Support for Indie Authors discussion

Another member's post got me thinking about this.
When I published my first novel, I unconsciously started dividing my friends into two groups: those that took the time to read my book (or at least buy it) and those that couldn't be bothered. This is a completely unfair thing to do...yet, I'm still doing it to this day.

Ha! I certainly take notice, but I can't expect all my friends to read the genre that I'm writing, that would be ridiculous. Some have read it and said it wasn't for them, some say they were too busy (which might be a lame excuses of course ;)).
But I have friends from many time periods in my life. From current day work all the way back to kindergarden times. The interests that bond us are therefor very different as well, so not all share the same reading interests as myself.

Anyways, your friends are no different from your normal readers for all that I'm concerned. Some will like the book and be interested in reading it, some don't. As long as they are polite enough to listen to all the self-publish work and hurdle stories over a beer, I have no problems with that. ^_^

Half of my friends probably haven't picked up a work of fiction since high school English class. This is an absolutely unfair thing to do. Yet...I...keep....doing it.

This is probably how my friends feel when they have a new baby and I don't ask to come over and see it.

Haha, I've been pretty sober about that one too, kids are not for everyone!

Some people will like your genre, others don't (as true amongst your friends as much as the general population).

There is a whole other thread on our expectations of friends and family.

I personally still feel very disappointed more don't share my book posts. I share their business ones, yet they don't reciprocate. But maybe that's because they're shy about sharing romance? I do try not to get upset about it. But occasionally it still wrankles.

I've recently born witness to the wonderfully supportive community on here. Who can understand the pain of authors as well as other authors? We are here for one another.

All the very best of luck with all you do. xx

Some I do, some I don't. There are a couple that I'm disappointed that haven't gotten around to reading it, but there are more that I would be pleasantly surprised if they read it.

I love it when my friends do read my books (sort of, it makes me incredibly anxious unless or until they tell me they liked them, otherwise I worry I've wasted their time and money), but I certainly don't hold it against the ones that don't.

Not everyone reads, you know? And that's really not a crime, however many trite memes about books we post on our Facebook walls.

And many of my friends who do read have pretty defined tastes. My best-selling book is a translation of an 18th Century French memoir. I'm not about to think badly of anyone who can't be bothered ploughing through that.

My wife does get hacked off though by people who say they're going to buy my book, and then don't. You know the sort of thing, you're at a party or whatever, and the subject comes up, and the person you're talking to says: "That sounds great, I shall definitely order a copy."

And Mel gets very excited and says "another sale", and I turn round and say "trust me, they won't actually buy it". And I'm invariably right. It's become such a trope that it no longer bothers me at all, people saying what they think is the right thing to say in a social context, but she still gets annoyed that people will "lie" to me about being interested in my work.

I don't expect my friends to read my book at all. We all have different preferences so I can't expect them to read my book just because we're friends. On that note my husband isn't a reader and hasn't read my book. It's just not his thing. He is incredibly proud and supportive regardless of not having read it. So for me it's not an issue at all.

Andrew wrote: "I love it when my friends do read my books (sort of, it makes me incredibly anxious unless or until they tell me they liked them, otherwise I worry I've wasted their time and money), but I certainl..."

You should always carry a copy with you, that way you can pull the book out right then and there and say "Sold! That will be 15 bucks!" ;)

I think two of my friends have read our books. I'd rather they didn't, actually. My writing has no part in my social life and I'd prefer people didn't know I'd published a book. It has become rather unavoidable, however.

I'll note these are my friends who are not authors.

This made me realize that some people NEVER read ANY books. I don't care really with my friends. I have a wide range. Some friends became closer because they were so supportive

I am just amazed by that.

Some of my friends were excited when the Audio Edition of my novel was released.

I don't mind if people don't read my books. It's a free world and people have options. What bothers me is the ones who promise to buy and read them, without me even asking them to, and then never do.

Can I change my answer?

Yes, I do mind. Damn their eyes and their impudence.
Everyone in the whole world should read my books (mwah ha haa!) ;-P

Sorry; just all got a bit 'serious' and I'm feeling mischievous.

Many do not read books at all.
Those that do, have their own tastes. Why should it coincide with my books style.
If they are friends, why possibly taint friendship about a few more reads?
Some may have some duty like drive to read it, but their reaction will as such.

You will notice those that wanted to read it and really liked it. Embrace that and don't bother about the others.

I don't expect anyone to ever read my books. So, it's a pleasant surprise when someone does.

