What Is Ethical?

If you can't guess this post has to do with books and authors as well as reviewing. I have been a book reviewer since 2010, that is at least 8 years. I have always loved books and writing since I was a child. I have always been a avid reader since a very young age. I was an only child and this was a way for me to have epic adventures without ever leaving the safety of my own back yard.

I started out reviewing for online publishing houses that sell ebooks. I built a relationship with the publishers as well as the authors I reviewed for. And because of my love for stories I received what is called an ARC-Advanced Readers Copy in return for an honest review of the book. I placed these reviews on my blog, Amazon, Good Reads, Barnes and Nobles, Pinterest, Facebook and wherever else the publisher or author requested of me. To me getting a book for a review was like finding lost treasure on a deserted island.

Then I became a published author through 2 online publishers, both now are out of business. I have now became an Indie author which is a Self Published author. I dont have a publishing house to share my royalties with or who does marketing for my book but myself. Making money from selling books is very hard and it takes a lot of time to build a loyal reader fan base which will then give you a bit of money instead of what seems like just pennies.

When you publish a book the price depends on the size of your book meaning how many chapters it has as well as the number of pages and word count. The more chapters, pages, word count it has the more $$$$$ it can make. most books on Amazon and their competitors range from 0.99 cents to 20.00 depending whether its paperback or hardback. I'm trying to give you a general range.

I know how hard it is to make money writing and everyone deserves money for the hard work they put out and produce. No product in this world is free. And there is a lot of different platforms that offer ways for us to make money like Patreon.

There is a woman named Kristin Martin who is a self published author with titles such as

and she is a well known You Tuber who shares things about her craft. She has also put together writing classes which she charged $2000.00. And on her Patreon she has different levels you can pay for and get stuff. Now on Amazon her books go $for 3.00-24.00. This is how much you can get either an ebook or paperback version for, remember this because it is important.

This same woman is now charging her patreons 150.00 (50 x 3 months) before you are allowed to have an Arc.

Ok so for 1 she is being charged way more than what you  would pay a book seller for the exact same book. WTF? I may pay Amazon 24.00 and then get the book. What is wrong with this picture? Why would I pay 150.00 when I can buy it for 3.00 or even 24.00? The difference between these prices are 126.00. These are not collector additions. Why would you part with your hard earned money ?