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| Get it Here! |
From now until the New Year, you can get yourself a free anthology of superhero stories both in print and illustrated. I'm included in this deal, which means you can get a free story of mine for no cost at all. This is a lot of content, but there are also quite a few deals inside!
It's been a long year, so why not end it with deluge of free content from creators who wish to entertain you? This is what escapism is for, after all. You deserve it.
Check out the description here:
"THE SUPERHERO MEGA ANTHOLOGY is:
- Over 500 pages of independent superhero comics and prose!
- Over $600 of giveaways, including a critique of YOUR work, posters, clothes, music, and of course, tons and tons of books!
- A collection of hopes and dreams that cost well over $30,000 in artist work and writer time over more than 13,200 hours, compiled over the course of a YEAR
- A massive tome that would cost over $100 in print at bookstores
- A celebration of all skill levels, from professional artists who’ve worked for Marvel and an actual director of the Science Fiction Writers of America, to first-time creators drawing on their tablets
- Comics ranging from black and white to full wild color
- Yours to download free! Check it out \/
"Don’t forget, as you’re reading, at the end of every story in the anthology is a chance for you to win up to $600 of stuff. So definitely check out those good things, and click the links in the pdf!
"AND, if that’s not enough, you’ll also be sent special things in your email by artists and writers from the SUPERHERO MEGA ANTHOLOGY. We wanted this to be basically the best present ever to end what has been, for many people, a very rough year. Go ahead and take it, below. It’s a gift we want you to have. <3"
The story of mine you can get is Under Suspicion in Summerside from my book Someone is Aiming for You & Other Adventures. This was a story that was unfortunate to just miss being included in multiple other releases due to various issues, but now here it is where it can finally have its place to shine. And you can even read it for free!
When you download it and read to the end you can also find a raffle for a free copy of one of two books. Which ones? Read the anthology to find out! Remember: it's free! Not only me, but everyone else in the above anthology is offering free deals. You are getting quite the bang for your buck.
Once again, you can check out this free anthology here.
Got the anthology; need to read it.
ReplyDeleteI noted that a number of the extra freebies it had could be accessed free on Amazon etc. without entering my email on yet more lists to be inundated with ads, so I went that route. ;)
A side question: you talk a lot about the relationship of an author and the readers--the author is obligated to produce something at bare minimum respectful, and if you're a pro you don't write "for yourself."
What would you say the relationship is for free things? I saw a conversation to the effect that many webcomics quit because the author loses interest, but the authors should have the right to simply leave without a trace or explanation because the author owes the readers nothing. While it's hard to argue with "free product = no obligation," it still rankles me a bit. It seems the politest thing to do is to give some reason and then say "It's over." The counterargument to that was basically that fans can be pushy and saying anything could fuel the pushiness, so leaving without a trace is better.
I don't consider myself an author etc. but my own sense of honor precludes me from sharing anything that can't at least stand as its own book. While technically you are asking for nothing with a free product, people do sink their own time and interest into the product by reading it (not as much time as the creator, but still). So a disappearance amounts to "Sorry, I wasted my time and yours if you wanted a conclusion. Be happy with the half-finished product because 0.5 is better than 0."
It feels like once you make a hobby public, you don't quite have full control, but they argue you do still.
In my case, the sheer number of half-finished products leads to my not even wanting to read something until it's done unless the author is exceptionally reliable (so for my personality, the threat of not finishing makes me cut support!)
Probably the real issue is so many people being willing to provide a free product for a while that customers eschew anything paid. Maybe we need a "webcomic strike for cash" or similar. This problem has happened to someone I know--everyone wants to see the free; nobody wants to pay. They'll just follow someone doing it for free or rip off another poor artist's designs rather than pay.
It's up to the creator to decide what he wants to charge, and if he decides of free then that's on him. I don't think that precludes any sort of different relationship between audience and creator.
DeleteA lot of the reason these people give up is because they bought into the auteur artist lie and think they are above their audience, and therefore they don't feel they owe them anything when they get bored of their projects.
I don't quite understand that kind of attitude, because I've always only ever thought the stories exist to be finished.
Thank you. I'm glad I could get a more experienced opinion! Unfinished projects and stories drive me crazy (perhaps a little too much, but they do).
DeleteI doubt that some at least have consciously bought that lie but they may have unconsciously accepted it given how prevalent it is. It seems to me they see a free project more like "I'm showing you my personal hobby, but like other personal hobbies such as car restoration, if I decide to quit then enjoy the journey you were brought on."
But as I write this I realize that the fundamental flaw is that a truly personal hobby doesn't need an audience, while this kind of "hobby" does. The author *needs* the audience in order to feel making the story is worthwhile, so saying there is no obligation is back to that condescending attitude even if unintentionally.
So thanks again; your point 100% stands.
DeleteIt's nice to see a thoughtful answer instead of several creators all nodding together saying "We reserve the right to disappear; it's lots of effort for little to no pay, and the best thing you can do is not be rude to the author or entitled and expect it to finish." (Which is what that conversation pretty much consisted of.)
I just look at very simply. the audience doesn't NEED anything artist's produce, but the artists NEED their audience in order to produce art.
DeleteIt's not exactly a one way relationship, but it is weighed heavily on one end. Like most things in modern day, we treat it exactly backwards and think the audience is disposable. It's not.
Hopefully that changes sometime soon, because it's a bad view of art to have.