Support Indie Authors!

Heather Van Fleet is an awesome author I recently discovered! I signed up for her book blitz, and unlike a lot of other authors, she took the time to stop by and thank me for being a part of her release day promotion. I really love it when an author does that. It makes me feel special inside, warming my heart.


In a month of daily posts promoting other authors, I’m LUCKY to get 5 authors who stop by to leave a comment on my blog. Which is really sad. So when an author bothers to do this, I always remember her.


Then I saw Heather Van Fleet again when her book Resisting Fate was mentioned on Young Adult & Teen Reviews on Facebook. On a whim, I went out and bought her book, which was on sale for only 99 cents. The book kept me up until 4 in the morning, and I’m planning on buying her next book as soon as payday rolls around.

I just totally love werewolf stories! Add a touch of romance and mystery and I am hooked! So I ate this book up like ice cream and chocolate.


By the way, I highly recommend you go get Resisting Fate while it is still on sale!


So after reading such a great book, I did what any fan would do: I stalked her and her books on the internet. I found her on Facebook and befriended her. I wrote reviews on Goodreads and Amazon and splashed it on all my Social Media accounts. And I read her other reviews on Goodreads and Amazon and was THRILLED to see so many people who loved her book Resisting Fate as much as I did. I read review after review of glowing praise, and my excitement for the next book in this series just grew.


Then I checked out her other series. But then I was totally shocked to find that on Goodreads, one of her books had a 1-star-average rating, and when I investigated deeper, I discovered it was only one person who gave such a poor rating to a book that HASN’T EVEN BEEN RELEASED YET!!!


Really? Why would anybody do that?!?!?


They didn’t bother to say WHY they gave a 1-star rating to a book they couldn’t have read yet, but I was flabbergasted.


What would make a person tear someone else down like that? Ratings should be on books, not on authors, and if someone hasn’t even read the book, they are just being cruel and vicious, trying to destroy someone’s career. I can’t imagine why someone would do that!


So I couldn’t keep my mouth shut. Doing my best to be polite to this person (who shall remain nameless since they have already taken down their rating), I simply asked how they could give such a rating to an author for a book they couldn’t have even read yet.


I’m thankful to say they removed the rating. Turns out it was only a GLITCH in Goodreads. Yay! When she added the book as to-read, Goodreads added the rating for some crazy reason.


But I wanted to take the time to raise awareness of what it is like to be an indie author.


Writing is a lot of work. And money. And time. And heartache!


When I write a book, I take away time from watching TV or reading a good book or spending with my family or doing the hundreds of things I love to do. I pour my heart into it and bleed my soul into every word.


And then I invest a lot of money for a cover, swag, promotion, etc. (See my post on what it costs to publish a book.) My books are currently priced at 99 cents, which means I only get 35 cents a copy (the online bookstore takes the rest). At that price, I’d have to sell about 20K books a month to make enough money to cover the cost of producing the book, taxes and insurance, and still provide for my family.


20,000 books a month just to make enough to live on!


We depend on readers for their support. The only way we can succeed is by YOUR word-of-mouth promotion. When you read a book you love, take the time to write a review and tell your friends about it!


By supporting the author whose books you love, you ensure the author will be able to continue writing and producing books.


So please do me a favor and go out and buy RESISTING FATE and then write her a review! Because I want this writer to keep on writing.


Oh, and while you’re at it, you can buy my novella PLAYING HOOKY too or the new short story FEATHER I released earlier this month, both priced at only 99 cents. I could really use your support. LOVE YOU!

So the moral of the story: Don’t feed the bears! Feed the starving writers!


Wait. No, that's not right. I don't recall saying anything about bears. *scratches head*