Disappointed and Sad

Well I don't even know where to begin with these thoughts and this is not a rant blog - this blog is for showing my disappointment in what I try to do to help promote the indie author community.

So it seems that I have author friends who don't seem to care about getting their books noticed as I had one of them skip my featured author group read for the entire month of February in one of my groups. I am not name-dropping in here but I think my friends will be able to figure it out.

Though this isn't the first time it has happened either - I have had a couple of author friends in the past not show up. Maybe it is becoming a trend of some kind. I have also had a couple just stick around for a couple or so days and then disappear off the thread.

It becomes embarrassing for those of us who are hosting the group read as members will show up, read the book and ask questions. However, there would be no author to answer them and it would fall on the moderators to either try and answer the questions or side-step them with some excuse as to why the author is not there.

Not sure what is going on but it would be nice to see the author friends at least make an effort to be there for the group readings since we are helping to promote their books and show our support.

I know the authors are busy people - they have work lives, home lives and writing lives. It might not seem like much to set up the author appearances but I do take time to get them set up. I expect the authors to show some courtesy and actually join in and interact with the members of my Goodreads groups.

It shows, in my opinion, a lack of courtesy from the authors when they fail to appear for the group read. It is not only a bad reflection on the author but it shows that they care less about the group moderators and the members who show up to read the book and support them.

Sometimes I think it might be the amount of readers showing up but it shouldn't matter whether it’s one reader or hundreds. It may take just one reader who loves the book and recommends it to hundreds of their friends.

When I first started these author reads back in 2020 I felt that it was a good opportunity to promote authors and spread the word about their books to the larger community of book lovers.

Maybe these authors feel that Goodreads is not the platform to share their work. However, I disagree. Goodreads might not seem like much to some authors but it is one of the biggest book lovers website out there, with millions of readers on one platform.

Remember - it just takes that one person - that one audience to buy a book and read it. It might not come right away which is one of the reasons that I have these author reads every month - they help believe it or not. I might not have hundreds of members joining but you do not need hundreds. 

One voice - one reader - one recommendation can set the tone and even one person can change the world.

So those are my feelings and thoughts and again, this was not a rant but I had to express my disappointment over what I have encountered while trying to help the indie author community (along with other authors as well). I am trying to do my part in getting the word out there for the authors and I believe that the least these authors can do is show up for the group reads.

To the authors who have actively participated in past group reads - thank you for your time and for interacting with the moderators and group members. You are appreciated!