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Every few months, we get a message from a student or alumnus who wants us to take down something they’ve written for the paper. Our policy around removal has always been that if the published article poses a safety risk or creates any other form of danger, we’ll take it down or take your name off the article as requested. Otherwise, we will work with the person to find alternative ways to mitigate their discomfort with having the article published.

Sometimes their requests are unreasonable — for example, requests to take the article down because the writing was bad, the author no longer agrees with an opinion article they submitted or that a true fact published in the paper will damage someone’s reputation. I understand these concerns. Now that all of The Silhouette’s articles go online, student’s writing, or the news about their on-campus activities is no longer just under university-wide scrutiny. Anyone around the world has access to it. This has been great for many of our writers and articles. We get readers from unexpected countries (as far as Australia!), and have expanded our readership significantly. It also means we get more complaints from people who don’t want the articles they wrote or are mentioned in to show up in their Google searches.

Wanting to delete articles you’re not proud of is fundamentally misguided. It speaks to a lack of understanding of individual growth. Whether it’s because your writing wasn’t as good as it could be, or you said something you don’t believe anymore, your acknowledgement of both shows how much you’re grown and improved as both a writer and a person. Publishing a controversial opinion in any online platform is an important decision. You have to be prepared for the backlash and the feedback, and be ready to defend your point of view. If you change your mind later and realize that you don’t even know the person who wrote those horrible things, then it’s up to you to own up to it.

Wanting to delete articles you’re not proud of is fundamentally misguided. It speaks to a lack of understanding of individual growth. 

If you fear a damaged reputation because you reported true facts, all I can say is: that’s too bad. The Silhouette won’t censor itself to help you clean up your public image. These situations can vary in severity, but they all speak to the need to act ethically, kindly and wisely in all aspects of your (public) life. This is especially true for student politicians.

While student newspapers and organizations are less serious and more forgiving than their “real world” counterparts, they’re still no joke. It’s a reality that’s not meant to scare you, but to inspire you to make the best of your time here. Put a lot thought into what you write and how you act. Stand up for things you believe in, but be open to changing your mind. If you make mistakes, the best thing to do is to own up to them. Even if we delete your article from our servers, rest assured that the internet at-large is not such a forgiving place.

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At the recommendation of a friend, I started 2016 with a series called All For The Game. The first book was free on iBooks, and the other two books in the trilogy were less than a dollar each.

Although I was confused why they were so cheap, I didn’t pay much thought to it. It wasn’t until I was halfway through the second book in the trilogy that I found out it was self-published, and at that point the occasional typos and the unexpectedness of the character backgrounds started to make sense. A particular one was that the trilogy, in the barest of summaries, features a sport loosely based on lacrosse. In this case, however, the author took some liberties and applied her own changes. The most significant changes were that each team can be open to both male and female players, and that each team can contain a mix of both. In fact, one of the founders of the sport itself is a woman.

This was information I tucked away for further musing until earlier this month I stumbled upon another self-published book, The Posterchildren. It’s a superhero story with a POC main character and diverse sexualities throughout the board. A friend informed me, after I’d started telling them about the book, that the author had gained a substantial following in the fanfiction community, and that the book itself was largely influenced by already existing material from the DC Universe.

This got me wondering, then, if an author needed to self-publish to guarantee that their book, which features people of colour identifying as members of the LGBTQ community, will be published. I think the answer might be yes.

Some mainstream authors look down on what Forbes is now referring to as “indie publishing.”

Of course, there are non-self-published books out there featuring diverse characters. That’s not to say, however, that the world of fiction isn’t lacking at all in diversity. The LGBTQ genre of fiction mostly features gay men, and a significant share of the genre are stories with unnecessarily tragic endings to cater to a teenage audience ready to gobble it up and cry about their doomed OTP. There’s also always the well-written coming out stories, and while some of these stories are needed, it doesn’t make sense that the genre is, quite literally, defined by coming out and tragedy. It doesn’t make sense that, while the rest of the YA genre gets yet another girl-falls-in-love-with-bad-boy series, the LGBTQ genre continues to struggle with redefining itself with other aspects of fiction such as lesbian superheroes. As a consequence, some authors have to resort to self-publishing to incorporate some diversity into a genre that’s overshadowed by mainstream stories.

