my experience with writing communities
They say that writing is a solitary pursuit and to an extent that’s true. The stories we write, the characters we create, are ours alone until we share them with the wider world.
It doesn’t have to be a lonely experience
When I first started out as an indie author it was back in 2011 and I didn’t have a clue how to go about it. I just had the yearning to put pen to paper and get the ideas that had been forming in my head out onto the page. At the time I was dirt broke and working hard jobs for little pay and the flat I was living in, well, let’s just say it was barely fit for human occupation. But, I was young and still inexperienced so was just happy to be out there and independent. Those years were tough, and it was my writing that got me through them. While doing some research for the story I was writing, I came across the now long defunct website WeBook.
WeBook was so good
I threw myself into the community that existed on the site and soon was posting my work and receiving critiques and advice from authors that were far better than I was. Some of the feedback was brutal but never mean or patronising. The folks on Webook were kind for the most part and were so eager to share their advice. I loved the place, and it was while on there that I began to formulate the ideas that became the Sundered Crown Saga.
I met some incredible writers from all corners of the world and together we brainstormed ideas and discussed what we enjoyed from fantasy novels and what we didn’t. One person I met there who I am still in contact with today is quite simply the most talented writer I’ve ever met. His science fiction cyberpunk noir series that he wrote on Webook was incredible and I’m sure that if it ever gets published it will be an immediate smash hit.
Sadly, though Webook fell onto hard times and was forced to eventually shut down and I lost contact with many of those who I’d met there. A new company bought it and tried to revive it back in 2015 but alas it was a pale imitation of what it once was. I was gutted to say the least but continued to write Heir to the Sundered Crown. Without those chats with my Webook friends it didn’t feel the same and so I went in search of something that could replace the greatness that was Webook. That site was Wattpad.
The old Webook logo
Wattpad- From Hero to villain
Wattpad was everything I had been looking for after Webook shut down and to my joy some of my old friends were active on there too. I struck up new friendships with some great authors and together we formed Firebound Books (my first taste of true author collaboration). On Wattpad I finally finished Heir and took the gamble of putting it into one of the annual competitions they host. In 2014 Heir to the Sundered Crown won the coveted Fantasy Book of the Year. The feedback I got from that pushed me to finally dip my toe into indie publishing and so in June that year I released Heir to the world where it promptly blew me away with the response. In its first two months the book sold thousands of copies and I’ve been hooked ever since.
Sadly, Wattpad turned to the dark side when it began to monetise itself by charging readers and not paying the authors who produced all the content. The site is still around today but I left it long ago.
After that I was back in the writing wilderness for a few years, only chatting to my fellow Firebound authors. Even that began to fade, however, as we began to go our separate ways and well, life happened. Eventually Firebound faded and again I was on my own. That was until I found author groups on Facebook. Most were just spam magnets or filled with nutters but the odd one was a place where you could have real conversations with other authors and through those, I made friends.
The Dark side of writing communities
When I said that most groups were filled with nutters that is not exactly true, in fact, most groups are full of people wanting to discuss their love of writing and books, it’s the admins that were the crazy ones. Some folks will deny this, but the Indie author community (especially fantasy) is a minefield of massive egos, political extremists, and control freaks. Cliques are especially common and if you dare do anything to irritate a member of one, oh boy, you’re likely to be blacklisted for life.
Say the wrong thing in a group or on social media and the mobs may come after you!
The founding of EPIC
It was in one of these groups that me and a few other members began questioning how the admins of the group were doing things. The same people were being promoted and their books discussed. If you weren’t in the cliques, you were humiliatingly forced to beg the admins to be allowed to post about your work. Something had to give and so me and another author dared question the admin of the group. Bear in mind that both of us had been members of this group for several years and had always tried to help and support others who asked for assistance, but that counted for nothing. For daring to question their methods we were banned, exiled for our ‘negativity’ something that makes me annoyed to this day. I am not a negative person at all, in fact, I like to see the best in everything until proven (sadly often) otherwise.
We were booted and made an example of to force the others who’d privately been supporting us to keep their mouths shut. I don’t blame them for being afraid of being blacklisted, the people running that group had connections across the internet and the indie author community. They like to think that they’re the gatekeepers.
I didn’t want anything to do with that bunch anymore. I’ve never been a sheep and will always raise my voice against those I believe are abusing their power and influence. I may not win many friends over it but were they, friends, at all or indeed people you want to deal with?
It was this belief that I and Joe Jackson formed EPIC. We wanted to put our money where our mouths are and give a voice to those writers and authors who don’t want to toe the line, be ignored or kiss assess to try and get ahead. EPIC is for everyone. We want to give as many authors a voice as possible and not just a select few. We believe that there are incredible stories out there being lost and overlooked simply because the creator isn’t part of the right clique or brown-nosed the right gatekeepers.
EPIC is for all, and we will always be. If you want to share your work, ask for help and generally have conversations about writing, fantasy and sci-fi then you are more than welcome to join us.
