A Rant–and a Thumbs Up for Stacey Jay

Ah, nothing like enjoying a robust cup of java while watching the snow melt. Another meh day in Central Oregon. But hey, I’m posting, so it can’t all be bad. This week, it’s all about Sisters’ Coffee: High Desert Sunrise. Yum.

Now onto the post… I wanted to blog about this last week and just plain forgot. But today, in honor of starting out the week, I thought I’d jump into the lastest fray, in which an author is once again being piled upon by idiots. I’m sure many of you have already heard the latest brouhaha about author Stacey Jay and her Kickstarter campaign–that’s since been taken down. Chuck Wendig (love his blog) did a terrific post about this last week (along with Laura Lam) at Terrible Minds. He’s also posted something about it today, so be sure to take a peek. I plan to just as soon as I finish this post.

The gist of the story goes like this: Stacey Jay, a YA author, had a contract for her series Princess of Thorns. Her NY publisher wasn’t satisfied with her sales and canceled the follow on books. So Jay decided to launch a Kickstarter campaign to possibly fund the next book. Many other authors have done this with great success (to include Wendig). Jay asked for money to write the book over the next few months. She also stated that if she didn’t get the money, she’d have to focus on other work (to pay the bills).

Instead of non-interested people simply ignoring her campaign, many decided to lambaste her for daring to ask for money to write. Jay no doubt made the mistake of being honest. Sigh. She didn’t give a  blanket “just give me ten grand and I’ll get ‘er done” statement.  She was completely transparent when asking for the funds. She proposed this:

I asked for 10k to fund a Kickstarter for the sequel for Princess of Thorns and EVERYONE who contributed would have been given a copy of the book (from the $10 donation level on up). 7k of that would have covered my living expenses while writing the book. After taxes and promotional expenses I planned to take out of that budget, I would have been making about 11.00 an hour to write and edit the novel. blog link

So yeah, edits, cover art, and–hold onto your hats–actual money to live off of. Yes, in order to write this novel fulltime over the course of a few months, she would put aside other paying work. Which meant she needed to pay her bills with something other than Monopoly money.

Well, she pretty much got slammed for daring to ask to earn a living. Instead of simply turning away and, gee, not funding the project, a whole bunch of holier-than-thou sainted writers and readers had the temerity to jeer at the author for asking for money. They called it blackmail, that she’d refuse to write the book if she didn’t get funded. That she had the audacity to want to be paid for her product was apparently flabbergasting. Yeah, these people are friggin’ idiots.

Now I’m slightly biased, because I write for a living. This isn’t a hobby. I also don’t have a spouse to take up the slack if my books don’t sell. I don’t sell, we don’t eat, no electricity, yada yada yada. Yeah, it’s fun like that. (I love my life, so not ranting about how I make ends meet. It just is.) I’ve never done a Kickstarter campaign. When I started writing, they didn’t have them. Now they do. Great. As Wendig mentioned in his blog, hey, it’s another option for those wanting to use it. So why persecute Jay for using it? You don’t like Kickstarter? Don’t fund it!

Seems to me the answer is simple. But no. Many “self-respecting” (self-aggrandizing) authors had to tell her she was wrong. That they worked 90 bazillion hours a week and still got their books done. Why was she so special? Why should they give her their hard earned cash just so she could write a book? Um, that’s the whole purpose of the Kickstarter campaign, folks. To drum up funds. Again, you don’t like it, move along. No need to be mean.

Except, for some reason. authors–and most of these were women writers—are mean. What the hell? Why, in a world where women are still facing issues of gender bias and discrimination, do they (not me, because I refuse to be lumped in with asshats) act the fool?

If you look at what Stacey Jay was actually asking for, it’s a pittance. She wanted to write the next in a series close to her heart. She wanted to give the readers what they wanted and was prepared to take a major pay-cut to do so. But she needed that advance to come from somewhere. So she tried to do this in the only way she could. Some supported her, but the hatemongers ruined the experience for Jay. She took down the campaign and apologized, then said she’s putting the series on hold.

Blackmail! She won’t write for no pay, many virtually screamed. Um, yeah. That’s what authors do. We write for pay. It’s all well and good for the entitled masses to yell for free stuff, but that won’t keep Jay and her family from poverty. Note also Jay is the breadwinner for her family of four. FOUR. (Geez. I have two boys and they eat everything nailed down, and there are just three of us.)

I could go on and on, but Jay gives a terrific rebuttal on her own blog here. (Also linked above in the quote.) I’m sorry she had to go through this. I’m sorry she’s dealing with obnoxious authors and entitled readers who feel she should give away her work for free. Or that so many obviously jealous and ugly people can’t handle another’s success. Sadly, this is a truth facing indie authors more and more. What started out years ago as a rallying cry to change the system and work together, to promote each other, has devolved into a publishing world where many feel it easier to crush their peers. I also know this isn’t only an indie-author issue. I’ve seen plenty of trad published (NY, small press, etc) authors be just as petty.

Sorry to start your Monday with a huge rant, but this is just ridiculous. I now have the urge to start a Kickstarter campaign just to see what kind of circus I can start. LOL

So am I the only one seeing the ridiculous of this mess? Anyone care to comment? Or not. Either way, I’m sucking down coffee. My life is good.