Ask the Author: Deborah M. Foster
Answered Questions (4)
Deborah M. Foster
Dear Indie Authors: I am just a month shy of being one years old as a published indie author. I have learned many hard lessons in that short time. First, indie writers are targets for scammers who claim to offer book promotion-related services, but they are God knows who writing from foreign countries. I believe that is because they are targeting vanity authors. People who write a book just to check writing a book off a bucket list. It was painful to surrender $250 to con artists, but we were lucky American Express clawed back most of the scammed money back.
Lesson #2 is more painful yet. Just because you wrote a book that is getting rave reviews from the handful of readers who pick it up, doesn't mean that it will snowball into a bestseller. You have to market your book. But I was raised in an environment that was antithetical to self-promotion.
It is painful to go through the process of begging for money to market your book, because you're an indie author, so you already spent thousands and thousands on editing, book design, so you're out of money for this key aspect of book promotion. But, if you read my book, you know I am not above begging for help, so I have been asking people to donate to a fund to help me market. Plan for this in your writing process.
Lesson #3 is that you are going to need to pay for some book reviews if you want them from prestigious reviewing outlets. If you try to opt for a low-cost option like swapping labor by reading each other's work for review, you are told early on that this is not ethical. Academia would fall apart if scholars couldn't critique each other work without being called unethical. On the other hand, in a growing movement, scholars are trying to get paid for all the free labor they provide, which involves time to reviewing each other's work.
Lesson #4 is that you will be asked to read some things that you think are abhorrent or disgusting morally, but you have to review them with a cheery smile. You can't actually give anyone an honest review, no matter how many times that is spewed out in a sentence. Especially if they can say anything about their cult (for example, people who don't believe as I do are possessed by demons), but you can't say anything in response, or it's considered intolerant speech against religion. Or you could be asked to read a misogynistic writer who describes scantily clad women throughout his book of misinformation on COVID. But again, put on that smile. you have to lie. The ethics of "always give a positive review" prevail. They got them, but not without taking a little piece of my soul.
Lesson #2 is more painful yet. Just because you wrote a book that is getting rave reviews from the handful of readers who pick it up, doesn't mean that it will snowball into a bestseller. You have to market your book. But I was raised in an environment that was antithetical to self-promotion.
It is painful to go through the process of begging for money to market your book, because you're an indie author, so you already spent thousands and thousands on editing, book design, so you're out of money for this key aspect of book promotion. But, if you read my book, you know I am not above begging for help, so I have been asking people to donate to a fund to help me market. Plan for this in your writing process.
Lesson #3 is that you are going to need to pay for some book reviews if you want them from prestigious reviewing outlets. If you try to opt for a low-cost option like swapping labor by reading each other's work for review, you are told early on that this is not ethical. Academia would fall apart if scholars couldn't critique each other work without being called unethical. On the other hand, in a growing movement, scholars are trying to get paid for all the free labor they provide, which involves time to reviewing each other's work.
Lesson #4 is that you will be asked to read some things that you think are abhorrent or disgusting morally, but you have to review them with a cheery smile. You can't actually give anyone an honest review, no matter how many times that is spewed out in a sentence. Especially if they can say anything about their cult (for example, people who don't believe as I do are possessed by demons), but you can't say anything in response, or it's considered intolerant speech against religion. Or you could be asked to read a misogynistic writer who describes scantily clad women throughout his book of misinformation on COVID. But again, put on that smile. you have to lie. The ethics of "always give a positive review" prevail. They got them, but not without taking a little piece of my soul.
Deborah M. Foster
Since the question is book world, and not television world (e.g. Star Trek), my answer is that I want to visit the Kingdoms that Milo visited in the Phantom Tollbooth. To meet the Princesses of Pure Reason and Sweet Rhyme
Deborah M. Foster
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Deborah M. Foster
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