For The Record

Frybread · Post by **Frybread** » 25 Nov 2008 12:19

SandChigger wrote:Bullshit.

The HLP probably writes it off as a business expense. (I wonder how much of that $3,000 ~ $4,000 goes to Uncle Mike for his PRIMO webmaster services. )

With the number of words I have put into the blog since October, I could easily have written several short stories and articles, for which I'd be paid.
That's really how he thinks, too. Everything he does is converted in his mind into word and story equivalents. In one of his emails he wrote:

Well, sorry for the long soapbox there. It's practically the length of a short story!
Makes you wonder....

Bec: Oh, gawd, Kevin! Kevin! Yes, yes, that's the spot, yes, oh gawd oh gawd gawd gawd! Plough my fields, farm boy! I'm yer heifer! I'M YER HEIFER!!! ... Oh, lordy Kev, you were great that time.
Kev: Well, I'm glad you enjoyed it. You know I could have dictated another chapter or two in Enemas und Alles in the time it took to get you warmed up.

If he feels that way about it then I suggest he stop writing his lame-assed blog. No one but his fanboys cares about it, and it's obvious he believes he should be paid for spending his precious time writing it.

A Thing of Eternity · Post by **A Thing of Eternity** » 25 Nov 2008 12:26

I hadn't realized that they were making that much cash.

I don't hate them for making good coin, I aplaud them for that, but combining that with that whining assed letter puts them one high on my asshole-o-meter.

GamePlayer · Post by **GamePlayer** » 25 Nov 2008 12:34

I can confirm the one truth KJA wrote in in his reply. Running a message board can be very expensive. Currently, I'm a member on several boards that have an annual bill in the thousands of dollars.

Now, having fulfilled my obligations of honesty, I can get on to why KJA is a lying bastard. True to KJA's nature, he's not telling us all of it. See, like any website online, the cost of running it is directly proportional to the amount of bandwidth usage each month. The more usage, the more it costs. This is why some fan sites can operate almost indefinitely on a very small budget if the monthly bandwidth usage is manageable. It's also why many blogs can operate for next to nothing.

So how does this relate to Dumbnovels? Simple, I'm currently on a message board where the yearly costs are $1,500-$2,000. The catch: we have 3-4 times the traffic and membership of Dumbnovels. Comparing Dumbnovels activity in the last 6 months alone to the forum which I belong, the difference would easily increase by factors of ten.

So it begs the question; where then is all this supposed bandwidth usage on Dumbnovels to justify a $3,000-$4,000 cost? One wonders

Lisan Al-Gaib · Post by **Lisan Al-Gaib** » 25 Nov 2008 14:32

Well, sorry for the long soapbox there. It's practically the length of a short story!

I would like to know if Tolkien said the same thing on his huge and beautiful answers to the questions mailed by his fans.

Oh, do you want me to answer you about the balrog's wings? Sorry, my dear fellow, but answering that would cost me the time of a short-story. Time is money. Goodbye.

Next!

SandRider · Post by **SandRider** » 25 Nov 2008 15:26

Frybread wrote:If he feels that way about it then I suggest he stop writing his lame-assed blog. No one but his fanboys cares about it, and it's obvious he believes he should be paid for spending his precious time writing it.

At first glance, I thought OH NO, I want him keep on writing it - it's an effing goldmine for ridicule.
But he could stop now and it'd be okay (he won't stop,tho - ego WILL NOT allow it)

I've been over all the Dune7 blog and plan to go back for in-depth mining. I think it's extremely important for the "For the Record" idea, Keith's own words showing the breakneck pace at which the "books" are "written", how many projects he's juggling at once - that alone should explain most of the "inconsistencies" - it would take a very smart man indeed to keep the details straight while bouncing back and forth from fictional world to fictional world. Keith's just not that smart, and it shows.

As Gameplayer showed with his line-by analysis of one of the blogs, this is, like all personal-diary writings of this type, very valuable in ascertaining the character of the subject in question. I had noticed a tendency to whine and complain, or the compulsive need to share this complaining at any rate, but until the last entry about the cruise, had not really noticed how cheap the man is. That led me back to look again at the "Tip Jar" blog, now almost three years old.

There is a mystery here. "Cheapness" can only explain so much. Perhaps it is as Omph suggested, he has lost alot of money in the markets this year. But his blog shows a long history of penny-pinching and complaints. Perhaps there is a huge debt of which we know nothing, that could be the basis for all of his commercial behavior.

ChaniLover's comment on his "Going Out" jacket is interesting, too. In the pictures I've seen of them (Keith, Brian, and Merrit), all seem to be dressed rather "cheaply". Altho "casual" has become the defacto American style, this as well only explains so much. Albert Einstein was famous for his lack of fashion concern, but he had alot on his mind. Sloppy or careless dress has often been seen as a mark of pre-occupied intellect. But again, Keith's not that smart, and with what I know of his huge ego, I'm at a loss to explain. Is he just clueless about fashion, ambivalent, cheap, or unable to afford a new coat ?

