Business Post: Exposure, Details and Being a PoC (Patreon)

As many of you might have seen now, I've written a giant post about System Apocalypse and it's results. Unlike many of my business blog posts, this one actually was added to 20booksto50k and the LitRPG Author Guild (some minor modifications for the Author Guild since I can talk about specifics there which 20books doesn't do).

On top of that, I also had an article done on me for the Indie Author Magazine recently which had me on the cover. It was a little emberassing, but I didn't mind the interview itself. 

I'm going to talk about some personal thoughts and dobuts, so this is going to be a Patreon only post. Not that anything I say here is that sensitive, just personal. 

Feel free to skip this. It's not going to be business useful, just thoughts...

Exposure - Dangers and the tall daisy

I'm always wary of exposure to some extent. Whether it's media exposure or just general fame. You have to understand, my first real job after school was as a public relations consultant and we used to do media and crisis training. Learning all the ways reporters and the public can twist your words puts you in a weird mindset, especially when you're that young.

So I'm always a little wary of too much exposure. As much as I like teaching and providing information for others (see these blogs!); I also am wary of pushing it too. It's all too easy for people to get into controversy over it, especially if you start taking money.

Then you add the fact that I'm a PoC and... well...

Look at Twitter for the kind of problems being PoC brings in the publishing world. Basically, while Twitter is a cesspool at times, when controversy happens across authors, the ones who get a second chance are NOT PoC who might or might not actually be in the wrong (Fonda Lee joking about feeling old getting lambasted for deriding new TikTok authors is just... urgh. And she's big enough to weather it, unlike other PoCs). 

It's something you learn as a PoC early on - or at least, I did - that sticking your head out too far means you're the too tall daisy. And those get chopped off.

Better to be safe, better to be quiet...

LitRPG and being a minority

I don't know if you can see it in LitRPG. I've  seen some periphereal stuff, nothing more than the usual problems (see some of SA reviews); but I have noted how some of the most reviled authors are PoC. 

Aleron and myself, for having trademarks (and no, I'm not defending him, I'm stating a fact. If anything, his overreach poisoned the well) while other authors are directly combative and toxic and still get a pass for being the 'grumpy old uncle'. Even Ramon gets bitched at for having a review channel, though that controversy has died down a bit.

There are reasons for all the dislike, don't get me wrong. Some of those reasons are valid. But the problem is when you watch such things, and note that other individuals who are - if not as, more controversial - are given a nod and shrug, you do sigh. 

The basic rule is that as a minority, you can't make mistakes. You'll always be held to a higher standard, and others will try pull you down / be less forgiving. The usual rule of 3x better to get 1/2 as much recognition.

And so, why do it?

Truthfully, I'm not sure. It would be easier to stay quiet, to just do my thing. I don't owe people anything, I certainly don't need to do all the things I do like the grants or blogs beyond a vague sense of obligation from being lucky...

Yet...

Why should I have to hide? Why should I be worried? Why can't I post things like this and be controversial and truthful?

I'm still playing with those, debating how far and how much I want to be known. How much exposure, how much information... I'm not sure there's an answer, just degrees of comfort to exposure and vulnerability. T