For the most part I love the book world…the books, the events, some of the amazing people from PAs, cover artists, fellow authors, and promoters. BUT there are several things I’d like to address at the possibility of sounding like a cold-heartless bitch. But I just have to get the shit off my chest. If you have issues with cussing I suggest you skip this post.

1. Facebook groups – If I wanted to be added to a fucking group…I’d do it myself. I’ve asked nicely but apparently no one gives AF. So then I started quietly removing myself not only from the group but the friend’s list of the person who added me without permission. And you know what? I still get added to groups I didn’t ask to be added to. How hard is it to post a status saying ‘hey I have a group if interested please add yourself’ or ‘hey Shakuita I have a group you might be interested in do you mind if I add you?’ Simple shit right…apparently not as I still get added to groups without my permission. I hate groups with a passion and I’m in as few of them as humanly possible. It’s rare that I add myself to a group and even rarer that I add people to groups without permission. It’s called common courtesy people…learn it!
2. While we’re on the subject of groups…if you have a group of 2K+ people and you decide to moderate it…cool that’s your right but for the love of all that’s holy please have more than yourself as an admin. The point to me of groups is to connect with either readers or other authors. If I have a question or sale on Monday but my post isn’t approved til Wednesday how the hell does that help me? It doesn’t that’s how.
3. Fundraisers, donations, or anything else you want to do to raise money for those in need…this is the one people may think I’m heartless over but IDGAF. You want to know why? Last summer I was a split second away from being homeless, car-less, and just plan about to lose my shit. I was behind and late on a lot of things but no one know about it. I was struggling to find a job and ended up taking one that I could barely work because of my disability but I sucked it up until I could find something else even though they only had me working about two days a week, which in MA is not shit! I had to suck it up and borrow money from a family member twice which I of course had to pay back. I was depressed and stressed for months. Now I’m not saying it’s a bad thing to ask for help but what I’m saying is I can’t help everyone especially when I can’t help myself and when I’m getting bombarded with dozens of requests for book donations, money donations, and tagged in this, that, or the other donation/auction post. It makes me irrationally angry. It’s like being put under a spotlight. If I’ve been invited to the event and decide not to participate don’t then tag me in individual posts. It’s like everyday someone is asking for money for something. We are all struggling for the most part. I help when I can when I want to. And as far as these auctions go the delivery of the prizes leave something to be desired. I did bid on stuff in the past and the service I received has turned me off from doing it again. It’s not my fault you donated a $150 package and started the bidding at $25 and that’s as far as it went. I still except to get $150 worth of service and not the $25 I ended up having to pay out of pocket. If you aren’t going to give the same level of service because the package went for way less than you expected it’s not my problem. Also the other service I won at auction I never even received. The person never responded to my messages and I didn’t see any evidence that they even did as asked. So NO I’m not donating shit else for anyone else unless I personally decide to. Bottom line it’s a shitty thing to do and takes away from the legitimate causes that could use attention but people have been screwed one too many times. Yes I could have gotten with the event coordinator and demanded my money back but that screws over the person the donation was for.

Bottom line I’m over it. So I don’t care who you are from now on…if you had me to a group I will delete you from my friends list. I don’t care how long we’ve known each other and I’m not donating my money to anyone who is running an auction of any kind. There are many assistance programs out there. I get it sometimes shit is hard and yes you need a little help. But I’m just over it. It seems people think authors are rich but I’m not. I’m barely taking care of myself so I can’t be always expected to try to take care of someone else. Maybe if I wasn’t getting notification after notification or had a bad experience I’d be more accepting but that’s not the case. Stop trying to make people feel guilty for not donating their money to someone else. And I’m not writing this to call out one particular person..there are several offenders. It’s not a one time thing…this is constantly all the effing time and I have other things to do with my time like write my next book, homework, or live my life. Sometimes I think the easy accessibility of the internet has made being in the book world harder. For the last two years of being an indie author I think I’ve been the most stressed in my life and I did 8 years of active duty military service and that’s saying something.

On a brighter note, it’s FRIDAY! Enjoy it 🙂