Hey, you wrote a book?

[Anonymous No.21816182]

Good for you!
>Did you like it then?
>No, absolutely not, but you should keep writing!
>Can you tell me what you didn't like about it?
>To tell you the truth I didn't read it champ, but keep writing, there is a bright future ahead of you!

wtf is wrong with my friends and family? I really thought I was losing my mind, turns out people are just dicks.

[Anonymous No.21816194]

>>21816182
It still bothers me how callously apathetic the people in my life were about something I worked so hard for.

To me the lesson was pretty clear: don't try, don't work hard, because nobody really cares about your success or failure. Everybody is just coasting in life and anybody who isn't is either going to end up a cynical jaded asshole or is going to curl up and die because of how cynical and callous people are towards what matters to you.

I can understand why people don't want to be astronauts, senators, or even business tycoons, its like the harder you try, the more people rag on you, everybody is rooting for you to fail and doesn't actually want you to succeed, and will resent you when you do.

[Anonymous No.21816198]

>>21816182
Nothing wrong with friends and family not reading your stuff. You have to keep in mind that reading to some people is like telepathy, and seeing the words you wrote might be too much for them because they will think differently of you.

If you give your work to a woman outside of your family, if she likes it, she could very well be attracted to you greatly because of that telepathy. Understand that reading brings out different feelings and emotions that people might not want to experience from you. I know, it's bizarre, I felt that way when someone I knew gave me their writing. I didn't like the topic they wrote about, and it made me feel like I liked them less, which was stupid because they were a good person, just with odd views on certain things.

Don't take it personally.

[Anonymous No.21816200]

>>21816194
I get that it was bad. (At least I think it was bad, since maybe 2 people in the whole world read it.) it was just how, even after printing out free copies at my own expense, people would just go out of their way to bullshit me and avoid reading it, saying they did when they clearly didn't, blowing me off, it was ridiculous, I'd never seen anybody work so hard at avoiding a situation that made them mildly uncomfortable.

It really is just total bullshit, nobody succeeds because they are good at something or enjoy doing it, its just your family and friends all line up and get you the best job they know how, and if they think you aren't worth it they leave you hanging and you gotta work some drone level job forever.

People are such dicks, man.

[Anonymous No.21816204]

>>21816194
Yes but you'll find there are moments where you sell a book or 4 in front of a liquor store, which gives you $80 to spend on booze and pizza that night with a bunch left over for an eggo waffle breakfast and a couple of drinks at the pub. Nobody is going to cheer you on, that's just writing, it's solo, it's meant to be a bitch to complete, if it wasn't, it wouldn't be art.

If you truly want to write, keep doing it, it could be years before you find your stride and crank out the work. You just have to have a thick skin and know you're on the right path in life, and that nothing will stop you from doing your art.

[Anonymous No.21816207]

>friends and family
You’re never going to make it trying to impress people who don’t actually enjoy books. That’s why we come to /lit/ to peddle our smut and covet validation.
Also,
>pic related. Read my book
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BYRNM6Z5

[Anonymous No.21816208]

>>21816198
That wasn't really what bothered me, its that they weren't upfront about it, they went out of their way to bullshit me and avoid talking about it, they were two faced about it, telling me and encouraging me that "Thats great! Keep writing!" then being too chickenshit to read it.

How can you say I should keep writing when you don't even have enough faith in my work to read it yourself?

They all looked like a coyote with its leg in a trap, like they'd rather gnaw their own arm off rather than have to read my book. and i mean, these are people who actually read books, and they just blew me off like i was nothing.

Its hard not to take it personally.

[Anonymous No.21816211]

>>21816204
I'm not going to write if no one reads my books or appreciates what i have to say, thats assanine and defeats the entire purpose of communication.

People who say you should write poetry on notepad paper and burn it are completely full of shit, they are missing the entire purpose of human existence.

[Anonymous No.21816215]

>>21816208
To be honest man, writing a zero draft manuscript isn’t quite the same as actually saying to them, ‘read my book’.
if you fully compose, edit, publish, print, and gift a book to them, with your name on its cover, they might actually take it more seriously because they can see that you took it more seriously.

