Some of you might remember about a year ago, a story on facebook about this scam to sell more books.
A girl had someone else post for her that she had been in this terrible accident and that her little 5 year old brother had been killed and that she was in a coma. Someone else, a kindhearted soul, not knowing this to be a lie, created a fb prayer page for this girl and shared with everyone. I shared the page with my family and friends asking for their prayers and put the link to her page on my page. All book sales were to go towards her brother's funeral. Well luckily someone (A friend of hers) found out what she was doing and within 2 days it was all out in the open, it was just a ruse and the girl was banned from fb.
We as writers want our stories out there. We want people to buy our books, but...How low would you go to sell your books? Would you make up these horrible stories? I mean that is just shameful. How could you even think of something so horrible as that? That is something I would never wish on anyone, much less myself.
So how low would you go? Would you sell your soul to the devil?
Great post,Karen.
ReplyDeleteThe answer is - never! I write because I enjoy writing. If some people enjoy my books then that is great, but I believe it should be a pleasurable and enjoyable experience for all. A good book is like a baby's comfort blanket - neither the writer nor the prose should be tainted by such disgusting behaviour.
Hi Jane! It's sad that people would actually do this. I am like you. I write because I like to. It makes me happy. But there are people out there that do "Sell their soul to the devil" So to speak, to get ahead. Politicians, musicians,actors, etc. A famous one they say was "Robert Johnson" Who was a jazz musician that I read about in "Take a Walk on the Dark Side" by R.Gary Patterson
DeleteI hadn't heard of this story, but it's horrible. I wouldn't stoop low at all, but I'm not desperate to sell my books. I'd like to sell a lot, when they come out, but not by means of lies.
ReplyDeleteHi Miranda
DeleteYes, it was only on there a couple of days, but she created the whole thing. It said that she had hit the windshield and had slipped into a coma and that her little brother had died. It was heartwrenching and I felt so bad for the lady who created the prayer page, because she didn't know it was a hoax. She was just a kind follower that was trying to lend support.
I love writing and I would love to make my living at writing, but not at the expense of my soul. It might put money in your bank account, but it's not going to make you feel good to know that you're selling books not on merit, but because of a horrible lie. What is really sad to me is that when people run these kind of scams, it makes other people leery of reaching out and helping. And then we might miss the opportunity of helping someone who is in real need of assistance.
ReplyDeleteGood morning! I now follow your blog! I love writing too and I posted this question because another author has put out a call for help and I'm going on my faith and beliefs that it is a sincere request, because it is something that has been a part of my world. (You can read my post on Leukemia further down)And it is something that I would never wish on anyone.
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