Something that makes me a bit sad about the Gamebook industry as it stands right now...
Though some of the bigger traditional interactive fiction brands such as Scholastic (Fighting Fantasy), Chooseco (Choose Your Own Adventure), YouChoose and Fabled Lands are still doing quite well for themselves, I think its fair to say that Indie gamebook authors have been the lifeblood of what brought the interactive fiction industry back from its doldrums. That's not to say such a thing is profitable (far from it) but there are plenty of indie authors out there having a crack and making their books interactive so as to appeal to a very specific niche in the industry.
Books are an industry which has stayed mostly free of the kind of abusive nonsense that has taken over the video game industry, which is now filled with worker mistreatment, crunch, sexual harassment as well as exploitation of addiction. Sadly, I've noticed something that exists through several forms of social media which has made me cautious about who to interact with.
Its fairly safe to say now that there is an 'inner circle' of gamebook authors based out of the UK which are looking to cement their control over as much of the indie gamebook scene as possible. The individuals who make up this group see themselves as the entitled 'elite', mostly just because they know somebody who worked for Games Workshop in the 1980s who had their fingers in gamebook production when it was at its height. This group, and those disciples who belong to them, will do anything they can to keep down and smear other writers of interactive fiction if they look like they are bordering on any kind of success. Groups like this have existed before, of course, throughout history, though quite why the industry of interactive fiction has one is beyond me. I personally have fallen victim repeatedly to the abusive nature and controlling hand of this inner circle, so much so that in the future I will likely be using a pen name to write future books, and will undoubtedly stay away from social media to promote them in the hopes I am no longer a target.
Its a sad case of affairs, but this is the nature of the World and the human race, it would seem. Many dictators have fallen throughout history, but there'll always be another to take up the flag of tyranny, no matter how niche the industry it targets. So be warned, fellow writers; should you wish to partake in the art that is interactive fiction, just be careful who you make as bed fellows... not all of them will have your best interests at heart!
Books are an industry which has stayed mostly free of the kind of abusive nonsense that has taken over the video game industry, which is now filled with worker mistreatment, crunch, sexual harassment as well as exploitation of addiction. Sadly, I've noticed something that exists through several forms of social media which has made me cautious about who to interact with.
Its fairly safe to say now that there is an 'inner circle' of gamebook authors based out of the UK which are looking to cement their control over as much of the indie gamebook scene as possible. The individuals who make up this group see themselves as the entitled 'elite', mostly just because they know somebody who worked for Games Workshop in the 1980s who had their fingers in gamebook production when it was at its height. This group, and those disciples who belong to them, will do anything they can to keep down and smear other writers of interactive fiction if they look like they are bordering on any kind of success. Groups like this have existed before, of course, throughout history, though quite why the industry of interactive fiction has one is beyond me. I personally have fallen victim repeatedly to the abusive nature and controlling hand of this inner circle, so much so that in the future I will likely be using a pen name to write future books, and will undoubtedly stay away from social media to promote them in the hopes I am no longer a target.
Its a sad case of affairs, but this is the nature of the World and the human race, it would seem. Many dictators have fallen throughout history, but there'll always be another to take up the flag of tyranny, no matter how niche the industry it targets. So be warned, fellow writers; should you wish to partake in the art that is interactive fiction, just be careful who you make as bed fellows... not all of them will have your best interests at heart!
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