**Originally featured on my Wordpress site 5/27/2019**
For several days I've been following the apparent debacle that is AuthorTube. Little background: Yes, it exists and yes, there is drama. I know a young writer who has been an avid follower of AT for quite some time and has mentioned it to me several times over the few years I've known her. Despite always saying I would check it out, I never did. That's me. Sometimes I lack follow through. Well, often I lack follow through.
Anyway, last week this writer posted about an indie author who has added ARCs to her Patreon page. Instantly my interest is piqued because...you guessed it, ARCs are free. To add it to a "perk" on your Patreon page means that you are, indeed, charging for something that 99% of other readers who receive ARCs do not have to pay for. So I checked it out; watched a bunch of AuthorTube videos, read a bunch of threads on Twitter, and even went to this author's Patreon page.
For those of you unaware, allow me to explain what these things are:
1) ARC - otherwise known as Advanced Reader Copy, these are books made available to a certain number of people in return (usually) for an honest review ahead of publication. Right now I am reading through an ARC that I was given a couple of months ago by a fellow WF writer. I didn't pay for this ARC. I have never paid for an ARC. I've heard some people refer to ARCs as copies of an unfinished book. This is incorrect. Unfinished manuscripts go to beta readers. ARCs are the finished product that will be published. When an author gives you an ARC they are giving you the version that will be released to the public. **edit 6/8/2019: The ARC is a very close version of what will be released to the public. Usually the interior content is completed but the cover or back copy may be incomplete. Learn more here **
2) Patreon - This is a place where you can support an artist you love by purchasing a monthly subscription. I first learned of this platform when I started listening to podcasts. The Black Tapes, Tanis, The Last Movie, Alice Isn't Dead, etc. all ask for listeners to support them on Patreon. I have a Patreon account, though I haven't made it active yet. There are often several different tiers of membership. In exchange you receive perks only available to people subscribing to that particular tier. You can learn more about Patreon here.
3) AuthorTube - I can't provide much information on this, as I am only vaguely familiar with it at this point. However, if you go to YouTube and type AuthorTube in the search you will find numerous videos posted by (mostly) young writers. These videos include how-to, opinion pieces, and other facets of the writing process. In theory this is a fantastic resource.
What I found when I began researching this issue is that the writer in question, the one charging (essentially) $150 for an ARC, seems to have a history of charging for things she doesn't really have the credentials to be charging for. She claims to be an international bestselling author, but this is based on Amazon's rating of her. I'm not knocking Amazon's rating system, but it does change hourly. Sometimes minutely (yes, my word). So to claim that you are an international bestseller based off of one hour on Amazon's charts is shaky, at best. But this woman is charging more than $300 for writing workshops presented by her. She's even reported to have been charging $3000 for a specialized writing course. This is a woman who is not traditionally published and has not been recognized by the top bestselling lists in the world. I'm not paying her $5.00 for writing advice, let alone $300 or $3000!
But here's the rub; she's targeting new writers, young writers, the baby writers who haven't yet cut their teeth. These are the writers that, so help me, still ask what plot is. I'm probably being dramatic, but you get what I'm saying. She's charismatic, she's pretty, and she censors undesirable questions and responses. This, to me, is someone very dangerous to the pocketbooks and wallets of young writers. Both young in age and experience.
I'm not trying to bash her; I don't know her, I haven't read her work, and I certainly haven't paid for her programs, but I do know that charging for an ARC is wrong and blocking individuals for asking questions shows that you (likely) know it's wrong.
Now, as you can imagine this drama has spilled over. Some of these writers are out for blood. I'm not saying they shouldn't be, but I am saying that it really is counterproductive to give someone a one-star review three months before the book is available for purchase. What this author did is wrong, it shows that she doesn't value her readers and that she feels (for whatever reason) elevated above the rest of us, but when we take cheap shots against work that hasn't even released yet, that we haven't even read, we show a level of pettiness no one should really be comfortable with.
I leave you with two things:
1. ARCs are FREE. Period.
2. Be better.
Also, If you have a couple of hours this forum on guru gossiper makes a very interesting read.
Take care and keep writing!
-S
First and foremost let me say, I LOVE critique groups! There is no better way to improve as a writer/author than to get feedback from your writing peers/colleagues. I am the president (not as glamorous as it may seem) of a local writers group. In 2013 I approached 5 writers in the group to ask if they would like to form a critique group. (wow. I just used "group" a lot. *shudder*)
I was so happy when they said yes.
For over a year we brought our babies to the table once a month and they bled! Not in horrific and heartless ways that make you go home and sob while consuming a carton of Cookies N Cream. This was more like a leeching. Sounds way better, right? With care we pointed out what worked and what didn't work with one another's stories and (those of us who were baby writers) we began to grow. We lost 2 members early on. The following year we lost a third. It was down to 3 and we kept plugging along.
I'm not the most disciplined writer. While I was working on my historical novel all was well. Then I finished and started my next WIP. At chapter 6 I hit a roadblock. Or brainblock. Fear not, my critique group didn't give up on me. They critiqued short stories I began working on as well as a novella. They were there for me in my time of great struggle with words of encouragement. I love them for that.
And then it happened.
It is inevitable that a group will, eventually, fizzle out. Life intervenes where it once didn't and people stop submitting. In my case, I ended up chasing down critiques that I never received. It's not a big deal to anyone other than me, but it made me realize the state of the group. At least where I was concerned.
