Some creators believe that they deserve unwavering support from “the community” because they are part of “the community.”

“The community” can be a group of people who like the same genre of fiction, a type of music, who live in the same area, have a certain ethnic origin, gender, or some combination of these.

The people who believe they deserve “support” from “the community” purely on the basis of being part of “the community” irritate me.

What they mean by “support” is that you should buy their product, join their Patreon, or pledge for their Kickstarter. They think that if “the community” doesn’t give them money then “the community” is at fault for not supporting its creators.

A creator has to be self validating

Frankly, sales of Hogwater have not been what I anticipated. I was bummed about that for a couple of weeks. Eh… more like a month.

I got over it though. I had to remind myself that I made it because I like the experience of making.

I enjoyed writing it. I learned some new skills. I learned how hard it is to make a good RPG product.

I am pleased with how it turned out. I think any referee who needs a borderland village on the edge of a vast forest for Swords & Wizardry will find it useful.

It’s not perfect. It has flaws. It has short comings. I could do more to market it.

The fact that it is selling at the movement rate of an over-encumbered dwarf in bronze plate armor has nothing to do with anything “the community” has or has not done.

The slow pace of sales is a result of choices I made.

Sometimes a work is good but doesn’t sell

Just because something is good doesn’t mean it will be popular.

Just because “the community” doesn’t buy a thing doesn’t mean it’s bad.

That “the community” doesn’t show up waving money may not mean anything.

Luck, a change in tastes, ineffective marketing, or a competing product are common reasons why a book doesn’t sell.

There are many reasons that might be hard to discover and remain hidden.

Sometimes a work sucks but still sells

Sometimes a creator is good at marketing their project and “the community” gives it a try. If the book is just OK or sucks, the goodwill of being “one of us” may not be enough to convince buyers to buy the next one.

“The community” might acknowledge that the creator is indeed part of “the community” but they won’t “support” future work. They’ve lost their belief that it will be worth the asking price.

When that happens, it’s not uncommon to hear a creator talking about how “the community” has failed them.

Some thoughts for frustrated creators

There are lots of reasons why a creation may not sell as well as we hope it will.

Sometimes it is because we made something that not many people want.

Sometimes it’s bad luck, a shift in tastes, ineffective marketing, or something else that eludes our notice.

That doesn’t mean you should stop creating or that “the community” are a bunch of jerks.

It might mean that we need to evaluate our work and make something better. It might mean our tastes don’t have broad appeal. It might mean we need to do better at getting the word out about our offerings.

What it most definitely does not mean is that “the community” is somehow to blame for not “supporting” us.