So I have this friend we’ll call Jane, who published her first novel this past summer.
After three years of hard work, Jane was exhilarated to finally see her book on shelves. It was everything she thought it would be, and she was a happy girl over the summer, thanks to the amazing support she received from her publisher, the reviewers, her family, her friends, and her new readers.
But of course Jane knew that simply “being published” wasn’t the end of all the hard work. As much as she secretly wished she could just focus on her second novel, Jane understood very well that part of a published author’s job is to continue to promote her work.
So she did. Every day, she continued to blog, Facebook, tweet, and network with as many people as she could. And she genuinely enjoyed it – talking to other writers and readers is something she loves to do.
Then she got the brilliant idea that maybe she’d start making video blogs. A lot of authors did this, and she’d always enjoyed watching them, so why not make a few herself? What better way to connect with people than to simply talk to them, in video form?
What better way to be more accessible to her readers?
She made a few vlogs. Her friends were amazingly kind and supportive, and they cheered her on, despite her nervousness and anxiety.
But not everybody was kind.
In fact, there were a few creepy assholes not-so-kind people who watched Jane’s vlogs and thought her accessibility meant that she was actually ACCESSIBLE. And these perverts people were quite bold in telling her so. Perhaps they thought they were complimenting her. But Jane did not take it that way.
The comments made Jane feel bad. No, scratch that. The comments made Jane feel like shit. She then realized that she doesn’t have skin thick enough to handle this special brand of unwanted feedback. Maybe someday she won’t care so much what people think. But right now, unfortunately, she does.
So Jane has decided not to make any more personal vlogs. She is now content to talk to her writer friends and loyal blog readers the way she always has, through the written word, which is the way she communicates best, anyway.
The end.
Epilogue:
Jane is totally fine. The vlogs she has already made will continue to stay on her site, because frankly, they required so much time and energy to create that it would be a shame to delete them.
She is also incredibly grateful to all her friends for cheering her on, in everything she does, and is determined to be just as supportive to her friends as they’ve been to her. That’s a promise.
ETA: Just to clarify, the “unwanted feedback” was X-rated and did not come from anybody who’s a regular reader of Jane’s blog. These folks crawled out of the swamp, and then they crawled right back. Jane would like you to know that if you’re even thinking it’s you, IT’S NOT.