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Warning for fan writers
Someone is trying to scam me - and if they're trying it on me, then they're probably trying it on other fan writers as well.
I was contacted by someone who said they wanted to make an audio CD of my B7/Morgan's Boy novel 'Morgan'
I assume the scam part would cut in when they 'run out of money to pay the actors'.
I'm beginning to wonder just how stupid they think I am.... They had the courtesy to pick one of my best pieces of writing to try with, but that may have been random chance. Or they may have tried me because I advertise some cast audios on my web site.
If you want to read the correspondence and see why I'm convinced it's a scam, see below the cut.
I was contacted by someone who said they wanted to make an audio CD of my B7/Morgan's Boy novel 'Morgan'
I assume the scam part would cut in when they 'run out of money to pay the actors'.
I'm beginning to wonder just how stupid they think I am.... They had the courtesy to pick one of my best pieces of writing to try with, but that may have been random chance. Or they may have tried me because I advertise some cast audios on my web site.
If you want to read the correspondence and see why I'm convinced it's a scam, see below the cut.
Dear Mrs Proctor,
We at Volcano Productions are highly intent on adapting the fan fiction work Morgan into several audio dramas for release on CD. We do not hold the rights to Blake's 7 or Morgan's Boy, so we will have to make changes to the original text, but we need your permission to go ahead with this. You will receive payment for every CD sold. We hope you are as interested in this project as we are.
Thanks for your valuable time,
Volcano Productions Administration
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On 19/02/2011 20:54, volcanoproductions@mail.com wrote:
I agree that you'd need to change the year to the present day. Farming issues haven't changed much. Hill farmers are still hard pressed to break even. Suicide rates remain high.
Do you wish to have a hand in deciding
I can't find anything when I Google for you. I tried looking for 'Volcano Productions' and 'Paul Darrow' and got zero results.
Can you show me something that you've already done with Paul Darrow or Jacqueline Pearce. That would help give me a feel for what you're doing.
It would be logical to try for Gareth Thomas. He read the book and loved it. He can play the slow-voiced Welsh farmer to perfection.
How would you progress the story in later episodes? How do you see the characters developing?
Judith
We at Volcano Productions are highly intent on adapting the fan fiction work Morgan into several audio dramas for release on CD. We do not hold the rights to Blake's 7 or Morgan's Boy, so we will have to make changes to the original text, but we need your permission to go ahead with this. You will receive payment for every CD sold. We hope you are as interested in this project as we are.
Thanks for your valuable time,
Volcano Productions Administration
Please consider the environment before printing this email.
The information contained in this email and any attachment is confidential and may contain legally privileged or copyright material. It is intended only for the use of the addressee(s). If you are not the intended recipient of this email, you are not permitted to disseminate, distribute or copy this email or any attachments. If you have received this message in error, please notify the sender immediately and delete this email from your system. Volcano Productions does not represent or warrant that this transmission is secure or virus free. Before opening any attachment you should check for viruses. Volcano Productions's liability is limited to resupplying any email and attachments.
---------------------------
-----Original Message-----
From: Judith Proctor <judith.proctor@gmail.com>
To: volcanoproductions@mail.com
Sent: Thu, Feb 17, 2011 8:21 am
Subject: Re: Rights to 'Morgan'
Hi,
I'm tentatively interested, but I'd need to know what changes you
intend first. How would you adapt the plot away from the original
shows? (I can see potential ways, but I can also see problems as you
have to find a substitute for Gauda Prime that the audience will
relate to.)
What market would you aim at?
Regards,
Judith
PS. You'll need to convince me this isn't some kind of scam, because
it does read rather like one...
---------------------
The changes we intend to make will basically be the names of characters that appear in Blake's 7 and Morgan's Boy, update the year it takes place in(?), things like that. Do you wish to have a hand in deciding what names the characters are changed to? We won't change the plot of Morgan, because it's exactly what we want!
The target audience? Some of the cast members who are keen to get involved are minor celebrities (one of them has the sixteenth or so most viewed account on YouTube) and would very probably promote something they're in as they are getting paid for it. Not only that, Blake's 7 stars such as Paul Darrow and Jacqueline Pearce are people who are regular participants of our productions. Kevin McNally, Sarah Berger, Nabil Shaban, Kate O'Mara, Terry Molloy and Adam Blackwood are stars who we also could, er, coax into taking part.
As with the audios themselves, we were thinking of breaking the original Morgan story into three parts, and then releasing further parts (in blocks of three) written by different authors.
What do you think?
---------------------------------
On 19/02/2011 20:54, volcanoproductions@mail.com wrote:
The changes we intend to make will basically be the names of characters
that appear in /Blake's 7/ and /Morgan's Boy/, update the year it takes
place in(?), things like that.
I agree that you'd need to change the year to the present day. Farming issues haven't changed much. Hill farmers are still hard pressed to break even. Suicide rates remain high.
Do you wish to have a hand in deciding
what names the characters are changed to? We won't change the plot of
/Morgan/, because it's exactly what we want!
The target audience? Some of the cast members who are keen to get
involved are minor celebrities (one of them has the sixteenth or so most
viewed account on YouTube) and would very probably promote something
they're in as they are getting paid for it. Not only that, /Blake's 7/
stars such as Paul Darrow and Jacqueline Pearce are people who are
regular participants of our productions. Kevin McNally, Sarah Berger,
Nabil Shaban, Kate O'Mara, Terry Molloy and Adam Blackwoodare stars who
we also could, er, coax into taking part.