And in the same vein then, what about the hair ? I think the last time the type of Comb-Over he's using was socially acceptable was about 1977, and even then folks were starting to snicker. The "Bald Head" look has been popular for a long time now. Or hair-plug technology, which, if he is a multi-million dollar successful writer, he could surely afford ? Or is he clueless ?

I think Keith J. Anderson's personality and psychology could be an important side-note (or minor foot-note) in the sad history of what when wrong during this period of Dune. Knowing how and why he's written what he has, the way that he has, could go a long way in accepting the damage that has been done, and moving on.

DuneFishUK · Post by **DuneFishUK** » 25 Nov 2008 15:34

GamePlayer wrote:So it begs the question; where then is all this supposed bandwidth usage on Dumbnovels to justify a $3,000-$4,000 cost? One wonders

(edit: sorry - bit of misquote: "yearly costs are $1,500-$2,000" more like it?).. but still:

Really? That sounds like a lot - DN has a pretty low post-rate, no file attachment options or cool skins/mods or anything like that. Proper hosting packages these days come with at least 3TB/month bandwidth as a rule - I have 5TB/month for a lot lot lot less than that

. They will obviously pay more than I do (reliability 'n shit

) but I can't see the site being such a huge expense.

As for Byron - I can't he gets paid much more than he'd get for sitting on his arse and turning up late to the occasional HLP meeting.

A Thing of Eternity · Post by **A Thing of Eternity** » 25 Nov 2008 16:19

Byron is an RN in an emergency room.

Post by **Omphalos** » 25 Nov 2008 16:19

Chig, didn'g you have your last blog hosted at the same place as DN? What did that cost you?

DuneFishUK · Post by **DuneFishUK** » 25 Nov 2008 16:33

Baraka Bryan wrote:they are talking about the costs of the entire website, including blogs, main page plus phpbb. the costs for byron and unca mike to manage the site / scan the web for dissenters on wiki, other forums etc... can't be entirely cheap. I almost think 3-4k is low if you consider the wages... has byron ever indicated he has another job?

I'm sure I read that Byron still has his day job. (edit: yup... up there ^

)

And Yeah - for a proper commercial site 3-4k is low... but for DN?

-Aside from the blog and the forum, the site hasn't changed for years.
-The forum is unmodified free software with an unmodified free theme.
-Uploading Kevin's sporadic blogpoo isn't a full time job.
-Byron would get his cut anyway, I don;t think he'll get much/anything extra and ... do they even pay uncle Mike?

I think they just buy his services with large amounts of booze every Christmas. I don't see him in a rush to upload or fix anything.

SandRider · Post by **SandRider** » 25 Nov 2008 16:39

Baraka Bryan wrote:
A Thing of Eternity wrote:Byron is an RN in an emergency room.
well then he shouldn't be starving for cash... gotta wonder the wage he's getting for keeping the forum's bloodlines pure.

I'll assume the wage rate for his type of job is much higher in California than it is elsewhere, but then so is cost of living. His job should place him firmly in the professional middle-class, but factor in that house in Monterey and the looming expense of college for the twins, and I'd imagine he's just getting by, like the vast majority of this, the "richest nation on the face of the earth".

The actual forum is a ready-made phpbb board like this one, or any of the "free forums" you can set up yourself for nothing via netforums.us or other services. It's a separate thing from the dunenovels.com website itself. I cannot see him being paid anything for the "work" he does on that board. He checks in once a day to clear the memberlist of spambots, and now, with the absolute dead lack of traffic and banning of all dissenters, doesn't have to spend mush time at all cleaning up. He posts one line, shallow responses, and that's about all.

Any money Merritt is receiving from this whole enterprise has to be coming from his membership in the HLP,and I'd imagine his cut is pretty small. I'll start pressuring him for a full financial disclosure, tho ....

{and what Dunefish just said ...}

Post by **Freakzilla** » 25 Nov 2008 16:46

I'd be suprised if he was getting paid for it.

GamePlayer · Post by **GamePlayer** » 25 Nov 2008 16:58

The main site would be nothing, as would the blogs. They have jack for visual content, nothing that is download heavy and don't have the traffic. It would take literally millions of hits per week to tally up a $3-4k bill annually from just a website as small and simple as Dunenovels.

The forums are always the drain. Which then brings us to the problem with Dunenovels; how is that forum of the dead costing $3-4k a year?

