[ SECRET POST #3588 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #3588 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 02 pages, 62 secrets from Secret Submission Post #513.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Comments

[fscom]

09. http://i.imgur.com/5gGIgyX.jpg

[(Anonymous)]

Maybe they weren't interested in what you wrote? I mean... even IRL friendships don't obligate someone to buy your work.

Yes it's only 99c, but that's not the point.

[(Anonymous)]

I'm really sorry you had to go through that. I'm sure your friends didn't mean to flake out on you though.

[herpymcderp]

Or ...maybe you just didn't write something they were interested in.

Plus, you know you can't count on people to do your promoting for you right? You actually have to do some of that yourself. Complaining that you got three sales because other people didn't share something you did is just nonsensical.

[eleganceliberty]

I kinda understand the sentiment in regards to some fandom friendships being superficial, at best. Back when I was really involved in fandom, I made countless fandom friends over 15+ years. Out of all of those people and all that time, I've only kept in constant contact with maybe less than 10 people and consider them to be genuine friendships that transcended fandom.

The thing about fandom and fanwork is that, frustrating as it might be, some people are only interested in the fanwork aspect and will move on if you're not doing something they're interested in, and while it might hurt for those on the receiving end, they're within their rights to move on if they wish. I learned this the very hard way when an ex-friend of mine pretty much put me on full-blast passive-aggressive ignore when I got into a certain comic series a while back that they had no interest in, and our friendship completely collapsed not long after that. But I'll freely admit, I've done about the same to some people in the past. I'm so not proud of it, and I deeply regret acting like an ass about it.

That said, your friends aren't obligated to buy your original works or w/e. That's just part of the nature of creating original work in general, especially after you spend so long in fandom-centric environments. I'd at least give them some credit for being supportive in the run-up to it: some people don't even have that much insofar as support systems go when it comes to working on original fiction.

[(Anonymous)]

IRL friendships that seem genuine can turn out to be pretty superficial, one-sided, and unsupportive, too. I've been blind-sided by this enough times that I wonder about people who look down on internet friendships and how they got to be so lucky with their offline friends.

[(Anonymous)]

I have a friend who loves and fixes motorbikes. He usually drive by me when he has bought or repaired a new one. I ooh and aah and brags about his sweet new ride. Personally I think motorbikes are pretty meaningless and dangerous and I wouldn't have one if you threw it at me. But I don't to piss on his love because I care about him and want him to feel good. This works well for the both of us. Actually I expect the same courtesy from him when I'm all gooey from having a dream of mine fulfilled, if he shares it or not. That's friendship.

[(Anonymous)]

IDK, just sounds to me like your friends were trying to be supportive and encouraging of your writing. I've had plenty of comments in fannish circles from people saying "zomg you should totes publish!", doesn't mean I'd expect them to actually cough up if I ever did. I'd expect emotional support from my friends, which it sounds like you got... but if you're not writing something they have any interest in reading, why should they?

[ariakas]

This happened to a few hugely popular BNFs in an old fandom of mine. They would occasionally talk about their original projects and everyone would be very supportive and/or enthusiastic because, you know, they'd probably react poorly if people did otherwise and lots of people suck up to BNFs. Thing was, their original work sounded dreadfully uninspired: they were basically Yaoi Cliches, The Novel, in a fandom surrounding a main cast where nobody acted like that. And thus probably weren't interested. When they self-published, nobody bought their books and very few people rec'd them because you don't want to push something you think is crap on your other friends, right. And yeah they were equally crushed and fandom flounced and everything.

What I'm trying to say is that while someone might love the way you write, they might not like your original ideas at all. Or think they might, but when they find out what those ideas are they decide they'd rather not. How similar are they to the fandom source material? You might want to look for a very different crowd. People aren't going to read/rec things they don't like out of loyalty. This is everybody's fun time. You're not paying them. Unless you've, say, bought their original novels in the past they don't owe you anything.

Also, as others have pointed out above, you do have to do your own signal-boosting. They aren't going to do it for you.

[(Anonymous)]

To be fair, if you really only sold three copies of a .99 book maybe it's not your friends who are the problem?

I've said it before, and I'll say it again

[feotakahari]

Your friends are no more obligated to buy your books than they are to buy your Tupperware or Cutco. Or to contribute to your Gofundme, for that matter. The test of who is truly your friend should not be whether they give you their money.

[(Anonymous)]

I feel your pain...

That said would love to know more about it. See if there was a reAson behind not buying

[crossy_woad]

Honestly this often seems to be the case when an author moves from fandom to original work. Even when friends want to be support, try to be, or think they are being supportive (rather than setting a person up for failing, stabbing in the back, etc), it doesn't seem to do much good.

I've come to the conclusion that, even in a very similar genre, there is a totally different readership for fandom and original. Part of it is format, no doubt. Some people buy and read books; some people to go A03 (or wherever). And there is a large readership in both places, if you can learn to find your audience.

OK, on the book level: it's really discouraging, but if you're interested in keeping at it, continue to learn all you can, and see what you can feasibly do to get your work out there to find its readership. That readership almost certainly exists. But it can be very difficult to find in a crowded market. If you want to keep going, you need to pace yourself. And please be careful about dropping a ton of money to someone who will "promote" your work for you. 1) You might never earn that back, and maybe you can't afford it, and 2) some of those folks are real scammers (not all, but some).

