Kristen Havens: Writer, Ghostwriter, Developmental Editor – Los Angeles, CA
Inspired by something I saw recently on The Rumpus, the following is constructed completely from actual comments I’ve received when my work has been turned down.
These comments span 14 years of rejection, from 1999 to the present. They cover all genres: TV pilots, screenplays, poems, short stories, novellas, and article pitches.
I’m asking myself that question these days, partly because Tumblr Storyboard is paying for journalism (and, with The Rumpus, for essays on the last book you loved). But I’m also thinking about Tumblr because something I wrote about it last April for my business blog got cited in an academic article.
You can see that academic article here: Mangiafico, S., “Six Months in Social Media: The Life History of a Natural Resources Blog in New Jersey,” Journal of the NACAA 5 (2) (2012): ISSN 2158-9429.
Here’s the original blog post cited in the article: Should You Be Using Tumblr?
(Hint: the blog post does help you answer that question.)
— Kristen
In mid-November, a woman approached me via Flickr, asking permission to use one of my photos (see above) as part of a book interventions and architecture exhibit that would accompany a book fair in Moscow.
I was skeptical. I also wasn’t sure about my rights, since I took the photo without getting permission from the owner of the object within. (I’m new at this whole photography thing.)
After taking an informal poll of my friends, I decided I was being a self-defeating control freak, so I said “yes,” as long as she was willing to name the rural bookstore where I’d taken the photo. She agreed.