Case (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
case) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
fandomsecrets2016-10-30 03:57 pm
case) wrote in fandomsecrets2016-10-30 03:57 pm
[ SECRET POST #3588 ]
⌈ 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.
Re: I've said it before, and I'll say it again
(Anonymous) 2016-10-31 03:25 pm (UTC)(link)http://fandomsecrets.dreamwidth.org/1507728.html?thread=937072016#cmt937072016
Is not the OP. I am. And I appreciate your comments, thank you. :) For everyone else, maybe I should clarify a few things.
I didn't expect my friends to pretend they loved the book or to read something they hated. The way it started was I'd written a sci-fi AU fic and they enjoyed it and said I should try writing a "real" sci-fi novel. I told them about an idea I'd been kicking around for a while and that's when they said I should do it and they'd buy it and read it. The novel (novella, to be more accurate) was sci-fi space opera. There was some sex in it, but it was far too tame to qualify as erotica. They gave the idea the thumbs up and quite a few people asked me to tell them when I was finished and occasionally checked back on me to see how I was doing, which I thought was really nice of them.
Maybe it was naive of me, but I didn't realize that the people I thought were my friends and who I thought would be honest with me would say that just to be polite. I took what they told me at face value and I believed they meant it. I priced it at .99 because I thought that was a low enough price that it wouldn't be a financial hardship to most people. As far as I know, none of the friends in question were in such dire straits that a dollar would be too much. Of course, if that was the case, I'd completely understand. I don't believe putting it up for free would've made a huge difference, but maybe it would have, I don't know.
I never expected it to be a best seller. I realize there are tons of self-published books out there and I'd done no promotion. All I did was e-mail the link to people who expressed interest and asked me to let them know when I was done. It took me about 4-5 months maybe? I didn't spam it anywhere, and as I mentioned above, my friends knew what the novel was going to be about because I'd already told them about it. Nobody at the time said that it wasn't their cup of tea, but of course, if they had I'd have understood and I wouldn't expect them to read it or buy it. At most, I thought I'd sell a dozen copies or so, mostly to people who knew me. I wouldn't have minded selling only three, except that it hurt to think that my friends would tell me one thing and do another. For the record, I've never done that to them. If I said I'd do something, I do it. But then I don't tell people this lightly, precisely because I'd hate to disappoint anyone or let people down.
I was upset when I made the secret. I don't feel quite so badly now, and since then, one of my friends did PM me to let me know they'd read the book and said some nice things about it as well as offering some excellent constructive criticism, so I don't think they're telling me a little white lie just to be polite. But because of what happened (and frankly, some of the responses in this thread) I'm a little sadder and wiser. In the future, I will try not to take what people say at face value, even if I consider them a friend. I'll also try not to let it diminish how much I give to other people, whether it's my time or my money.
At least one person has mentioned posting the link, but I don't think that's a good idea given some of the negative responses here. Even if they were the work of trolls, it's not attention I want or need. I'm content with letting my book fade into obscurity, if that's what happens. It was fun to write, and I don't regret doing that.
Thanks for listening, FS.
Re: I've said it before, and I'll say it again
(Anonymous) 2016-11-01 04:04 am (UTC)(link)Re: I've said it before, and I'll say it again