Quote:
Originally Posted by ficbot
Sorry, but this is exactly the attitude I am talking about. We ALL have to do these sorts of juggling acts in our jobs. I really resent the idea that some authors seem to have that being authors makes them a special flower immune from these realities.
I do realize what's involved. I started my working life in freelance journalism, and you know what? I hate the hustling. I hated the DIY-ness. It just did not work for me and I did not make enough money to pay my bills. So I decided I was happier *just* doing the writing, when and for whom I wanted to. And the trade-off was that I had to find something else to do to pay my bills. That's LIFE. IF you want to call it your career, your income, your livelihood, then you have to do the drudge work too because every single career has components like that. EVERY career. I can't even tell you how much time, in my new career as a teacher, I spend on non-teaching stuff like playground duty and writing up, for admin purposes, conversations I have with parents. It's part of the job. And if this is your JOB---not a hobby, not just for fun, but a JOB---then it is YOUR responsibility to keep up with what needs keeping up on, and DIY what needs to be DIY'ed. And it is INSULTING to expect your paying customers to feel sorry for you because that is your job.
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Totally agree with this
Quote:
Originally Posted by ficbot
As I said---it is not entirely the author's fault. But it certainly is not the customer's fault, either. And it is not their job to 'extend the drowning author a helping hand.' That is your agent's job. Or, your own job. Band together. Form an author's group. Put a website telling customers who you have been writing to and what steps you are actively taking to get the problems solved so that they really can buy the books they want legitimately. Think outside the box. Do SOMETHING! But suggesting that a customer who has spent the money to legally buy a book second-hand because nobody would offer it to them first-hand should then voluntarily spend more money just to help the author out? That is insulting.
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But I don't think JaneFancher is the right target for this - I took her to be saying that she
didn't expect customers to make a contribution to the author when they but one of her books second-hand.