To my fellow writers (and anyone else reading this because I donāt even know what Iām saying anymore):
I just wanted to reach out to you all because Iām seeing this really, really sad and disheartening trend and if anyone knows how that feels or is experiencing it too, it would be all of you. And I just... need a moment to vent and see if thereās any solidarity in this and just be a human (even though that tends result in backlash xD)
Do you remember the days when youād post the final chapter to a multi-chaptered fic? Youād see this influx of comments and youād be overjoyed; those lurkers had finally finally made an appearance. Youād see those longer comments, thanking you for the story, telling you all they loved about the fic in a beautiful summary. Youād see people.Ā
Does anyone see them anymore?
I see bookmarkers these days showing up for the last chapter. All of these ones came in the last couple days. You know how many of them left a comment, even to sayĀ āthanks, I really enjoyed it!ā? None. And this doesnāt include all of the private bookmarks (about 10 more) that I saw in my stats.
I see kudos. The fic got over 60 new ones (yayyyyyy...) at the time of the last chapter. You know how many of those (signed-in, canāt do anything about guests) kudos-er left a comment? Three.
I see subscriptions. This story alone had before the final chapter uploaded over 160. Those are signed in users who said yup, I want to read this fic. The final chapter got 27 signed-in comments.Ā
Just... where is everyone? Why is it so hard to take a minute after taking at least an hour to read the story to leave a comment saying thank you? To give us a little bit of appreciation?
Iāve been seeing a lot of posts on Tumblr these days thanking fic authors for all of the works while everyone is in quarantine/social distancing; Iāve been generously tagged in a few. Telling them how much having these works to read through means to them.
Ā But what about us? Do we not need a little positive boost too? I know I sure could.
Iāve spent the last week scared shitless as my grandma -- who introduced me to Harry Potter, who spurred my love of puzzles, who I love to make laugh because she has the best one, who has dementia and nowadays doesnāt know who I am but still has the most contagious smile and wheezing laugh -- was found unresponsive in her room and transported to the hospital. Kidney failure. Very bad. Canāt go see her, canāt even talk to her as sheās not responsive. Itās awful. Itās one of the worst feelings in the world. Iām happy to say sheās doing a lot better as of yesterday afternoon, actually awake and with a bit of an appetite and her prognosis is good. But sheās all alone, with dementia, at a hospital and Iām still worried sick.
A friendās brother, an EMT,Ā committed suicide last week. Iāve been spending hours on the phone with her, texting her (and my texting skills are awful) and just sitting on silent zoom meetings with her and other friends so she knows weāre there with her even if we canāt be there.Ā
Iāve had to talk to worried, elderly residents all week scared to death of going out for garbage stickers, who call because theyāre out of milk and can we please help them and all I can do is direct them to our county service because Iām not allowed to interact with them even on my own time due to another coworkerās daughter having pediatric cancer and we canāt risk any extra exposure in the office. Sheās terrified too, by the way, but has to keep working because they have so many bills.
My dad lost his job a few weeks ago and my parents have no income, have almost nothing in savings, and no prospective jobs as my dad works in the restaurant industry. Itās hard talking to them, trying to cheer them up, that things will get better, because right now, to them, theyāre not.Ā
So yes, authors are people too. Weāre dealing with a lot of stuff too. And hearing from readers, who take the time to leave a comment, can literally be the greatest thing in the world. It gives us that little burst of sunshine, of joy, of knowing our works were able to bring that to someone else. To give them maybe hope, maybe entertainment, maybe an escape.Ā
Please. Please donāt forget about your authors. Donāt just brush them aside and run to the next work without taking a moment to say thanks. Weāre people too.
And this author could really, really, really use a hug :(