Envy doesn't look good on anybody

The green-eyed monster.  It appears in romantic relationships, sibling rivalry, and professional competitiveness.  You better believe it's present within the creative arts community, writers not excluded and it's nothing new.  Stoker and Wilde, Fitzgerald and Hemingway, Byron and Keats - all famous rivalries.  We were discussing the changes Amazon has implemented n its review system and i learned that it was in part due to bogus negative reviews posted by competing authors.  Guess they never heard tearing another person down does not build you up.

It's not hard to fall victim.  The nature of the beast that is indie publishing requires a good bit of self-promotion.  You're working your butt off, trying to get better at your craft, researching details to make sure your story has an air of authenticity, relearning the grammar rules you forgot years ago and then you see it.  A post in one of your Facebook groups from an author thrilled that his book has made a bestseller list.  The post has six misspelled words and is barely coherent and you have a WTF moment.  You read a sample of the book and it's so derivative of a better known work, you can't believe the author isn't being sued for plagiarism.

Take a deep breath and count to 10, 20 if necessary.  Your success, or failure for that matter, is not impacted by the success of another writer.  He didn't steal it from you.  Flukes happen all the time  Thank the gods not everyone likes the same thing or there would only be a dozen authors selling books.  There is room at the table and wouldn't you rather earn your seat honorably and with pride?  You're more likely to still be there for dessert than someone who lucked into it.

Congratulate the lucky bastard and get back to work on your book.


WIPS Update
I'm still working on consolidating and reworking my erotic shorts and am nearly done editing.  I'm looking for beta readers; if interested, email me at jordanbuchanan5771@gmail.com.

I have a few more chapters before the first draft of Xander's Garden is complete.  The Virgina Auction chapter is next and I'm stoked to get it on paper.