Promotion as a Full Contact Sport
Soylent Green ain't got NOTHING on indie scene.
There is this scene in the movie Event Horizon, where the computer’s reconstruction of the Event Horizon’s video log had been completed and displayed. What the crew witnesses is an unfathomable glimpse into the violence and grotesquerie that is the lower pit of Hell. If you’ve ever watched that movie, you’ll know EXACTLY the scene I’m talking about.
What you don’t know is that it wasn’t a peek into Hell. It was a bunch of indie creators engaging in marketing and promotion.
I recently had a friend who, for right or for wrong, made a few enemies along the way. The individual is a comic creator and has been working on a comic series for some time. And after some recent drama related to said offending creator, his enemies decided they were going to get together and “expose” him in a livestream. I initially kinda laughed at this. Then I went and told that creator to let these guys say whatever they want about him—just don’t engage. All it’ll do is feed that beast a little more. And, much to my surprise (not a lot of people listen to me these days), said creator took my advice. The expose went on. People vented about what a horrible guy this creator was and how sinister his methods were…or something. The creator didn’t react and didn’t engage
Then, after that, nothing happened. The target of this exposé had a crowdfund campaign going, and was deathly fearful that this dogpile on his reputation would kill the project. Well, that didn’t happen. In fact, if I recall, the creator was surprised at how much they were able to raise. So, if throwing a stumbling block in the way of this creator was the goal, they fumbled on the twelve-yard line. Only to have the other team run the ball all the way back for the touchdown.
For those familiar with these types of conflicts, this isn’t something new. It happens a lot in the indie comic scene. It’s pernicious. Part of it evolved around YouTube and livestreams, which seem to be big in the indie comics scene. People go after each other there a lot. Some of it bleeds over into the genre fiction scene as well.
While I am not innocent when it comes to delving into drama—I’m just as guilty as the next guy—one of the reasons why the pattern exists is simple: it sells books. The bigger the drama becomes, the more exposure the actors get, and the more people become curious about what created the animosity. There is always a chance that seekers of this knowledge may stop and buy one of your offerings, out of curiosity, of course. Rock bands and music legends used to be the center of fraudulent rivalries all the time. These often happened outside the knowledge of the artist, the whole thing orchestrated by the record company. Why would the record company do it? Because it works. What music journalist doesn’t want to get the inside scoop on some BS feud? And when a feud erupts, what journalist doesn’t want to write about it?
Then there is the other, darker side of that coin: someone just wants to hurt someone else because that’s a way they can elevate their brand. So that Temu Geraldo Rivera can be recognized as a truth seeker and virtuous shield of whatever field of endeavor is being protected.
Oh yeah, the indie comics scene has loads of those people as well. In the genre fiction sphere, we’ve got BookTube, BookTok, and Goodreads. So, it’s not like it’s an isolated thing.
Not that there aren’t bad actors in every group. Usually word gets around all on its own, no expose required. Comeuppance almost always happens in its own sweet time. Once you understand that, you can save yourself the ulcer and just wait.
Which is why I usually tell people to let it go and move on. Most people who are the target of this type of strategy usually aren’t good at seeking parity with their tormentor. Secondly, and this is almost always true, if you don’t take their bait, the only thing the other side can do is either walk away or escalate. The one problem with escalation is that, at some point, you cross a line you probably shouldn’t have. And that’s the thing about using drama as a promotional tool: it’s unpredictable. It makes enemies where none need to exist. Or, it can turn on you badly, maybe even with legal action.
A lot of the more experienced creators know that it’s better to make friends than to make enemies. And while they’ll work with you, they’ll also do business with the other side. It’s not their beef. It’s not their fight. And if they did have a beef with you, you’d rarely hear it. Yeah, from time to time, they’ll get mad about stuff that people have done to them in the past. You’ll often find that when they discover their greener pastures, they don’t constantly return to the yard they were expelled from, mainly because it’s a waste of time and effort. They move on.
In the end, they just want to make a living from their craft. They don’t want to charge the walls as part of some crusade.
A lot of these creative spheres seem to rely on a sort of social cannibalism. Whether it’s done to elevate one’s position, draw attention to their work, remove their competition, or gain favor with an alpha within the pack, people love to tear other people apart in some of the most asinine ways. People eating people for engagement, clicks, superchats, and likes. While it may strengthen a given individual, the resentment it breeds creates fractures and fallout that weaken the whole. And in the end, it may turn readers off.
My thought is that readers just want to be entertained. Fans just want to enjoy your next release, whether it be comics, music, or books. They’re generally not interested in carrying the same baggage you do. While I know that some of these tactics often create tight-knit groups of fans, those fans sometimes turn toxic. Maybe they even turn on their favorite creator after a time. Then there are those times when the esprit de corps isn’t enough to keep the boat afloat, no matter how strong the spirit.
Maybe try this revolutionary idea: create great stuff and market it to people who want to buy it?
Yeah, you’re right. It’ll never work…
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