 |
| Monster image: Image by OpenClipart-Vectors on Pixabay |
As you can tell from my title, this month's post will be full of all the self-doubting thoughts that are wearing me down. When so much crap happens and keeps happening it makes you doubt your sanity and question why you continue down this path.
First there was #Cockygate. If you aren't part of the romance community you may not have heard of this, but over the summer an indie author trademarked the word cocky, yes cocky and unleashed a total shit storm within the community. This of course brought out all the troll that that to crap on Indies as a whole as well as the romance genre.
Ignore. Move on. Keep writing.
The whole cocky situation brought to light the book stuffer issues with KU (which is a whole nother beast). At the time I wasn't part of KU, but the idea behind it still pissed me off. Real writers, ones that followed the rules, worked on their books, and tried to be a part of the system were being squeezed out by scammers. Book stuffers, click farms, entire networks that worked to do nothing but take advantage of the system. And Amazon let them. This was a big issue in romance not sure if it carried over to other genres or not. And the clean up they attempted hurt the legit authors more than the scammers. This again brings out the trolls that crap on indies and romance.
Ignore. Move on. Keep writing.
More recently there has been #CopypasteCris. Another indie romance author that was recently outed for plagiarizing her books. It started with Courtney Milan being notified and it quickly unraveled. More authors were hit, big names authors. This plagiarizer apparently hit the USAT best-seller list with "her" books. This brought to light the use of ghostwriters that go back to the scammers. Writers cranking out books at inhuman speeds, dominating the KU with their quickness and cheaply priced books. And can you guess what happened then? Yup, more trash talking about indies and the romance genre. At every turn, when something goes down it becomes and "all indie" issue. It gets tiresome.
How many times can one say ignore. Move one. Keep writing. Before one asks what the hell is the point?
When these things happen, responders say how it's why they won't read indie, or how they only stick to their 'favorite' authors and either won't or are extremely hesitant to try new authors because those few bad apples have a way of ruining the barrel. That little mantra gets harder to keep repeating.
When it starts to feel like the odds are stacked against you at every turn the why bother monster moves in and doesn't pay rent. It messes with my head and steals my creative drive. You add in personal issues and it all compounds.
I'm not really a push through it and just write type of gal, so I've been stalled for a little while now. Slowly I've been getting the urge to write again and have even made some progress. There have been good days and bad days. Will the current project get completed? Sure, but it's not without the unwanted guest of the why bother monster who seems intent to hang around.
Have a great month
Until next time
~Meka
The Insecure Writer’s Support Group is a home for writers in all stages; from unpublished to bestsellers. Our goal is to offer assistance and guidance. We want to help writers overcome their insecurities, and by offering encouragement we are creating a community of support.
The awesome co-hosts for the March 6 posting of the IWSG are Fundy Blue, Beverly Stowe McClure, Erika Beebe, and Lisa Buie-Collard!
Sounds like a good time to just ignore the Internet and write.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I try, but it's an easier said than done situation. Especially when my support system all lives in the internet. LOL
Deletethanks for stopping by
I remember #cockygate but #copypastecris is new to me. Like you, I'm not much of a push through and just write person. Though I do try. At least when I'm not physically writing I'm still writing inside my head. Good luck with your writing. And congrats again with "Being Neighborly."
ReplyDeleteYeah, the cocky gate things was nuts, but this chick copying so many books was even crazier. I can't push through, I try and end up with like one or two sentences before I'm off to do other things. Eventually I'll get back to it like I should, I just need to let things run their course.
DeleteThank you. It's exciting to have it out.
thanks for stopping by
I agree with Alex, ignore what you hear and do what you love. I believe at every stage in history unique challenges have popped up to deter writers, but in the end if it matters to you, it really matters. Happy IWSG Day :)
ReplyDeleteI try, but sometimes when it all seems to hit at once it's harder to do. There will always be challenges, this I know, but some days more than others it feels like the odds are seriously double and triple stacked against you.
Deletethanks for stopping by
I've been following the #CopyPasteCris debacle with interest, and with prayers of thanks that I don't have to rely on income from my small-press romances to pay my bills--though I hope they will pay a few. Now my RWA feed is full of dismay over how little authors are paid when they enroll their audiobooks in Audible's romance package. I do intend to publish some indie books down the road, and will combat Amazon's craziness by publishing wide. Hey, weren't there some indie-pubbed authors up for RITAs last year? If I recall correctly, there were quite a few. Onward!
ReplyDeleteThat whole thing is crazy and it appears she's reactivated her Twitter account. No idea where the standing on her books are. Yeah, the income is a whole nother issue. And man, I read chatter that that romance package was worse than regular audible but I'm not at the audiobook stage so haven't looked into it deeply.
DeleteI do believe there were some indies in the RITA last year now that they allow them in. It's just an uphill battle in general sadly.
thanks stopping by
I guess we should be aware of what's going on in the creative world, but, geez, I want to keep my head down and just write. Forget all the chaos around us.
ReplyDeleteYes, it's a two-fold problem for sure. Need to know, but don't really want to know. :(
DeleteThanks for stopping by