From All of Us
As I write this, the “Second Gay Penguin Debacle” is dying down in the indie publishing world. If you haven’t been following along, an author of children’s books about gay penguins has been bashing Ingram (one of the main Indie distributors) for not allowing said author to circumvent their policies. It appears, based on the posts I’ve seen, that they’re attributing Ingram’s refusal to the author’s sexual orientation rather than the fact that, you know, Ingram is just following their policies.
One of the most common critiques of the indie publishing world--including self-published and small-press authors--is the ever-present drama. Even as I write this post, I’m aware that by the time it publishes, the “Second Gay Penguin Debacle” will have been forgotten in favor of a more recent spectacle.
The folks who cause this, with a few exceptions (Hello, Mr. “Go Post a Sexy Selfie With My Book”) are usually small players in the indie world. But their behavior brings a massive social media (and occasional actual media) spotlight that bounces off them and reflects on all of us.
And the reflection ain’t good.
Part of participating in our community, or any community, is recognizing that you don’t just represent us. When people look at you and your work, you’re representing ALL indie authors.
When you pull stunts that put yourself in a negative light, you bring all of us down.
There are hundreds if not thousands of us working hard to develop our craft and write books that readers will love. We’re frantically trying to catch the eye of readers and marketers for just a second, doing all the things we’re supposed to. All of us are working together to build our community and make “indie author” a title we can all be proud of.
Then an ascriber of P.T. Barnum’s “No Publicity is Bad Publicity” marketing school shows up and undoes all our hard work.
And we’re all sick of it.
If you can’t help but piss in the pool, stay the hell out of ours. Call yourself a “bad boy author” or “wannabe cringe monkey” or something else that makes it clear you’re acting on your own and aren’t speaking on our behalf.
We appreciate it.