Okay... Okay... the title is clearly over the top. I'm naturally being a bit hyperbolic here. However, I felt this chapter was worth writing for two reasons. One, I'm writing it for the writers, many of which had likely felt the stresses and issues I'm talking about. The second reason I'm writing this is for the readers. I feel like you guys need to understand some of the things your fellow readers do. You're likely not one of these people, but it doesn't hurt to have some perspective and awareness regarding the ones that come with you.

You guys are probably familiar with a certain kind of joke. Parents with their first baby have new everything, and take so much time and care and consideration that their baby gets the best. By the time they have the third baby, they're sleeping in half a crib and the parents don't even bother. How about this one? You say when you're an adult, you'll never give your kids sugar, or swear in front of them, or let them watch TV. You'll treat them like adults, making every order 100% clear... Ten years later, you're saying "Because I told you so..." and giving them melatonin just so they'll go to sleep.

What I'm talking about here falls in this kind of category. The young and inexperienced writers will have this fantasy about how they'll write and how they'll interact with their fans. Perhaps, you even have a couple of diehard fans, and your interactions with them have been beautiful. Then, ten years later, you're successful and have thousands of fans, and then you're bitterly cursing your readers and writing vague rants just like me.

The idea of this chapter popped up this Thanksgiving. I was writing a thank you letter to my readers, and this included a coupon in my store. In the past, I'd literally just give people a voucher that allowed them to have one of my books for free. I like giving people free content, and my entire model focuses on offering free content. (Although you wouldn't believe that talking to some of these readers, more on that in a bit).

So, what happened? Well, the last time I gave a book for free, my free readers chose to take the voucher, and then create a dozen fake accounts, so they could steal EVERY book in my library. They used my kindness to rob me of hundreds of dollars' worth of content. No joke.

And, this wasn't a person, or a few people. This was 20% of every person who used the coupon. That's right, I knew who used the coupon, and I knew how many times someone stripped my site of content, and 20% of all free readers went on to steal everything.

I should also point out that the way I deliver this voucher is the same way I deliver it monthly to all of the members who support me monetarily. All 1300 of them. Yes, a member has occasionally stripped me like that, but with 1300 members and maybe 100 new ones a month, I see that happen maybe five times a year... whereas with the public, 20% of users chose to illegally steal from me, exploiting my own kindness to do it, within a day of having the coupon up.

We'll get back to that in a bit, let's go back to the free story I wanted to give my readers. I realized that they would steal everything if I gave them a choice, so my second thought was to just offer them one story. A single book for free that they could enjoy. However, many people don't read all of my series. Most readers only read one or two of my series. Furthermore, they might have already bought or previous acquired that book from a previous giveaway. What then?

Then, I'd get people angry and upset. They'd literally be less happy because I gave something away for free because it wasn't what they wanted. There is an entire reddit section dedicated to these kinds of stories. It's called entitlement. When you get something for free, you feel entitled to continue to get it for free. Sites like Wattpad here are great at fueling that entitlement. All of the writers here offer their content for free. How dare they want something for the hours upon hours they spent creating this work you're enjoying. How dare they...

Basically, you can't give people things for free without them suddenly believing they deserve those things for free. I could give examples from society, but you guys would actually get angry that I dared mention those free things that should obviously be free and anyone who suggests otherwise is an awful person. (*Cough* Mulan on Disney Plus *Cough* Healthcare *Cough* Youtube *Cough*). Sorry, I just had to cough some crap up.

And of course, I think we all know that nothing is for free. Everything costs something somewhere... but most people just think that as long as THEY aren't the one paying the cost, then it doesn't matter. In the case of writers, the cost is entirely within our time and energy.

Have you ever heard readers say "You should write if you love to write, and it shouldn't matter what you get out of it!" What a giant load of crap. It's a great excuse to hide behind your own selfishness and greed, but life doesn't work that way. If people only did what they love to do, then no one would work. A lot of people write because they like to write... but writing can very quickly become a chore if nothing you do makes you feel good about what you do. You can like ice cream, but if I walk up to you and kick you between the legs every time you take a spoonful, you're eventually going to decide to stop eating ice cream.

