#tibbinsrants

First of all, they all start in a similar way. Saying how much my work has inspired them, how they like how the scenes are done or the character work (though they never mention specific scenes or characters). They might drop in the title of a particular story but none of this praise is specific enough where I feel like they've actually read my stories at all. Pretending to be a fan of my work falls flat when you don't do the research upfront to fake it believably. Some of my stories are really short, you can't read a one-shot to pretend it inspired you? Gush about something specific. If you're going to play to my ego, do it properly.

Secondly, I created these stories and posted them for free. The most I have ever expected from my readers is the occasional kudos, comment or bookmark (or reviews and favourites on FFN). I would be THRILLED if someone came to me saying that they wanted to create art inspired by my stories. PLEASE DO! Please tag me when you post it, I would love to see it! It would make me so happy. But these specific people come to me with the expectation that I will pay them for the artwork they 'feel inspired' to create. No. That isn't how fandom works. Something inspired me to create, so I went and created. I spent hours writing, re-writing, planning and editing on any given story. Some took me months to finish. I did all that work in my own time, for my own enjoyment.

I don't have the means right now and I'm sensitive about it. This reason is obviously not the fault of the artists in question, but life is kicking my butt lately and I too am in a position where I'm trying to find clients for my business (a freelance proofreading/copyediting business in case anyone's interested). I was actually in the process of applying for government assistance when the latest PM came through because I'm in early days and haven't had work steady enough to make rent yet (though I'm in a much more privileged position than most, so I'm doing okay for now, it's just a big hit to the confidence). So even if I were interested, I don't appreciate the reminder that I couldn't accept the offer even if I wanted to. Again, I know that this reason isn't the artist's fault, but it might contribute to why my replies might not have been phrased as kindly as they probably could have been.

I cannot, have not, and will never make money from my fanfiction. There is no return on my investment to commissioning fanart from you. If I wanted to commission fanart, it would purely be for vanity (not that there's anything wrong with that if you have the desire and the means). So I think you're pitching to the wrong audience. Try authors of original stories who might actually be looking to get their work published instead. I'm not trying to start a debate of why fanfic writers can't be paid for their work when fanartists can. The reality is that we can't. But the labour that goes into creating a story and the labour that goes into creating artwork is equitable. So taking my effort and trying to make me think that your similar effort should result in a paycheck for you feels so disrespectful to me.

All this to say is that I'm tired of this aggressive style of sales pitch. It's impersonal and unpleasant and manipulative. It never mentions wanting to be paid in the first message and it makes me feel like the bad guy for saying upfront that I don't want to pay them for any artwork they create of my work. It isn't because I don't think artists should be paid, of course I do. If I wanted to seek out an artist to create art for my fanfics, or for an original story, then of course I would pay them. I would research to find an artist with a style that I like and I would approach them with the offer.

I know they're just trying to get work. I understand how uncertain and expensive everything is right now and how prevalent and poisonous 'hustle culture' is, encouraging people to monetise every hobby just to get by, regardless of impact on stress or mental health. But it's just so frustrating that they are trying to monetise my hobby. These stories that I have worked so hard on, they can't even be bothered to read to pretend they liked them convincingly. They approach me with no understanding of the community of fandom but with an entitlement that they should be paid for creating something related to the thing that I created first. Without my stories, you'd have nothing to message about. It's like if I found a piece of art and messaged the artist to say that I would write a story about that art if they commissioned me to. It's unnecessary and disrespectful. Their artwork stands on its own without needing a story at all. Why would they pay for something they weren't looking for in the first place? If I were to just write the story and post it in a reblog of the artist's work, that's adding to the community. That's respecting their work and showing that I was inspired by it without expecting anything back.