[ 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

[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.

[ketita]

^this.
When I first started going original, I realized that almost none of my readers actually give a shit about my original stuff. Not even the people who would read every single one of my fics, regardless of characters or plot. It took me a long time to accept that it's not personal, even if it sure as hell feels that way.
It's a different audience, and a difficult transition to make.

[(Anonymous)]

Agreed. Thank you for saying it. Because of this, I didn't even try to use my fandom identity to start a platform for my "professional" identity.

[crossy_woad]

I think that was wise. Because there are so few benefits, and so many possible problems...

[(Anonymous)]

SA

Precisely. It's hard enough to be taken seriously when you are self-publishing something. It's harder still if you are linking that to an old fandom identity. Assumptions get made about type of work and quality.

And yeah, best to not do it.

[(Anonymous)]

DA

Problem is everybody wants to be the next Cassandra Claire - not realizing she heavily exploited existing connections she had to get an in with a publisher.