Some mainstream authors look down on what Forbes is now referring to as “indie publishing.” A lot of the publishing process can be credited to the editors and publishers themselves, but I highly doubt it’s fair to dismiss self-published authors for that reason. Yes, there might be typos and awkward parts due to lack of professional editors, and it might be hard to find these stories without it being through a recommendation. However, no matter how much more diverse the fiction world is beginning to get, it will still be difficult for some authors to find the grounding they need to provide the representation they can. Getting published is hard enough as it is, and harder still for authors trying to release protagonists identifying with the asexual spectrum and sports with strong female players playing alongside “the boys.”

We shouldn’t look down at these self-published authors and scoff at them. There might come a time where self-publishing is the new mainstream, but I hope that, if that time does come, diversity and representation of minorities will have been properly incorporated into mainstream fiction.

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By: Miranda Babbitt

Blogging, in most cases, goes hand in hand with writing. Sometimes, the process of writing is a joyous pursuit. The words just won’t stop flowing! Try and stop us, we yell triumphantly! The rest of the time, however, blogging goes hand in hand with writer’s block.

My blog is the sour truth of that.

Trust me, if my blog were a book, the pages would have gathered so much dust by now, you’d probably just back away slowly from what clearly appeared to be a witch’s spellbook. (Actually some of you may very well jump in at that prospect to live out your Hogwarts dreams, and for that, I don’t blame you.)

Do you know the feeling though? To have a blog sitting somewhere, not doing much except reminiscing about the good old days when it was churning out posts every week? Well, let me tell you something that you may not know: a big contributor to the wad of “blah” that’s stuck between you and your writing is fear.

Fear, that dear old friend, has a way of making every post you’re excited about seem impossible to approach. It can make any post you’re even planning on writing look just about as ridiculous as writing a spell to turn your least favourite professor into a cuddly kitten. Then there’s the fear of writing something people won’t like, and also the fear of writing something you don’t like but you think will appease your readers for the time being.

So how do we beat these insecurities rattling around in our heads? Own them.

That’s right. Use your fears to your advantage.

I can’t tell you how many bloggers I’ve met that have said the most rewarding pieces they’ve written are the ones that required them to open themselves up, if only a little, to their readers. The nerves before clicking ‘publish,’ the anxiety stirring inside their tummy afterwards, and then the gradual emanation of glory in knowing that they have put something out into the world that someone might be able to really resonate with —this experience is unbeatable.

While tapping into the hearts of your readers is in itself deliciously rewarding, the very process of writing out your feelings is also known to be very therapeutic for you. The power of journaling is well documented as a super effective therapy exercise for those who find it difficult to articulate their anxieties. For some though, journaling falls flat because, well, who’s going to read it? (Pretty sure your younger sister has moved on by now.) The thrill of knowing that there’s an audience can help you articulate your feelings even more clearly, letting you inch closer to the root of your anxieties. And who knows? Maybe by the time you’re finished writing, you’ll be a pro on how to help yourself out of a situation, which just means you can tailor your post into the most profoundly personal advice column ever. Those are the bomb.

Yes, it can be effing scary to publish your insecurities to the world, let alone whisper them to a friend. But, I’m telling you, that vulnerability can reap such treasures inside of your soul and the souls around you. If you open yourself up, you can open up whole communities of people at the same time who are going through the same thing you are.

So give it a try! To help you, we’ll give you a few ideas for prompts:

Where do you see yourself in two years, and (this answer could be different) where do you want to see yourself in two years?

Are secrets good for the soul?

What do you need to remind yourself of more often than anything else?

Photo Credit: Tweak Your Biz

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Edwin Mellen Press is formally suing a McMaster librarian, along with the University, for $3.5 million in damages over a libel claim stemming from a 2010 blog post.

The Ontario Superior Court of Justice is now trying the case of Dale Askey and McMaster versus Edwin Mellen Press (EMP). Askey published a series of personal blog posts critiquing the publisher under the title, “The Curious Case of Edwin Mellen Press” three years ago.

In his blog posts, Askey stated that Edwin Mellen Press produced books of low quality and was a “junk publisher” that regularly published second-class works that were exorbitantly overpriced. He also claimed that the press treated its authors in an unprofessional manner and, as a librarian, had seen many poorly edited and poorly bound books published by EMP.