[Anonymous No.21816216]

>>21816208
>these are people who actually read books
For leisure, at their own whims. You're like a teacher asking them to do a book report.

[Anonymous No.21816218]

>>21816182
Scope out a writing group and make sure it isnt full of morons. Maybe some of them can give you real advice.

[Anonymous No.21816221]

>>21816211
You keep using the word book, when I think you mean manuscript.

[Anonymous No.21816223]

>>21816207
i would, but after the way I was treated it just turned me off from literature all together. I don't know if I'll ever read another book again.

I must have got a hundred rejection letters from people who refused to read what i had submitted. I think i'd rather scratch my nuts with a cheesegrater rather than write another book and go through that facetious bullshit ever again. It was like 3 books and 5 years of my life pissed down the drain.

I'm not a writer, i don't care what anyone says, because if I were, somebody would fucking read what I wrote.

[Anonymous No.21816225]

>>21816221
No, it was a BOOK. 3 of them, in fact. Have fun with the circus kid, cause unless you know a publisher or already got your foot in the door someplace, your in for a wild ride.

[Anonymous No.21816226]

>>21816223
Post a link to your published book. It’s 2023, you can publish your own books now.

[Anonymous No.21816227]

>>21816223
read Stephen King's "On Writing"

[Anonymous No.21816228]

>>21816216
horseshit. if you made a movie for your high school project you damn well know people would sit through every agonizing minute of that tedious bullshit. If there were a concert or dance recital you'd be there. If it was a college graduation, you'd be rude NOT to go.

People are shit. Don't make excuses for them or their behavior.

[Anonymous No.21816230]

>>21816225
I already showed you my book. I made the whole thing myself. The whole thing. You’re just a quitter. Maybe your prose sucks. Submit your story to &amp by /lit/, and they will publish it in the magazine, and all of /lit/ will be exposed to it.

>LampByLit.com
>[e-mail]

[Anonymous No.21816231]

>>21816227
Stephen Kings an enabler, hes delusional. The guy hit the jackpot, is a shameless self promoting ass and half his movies and adaptations were beyond atrocious. He doesn't even respect his craft, he treats it like a game, hes a salesman first and a writer second.

[Anonymous No.21816234]

>>21816226
Its out of print. I don't even know if I still have an account on lulu and amazon lowered the price below the cost of production without my permission so I had to take it off their website to prevent further shennanigans.

[Anonymous No.21816240]

>>21816230
ah sure, why not. not doing me any good, might as well use my manuscript to line your bird cage.

is that email you?

[Anonymous No.21816241]

>>21816182
Why would they tell you it's bad?
Maybe they read a couple pages, it didn't catch them, so they put it down and didn't read anymore. Your hook might be bad, or you have a slow start. Post the first chapter?

[Anonymous No.21816242]

>>21816207
$6.99 for a paperback! Damn that's cheap... description is fucking awesome! Damn... now I want fried chicken.

[Anonymous No.21816245]

>>21816208
Books are a bit like magic dude, it isn't that they don't have faith with you, but that books are like a physical form of telepathy, and some people just aren't meant for those words. If you need your friends and family to read your stuff, then stop writing, but if you want to tell your stories, by all means, continue!

People are going to shit right into your soul no matter way, it is easier if you get over that now and march on.

[Anonymous No.21816246]

>>21816211
Use Sigil and make an epub. Then style it and throw it up on Amazon. The worst that can happen is that people make fun of your work and call you names, and that will happen no matter what.

[Anonymous No.21816247]

>>21816228
>if you made a movie for your high school project you damn well know people would sit through every agonizing minute of that tedious bullshit. If there were a concert or dance recital you'd be there. If it was a college graduation, you'd be rude NOT to go.
None of these require active engagement or attention from the attendees. Perhaps you'd have similar luck asking them to keep the book next to them while they doomscroll social media for an hour.

[Anonymous No.21816248]

>>21816182
>wtf is wrong with my friends and family?
They're fairweather friends. Don't expect them to turn up for you if you're ever really in trouble. Most families are like that too unfortunately.

