Don't get me wrong: I'm not pissed. Nor do I really feel cheated. I am just leery and perhaps oversensitive to freely contributing to paid content, which is what my example about SO and the evil hyphen site was about.
I also take responsibility for not asking (which I didn't) nor doing more research than the cursory glance that I did. So even if I were pissed (which I'm not) it would be at least partly my fault.
So let me just say for the record, in case anyone is under a misconception from what I've written so far: you've dealt with me courteously and professionally so I certainly wish you well on this.
This is simply more about how my own philosophy in what I want to contribute to. Think of these comments as me thinking out loud (about that).
It should have been made clear to you, and the other authors, in the email - regardless of if a tweet was sent out 2 weeks ago or not.
The publisher can't assume that you read and follow everything they write. The entire agreement and disclosure should have been contained in that email to you, so you have nothing to apologize for (the fact that you didn't know that there was no free issue until you saw it here on HN says that there was a flaw in the communications process).
As mentioned in the other comments, I hope the publisher can clarify and be much clearer in his emails to potential authors next time around (perhaps publishing an 'authors' page on the website with a clear FAQ - ie. if the authors can expect their own copy, etc.)
I actually held out on insta-clicking to buy a copy when I read your comment (I still am), so clarification here will help everybody.
Comments
"Bait and switch" is stronger than I really mean.
Don't get me wrong: I'm not pissed. Nor do I really feel cheated. I am just leery and perhaps oversensitive to freely contributing to paid content, which is what my example about SO and the evil hyphen site was about.
I also take responsibility for not asking (which I didn't) nor doing more research than the cursory glance that I did. So even if I were pissed (which I'm not) it would be at least partly my fault.
So let me just say for the record, in case anyone is under a misconception from what I've written so far: you've dealt with me courteously and professionally so I certainly wish you well on this.
This is simply more about how my own philosophy in what I want to contribute to. Think of these comments as me thinking out loud (about that).
It should have been made clear to you, and the other authors, in the email - regardless of if a tweet was sent out 2 weeks ago or not.
The publisher can't assume that you read and follow everything they write. The entire agreement and disclosure should have been contained in that email to you, so you have nothing to apologize for (the fact that you didn't know that there was no free issue until you saw it here on HN says that there was a flaw in the communications process).
As mentioned in the other comments, I hope the publisher can clarify and be much clearer in his emails to potential authors next time around (perhaps publishing an 'authors' page on the website with a clear FAQ - ie. if the authors can expect their own copy, etc.)
I actually held out on insta-clicking to buy a copy when I read your comment (I still am), so clarification here will help everybody.