WHOOBTUAI -Our Indie Author Haven Policy

“If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear.” ― George Orwell

This is especially true of those in power. As soon as those in power prohibit criticism of themselves and their actions--for example, simply commenting publicly on the public actions of the mods--the rot of tyranny is well advanced.

Whenever those in power have special privileges unconnected to their duties, for example the privilege of criticizing others without allowing equivalent counter-criticism --the rot of tyranny is well advanced.

The playing field has to be level. That's why ethical referees and mods (and judges, and the military, in the real world) do not take stances on things like political issues when they're on the job. Or aren't supposed to--because as soon as they do, public trust evaporates and the rot of tyranny sets in.

I can get behind that rule. We see a lot of newer folks complaining in those threads that they can't avoid the bad actors if they don't know who they are. Sometimes a kind soul will PM them, but it seems a lot of folks never get a clue.

Now, false accusations aren't right. But every single incident talked about concerning these folks have had enough evidence to show that they were not innocent victims of the Big Bad Amazon Meanies (TM).

Exactly, dd! Tell what you know, what you've experienced, what you've seen. These days, the bad actors don't even seem to hide what they're doing, but they can charm people who don't know any better into falling for their crap, unless there's word out. I've sent more than one writer to various sites to check for themselves, like Writer Beware and similar sites. Absolute Write has a good forum to look at any company or person to check them out. That site isn't so great for indie publishers (and the board owner won't let you call yourself indie), but for general writing stuff and researching bad actors, it's pretty good.

This is just my opinion on helping in general, not about sharing stuff on boards. I am all for helping an author to not make a bad decision but is it just me or is some of the responsibility on ourselves as well? I'm a veteran author. Been around a LONG time. I started young and was cheated by a vanity press out the gate. Guess what? I was never had by anyone in this industry again because from that point on, I made it my goal to learn everything about the industry I could. I am still like that 20 years later with a bunch of books under my belt and experience. I still make it a point to keep abreast of the industry, changes, etc. I research EVERYTHING not just as an author but as a person. I always research before I do business with people and do all I can to make sure I am making the right decision. In this day and age with Google and social networking, I just don't see how some folks can still be so clueless. Even if you are new, isn't it sensible to GOOGLE someone or at least ASK others if you don't know? Many newbies (and some not so new) don't even ask about companies or people before getting involved. And we can't say they don't know where to go. I found Kboards years ago by Googling. I found tons Absolute Write and other sites through Googling so anyone can Google "writing sites or forums" and find where authors hang out. And many people are already on FB so they can search for book groups and groups with authors who they can talk to.

I'm not saying we shouldn't help. I help folks all the time. I like helping people that help themselves though and I think a lot of newbies expect hand-holding yet many are GROWN and way older than even I am. People Google every darn thing but can't take the time to search a company's name or even ask about them?

I just feel like at some point it's YOUR responsibility to make sure you're not getting into trouble. Some people are lazy and don't research. Let's be honest. Help is fine but some people seem to just be lazy.

And let's not get on the ones you warn but they go on and make a stupid decision anyway. Makes you wonder why you wasted your time helping.

I know I can't be the only one who feels like people have to take responsibility and at least do a bit of their own research and not always rely on others to set you straight.

I mean for example, MONTHS after RH's crap was all over the net people STILL were signing to be in her sets! Huh? I mean right before she stopped doing sets when the Christina case started. All you had to do was Google RH and you'd found blogs and sites with screenshots. Come on. That's why I am convinced some are just dumb (because it's dumb to do business with someone you know is crooked or at least suspect she is) or just LAZY.

Also, when I was cheated when I first started writing, guess who I blame? Myself because I didn't research how publishing worked so I thought you paid to be published. I really did. Had I knew anything little thing besides just wanting to write, I wouldn't have been scammed like that. I put that on me because even though I was young, I should've known to learn about something before jumping into it.

One more thing, I'm not saying getting scammed is always someone's fault. Sometimes you can do research and everything and get scammed. But a lot of times people just don't research off the bat and that would stop them from getting taken.

Google is our friend and so easy to use.