At first, I was put off when certain friends wouldn't read my book when they knew how hard I worked and how excited/nervous I was when I finally decided to publish it. But it's my passion, not theirs.

This really took me some time to appreciate. My brother had a chapter published in a book, and I bought a copy as soon as I became aware of this fact. So, I have found it difficult to understand some peoples disinterest.

One person in my immediate family has never read either of my books. I admit to being a bit resentful about it previously, I cannot understand it. However, I have learned in life that MANY people are not like me. Yet, If I were only mildly interested in the author and not care for the genre
Perhaps, I am being unfair. Maybe, like mI can't complain, because I have a group of interested friends and family who jump to the download button on hearing about my latest publishing.

It actually meant more to me, when, about a Year after my first book, was published, my brother finally read it and was suddenly full of high praise.

I have learned to expect little from friends, but some have shown an interest and bought, read and actually 'pushed' my book. One friend told me her entire "department" read my book. I can only assume that she was "selling it" to them. One friend turned up one day with four copies of my paperback for me to sign, for giving as a Christmas present and she had not read it herself yet!

Many are actually, I think, genuinely mildly interested and do "intend" to read my book, but never get around to downloading it. So when they show interest, I don't expect to see a "blip" in the sales graph.

Only those who said, "I can't wait to read it" and never did. =p

It reminds me of an of an old scripture reference about a prophet being without honor among his family and his own home town. Not one of my children or wife will read my book. But, leaving my own home, my Mom and my youngest sister did. Don't expect anyone to read your book because they are related to you or know you. Just count it as a bonus if they do. I did find grew supportive help in earlier proofreading and editing with some friends.

Try not to hold it against anyone that doesn't want to read your works.

Like most of you have said, I've got friends from many different eras in my life. I lived in Europe while in high school and some of University, so I've got very distinct groups that they fall into.

As with most people here, my friends don't do much buying or reading of my material. That's not to say they've offered no help.

A few of them verify some of the basic science my SF is built on, or reTweet/share my Facebook posts. I really can't ask for more than that. Absolutely none of them read. The ones that do this are very few, but they're the friends who I could go years without seeing but have a beer with tomorrow and it be like no time had passed.

Then I have the friends who couldn't be paid to read, tweet or give me their thoughts. Oddly enough, these are the friends who were film majors at University and begged me to go to all their extremely horrible indie movie premieres. Of course I did because I loved supporting their passions and their, *echumm*, Talent. So on more than 10 occasions, I coughed up $5 to support their cause.

These are the friends I thought for sure would return the favor. You know, buy a 99 cent copy just to help prop up my sales and ranking even if they weren't going to read it. You know what I've gotten from them? Nada.

I don't get bitter about it, until one of them tells me they bought the book. I ask them the date and go look at my KDP bookshelf, and there's no sales. If you're not going to buy the book, that's fine. Just don't lie to me.

Of course, they're the same Facebook friends you see who complain about the crappy job environment, even though they're the ones who went and got a film degree. Ya...um... good luck.

No, I don't hold it against anyone who doesn't have any interest in reading my book. My mom, for example, would NEVER read it. She'd hate reading a romance book. She reads history and biographies. My sister, on the other hand, reads all of my books - she's a beta reader and my unpaid manager. :) No one else in my family has read my book. Lots of my friends have read it. But I don't take offense if someone doesn't read it. Not everyone likes what we write - and that's okay. I'm not writing for family and friends - I'm writing for the larger romance genre market. The reaction of family and friends is inconsequential in the larger scheme of things, so I don't worry about it. I write for myself and for the people who happen to love my books.

I don't really mind.

Some friends read, others don't care.
My family never reads anything I write.
Not their style.

Friends are people who are there when you need them.

For me, it depends on the person. Most of my small family picked up my novel and the few friends that read fantasy have too. It's the ones that tell me, or my family, what they want to hear about my novel, then never doing it. This can be especially frustrating when someone does it to my family. My mother came to me not long ago talking about how proud she was of me and how she had told everyone she knew. She then expected me to see those sales. It's easy for me to swallow obvious false promises, I'm annoyed at first, but having to explain to my family that their friend isn't making good on their word, is hard. Their look that says, "But they're my friends, they wouldn't lie."

=(

Absolutely not. My tastes and my friends' tastes don't always intersect. However...

