Want Me - 9

[Rowan]

Originally Posted by willsheej

I don't begrudge you publishing such a great story but living in the UK makes buying certain publications problematic, although I'm assuming you're American here. If the rest of the story isn't going to be posted on the site would it be possible for me to pay you directly for an ebook copy? Even if I could get a hold of a printed copy my situation doesn't really make having a story like Want Me hanging around the house possible, if you can understand.

Well, I know the book's available at amazon.co.uk, but I'm sorry to say that I don't have any plans to put it into ebook format at this time.

[willsheej]

Wait, it IS available in the UK? Maybe I could try and get it once my finances pick up a bit. I know it's only ?10.99 but that's a bit awkward for me at the moment, but I do plan on getting it at some point.

Can I ask how you found a publisher willing to produce gay transformation fiction? Also is this truly the first you've ever published and do you plan to do more?

I would only ask in future that you try and decide from the beginning if you are planning on publishing or not, as it was a little deceiving from a certain perspective. I can understand as a writer you want money for successful works, and honestly for a story this good I would agree whole heartedly, but I had no idea up to this point that the rest of the story was never going to be posted onto the site. It's just been a little confusing as I thought you'd just given up on the story for a while, if you can understand? ^^'

[skumbum]

I was inspired to comment here -- hope I'm not stepping on any toes. Plus it's 2am and I don't know half of what I'm saying even when I'm awake.

Originally Posted by willsheej

I would only ask in future that you try and decide from the beginning if you are planning on publishing or not, as it was a little deceiving from a certain perspective. ..... I had no idea up to this point that the rest of the story was never going to be posted onto the site. It's just been a little confusing as I thought you'd just given up on the story for a while, if you can understand? ^^'

This is silly. Err, wait, what exactly are you asking for here? Do you feel deceived because only part of the published story was posted? Or deceived because you thought the whole story was going to be posted, but then it wasn't? What's the ideal solution, in your mind? Not posting partial stories? Or giving you early warning not to get too attached?

I thought it was pretty obvious that none of these posts come with a warranty. Mine certainly don't. I don't even guarantee popper grammer. I think it's really cool (and often hot) when writers like Rowan post some stories here for us to read. And even though I'm (childishly?) disappointed that I can't click a few links and get the rest of this cliffhanger up on my screen, I still enjoy reading the parts that were posted.

Originally Posted by willsheej

I can understand as a writer you want money for successful works, and honestly for a story this good I would agree whole heartedly, but...

I don't think Rowan was trying to bait and switch :) But this sort of slightly leads to my next comment:

Originally Posted by willsheej

Can I ask how you found a publisher willing to produce gay transformation fiction?

When I checked out the Amazon link for "Want Me" I noticed it was tagged with "muscle theft", so I was like *click* on the tag. And guess how many hits it brought up? :) Just one -- "Want Me" again. So even though I'm still trying to bribe a copy out of Rowan, it occurs to me that even though he could maybe make more per sale in the near term by pocketing the full amount and sending out electronic copies instead of sharing with his publisher, proper book sales validate their investment in him, and help to legitimize an esoteric genre for sexual deviants :)

Just my thoughts!

[Xyggurat]

I have to toss a fact in here. Rowan didn't plan on publishing 'Want Me' when he started on this board. And what you said later on in your post (at least, if I understood correctly), Willsheej, is totally accurate. When you get an opportunity to make money in writing, you have to take it.

-X-

[yobdior]

Originally Posted by willsheej

Wait, it IS available in the UK? Maybe I could try and get it once my finances pick up a bit. I know it's only ?10.99 but that's a bit awkward for me at the moment, but I do plan on getting it at some point.

I imagine writing a 200 page novel was awkward for Rowan, but I hear no complaints, just other people whining about how all this work should be given for free.

Originally Posted by willsheej

I would only ask in future that you try and decide from the beginning if you are planning on publishing or not, as it was a little deceiving from a certain perspective. I can understand as a writer you want money for successful works, and honestly for a story this good I would agree whole heartedly, but I had no idea up to this point that the rest of the story was never going to be posted onto the site. It's just been a little confusing as I thought you'd just given up on the story for a while, if you can understand? ^^'

Do you realise how absurd that comment is? Posting a chapter of a story on here doesn't oblige an author to do anything. I'm surprised Rowan bothers to share anything for free anymore. Especially with the hassle it seems to raise.

[TheMM]

Originally Posted by yobdior

I imagine writing a 200 page novel was awkward for Rowan, but I hear no complaints, just other people whining about how all this work should be given for free.


Do you realise how absurd that comment is? Posting a chapter of a story on here doesn't oblige an author to do anything. I'm surprised Rowan bothers to share anything for free anymore. Especially with the hassle it seems to raise.

Amen on that. Though I actually WANT Rowan to publish his works, that way, if this site should ever bite the big one, I can still enjoy his works anytiME.

[OnyxFaith]

Originally Posted by yobdior

I imagine writing a 200 page novel was awkward for Rowan, but I hear no complaints, just other people whining about how all this work should be given for free.




Do you realise how absurd that comment is? Posting a chapter of a story on here doesn't oblige an author to do anything. I'm surprised Rowan bothers to share anything for free anymore. Especially with the hassle it seems to raise.

Thank you for saying this! I've been reading many of the posts here, off and on, and I'm constantly stunned at how people are expecting something for nothing. Rowan puts a lot of love, time and effort into every story. In no way is he REQUIRED to post them for free, whether or not they BEGAN that way. Rowan has every right to make a living selling his work. I understand that sometimes certain written comments may be misunderstood here. But it seems clear to me that some people are complaining about some odd things. I just hope it doesn't ruin this forum for Rowan. He has a lot of fans here that love his work, no matter HOW they get it. I'm just happy many of you are defending him on this.