One person in a group of (now) 5 was critiquing my work. So if only 1 person is taking the time to read why do I need to be in the group? Surely we can be partners and nothing will really change. So I made the decision to walk away.
I'm sad that the baby I was so excited to see grow has, in a sense, grown out of me. But I'm not angry because I do understand that these things happen. Groups disband, members leave.
So what do you do when it's the end of an era?
You keep writing and you keep submitting your work to the partners who do critique your work. I have 2 writers, both dear women who get me, I look to for critique. They're not afraid to call me out on my shit when I half ass the work, and they're happy to tell me when I've done something right.
That's the important thing about critique; having partners who aren't afraid to tell it to you straight. Sometimes it's hard as hell to take. In October I was down in the mouth for a couple of days after critique, but not because my critique partners did anything wrong. It's because they were right. I rewrote the chapter and the next month my critique partner told me it was much stronger.
That's the thing about partners; they're there to help you grow.
I left my critique group, but I know I still need critique. I'm not a writer who's above receiving a little help from my friends. I'll never stop advocating critique groups, whether online or in person, to new writers. They are, in my opinion, fundamental to the growth of a writer.
While leaving the group is something I never thought I would do, I know it's the right step. For me.
**Reposted from Prompting365.com**
Lately I have heard or seen this statement a multitude of times: writers crave the experience. Maybe it's because I've spent the last two weekends binge watching Girls, the HBO show created by Lena Dunham, that I feel like this "truth" is being hammered into my head. Hannah, Dunham's character, often does things (mostly sexual) for "the experience". You see, Hannah is a writer. In the first season she is working on a book of essays. Not being one who writes essays, I can only assume they are like her journal entries all put into one book of like reflections for the masses to consume.
Maybe "masses" is too broad a term. For a select group of people may be better. Though, I believe Lena Dunham's memoir, which she signed a $3.5 million deal with Random House in 2012, is still sitting at #16 on Amazon's bestselling essays list. I suppose more people than I imagined are sitting around reading essays.
They're just not my thing.
But what about experience? I've always believed I have very little. My experience is limited to being married at 17 and raising 3 children. I've been a few places in my adult life; the Bahamas in 2002 where a man tried to get me to take a walk with him on the very dark beach. Ummm... No, and Nashville in 2011 where I stayed in my hotel room the entire time because the two guys that were with me (in separate rooms, people. Jeez) were too boring to go out after class. How do you not go out in Nashville? It's Nashville!
Anyway, so my experiences have been limited. Does this hinder my writing? Do writers crave experiences? Even the bad ones?
I think we do, to a degree. It's not that we want to go through the hard stuff. Who does that? But we want to know how it feels in order to write more clearly about it. In order to say, "Hey, I know what I'm talking about."
So is this inherent craving...presumed craving why I feel restless at least once a year? Is this my creative brain screaming at me, "Give me something to work with!" Or is it an inevitability in life that a human being will be restless at least once a year?
I've never written about the time in the Bahamas when, after belting out You're the One that I Want with my mom and sister at the bar, I stepped outside for some air and knew the waiter would follow me. He'd been watching our table for more than half an hour. I knew he would follow any of us outside. I just happened to be the one who needed air. This experience did not translate to a story on the page.
So do we need experiences as much as we crave them?
Maybe it's a middle of the road thing. I have experience with an over sexualized childhood, heartbreak, immense love, and crippling social anxiety. I have experience with watching a human being die, his heart beat dropping and finally ceasing long after he'd checked out of this world. I have experience with watching a human life be born, and with birthing several. I have experience with losing a fetus after hearing a strong heartbeat, all because my body broke down. Putting them all together, I guess I have a wealth of experience, though they are not the experiences I thought I would have. As a pre-teen discovering my talent for creating stories, I thought I would live what Hollywood told me a writers life is. I thought it would be me against the world, traveling and gathering experiences, telling stories. But I'm no free spirit, not in that way. I have no desire to stuff all of my belongings into the backseat of my car and drive away.
Not anymore.
It's easy to dream of running away when times are hard, or the kids are screaming at one another, but I think the idea of living free is better suited for someone in their 20s, someone who still believes they can take on the world. The closer I get to 40, the more I realize I need to work with the world. It's not about conquering it, it's about living in it.
Maybe it's not a lack of experience that hinders the writer (or the story). Perhaps it is growing up and realizing we can't tell the same stories we always have. It's time to change the narrative, if you will. After all, incidences in life don't, necessarily, give one experience. To do something once is simply a one off. Yes, you experienced that moment, but it didn't lead to experience.
Maybe I'm way off. Or maybe I am all over the place. But for me, at least, I believe I have become a stronger writer (though perpetually crippled by my lack of success) because I have experienced this life; my life. It isn't the same life I might have had if I'd gone to college straight out of high school and moved to a big city, but anyone who knows me will tell you I am not a city girl. Give me a population of 3,000 and I am moderately happy, though I would prefer a population of 1,500.
With everything else, I suppose there is no clear answer to my quandary. Some might tell me experience is everything to a writer, and I wouldn't be able to disagree. I guess it's all in what you consider experience to be.
What are your thoughts?
**REPOSTED FROM PROMPTING 365**
