, Dischord recognized that they didn't have the financial resources to mount a legal battle against Nike. So. I wrote a letter to Nike, essentially calling them out, and I spread the word to the folks on the Mike Watt discussion group on Yahoo!, and to my friends on MySpace. I encouraged everyone to contact their own mailing lists (most or many including many, many more people than I could reach) and we got viral on the whole thing. Today, Nike issued an apology and removed the image from the media, both in print and online. Fuck yeah. I'm not saying I'm responsible. I'm saying it feels good to stand for DIY, for what's right, and it feels good to be involved in something that ... in a matter of less than 100 hours... changed…