[Anonymous No.21816252]

>>21816234
That’s an excuse. On-demand titles from self-publishing services don’t just go ‘out of print’, they are literally just sitting on your PDF until someone orders it, they have nothing to gain by putting it ‘out of print’. If you don’t even know the links to your own books, no wonder nobody can read them. Amazon only lowers the price of your book when it’s in your best interest, and they’ll never lower it so far as to make it completely unviable to print (if that were the case, you could just order 999 copies of your book at the turbo discount, or promote the sale (since your royalty isn’t affected by the price drop)).
You sound like a loser desu. You need to get with the program and stop blaming others for your lack of conviction or motivation or organization or talent.

[Anonymous No.21816255]

>>21816223
Man, how old are you? You have to learn to take rejection and failure, that's how you become a man, by eating shit sometimes. Writing books is like chasing women, you can fall for a chick and think she's hot shit, but when you walk up to her at the pub, she might blow you off and not even twirl her finger in her hair. Shit happens, but like with women, books are a numbers game. If you want to be a writer, just keep writing and putting out work.

[Anonymous No.21816260]

>>21816242
Thanks king. WAGMI.

[Anonymous No.21816262]

>>21816240
Yes I am the editor in chief.

[Anonymous No.21816266]

>>21816248
>>21816255
It’s true. 95% of writing and especially book promotion is rejection. You have to learn to do it for yourself. That’s when it gets really good.

[Anonymous No.21816268]

>>21816230
>[e-mail]
Is that a real book? Looks sweet, I wanna read it.

[Anonymous No.21816272]

>>21816268
I’m writing You’re a Crack Dealer right now. When it’s finished, I’ll publish it on KDP just like I did Chicken World.

[Anonymous No.21816275]

>>21816268
or alternatively,
[e-mail]
You can do it,
We can help.

[Anonymous No.21816276]

>>21816260
Get an ebook version up too, $6.99 is cheap as fuck but the shipping for me would be $11, so almost $20 for a book. If you had a $5 ebook option, you can still make 70% of that off a sale if I remember correctly.

[Anonymous No.21816277]

>>21816231
People read his books.

[Anonymous No.21816279]

>>21816276
Idk why I’m so averse to publishing the digital. You are correct tho. Thanks for the reminder.

[Anonymous No.21816281]

Write for the love of the craft, dammit. We'll never be the greats of time, but our lust for the power of words can never be satisfied.

[Anonymous No.21816283]

>>21816281
Spoken like a writer.
I mean, written like a speaker.
I mean, nm you get it.

[Anonymous No.21816285]

>>21816272
Great art style! I find half the fun of a book is working on the art.

[Anonymous No.21816288]

>>21816279
Because holding the physical copy meant so much more than just putting a file on the Internet. I get it.

It is going to be a great year for /lit/, I can feel it.

[Anonymous No.21816290]

>>21816285
Thanks anon. I like to paint but I’m not at all talented. I used OpenAI DALL-E 2 to generate the images. It was an arduous process of honing my prompt and generating variation. Really fun stuff.

[Anonymous No.21816294]

>>21816288
Checked. I feel it too.

[Anonymous No.21816296]

>>21816262
alright, well i guess its still on amazon, i sent you a link through email. haven't touched the damn thing in years. If you want the manuscript I can get it to you next week.

[Anonymous No.21816301]

People resent creative people.
We perceive the world in a different (better) way and they can't STAND it.

They will seek every opportunity to tear you down to their bleak level of existence if given the chance. Sorry.

[Anonymous No.21816303]

>>21816301
thats an honest, if bitter, answer.

[Anonymous No.21816304]

>>21816296
Okay based. Definitely send the manuscript (any format), I won’t be able to transcribe as easily from an ebook or physical. Hang in there, keep writing. As soon as you give up on what you love, you cease to be the main character in your own life story.

[Anonymous No.21816305]

>>21816290
I've been playing with shutterstock's AI generator...

[Anonymous No.21816306]

>>21816294
et tu, pizza hut?