SandRider · Post by **SandRider** » 25 Nov 2008 18:44

from SandChigger's sig :

I don't like every writer's style; for instance, I have never been able to get through Ursula LeGuin, China Mieville, or Iain Banks, all of whom are critical darlings.
—Kevin J. Anderson

Rakis · Post by **Rakis** » 25 Nov 2008 22:01

Here's some free financial advice for the HLP :

CLOSE THE FUCKING BOARD !!!

SandRider · Post by **SandRider** » 25 Nov 2008 22:33

Dune Blog >> Machine Crusade // 15 Sept 2003

I don’t use e-mails, except when I hand one of my disks to a friend who is connected. I have a laptop on the train, and it’s not hooked to the internet. That is fitting, I suppose, because in the universe of Dune (where I spend much of my time) there are no legally operated computers.

~ Brian Herbert (The Other Guy)

why not write with pencil & notepad, then ?

Rakis · Post by **Rakis** » 25 Nov 2008 22:36

SandRider wrote:
Dune Blog >> Machine Crusade // 15 Sept 2003

I don’t use e-mails, except when I hand one of my disks to a friend who is connected. I have a laptop on the train, and it’s not hooked to the internet. That is fitting, I suppose, because in the universe of Dune (where I spend much of my time) there are no legally operated computers.

~ Brian Herbert (The Other Guy)
why not write with pencil & notepad, then ?

KJA does not allow it...

SandChigger · Post by **SandChigger** » 25 Nov 2008 23:01

Omphalos wrote:Chig, didn'g you have your last blog hosted at the same place as DN? What did that cost you?

Actually, unless they've changed since the last time I checked, we use the same provider, Network Solutions. The bill's on the home machine, but when I signed up I think I paid around $250 for the first year. (That included something like $70 for the domain registration fee, initial set-up, etc.) I think I'm paying around $15 a month. So far as I know, I've never come anywhere close to exhausting my bandwidth for a given month. (I'll have to check to see exactly what I'm paying for.

)

GamePlayer wrote:The forums are always the drain. Which then brings us to the problem with Dunenovels; how is that forum of the dead costing $3-4k a year?

And that figure was for 2005, too. The current forum started up at the end of May/beginning of June of 2006 (Byron's join date is 31 May 2006). Do you remember what was on the site before that? (I posted a few messages towards the end on the really sad and simple BBS they had before the current one.) I didn't even know the site existed before that.

Other than the BBS, everything I've seen over there is just HTML, CSS stylesheets and image files.

SandRider · Post by **SandRider** » 25 Nov 2008 23:10

Dune Blog

19 Sept 2003: Typically, Brian writes in 1,000 word bursts and then needs to rest his mind, or go on to a different project.

TheDukester · Post by **TheDukester** » 25 Nov 2008 23:24

The unseen paragraph:

Typically, Kevin writes in 32,000-word bursts and doesn't stop for anything. Especially an editor.

SandChigger · Post by **SandChigger** » 25 Nov 2008 23:28

Here's some things I just dug up:

Registrant:
Herbert Properties LLC
ATTN: DUNENOVELS.COM
c/o Network Solutions
P.O. Box 447
Herndon, VA 20172-0447

Domain Name: DUNENOVELS.COM

Administrative Contact :
Anderson, Rebecca Moesta

Technical Contact :
Voelker Research

Record expires on 28-Jan-2017
Record created on 28-Jan-1999
Database last updated on 19-Nov-2007

Domain servers in listed order: Manage DNS

NS31.WORLDNIC.COM 205.178.190.16
NS32.WORLDNIC.COM 205.178.144.16

This listing is a Network Solutions Private Registration. Mail correspondence to this address must be sent via USPS Express Mail™ or USPS Certified Mail®; all other mail will not be processed. Be sure to include the registrant's domain name in the address.

Show underlying registry data for this record

Current Registrar: NETWORK SOLUTIONS, LLC.
IP Address: 205.178.145.65 (ARIN & RIPE IP search)
IP Location: CA(CANADA)-ONTARIO-TORONTO
Record Type: Domain Name
Server Type: Apache 2
Lock Status: clientTransferProhibited
Web Site Status: Active
DMOZ 3 listings
Y! Directory: see listings
Secure: No
E-commerce: No
Traffic Ranking: 3
Data as of: 22-Apr-2008

Network Solutions currently offers a $349.50/yr plan with unlimited disk space and unlimited monthly data transfer.

Conclusion: there is no way they are still paying $3,000 to $4,000 per year even if they did pay that much at some point in the past (and Kevin's word is not sufficient proof that they did).

Oh, yeah, bonus:

Herbert Ltd Partnership
PO Box 10164
Bainbridge Island, WA 98110
USA

SandRider · Post by **SandRider** » 25 Nov 2008 23:30

I don't hold Brian's 1000 word bursts against him, I just got a kick out
of Kevin feeling compelled to add that "rest his mind" line ....reminded
me of Chig's "Kevin, I think I made poo again" Brian.

