First off, there are a few discussion heads that made me think WTF? And further investigation leads me to believe they are in-jokes from last year… and while in-jokes are well and good, ha ha, whatever, I find they are exclusionary. I am in on A LOT of in-jokes, but I try, as well as I can, to explain them so new –people can enjoy them too.
I’m not an uptight person. I’m certainly no stickler for manners. But this just feels like some posturing pissing contest to me when people act that way. Makes me want to slap them upside the head with a wobbly sausage (that would be an in-joke reference, but I figure EVERYBODY can appreciate wobbly sausage, even if you weren’t originally in on it).
Then, to make matters worse… some people are trying out their pitches or asking questions that seem sincere and they are getting similarly snarky comments… Do these people think they’re funny? ARE they funny and I am too dim to catch it? I guess in all my discussion forums there has been a level of self-imposed courtesy and I’ve come to expect it.
Don’t get me wrong, there are also HELPFUL people making comments, but it is really just throwing me off… I’ve been afraid to post much.
Non-BTNA Noise
And then there are these forums about sharing ‘previews’—I tried for the longest time to figure out where my pitch preview was, only to decide the previews are for books people are self-publishing on CreateaSpace… all very nice and all, but I am not yet considering self-publishing. I’m not saying never, but it would be an absolute last resort, as I don’t think it is very effective with mainstream fiction… genre readers seek out their stuff… mainstream readers hear reviews, see books on shelves, and frankly, just need the book to have been marketed in a more traditional way.
But it makes me wonder what portion of these discussions are at all relevant.
Anyway… I created one, if anyone wants to see… it just has my pitch…
My CreateaSpace Preview
Lack of Helpful Information
So when I was trying to sort out what this preview thing was… nothing… CreateaSpace was ultimately unhelpful for figuring out what tools are ABNA and what is not. Amazon is also not sharing. I feel like I am flying blind here. I also can’t get in to edit my thingamabob… not that I want to, but I’ve tried to get in a few times just to see…
A Coupla Gems
On the other hand, I have stumbled on a couple discussions where I’ve met a person or two, and I’ve started a Facebook Group where I’ve met (sort of… had an exchange or two) a couple nice people, so maybe it is just a matter of choosing the sandbox where the nice kids play.