So, where was I? That's right. You can't give things away for free. I did a survey recently among my fanbase, and one of my questions was simple. Do you want me to give you free things I write that I don't specifically write for you guys? This wasn't me saying I'd stop writing these things and use my personal time elsewhere. This was me saying I'd stop making any effort to provide those things to my readers and fans.

20% (yeah, that number keeps showing up), actually voted 'no'. They didn't want me to offer the things that weren't specifically catered to them. FYI, that includes both this book, Wattpad 101, and my other story on here, Hawtness. It also includes... the most popular stories on my site, which ironically weren't popular until I released them on my site. Kind of dumb that the stories they come to my site to read wouldn't be on my site if the critics had their way and I never posted them.

Public readers aren't just demanding and entitled, but they're also considerably more critical. Like I've said, my model is to release everything I own for free. There are very few things on my site that will never be unlocked. Locked content includes bonus chapters that I wrote specifically as extra content, and a few choice short stories that I made Membership Only just to give incentive to my members.

Other than that, everything on my site has released for free or will release for free. Yet, that isn't good enough. You see... they aren't releasing fast enough. My free content doesn't release as fast as my locked content. Even though it releases regularly... how dare I... give my supporters increasingly more content! When they aren't angry about my release speed, it's the grammar and spelling. I often go back and fix stories, both grammatically and plot-wise, to publish them in eBooks. These eBooks are sold on my site, or also on Amazon. Just because it's inconvenient, I don't always fix them on every site immediately. This is also unacceptable. How dare I... leave my best draft as paid for content.

So, here's the thing. The stories I release on free platforms like scribblehub, wattpad, and royalroad... do extremely poorly. Like, 3 stars average... They are filled with 1 star reviews and just the worst hatred and vile comments you can imagine. Meanwhile, on Amazon... my stories which sell for $6.50, have five stars (or averaging 4.5).

Now, one might think when you're enjoying free content, that you'd be less critical. You'd think once you spent $5 on something or more... it better be good or I'll hate it. If I spent $1 at Mcdonald's for a double cheeseburger, or $10 at Red Robin, my expectations on the quality of that burger would adjust accordingly, right?

That's generally a good assumption, but that isn't how humans act. Humans are MUCH more critical of the McDonald's burger... slamming it for quality and complaining relentlessly about how bad they are. Even a badly cooked burger at Red Robin would rarely cause anyone distress. They'd just quietly eat it, maybe at worst they would demand a replacement, but that would be the most of it. And if you think it's the quality that's the problem and not the mere fact that Red Robin charges more... well, try eating at a Five Guys.

What is with this double standard? Well, part of it just comes from reaching your target audience. Even though RR, SH, and WP (initials for the sites mentioned above) all have content similar to what I write, someone who is willing to spend $6.50 on the concept that I presented them in the summary is probably also willing to be more likely to enjoy such a book for what it is.

I wrote a few previous times in Wattpad 101 that there is a lot of merit to setting up your environment. A comedian who tries to tell jokes on the street corner isn't going to get nearly as many laughs as a comedian who tries to tell jokes in a comedy club. In the club, people are there to laugh. The environment is set up properly, so that when you hear a joke, you laugh more.

I've used the example of a world-renowned violinist. This was a viral youtube video back in the day. A violinist people pay $300 for tickets to listen to in a theater, yet walked right past and ignored that same violinist when they were playing for free on the subway. Simply put, the environment wasn't right. When people invest in you as a writer, they are preparing themselves for what you offer, and are thus on average happier with what you ultimately produce. Even though Amazon sells every kind of book, my environment is actually just the people willing to spend money to buy such a book.

Even stories like Twilight... aren't that bad. An honest confession here... after the first movie came out, I watched Twilight without knowing anything about it except that it was a vampire movie. I didn't think the movie was that great, but it hinted a lot at a book series that might have offered more. I bought the entire series as novels, and I read them all. They were okay. It wasn't a great series... but it wasn't the trash people say.

Then again, I spent money and invested myself into enjoying the series. Most who might have downloaded the book for free just to claim they read it after already having made a decision on how they felt about it or maybe they just watched the movie when it was on somewhere. Ultimately, I got much more enjoyment out of it. The general public readers who hate this story, many of which have never seen more than a summary about it, well, that's the public for you, right?

What public? The public who just trash things they don't care about. The same people who will dump all over a writer's writing, acting like the very fact they looked at the thing offended their senses, all while other people... invested people, actually really loved it.

