The Struggles of Indie Authors/Creatives [***RANT SESSION***]

 For those of you that actually pay attention to my videos, this is the continuation of an episode of "The Rough Draft" that I shot; Episode #48, to be exact.  Felt the need to blow off some steam, and set the record straight, and apparently...I need to blow off a little more steam.  Been feeling really frustrated & disrespected lately, and I think that I need to go deeper in depth...

As an indie author, I'm carrying the same mentality that I had when I was still involved in the film & television world, being a screenwriter; I wanna work in the industry, not for it.  I choose to be independently published b/c I know the headache of trying to find a (decent) agent, or at least, a good small publisher to publish your book.  Also, you know your story best, so you know how & who to market your book to, no matter what genre that you write in.  I know plenty of authors that write speculative fiction that can attest to that.  Not to mention, the rash of consolidation within the publishing industry within the last two decades, or so...?  The publishing world is getting smaller & smaller by the day (if not, the waning minutes).

 

At the same time...I don't have an MFA.  I have no connections to any literary nonprofit organizations.  I've never held a fellowship.  Nor do I have a well paying day job that allows me the financial flexibility to pay for reviews, or a publicist.  My hashtag #AlwaysOnMyLiteraryGrind has meaning BECAUSE I'm actually ON my literary grind!!  Whatever accolades (which ain't many) that I receive, it's because of my hard work to promote my shit, & get the word out to the public.  NOBODY helps me to do shit, when it comes to my writing career.  My grind is really MY grind.  Nobody promotes my books for me, or does any type of outreach for my books.  I've even created a mf video series to help me promote my writing career in "The Rough Draft" (that apparently nobody watches).

 

It's a little infuriating to see people just brush you off, and dismiss any & everything that you do, as if it's big joke, and nothing to be taken seriously.  They don't watch the videos & comment, they don't buy & review your books, nor do they come out to any events that you organize and/or participate in.  Out of the fourteen books that I've published, I'd pre-promoted the last seven books ahead of their publication.  Hardly anybody joined the gd Facebook Events that I created for them; I didn't even crack TWENTY people to accept the invite. Whats' the fucking point?!?!?!  😡😡😡😡😡     

The sales afterward have been even more abysmal.  Htf is it that I know all of these different people, activist,  & organizations, but can't get none of you mf bastards to buy a copy of my books?!  And, even if you do actually buy it, do you even bother to read it, and leave a fucking review for it, or even recommend it to your circle of friends and associates...?  Hell...I'd be happy with a personal dialog with you, just to get your feedback on the book. At least then I'll know that you actually read the motherfucka!  Which character(s) did you like...?  What worked for you?  What didn't..?  What was your favorite chapter/scene...?  What character(s) didn't you like/hated..?  Did I intend for you to hate them, or did you just not like the way I wrote that/those character(s)...?  This is the type of feedback that I'm looking for & crave; they make me a better writer.  It also lets me know if I achieved my goal with that particular book, as far as your response is concerned.  Or...I know that you're not the right audience for that particular book, depending on your response/understanding of that particular book.

Would it kill you to actually watch the episodes of my vlog series, and leave a mf comment?!?!  Even if you don't have a YouTube account, can you nuccas say SOMETHING under the post?!?!  None of that 'good job' bullshit; that's so fucking generic.  Say something about the mf episode, whatever tf the discussion topic is!  Don't just press the 'like' button, and keep it mf moving!  I hate that shit!!!  It is so mf disrespectful!!  This isn't a mf joke to me; it's my calling, my mf career!!!  How would you like it , if I acted all dismissive about something that you were passionate about...that you felt was your purpose in life...?  Writing the books...producing the vlog series...and promoting the books is VERY time consuming!!

STOP acting as if my writing career is some huge joke!  It's not a fucking hobby that I don't take seriously, or don't really care about! I'm not some one-shot bucket lister, writing a book just to say that I wrote a mf book, and check it off my bucket list!  I've been writing for fucking YEARS!!!  Just because some of you out there don't have any passions, that doesn't mean that I don't!  I need more out of life, other that just getting liquored up, getting high, or randomly getting sexed up!

Feel however you want to feel about this post; I couldn't give a shit.  I'm tired of feeling disrespected, and not supported.  You dumb niggas know that my shit it out here, available in more that one format, I might add...but still won't support my career, or my books.  But...you niggas will jump on any bandwagon, and prop up some author with a name, because the mainstream media (white ppl) told you to do so.  Fuck y'all.

That's my rant session....

The Revolutionary Heat of Black August 2022

 We are now in the month of AUGUST.  The last month of the Summer.  A month known for revolution. A personal time of achievement and anniversaries for me.  This month is a very special one, so let's get into it.

"Second Chance Points" is entering it's 3rd month of publication.  Sales still have been pretty flat, despite my continued attempts to promote it.  I've even tried promoting it to two women's professional basketball leagues; the Women's American Basketball Association (WABA), and the Global Women's Basketball Association (GWBA).  I've continued to email both leagues, as well as tag them in posts on both FB and on Twitter, as well as sharing their information.  No response from either league, at this point.  Oh, well...all I can do is continue to promote the book.

August marks the seven-year publishing anniversary for my poetry eBook "Spittin' Lyrics N Waxin' Poetic" (Draft2Digital, 2015).  I don't really talk much about that project.  It's a collection of poetry that I've written, as well as rap verses and NLS songs that I wrote years ago.  Don't necessarily consider it my best work, but it's something that I published, nonetheless.  As you can tell, it's only available digitally.

August also marks the three-year anniversary of the production of "The Rough Draft"; officially on the date of August 23rd.  I'm closing in on 50 episodes of the show, and hope to be able to celebrate both simultaneously.  I've already come up with the concept for Episode 49, but haven't really come up for one for Episode 50.  You guys got any suggestions on what I should cover for that big 50th episode?  I'm open to any suggestions that you might have.  I tried asking on social media, but apparently nobody pays attention to what I post, smdh....

August also will mark the one-year anniversary that I've been living out here in Raleigh; officially on August 28th.  So far, it's been a good year.  I'm still working at my current day job, so that's putting money in my pocket, and keeping a roof over my head.  Haven't really made much progress as far as my writing career is concerned.  I was lucky enough to have done at least one radio interview since I moved out here, but I need to make more of  name and a presence for myself out here.  I definitely need to do more in-person events to make a name for myself.  I'm still looking into doing the Black/Brown Bookstore Book Tour, but that won't start until maaaaaaaaaybe next month.

That's all for now.  Hope to keep you guys updated on my progress.  See you guys next post.

Keep the fist raised.

#AlwaysOnMyLiteraryGrind