[Anonymous No.21816308]

>>21816290
Oh, and one more thing about an ebook... it also gives you the chance to write an epilogue if the print version never had one.

[Anonymous No.21816309]

>>21816304
ugh, stop. your optimism is making me nauseous. :)

[Anonymous No.21816311]

>>21816305
Noted! I haven’t phuqt with that yet. I love DALL-E 2 because the images are rendered in pretty decent quality. Plus they give you like 200 free renders per phone number (kek). I’ll def check out the shutterstock engine.

[Anonymous No.21816319]

>>21816311
Oh man, 200 free? There are so many free "receive SMS" numbers online. I'm gonna go try it.

[Anonymous No.21816322]

>>21816309
Don't worry, some crab is going to find this thread and come and piss right into your face in about 3...2...1...

[Anonymous No.21816323]

>>21816306
Kek
>>21816308
What do you mean? It gives me the chance to expand on the book? Because Amazon lets you update your PDF and effectually change your book’s contents. Idk if Lulu or Blurb do the same.
>>21816309
W A G M I
A
G
M
I

[Anonymous No.21816328]

>>21816319
It’s fairly good at knowing what’s fake and gay and what’s real. I’ve tried very hard. I have like four phones for my job tho so that helps. Credits are cheap too.

[Anonymous No.21816331]

>>21816182
Fuck you homo erectus.
>he didn’t even start with the Greeks.

[Anonymous No.21816373]

>>21816303
You underestimate how little most people perceive. Try truly prodding the mind of a non-creative, average IQ person concerning art/creativity and see how truly limited and shallow their ability to perceive/understand is.

If your IQ (directly tied to creativity) is 135 your IQ is the same distance from an average IQ, that an average IQ is to a chimpanzee's IQ. We are a species level of intellect difference to the "people" you rub shoulders with at the grocery store. Realize this, and you will be less disappointment with life. They are simple, because there is LESS of them.

[Anonymous No.21816409]

>>21816182
I have never showed any of my work to anyone I know directly. I despise internet strangers but I have even less faith in the people I know

[Anonymous No.21816464]

>>21816182
Write or die

[Anonymous No.21816491]

>>21816207
I can't believe I just ordered a book called Chicken World because it was self advertised on /lit/.
This better be good.

[Anonymous No.21816595]

>>21816231
>I'm not a writer, i don't care what anyone says, because if I were, somebody would fucking read what I wrote.
>He doesn't even respect his craft, he treats it like a game, hes a salesman first and a writer second.
If you wrote both of these quotes then you have the emotional maturity of a 12 year old. Reconsider some things.

[Anonymous No.21816603]

>>21816194
Yes anon. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t do anything. All it means is we’re all out here trying to become more successful and gain power. Do it for yourself - not others.

[Anonymous No.21816611]

If you are writing anything with pretensions of being innovative or cutting edge, there's no point showing your family. Unless they are also avant garde writers.
Some conceptual artist isn't asking grandma her opinion about boiling a koran in menstrual blood.

[Anonymous No.21816659]

>>21816194
There was recently a thread on /tv/ about this for a movie called Reds that I can sum up as follows: "The ten years you spent working on your project doesn't immediately mean it's worth my 2 hours." It was about a director who got asked to screen a movie he ultimately disliked even though it was a passion project of the other director. It may seem callous but the reality is people don't care how long you spent working on something if it's not relevant to them, or doesn't catch their interest. You can do two things, then: make products aimed to catch as much interest as possible, whether you like to or not; or make products you believe in and care about, regardless of who it catches.

[Anonymous No.21816672]

>>21816194
>It still bothers me how callously apathetic the people in my life were about something I worked so hard for.
>To me the lesson was pretty clear: don't try
Have some self worth man! If all you ever worked for was the acolades and the adoration of a fan base then you were always working for what is essentially nothing. Make things for yourself and judge those things yourself. Do what you like and they'll like what you do when you do it and if they don't thats fine, fuck em!

[Anonymous No.21816982]

I have trouble binging netflix series I actually like and you want niggas to read the entirety of your book? Consider bruh cmon

[Anonymous No.21816997]

>>21816211
Some of the most famous authors of the twentieth century died unrecognized.