Askey was issued legal notice in June 2012 as a result of the alleged defamatory statements. The notice also identifies McMaster University as co-defendant.

The plaintiff, EMP, claims that by refusing to force Askey to remove his defamatory comments, McMaster has vicariously adopted his defamatory and libelous statements.

McMaster spokesperson Gord Arbeau said that the University stands in full support of Askey.

“The University is very supportive of Mr. Askey. Freedom of speech and academic freedom are foundational principles of this institution.”

McMaster issued a statement on Feb. 8 re-asserting its commitment to academic freedom. McMaster affirmed “the right of the academic community to engage in full and unrestricted consideration of any opinion ... the University supports the exercise of free speech as a critical social good.”

In his posts, Askey emphasized the importance of being critical of publishers and the quality of academic publications that universities purchase. He re-iterated that in his role as a librarian, and given limited university library budgets, it is important for universities to be selective in what they purchase.

Lingua Franca, a noted American magazine, was also taken to court by EMP in 1993 for libel and asked for $15 million in damages. EMP lost the case.

An online petition on Change.org, asking for the case to be dropped, has elicited over 1000 signatures in support of Askey and McMaster.

On Feb. 11, The McMaster Faculty Association also issued a statement urging McMaster to offer its member, Askey, all “necessary support, including financial assistance, in dealing with this threat to him, our institution and to the wider academic community.”

Arbeau noted that because Askey’s comments were made on a personal blog and while he was not an employee of McMaster, his case is a unique one. McMaster has chosen to act in support but “is responsible for its own defence and the costs borne from that as a co-defendant,” he said.

Titles is the students’ source on campus for all things textbook related. Although its main location is now mostly dedicated to McMaster paraphernalia and school supplies, the store’s primary focus is books.

With such a focus, it’s hard to believe that every September, students are faced with empty shelves and backordered textbooks.

“[Textbook ordering] is always a challenge,” said Lesley Mills, Accounting Manager at Titles.

Donna Shapiro, the bookstore’s director, explained further.

“We have to be very cautious when we place an order that we can make sure either we’re going to sell out, or we’re going to sell enough … so we’re not ending up writing off stock at the end of the day.”

Titles is responsible for ordering books for hundreds of classes for the year. For the fall semester, it oversees over 2500 courses and course sections worth of materials. A further 2100 courses and sections are processed for the winter term.

Even with such a high volume of courseware, Titles is very careful to be conservative, which contributes to its availability levels.

“We don’t end up with a lot of money at the end of the day, so we try and minimize the return – shipping costs are a fairly substantial cost,” Mills explained.

Titles collects about 20 percent of the cost of every book, but much of that money is put towards rent, shipping and staffing the store. Returns to the publishers are costly, said Shapiro. And that’s not a cost anyone wants to incur.

“The university has put a lot more fiscal demands on us. The whole campus is asked to be more fiscally responsible than they were historically in some areas. This is just one area where we know we can save money for everybody.”

The bookstore faces a number of challenges in determining how much stock to order. The four Titles book buyers must consider a course’s estimated enrolment and its actual enrolment, as well as the book’s sell-through in previous years. The store never orders books for 100 percent of the class, because not all the students will buy it.

Mills described how the first-year physics course had over 800 students registered, but only 200 textbooks were sold.

“There’s a huge issue there,” she said. She also noted that peer-to-peer selling is one thing that can cut into the sales.

Much of the store’s September trouble comes from communication issues.

“I think our biggest challenge with book availability isn’t determining the number that we have to have … it’s finding out from the faculty member in a timely fashion what it is they’re going to use,” Shapiro said.

Despite this, the store administration has given up on setting deadlines for professors to choose their textbooks.

“A deadline means nothing, because nobody adheres to it,” claimed Shapiro, noting that there once was a deadline set for mid-July for September orders.

The store is afforded more flexibility with the emergence of eBooks, however. This new kind of book production, while useful and environmentally friendly, has forced Titles and its affiliated publishers to evolve.

“It’s a whole new world out there,” said Shapiro.

“For a book world that hadn’t changed for centuries upon centuries, you’re seeing such rapid changes now that the publishers can’t even keep up with the materials that they’re creating.”