International Pixel-Stained Technopeasant Day

April 23rd every year is International Pixel-Stained Technopeasant Day.

To encourage writers to post “professional quality” works for free on the internet, International Pixel-Stained Technopeasant Day was found to meet this aim.

History of International Pixel-Stained Technopeasant Day

The International Day of Pixel Color Technology is quite interesting. It began in response to some derogatory comments by Howard V. Hendrix. Hendrix believes that professional writers allow publishing works for free. He said that doing so online makes someone a "webcab," which he defines as "a pixelated tech asshole." This caused uproar in the society of Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, groups of which Hendrix was a member, and he made these remarks.

Jo Walton felt that the only response was to proclaim a day when as many “websites” as possible come together to do what they do best. Thus, the International Day of Pixel Color Technology was born on April 23, 2007. Any type of text can be submitted. Novels, short stories, poems, new or published, it doesn't matter. The goal was to make as much work available online as possible, in direct contrast to Hendrix's initial comments.

Celebration saw its greatest success in 2007. At the time it was launched directly by the rage caused by Hendrix, and as a result there were numerous works posted online by the Notable professional author. The to-do list hasn't been updated since; perhaps Walton feels his point has been made. A community still exists on LiveJournal who gather to post links to jobs already available online. It wasn't the same celebration as the one Walton had begun, but it seemed like one she would accept.

Years after declaring International Day of Color Technology, Jo Walton has gone from one success to another. Her books have been nominated for various awards including, the John W. Campbell Memorial Award and the Sidewise Prize for Alternative History. She continuously wrote a column for Tor Books, mainly consisting of retrospective reviews of older works. It's clear that posting some of her work online for free doesn't hurt her, and she'd better embrace the opportunities of technology and the Internet, rather than fear what it might entail and bring as Howard V. Hendrix seems.

How to celebrate International Pixel-Stained Technopeasant Day

Celebrate the day by sharing professional-grade writing online. It can be a poem, book or anything else that you have created, and has it been published before. You can also spend the day reading works that are accessible online for free, and you can even view some of the day's specific published works.