[Anonymous No.21817060]

>>21816198
>Understand that reading brings out different feelings and emotions that people might not want to experience from you
That's a very interesting take. That explain why when I show a text from mine to my friends but say it's from another person, they say it's good, and when I reveal it was I who wrote it, they say they didn't like so much, lol.

[Anonymous No.21817417]

>>21816373
IQ isn't everything, there are really intelligent people out there who can't do jack shit with their gifts, while there are dumbasses who use every ounce of their 100 IQ and really succeed.

[Anonymous No.21817423]

>>21816194
Spite is an excellent motivator if you can avoid being bitter.

[Anonymous No.21817452]

>>21817423
>be writer
>avoid being bitter...lol

[Anonymous No.21817553]

>>21817423
>Spite is an excellent motivator
Sorry, anon, but you have no idea of how horribly wrong you are. Bitterness and spite are horrible forces if you allow them to drive your life. This route of thinking has made me destroy my work and made me suicidal. Resentment eats away at you like a cancer. I hate the public and I haven't found a way to love it, I think people deserve nothing, but what I am doing is extremely unhealthy. I am working on projects that only serve me and nobody but me, forcing myself to loop my own communication back to myself, effectively locking my own thinking into a prison that I can escape no longer because it's been years, and I also swore to destroy these projects before I'll kill myself because I want to give nothing to the undeserving normalniggers. I don't care if my work is actually boring or uninteresting: the thought of giving anything to anyone feels cucked, because I loathe how normalniggers reward crooks and porn peddlers and other undeserving people simply because they pander. I thought, drown in the pandering. I cannot stop thinking this way and this mindset is devouring me. I am making beautiful things and destroying them is causing me enormous pain, but I don't know what else to do. Giving into resentment is the closest thing there is to going to Hell while still alive. This is why Princess Mononoke is my favorite movie; I think Miyazaki wanted to tell this to me, but I'm not strong enough.

[Anonymous No.21817749]

>>21816301
Cope

[Anonymous No.21817780]

>>21816491
Just check out /wg/ tons of random ass authors sell books there

[Anonymous No.21817791]

>>21816491
It will be the best handful of dollars you’ve ever regretted to spend. Also, I will use my $0.80 royalty to purchase life-sustaining food so if you happen to be an altruist, you can rest easy knowing I’m safe.

[Anonymous No.21817822]

>>21816491
Also, I promise that I’ve put all of my very top shelf elbow grease into it and even bought my gf dinner so that she would copy edit it to perfection in preparation for its inaugural debut in manifested ohysical form to the world’s preeminent Manx subterranean clock repairing forum.

Additionally, you’re now entitled to my gratitude which can redeemed by printing out this comment and submitting it via the mail care of &ampy’s Scampies Surf, Turf, and Nerf, 808 Roland Parkway, New York, NJ. Thank you anon.

[Anonymous No.21817866]

>>21816182
one day this lady saw me lugging my bass guitar around and went with something like "oh wonderful, a musician!" and I smiled and nodded. I played black metal
people just use these circumstance phrases but they don't really know how to go any further. I've explained it another time, it's like when dogs sniff each other's ass. you say "how's it going" and the other says "fine thanks" you're not supposed to say how you actually feel

[Anonymous No.21818719]

>>21816194
loser mindset

[Anonymous No.21818728]

>>21817749
>t.NPC
Or have you never spent time around people without a college education?

[Anonymous No.21818738]

>>21817417
Your premise is flawed. If morons succeed, and intelligent people do not, the system itself is fundamentally broken. IQ is everything, because it determines how human you are. Personage starts at 135, any IQ below that is not capable of unique thought.

[Anonymous No.21818761]

>>21816194
>nobody really cares about your success or failure
Regardless of your personal situation, a lot of authors and intellectuals got recognized for their achievements and their work got popularized only after they died. We live in a shitty world , infested with shitty people and shitty society.