{edit} ^^^ good work, Chig. So Rebecca is in charge, huh ?

thanks for that, that's the kind of info we need "For the Record".
I'll add this, from the US Patent Office, on the "Dune" trademank:

Owner:
(REGISTRANT) Herbert Limited Partnership Brian Herbert, Penny Merritt, Theresa Shackelford, Julie Herbert, Kimberly Herbert, Margaux Herbert, David Merritt, Byron Merritt and Robert Merritt, all U.S. citizens PARTNERSHIP WASHINGTON c/o Frankfurt Garbus Kurnit Klein & Selz, PC 488 Madison Avenue New York NEW YORK 10022

Drunken Idaho · Post by **Drunken Idaho** » 26 Nov 2008 09:49

SandChigger wrote:Here's some things I just dug up:

Registrant:
Herbert Properties LLC
ATTN: DUNENOVELS.COM
c/o Network Solutions
P.O. Box 447
Herndon, VA 20172-0447

Domain Name: DUNENOVELS.COM

Administrative Contact :
Anderson, Rebecca Moesta

Why is the queen of Star Wars childrens' fiction the admin for the official Dune website?! You's think she'd be too busy with chemical peels, and helping KJA with the changing of Brian's diapers...

GamePlayer · Post by **GamePlayer** » 26 Nov 2008 11:03

SandChigger wrote:Here's some things I just dug up:

Registrant:
Herbert Properties LLC
ATTN: DUNENOVELS.COM
c/o Network Solutions
P.O. Box 447
Herndon, VA 20172-0447

Domain Name: DUNENOVELS.COM

Administrative Contact :
Anderson, Rebecca Moesta

Technical Contact :
Voelker Research

Record expires on 28-Jan-2017
Record created on 28-Jan-1999
Database last updated on 19-Nov-2007

Domain servers in listed order: Manage DNS

NS31.WORLDNIC.COM 205.178.190.16
NS32.WORLDNIC.COM 205.178.144.16

This listing is a Network Solutions Private Registration. Mail correspondence to this address must be sent via USPS Express Mail™ or USPS Certified Mail®; all other mail will not be processed. Be sure to include the registrant's domain name in the address.

Show underlying registry data for this record

Current Registrar: NETWORK SOLUTIONS, LLC.
IP Address: 205.178.145.65 (ARIN & RIPE IP search)
IP Location: CA(CANADA)-ONTARIO-TORONTO
Record Type: Domain Name
Server Type: Apache 2
Lock Status: clientTransferProhibited
Web Site Status: Active
DMOZ 3 listings
Y! Directory: see listings
Secure: No
E-commerce: No
Traffic Ranking: 3
Data as of: 22-Apr-2008

Network Solutions currently offers a $349.50/yr plan with unlimited disk space and unlimited monthly data transfer.

Conclusion: there is no way they are still paying $3,000 to $4,000 per year even if they did pay that much at some point in the past (and Kevin's word is not sufficient proof that they did).

Game, set, match. Well done SC.
KJA's yearly website costs of $3-$4 are much like those infamous "notes". They can grow or shrink depending upon whatever mood KJA happens to be in. Or if KJA is actually getting paid for the dumbnovels website, he's pocketing an extra three and a half grand each year

Frybread · Post by **Frybread** » 26 Nov 2008 17:11

Drunken Idaho wrote:
SandChigger wrote:Here's some things I just dug up:

Registrant:
Herbert Properties LLC
ATTN: DUNENOVELS.COM
c/o Network Solutions
P.O. Box 447
Herndon, VA 20172-0447

Domain Name: DUNENOVELS.COM

Administrative Contact :
Anderson, Rebecca Moesta
Why is the queen of Star Wars childrens' fiction the admin for the official Dune website?! You's think she'd be too busy with chemical peels, and helping KJA with the changing of Brian's diapers...

She undoubtedly wears the pants in the family. This could explain Kevin's massive inferiority-superiority complex and his low self-esteem.

Tleszer · Post by **Tleszer** » 26 Nov 2008 17:21

Frybread wrote:
Drunken Idaho wrote:
SandChigger wrote:Here's some things I just dug up:

Registrant:
Herbert Properties LLC
ATTN: DUNENOVELS.COM
c/o Network Solutions
P.O. Box 447
Herndon, VA 20172-0447

Domain Name: DUNENOVELS.COM

Administrative Contact :
Anderson, Rebecca Moesta
Why is the queen of Star Wars childrens' fiction the admin for the official Dune website?! You's think she'd be too busy with chemical peels, and helping KJA with the changing of Brian's diapers...
She undoubtedly wears the pants in the family. This could explain Kevin's massive inferiority-superiority complex and his low self-esteem.

Or she could crush him with pelvic thrust.

Sorry. That image scarred me even as I was writing it.