Yes, there is a special place reserved for those who go out of their way to make sure and let me know know that I am not special just because I wrote a book. To be honest though, they were few and the type who were always teetering on the edge of 'frenemy' territory, so I wasn't terribly sad to see them go. Especially since they were replaced with a fantastic network of support. ;)

I know very well what my friend's and family's tastes are when it comes to reading and which ones don't read at all. I know who will and won't read it, even if they say they're going to. People close to you just say what they think you want to hear because they don't want to hurt your feelings by saying, "Hey, I have zero interest in your book." Most of the people in my family aren't in the demo for my books, so I don't really care if they read it or not. They probably won't like it even if they do, then they're forced to lie to me about how they felt.

I don't necessarily ignore what friends and family say about my book. I just take it all with a grain of salt. And since I don't really think they tell others about my books, I don't have to deal with the "This person said they were going to buy your book" scenario.

most of my friends don't read books. the small few who do don't read the weird dark stuff I write (they read Hood lit - a genre I refuse to write in). so I don't expect them to be supportive at all. those are the breaks .·´¯`(>▂<)´¯`·.

I never mind if my friends don't read my books - but I tell you what does drive me crazy... those friends who always ask you to support this or help them with that who never lift a finger in return to spread the word about your book! Grrr.

None of my friends or family even know I have written a book and I like to keep it that way.

I used to but nowadays I appreciate that leisure time is precious. You don't want to spend that reading a book you'd never normally pick up, just because it's by an acquaintance.

Also, consider how awkward it would be if they didn't like it. They'd either be ruthlessly honest (knowing some of my friends/relatives), or force some bland, unconvincing compliment. Take anybody reading it as a bonus.

I don't really care if they read my books, and in general most of them don't. They won't really commit to it either, so it isn't too bad. I have one friend who used to be my best friend, and he reads a lot of sci-fi and fantasy trash novels and talks about the worst of the worst books with glowing respect. I gave him one of my books as a beta reader to get his feedback about things I could fix or rewrite and his suggestions, and he wouldn't even finish it. The thing is, if he'd never agreed to read it and offer suggestions I wouldn't have minded, and if he'd offered suggestions up to and as bad as "I hate it and it is unsalvagable" I would have been fine with it. But, considering the garbage he reads on a regular basis, the fact that he wouldn't even try to help fix the book just felt disrespectful. He's still a good friend, but I'd be lying if I said the experience hadn't hurt our friendship. I haven't asked him to read anything since.

Nope. I write sci-fi and of the people these days who do actually read books, a lot aren't sci-fi fans. That's fine, people have different tastes, and there are genres that don't 'do it' for me too.

What gets to me (and apparently a lot of other people on this thread) is when I support their book / film / website, and when mine comes out and needs the boost ... *crickets*.

Some people that I thought would really want to read my books, never have.
Some people that I thought would never want to read my books, have.

The furiously blushing straight boy asking when book two comes out because he "Needs to know what happens in the story"... made all the hard work of writing the books worth it.

It can be hard not to react emotionally. But after getting a few books out and being at it for a while, I find it easier to be accepting. I have had people I never expected to read any of my books read several of them, and others who I expected would, haven't.

But I don't want bad reviews or bad relationships. If my book/genre is not someone's cup of tea, I would rather not have them judging me by something they hated to read. I don't want friends or family to think I am a bad writer or a bad person because they don't like my subject matter or style. And I don't want those types of feelings to creep into our relationships. So I don't push or market to friends at all. It is now 'out there' that I am a publishing author, and if they want to read some of my work, they can do that with a quick internet search or by asking me.

This thread reminds me of the joke pickup line, "If I told you that you have a nice body, would you hold it against me?"

I wonder if you can create fans through osmosis...

I don't expect family & friends to read my books. For the most part they aren't in my target audience and I certainly don't want to become that guy - the one everyone avoids because all he'll do is talk about his damned book :)

I did, however, have a surprising number of inquiries and sales at work. Who knew there were so many space opera fans in the building?

And last month I noticed a couple of books had gone from the small stock of paperbacks I keep at home (only 2 left of book #1 so the disappearance was noticeable.) I went mad trying to find them, thinking I'd taken them out and left them somewhere, then yesterday they were back. My daughter 'fessed up that she'd lent them to a friend at school who really enjoyed them.

The moral - if you don't expect people to read your book then all they can do is surprise you in a nice way.

I have to admit being a bit hurt that a couple of close friends haven't read anything I've published, but for the most part I was aware my friends aren't readers, so wasn't expecting them to read my books. At the launch of my first book last fall, I was pleasantly surprised by the turnout I had and the number of books I sold. Of course now those books are just sitting unread on shelves all over town, but again, that was sort of what I expected.

