i freelance for a small new york music zine. i have a friend who also writes for this zine and is also in a band.

for this magazine, i was asked to write a 1400-word piece about his band. (yes, it will be fully disclosed about his relationship to the magazine)

i did all the "interviews," finished breaking in the record, started writing. i wrote to the editor of this zine that i'm struggling with the 1400-word word count because 1) they don't play out much 2) they don't have any definitive plans to release their record right now 3) they've been playing for less than a year. they're a good band, don't get me wrong, but i'm not sure why it warrants 1400 words.

the editor responds to me with a "just concentrate on their lyrics or something, talk about other bands that don't play out much, didn't you even listen to the record, i think they could be a classic if they do some more work."

the problem with this is he accidentally* CC:ed the other guy (with the band) to the email.

so this guy with the band, who is my friend, saw all this. he's pissed. he's pissed that the editor thought this was something he should see. i'm really sad now that my friend now thinks that i think his band sucks. while its the truth that i don't want to write 1400 words on the band, i most definitely didn't want my correspondence to the editor to be known.

how do i refurbish this burnt bridge?


*it was an accident because the editor was getting a contact email address from his outlook address book and, in the midst of copying it, he sent it into the CC: of the email.

edit: not pissed at me.

Tell him what you told us, and tell him he'll get a 1400 word story when they need the push more, i.e. when getting more shows or have a record coming out. But for now, any press at all is a good thing that is going to further the cause.

He may not want to hear that right now, but sometimes you just have to let the embers die down first.

I concur with Cory. It's not like you said anything bad in your email, you were just being honest. I would also let things die down a bit, and then approach your friend.

man, that was dumb of your editor to CC the dude in the band. your points are valid. the friend should realize that if they aren't very active and haven't been around for a while, then it wouldn't be easy to have a lengthy article written on them. it's not like you said that they suck, you gave good facts and reasons as to why you're having trouble writing the piece, and he/they should appreciate that.

You tell 'em, robotboy. I also think that his bigger problem is that he was caught by surprise, and after the initial emotional flare-up, will probably come to terms and appreciate the story, since he also is a writer.

Exactly. what everyone else said.

the band isnt touring, nor has a record coming out in the immediate future.....any kind of press at this moment is a benefit...

you didnt bash him.. you just said, that you didnt see enough of a story there to warrant 1400 words right now.

and the band needs to develop a thicker skin. if something like this bugs him how is he gonna deal if he gets a bad review, or finds it hard to get any press at all, when the time comes that he does need it?

im sure its a passing dissapointment.

update: also bad:

first, luckily, the dude with the band did not see my email, he only saw my editor's email.

but the editor, in an effort to "fix" things, emailed the subject and told him that "the writer" (like i'm some ethereal force) was struggling to find 1400 words out of the story and that he was just giving me some tips.

this may sound small, but it really is a matter of minor detail: my editor was not backing me. my editor, instead of telling the subject to ignore the email or tell the subject that it was not intended for him, went used larger measures to displace the problem on me. he also made me sound incompetent. i can write 1400 words on a band, no sweat. but there's a point when all you've got is gibberish, superfluous quotes and fluff.

i asked why the editor did this. he said that we're not hiding anything and now all our cards on the table. wtf?

to be honest, its none of the subject's business whether or not i can come up with 1400 words. i like him, he's my friend, but really its not his place to know or care. an ego bruise, yes, but as far as manufacturing a feature, just walk away.

secondly, we're the publication! we can hide all we want about our inner-workings and discussions, even if its from other writers! writers with bands! writers with bands which we're covering! honesty may be a good policy when it comes to friendships, but we're also trying to put out a good book and i feel no need to put all my cards on the table for my subject when it comes to putting together the story.

Anyone a little surprised that an Editor is basically forcing more copy from a writer? Hasn't this person ever heard of "only writing what's important?"
I seriously have never been in a situation where an Editor was demanding more copy. It's always the other way around where the writer is fighting for more space to be able to tell the whole story, while competing with ad space. How odd.

i know, right?

i'm used to people cutting me! i was trying to suggest what i thought was the best course of action (and now, i will continue to shoot for 1400).

tell the editor where he fucked up and be done with it.

Seriously. Tell 'em all to fuck off.

OR: GO META...incorporate all of this into the copy, and get your 1400 words, get noticed by Pitchfork and go superstar style.

You oculd be the next what's his ass clown who writes all those unwatchable movies like "Adaptation"

that's pretty unfortunate that guy is in a managerial/supervisor role.

funny you mention that. the guy with the band also writes for pitchfork, too.

i agree. i can't imagine writing that much about a band that doesn't play out much nor has an upcoming album. some press is better than no press at all.

Then he will fully understand.

I wish I had some really great advice for how to make this situation better but I really don't. I think the recommendation to let some time pass and approach your friend is good advice. Maybe you can finish writing the story and send it to him to see what he thinks of it. While doing that, appologize for any offense he may have taken to what transpired and assure him that it had nothing to do with how you view their music. At that point it's up to him to accept or reject your efforts.

Yeah, it's clear in his response to you that his main goal is not to break the band but get full credit for discovering them.

Well, thanks to your editor and the corner he put you, this sounds exaclty like what he wants. The question is where to put the 450 word info blurb in the feature.

As far as "band man", just confont him if he gets upset and say,

I've got no further advice, but just wanna mention that I, too, found out the hard way that one should NEVER write anything in a professional email that you don't want all parties to read.

Keep the CD-R of the band's record then push the hell out of them, enough so that you get credit and a gold record when the band moves 500,000 units.

Then get fed up with the rat race of the biz, go on a vision quest to southern Europe and the sub-continent and decide that it's not all worth it. Put the gold record up for auction on EBay, along with the original CD-R and a reserve price of $12,962 based on your calculation of how much your effort contributed to the 500,000 in sales. Explain that you're using the money to start Sheila Gal PR, your own indie rock marketing firm.

Then get the guy in the band, who will still be writing for PFork, to write a story about it and they'll put it as their top news item.

Then you'll have entered the realm of Andy Kaufman.

post the bands record up here for all of us to see and hear.

i'm sure we can give that band more promotion than some "zine".

lol

got an email back from the band guy. we're all cool, he said he was more pissed at the editor than me.

now i just have to suss stuff out with the editor. i'm still disgruntled with him.

i just sent this thread to the band and the editor.
but i only accidentally CC'ed them

sweet. i just Bcc:ed the president on your little note and you're gonna be in trouble