I can't find anything when I Google for you. I tried looking for 'Volcano Productions' and 'Paul Darrow' and got zero results.
Can you show me something that you've already done with Paul Darrow or Jacqueline Pearce. That would help give me a feel for what you're doing.
It would be logical to try for Gareth Thomas. He read the book and loved it. He can play the slow-voiced Welsh farmer to perfection.
As with the audios themselves, we were thinking of breaking the original
/Morgan/ story into three parts, and then releasing further parts (in
blocks of three) written by different authors.
What do you think?
How would you progress the story in later episodes? How do you see the characters developing?
Judith
-- ------------------
----------------------
Hi,
I had you down as a 95% probability of being a scam. The only reason I reply to is that lingering 5% chance of you being for real.
The BBC adaptation of Foundation was originally produced in 1973 and rebroadcast in 2003. (and Amazon has free audio clips, which presumably are the same ones you would have sent me...)
So it certainly wasn't you that produced it.
For the record, Val Westall is an artist, not a writer. Lil Sheperd is an excellent writer, but would be unlikely to return to B7 based characters after this length of time. Neil Faulkner is a good writer, but his style would not suit this series. (because he writes techno-punk and Morgan is set in rural Wales)
And the mere fact that you're suggesting Neil shows that you haven't actually read any of his stuff. Proposing to use writers you know nothing about does not exactly make you sound very convincing.
You're now down to a 1% probability of being for real.
If you're going to try and con me, you could at least do your research a bit better! I'm not even convinced that you've actually read 'Morgan'.
Judith
----------------------
Very, very sorry for the very late reply. There have been a lot of busy things thrown up this week back in the social world of life.
Have added as attachments scans of some of the early drafts of the covers for a co-production, with BBC Audiobooks, the talking books of several of Isaac Asimov's Foundation novels recorded and organized by us back in 2004. You would be able to find them on the BBC Shop website, but three of them have sold out, including the Jackie Pearce one. We could send audio snippets, if you wish.
We thought that, if you want, you could write maybe a one hundred word outline for Story Four, Five and Six, that we can abide by and so we know that we aren't doing anything with the characters that you wouldn't want. We could send these outlines to the three authors we eventually select for the second 'set' of original stories.
Authors we have in mind for the second series, as it were, are Val Westall, Lillian Sheperd and Neil Faulkner.
Also, in the Morgan introduction page on the Hermit website, you mention Ruth Saunders, Louise Rutter and Tom Forsyth as well as your husband Richard. Would any of them be interested in writing for the series?
Thanks for your time,
Volcano Productions
Have added as attachments scans of some of the early drafts of the covers for a co-production, with BBC Audiobooks, the talking books of several of Isaac Asimov's Foundation novels recorded and organized by us back in 2004. You would be able to find them on the BBC Shop website, but three of them have sold out, including the Jackie Pearce one. We could send audio snippets, if you wish.
We thought that, if you want, you could write maybe a one hundred word outline for Story Four, Five and Six, that we can abide by and so we know that we aren't doing anything with the characters that you wouldn't want. We could send these outlines to the three authors we eventually select for the second 'set' of original stories.
Authors we have in mind for the second series, as it were, are Val Westall, Lillian Sheperd and Neil Faulkner.
Also, in the Morgan introduction page on the Hermit website, you mention Ruth Saunders, Louise Rutter and Tom Forsyth as well as your husband Richard. Would any of them be interested in writing for the series?
Thanks for your time,
Volcano Productions
----------------------
Hi,
I had you down as a 95% probability of being a scam. The only reason I reply to is that lingering 5% chance of you being for real.
The BBC adaptation of Foundation was originally produced in 1973 and rebroadcast in 2003. (and Amazon has free audio clips, which presumably are the same ones you would have sent me...)
So it certainly wasn't you that produced it.
For the record, Val Westall is an artist, not a writer. Lil Sheperd is an excellent writer, but would be unlikely to return to B7 based characters after this length of time. Neil Faulkner is a good writer, but his style would not suit this series. (because he writes techno-punk and Morgan is set in rural Wales)
And the mere fact that you're suggesting Neil shows that you haven't actually read any of his stuff. Proposing to use writers you know nothing about does not exactly make you sound very convincing.
You're now down to a 1% probability of being for real.
If you're going to try and con me, you could at least do your research a bit better! I'm not even convinced that you've actually read 'Morgan'.
Judith
----------------------
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There's a great pro writers forum where everyone knows the real turtle soup, so to speak. I'd recommend asking about them there.
http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/
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On the whole though, it's just a matter of intent. Either way anyone who deals with them will be out of pocket.
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Suggesting Richard as a possible writer is the most laughable of all. He's never written any B7 fanfic at all...
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I live in LA. There are the most ridiculous companies that spring up for little reason. Young clowns think they can bluff even old-time industry folk.
However, I'd suspect -- if they start talking money -- then it is a scam. Well, as you point out, Val Westall is an artist. lol At least the guy has good taste with the rest of the writers.
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Sorry, I'll turn down the volume on my Scam Detector :-)
At a guess I'd say the scam would be something on the lines of "All we need from you is £100 to cover our up-front costs" and then, oops, they need another £500 to pay actors followed by £1000 to provide the advertising campaign that your work so richly deserves...
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