[willsheej]

OK so I must say that you are all COMPLETELY overreacting and reading far too much into what I posted. My questions and comments were directed at Rowan directly and had I known that people would get so fired up and downright INSULTING I would have asked him directly.

Do you all think me so stupid that I would have no idea how hard people work to make fiction? I have MANY stories I would love to write and share but simply don't feel able to due to my lack of self confidence which isn't often helped when members make you feel stupid and unwelcome.

And yes I DO feel slightly upset that I had no idea the story would be published halfway thought because there was no sign that this was the case. You cannot judge me for simply making an observation. As I said: I DON'T BLAME HIM FOR IT AS IT IS A GOOD STORY THAT IS WORTH PUBLISHING.

Also I HATE it when people think the only comments acceptable on a piece of work consist of only positive. What's wrong with me informing Rowan that I think he handled the sudden switch of the story to publishing badly? It's a fair comment I think but then I'm obviously not as clever as the rest of you so please inform me before you bash me next time.

Now its 1am in the morning where I am, my confidence is already shaky and a wonderful friend has just been sharing kind words with me to make me feel better. Then I come on here hoping to read some decent feedback and instead get all of you simply bashing me for asking questions like my feelings don't matter at all. And to be honest I am actually shaking right now at because of how upset I am that yo would all take my post in such a way and choose to punish rather than educate.

It's becoming increasingly clear to me why I rarely share anything when people can be so God awful to someone who just wants to share thoughts and ask questions. I hope you are all very happy for managing to help shatter my confidence yet again by seeing me as an annoying prat instead thinking that I may raise a point that is it confusing that the story was suddenly halted and then revealed to be published.

I thank you all for your time and leave you to bash me yet again for my obviously terrible reply.

[Rowan]

Sigh. So much drama, so little time.

I'm going to respond to the issues above from memory--it seems like quoting specific people tends to get them on the defensive and I don't want to add fuel to the flame war.

I think Chapters 1-9 of Want Me took between 12 and 15 days to write. If you know me, you know that's *very* unusual for me. Most people probably don't remember, but the first chapter was written for a friend of mine who was stressed out at the time. One thing led to another, and I got it into my head to write a book in a week. Characters evolved faster than I could handle, though, and one week turned into two, and after ch9, I crashed good and hard.

When I was ready to write again, I came up with what I thought was the brilliant idea of making this story my first print book. If you check the dates between when I announced my plans (in this thread) and when ch9 originally went up, I think only about 2 months had passed. I thought a really long time about whether I should do it, and I asked a lot of friends their opinions first. In the end, I made the decision, and I announced it. I thought that was that.

Maybe I did handle it badly. Given what's gone on in this thread the last few days, I'm thinking I could have put a disclaimer on every chapter, or something. It just didn't occur to me.

I will say, however, that asking me to slide an e-copy under the table was also a bad move. Because of that, I got a helluva lot of PM's, emails, and offline messages asking if the same could be done for those people, hence my blanket "no." There was just no other way for me to respond. I'm already not writing enough. lol.

And last, the fact that everyone thinks that this book is going to make me a lot of money is very flattering, but probably a false perception. I self-published Want Me, meaning that all costs came directly out of my pocket. Frankly it's highly unlikely that I'll even break even--this was something I did because I loved the story.

I believe that's all I've got to say about the whole thing. I'm sorry for the hurt feelings all around, but this is a public forum and without the benefit of personal expressions, it's easy to miss someone's intended tone. I don't want anyone to lose their confidence, so I figured I'd explain my side of things since I was actually *here* for this bit of drama surrounding me, as usually I'm absent when things go down.

K, done rambling now...

-- Rowan

[ARCHEON]

Willsheej, may I gently and calmly interject that I generally find your comments well-written and articulately expressed. It's like they have a natural "cadence" to them. A rhythmic flow. This is usually the sign of great writer. Rowan has that talent and I suspect you may, too. I would welcome any story you would share.

And try to remember, the most important thing is to read other people's posts without coloring them with your own attitudes. The written word is so much harder to interpret than words spoken in person. You have many less clues as to what the person's intent is. So, (and this goes to all of us on this board) try giving each member the benefit of the doubt before you go off on "you are all...etc." If you must, speak directly or privately to the person you have a problem with. Try not to color an entire group with your brush.

I look forward to your continued comments and especially seeing your first submitted story on this forum.

[willsheej]

Firstly I would like to say I re-read what I wrote and could hardly believe it was me. I don't like getting riled up and angry, and I certainly didn't mean to paint in that everyone was attacking me although I'll admit it did feel a bit like that. It was just such a shock to come online expecting some decent replies and finding everyone taking it so extremely.

I also know no one is entitled to post or even complete any work they start, but the situation being so unusual I simply felt that I had to ask why. Also I will admit I was a little upset and disappointed that the story would not be completed on here, however after it was explained I could fully understand why Rowan would choose to publish it and fully support his action.

Thirdly I was already intending to buy a copy of the book once able and have decided that I won't let peoples judgments of me put me off. Rowan is too good of a writer for me to give up on his work over a simple misunderstanding.

Finally I would like to apologise to Rowan directly because I believe he has suffered the worst in this. As a writer he is subjected to all kinds of positive and negative critique which can all be useful when presented correctly. I'm sorry if my judgment of his choice came out wrong, and as I said it was simply my confusion and likely the fact that I probably wrote it when I was tired which has caused such a problem.