Lately, there has been a lot of worry and wonder about the reception that Indie Authors receive whenever they attempt to join in on the various forums around the web. To say that Indies are met with a less than friendly attitude by fellow posters, would be a gross understatement. I have personally watched some of the forums for these vicious attacks and have witnessed some that weren't totally IMHO unprovoked on the part of the author. In these instances, the author had made no attempt to ...
Published on September 23, 2010 18:14
I would add that people get wary whenever somebody tries to sell them anything. It's almost instinctive, because you have to reject most of the ads and sales pitches you hear, as a practical matter.
Further, there are an amazing number of people who think that trying to make money or running a business is inherently evil. Indie authors are technically small business owners (usually with a meager income from that business), but the very fact that we dare to offer a product for sale makes us wicked and nasty people in the views of many people.
And I think indie authors get hit with a more vicious response than media corporations who spend millions of dollars to promote their products. It's almost like "Who do you think are, offering your books without the support of some major corporation? Who gave you permission to do this?"
I'm not sure why the animosity would be greater towards an independent artist than a multi-billion-dollar media conglomerate.