Great thread here, Joe. I'd have to say that I find myself a little upset as well. It's just natural to feel that way when your close friends play dumb and act like they didn't know your book has come out already.

But the funny thing about it is that if you became the next big thing in fictional writing and started to blow up with recognition and fame, you know who'd be at your doorstep knock knocking...

Those same wishy washy friends who blew you off.

I think my friends could hold it against me, if I coerced them to read my stuff -:) Nobody has to and it's cool, some do though and I appreciate that

I don't but I do get a bit annoyed when some ask where they can buy it or tell me they're going to but never end up doing so.

Justin, I feel you on that one. Here's basically how one of my conversations go with a friend.

"I can get it at a Barnes & Noble, right?!"

"No, well, hopefully someday you'll be able to...but..."

"Wait, why can't I? I want a physical copy!"

"You can have one, you can't get it in a store yet. I'm self-published right now."

"SELF WHAT?!"

Yup. People say that to me too. They'll say "oh I'll pick up a copy art my local bookstore"

I know not everyone realizes that that's not the way it works but when you tell them your self published they get all confused. I tell them it's available online if they are really interested.

No way. People have different commitments, so it would be unfair for me to hold it against them. Especially as I know that I happen not to be the center of their universe.

T.L. wrote: "Some people will like your genre, others don't (as true amongst your friends as much as the general population).

There is a whole other thread on our expectations of friends and family.

I person..."

Yes, this is exactly my conflict as well. I don't expect them to read my books, but it would be nice if they supported my efforts, shared my posts, etc, especially when I am expected to buy their Avon and such :)

I usually make it available to them if they want to borrow one of my copies to read. If they don't want to, that's totally fine. I don't want them to feel pressured to like it because it doesn't do either of us any good if they are only being positive out of social or familial responsibility.

I do get rather annoyed by people who elect to read my work and offer feedback, but then don't rate or review. If they liked it, or even if not, that review is much more valuable than the 'attagirl'.

I don't worry about it. Most of the time I talk to my friends and family about my works anyways, I don't let them forget I'm an author, because I'm constantly bringing up plot points I'm working on. My friends have been awesome support, helping with ideas when I'm stuck and other small traps that keep us authors from doing what we do.
I'm grateful for the friends I have, and I push no expectations on them besides being my friend.

It crushes my soul every single time. But I don't hold it against them. When someone I know does read my book (and better yet, posts a review... they always feel the need to put in the review that they know me. So cute!) my soul soars with joy! When someone messages me and tells me that they want a quote on how much to get all of my books signed and sent to them I get straight up giddy. I shouldn't. It is just four book sales... but I do. I will be honest, my writing is partially because I am a Type A personality who needs approval. I crave it and thrive on it! But, I don't hold it against people (well, most people) when they don't read my writing. My husband doesn't even read my blog posts, let alone my 300 page books. After six years on this adventure, we are still happily married. (Or at least as happily married as two people with teenage boys and 13 years together can be!)

I don't. It's their time. I wouldn't dare force anyone to read something they don't want, but I get a bit peeved when they ask me for physical books saying, "You wrote them. They're free for you aren't they?"

"Sure, I pull them out my butt. Still want one?"

G.G. wrote: "I don't. It's their time. I wouldn't dare force anyone to read something they don't want, but I get a bit peeved when they ask me for physical books saying, "You wrote them. They're free for you ar..."

Ha, ha! That was great! I am going to steal this line!

I have one friend who saw one of the books I had on a Goodreads Giveaway and asked what she could do to get a free copy. So I had her tweet and Facebook post on it, which she was happy to do. I gave her a signed copy (she is local and a good friend) and after she read it, her daughter did as well and also posted about it. So hopefully some people heard about it that wouldn't have otherwise.

I have to admit to being surprised when my grandmother and aunt bought copies to give for Christmas, and that my grandma has read several of them. You can never predict who will enjoy them!

I don't get offended. Not everyone loves to read and the genre that people read is so varied. My best friend however is the reason I continued to write and eventually self-published. She is to this day, my number one fan!!
I am also surprised at who comes up to me and says they read my book, and they liked it!! Its such an honor. That's what it's really all about. If someone says "It was just what I needed to hear" then you know you've hit the bull's-eye!! And if the truth be known, that was just what I needed to hear, so I go back to the computer and continue banging on the keyboard.