On the friend level. My advice is to think about how important this is to you. I mean, it really really hurts. It just does. But is it something you can see past, see from a different perspective, or forgive? If it keeps nagging at you, maybe you need to tell some of these friends how it made you feel, like you were being set up or tricked with "support" that wasn't really there. Maybe it will help. Even if it doesn't, if the friendship(s) are soured anyway, at least it will be in the open.

[(Anonymous)]

OP, I feel for you. I've had friends on Tumblr tell me the same thing for my originals. I think they are being supportive in the same way that some people are to beginning language learners. They tell them how good they are and how much they know (when really they don't know a thing). It's just a supportive over-friendly exaggeration.

Or... alternately, no matter how cheap your story is, maybe it doesn't interest them if it's different enough from the fan fic they are used to reading.

I sympathize. I've been there. Just because we can explain it logically and all that doesn't mean it sucks less as far as that gut reaction.

[(Anonymous)]

Congratulations! You wrote a novel and published it. That's a big deal in itself.

As fellow self-published author, the work doesn't stop when you hit publish. The sales person hat, the marketing hat and the reviewer seeker hat has to be put on. You can't rely on family, friends and fandom to help you. And it's hard because hey, i know how to write, but figuring out this whole advertising thing when so many places go "Oh, you're trying to sell something, that's spam."

Building a fan base in fandom where people already loved the source material was easy. Building a fan base for original, yeah, that takes time and effort to find who is the market for your novel and advertising there and putting the word out and creating a social media platform that isn't about fandom, but is about you and your novel.

It also sounds like you are on Smashwords. Smashwords has 300,000 self published novels in their database. Fortunately, because it's 99 cents, there are a LOT of websites that if you submit to them will broadcast that you've got a cheap ebook novel.

Good luck fell self pub.

[(Anonymous)]

Ah yes, the Twilight fanfic author kind of friendship. "You're my friend, now give me money, fund my gofundme, buy my furry porn!" Friendship doesn't work that way, anon.

[(Anonymous)]

I feel your pain, OP. All comes back to "Don't say you're going to do something if you have no intention of following through." I'd rather have utter silence from the get-go than have someone, it feels like, lie to my face to spare my feelings.

[(Anonymous)]

lol

[(Anonymous)]

How are so many of you so enormously missing the point? It's not that they just didn't buy the book and/or weren't interested.

They said they WERE INTERESTED and they WOULD buy it, and then didn't. And no, I don't demand my friends spend money on me. I do expect them not to lie to my face.

[(Anonymous)]

Not at all surprising.

Or maybe your whole operation kind of sucked

[(Anonymous)]

You didn't "publish a book." You put it on Amazon, which isn't exactly "look I have it printed buy it at B&N." Good on you for finishing it but this isn't a huge deal.

Is it shitty erotica? It's shitty erotica, isn't it? Listen: a lot of people will tolerate something that is Destiel In Wub Gazing At Each Other For Like Fifty Pages but not give a fuck if it's suddenly original characters and the same level of writing. You also need a cover that doesn't look weird, a title that actually looks interesting, and a description that isn't "Desitel In Wub But Not Destiel Their Names Are Sebasitan and Aaddamm" or something like that.

On top of that, you're angry that they didn't REBLOG. You have to promote your own work!

[(Anonymous)]

I agree that it's upsetting - but it isn't just the money. Real life has a habit of eating up time, and sometimes a novel can feel like a chore rather than a pleasure. It takes time and effort to get to know new characters, neither of which are necessary with fanfic.

Sympathies, though.

There's something missing from this secret

[(Anonymous)]

It sounds like there's something missing from this equation. Maybe you didn't market or announce properly, OP, or you have a tiny fandom? How many friends are we talking, here? Are you well liked in the fandom, or do you occasionally say or do something that really pisses people off (I speak as someone who does this. I'm pretty outspoken on my beliefs in canon). Did you, like someone suggested, go from writing slash in a totally slash environment to writing romantic het? Did you describe the book in such a way that would turn people off completely?

Because there is no way in an average-sized fandom a friendly fan who had been supported in their endeavors would only sell 3 copies of their first novel.

Something is missing.

[(Anonymous)]

unfortunately, op, fandom friends are only interested your fandom related works. as soon as you move on from the fandom, they lose interest in your work and in you as a person. clearly, they either lied about their interest in your original work or they are taking their sweet endless time in getting around to buying/reading it. that's just how people are.

in any case, you should focus instead on getting your published work out there. did you have anyone read over your work before you published it?

[(Anonymous)]

If I was one of your fandom friends, I'd probably buy your book to support you ($0.99 is not a big ask). Whether I'd read it or not depends on how interesting it actually looks to me.

That said, we are only getting your side. Perhaps you were pushy with your book and turned people off? Or aren't as generous to your friends as you expect them to be to you? Or perhaps it was just too long between talking about writing original stuff and you publishing, and you didn't advertise it well, and people skimmed past the post or missed it.