[Anonymous No.21818766]

>>21817417
>Retards make money, therefore IQ is inconsequential and not very important, lets not focus on it =]
And that's why Capitalism will gut our species future, you neglect the ascended minds if you cannot subjugate them, so fat retards can buy plastic bobbles at Walmart for $1.50. When this world burns. Know you deserved it.

[Anonymous No.21818783]

>>21816182
>brother wrote a book, asks me to read it and provide feedback
>but not on typos or other small errors, like just on the plot and characters
>awww shit, okay, I will apply myself for you little brother
>take a month to read the book extremely closely and make high quality critiques
>overlook roughly 10 typos per chapter
>provide the feedback in writing
>make a lunch date with him to discuss in person if he has any questions
>he just skims my critique, has no follow up questions
>doesn't want to discuss it because his creative writing class taught him that critique shouldn't be challenged
>admits that he's not going to take any of my critiques under advisement since he disagrees with it
I put roughly 60 hours into critiquing his book, and he didn't use any of it. I'm never beta-reading for anyone ever again.
OP, just because you're related, doesn't make you entitled to force someone to read your shitty book. In fact you should hide your creative work from your family until they discover it on a bookstore shelf.

[Anonymous No.21818886]

>>21816211
>assanine
You should not be writing regardless.

[Anonymous No.21818951]

>>21818766
We are just at a low point in society and culture right meow.

[Anonymous No.21819059]

>the west has fallen because nobody will read the gay book I wrote or something

[Anonymous No.21820147]

>>21818783
>read some girl's stupid story about committing suicide
>the girl instantly regrets her decision but is too stupid to induce vomiting to purge the poison she consumed
>story is agonizing page after page of woe is me, there's nothing I can do!
>how tragic! How tragic!
>like imagine ten pages of a guy drowning in a shallow river because he cant stand up
>ask why she didnt force herself to throw up
>next draft: exactly the same story, except she added one sentence about how she was so sad she couldnt think clearly enough to vomit the poison
>might as well just make it a footnote. Why even stuff it into the actual story?
Some people just arent meant to write.

[Anonymous No.21820213]

It's not about writing, it's about success. People resent others being successful, specially if they're close.

[Anonymous No.21820546]

>>21819059
>I am silly
If you don't want to engage with the topics presented in the thread don't bother posting.

[Anonymous No.21821722]

>>21816182
Relatable. I wrote a story for an Unreal anthology and they liked it. Showed my mom the actual paperback once I got it off Amazon and she just had a fluroide stare and then remarked that many writers have died in wars...like

[Anonymous No.21821772]

>>21816182
i undertand how you feel very well, I've learned that writing something that will be worth someones time is a much bigger feat than I had ever realized. But if you have fun writing and keep doing it while being critical of yourself and can persevere you will have a chance to one day have readers who actually want to read your work

[Anonymous No.21821953]

>>21816182
BOHOO NIGGA you are not the centerpiece of other people's lives and in fact they care very little at all, what took you this long to realize

[Anonymous No.21822875]

>>21816194
Maybe if you tried to work on things that interest you instead of living for people approval you would be happier.

[Anonymous No.21822890]

>>21816182
First day reading /lit/erature? good luck that thtat whole fiction you describe as society bro. also that novel you working on is so hot right now

[Anonymous No.21823142]

>>21816182
This is why I write VTuber fetish smut instead of novellas or novels. /d/ and /vt/ will tell you in autistic detail why they liked/ didn't like your 2000 word pornographic short story.

[Anonymous No.21823151]

Maybe stop doing things for recognition

[Anonymous No.21823169]

>ask a guy whos work I enjoy to read my manuscript
>he actually agrees
>never write it out fully
>just notes and ideas spread through a notebook

What is an effective way to get out of drafting and actually writing it out?

[Anonymous No.21823295]

>>21816182
Why do you want praise for your vanity project? No great writers got their mother or siblings to critique and praise them.

[Anonymous No.21823355]

>>21816182
I can't even get people to listen to a song I make much less a whole book. But truthfully most people are self-centered and want to see you fail so even if you wrote something good they'd probably cringe through the whole thing. It would have to get popular on its own for them to actually give it a fair read.

[Anonymous No.21824564]

>>21821722
Which story?