And note how I call them invested versus public. Although there is a strong correlation between those that are willing to spend money and those invested into a story, it's not mutually exclusive. You can be invested in things without monetarily being invested in things. So, when I talk about public readers versus invested readers, it's not so simple as people who pay and people who don't.

That said... a pay wall is a really good way of eliminating those public readers. If you're not going to invest emotionally in something, chances are you won't invest money either.

My paywall is $2. Just $2 is enough to bring the negative comments down exponentially. I used to charge $1... but compared to my higher tiers, I still got crap at the $1 tier. Some people would toss out a dollar just for the privilege to complain. It's amazing, but the more my readers donate, the less they expect from me. Even now, $2 readers are really demanding. $5 readers are much less. $100 readers... yes, I have people who give me $100 a month, don't ask for anything. They're the group that has the right to ask the most of me, and usually, they don't. Isn't that crazy?

So, what does this all come to? I want people to understand a bit about why people treat their fanbase a certain way. I write a lot. I write over 100,000 words a month. A standard novel is 80,000. Now, I don't write one story. I write half a dozen stories. One of them gets 5 chapters a week and another gets 2. At a minimum, every story on my release schedule get 1 chapter a week, and the stories not really picked up get at least one a month.

I get a LOT of criticism for not releasing fast enough. One chapter a week is fairly standard. If all I did was release one chapter a week and had nothing else, most people wouldn't complain. However, because I release 20 chapters a week, and only 1 of them might be the book a certain person wants, his entitlement explodes, and he feels that all 20 of my releases should be the book he wants. It should also go that without saying that if I actually did kill myself writing 20 chapters a week, the reader would happily take off once the story is finished, never even offering a thank you in the final chapter.

To dare suggest that maybe... maybe... that I need money to support my family, and I do this for a living, that I ought to be monetarily compensated for this... is enough to drive some readers into a rage. How dare I! I should release one book at a time... get it done within a month with insanely fast releases that don't give me time to even make sure the story is any good, and then release it for free! That's what people want!

Well, I just wanted to expose some of these thoughts of mine exactly to pull back the curtain and show you not just my feelings, but the potential feelings of many creators you interact with. You see... public consumers suck. You can't even give them stuff for free. At the end, you HAVE to charge people just to cut out those whiny, entitled people who want more and more while caring less and less. Seriously, just spend a day reading the entitled people reddit and you'll lose all faith in humanity.

Sometimes, people set prices not because they don't want to give you stuff, but because they're afraid of the 20% who will abuse it shamelessly without a care. Or maybe they'll do it because it's the only way they'll have the time and willpower to keep doing what they do. For those of you who ARE invested, but just can't afford to support. I'm sorry. You lose out the most. At least, I hope you understand why.

As for that free book I was talking about? Oh, instead, I gave people a percentage off in my store. That way, everyone got an advantage. They could pay me money, but they had the privilege of not paying me as much money. Somehow, this not only makes me more money, but more importantly, this kept the fans happier than if I tried to give them something for free. Everyone got something, and those public readers who never would have cared even if I gave them stuff for free didn't get the chance to screw me over. How much off did I give them? Why... 20% off... hehehehehe.

Don't feel bad if you're not invested into something. That's not what I'm trying to do here. If you want to support a content creator you like, do that. If you don't, don't. I just wanted to offer some writers a little bit of venting, and some readers a little bit of clarity. Be mindful of your expectations when it comes to what others do for free. Just because you can find a guy who does better/more work for free (in your opinion), doesn't give you a free pass to be a jerk to everyone else who gives their time to create content for you.

If you are invested in a work, I hope you might gain a little understanding of why your creator might start throwing up more and more paywalls. It's not always related purely to greed or a need for money. Sometimes, they're just trying to filter out those that don't care and don't plan to offer anything constructive. That does occasionally block genuine fans who literally, genuinely, can't support, and for that, I'm sorry, and I hope you understand why it happens a little better.

If there is any lesson to be had, it's don't blame Black Friday on the retailers. They're just doing what the people want. Ultimately, it's the people who caused it. No, that's not it. Let me try again. Public readers are the worst. This is why we can't have nice things. No... that's not quite right either. How about... Happy Holidays! Thank you all for reading my free book!