An Author's Struggle - What Lies Ahead

Ch 6 - Poacher

* You have a friend request from Elend#5989

Waking up to a sudden notification, he groaned and reached for his phone to turn it off. Yet, just as he grabbed a hold of it, a new message froze him in his place.

Elend#5989: Hey! I’ve read a bit of your book, and it’s great!

“Holy shit,” he rejoiced and put his glasses on to double check, “I be damned, and it’s a girl no less.”

Joyfully setting the message aside, he went through his morning routine with a pep in his step, thrilled to have his first fan. Even if the compliment was generic, it was still something to cherish. 

Just as he got back online, however…

Elend#5989: I’m an assistant editor with GreatNovel. I want to help monetize your book. Have you signed contracts?

“God damn it, I’ve been had by a freaking bot...”

Despite giving voice to a sardonic chuckle, he was quite bitter inside. He’d been baited like a typical boomer. Even as he guessed if it was a crawler bot he was dealing with, he remained polite and abstained from raining curses on it.

Morpheus#1909:I don’t really have an interest in signing anything, I’m quite new to the space.

As if to confirm his guess, Elend proceeded to send a few walls of text detailing their website contests, and just how great their platform was in comparison to the one he’d chosen.

Not really buying it, he nonetheless posed a few questions that arose from it. After all, the newbie helpers weren’t of any use.

As it turned out, Elend was in fact a girl, despite coming across as a spam-bot at first glance. It didn’t give him any relief, however, because she soon claimed he had been walking on thin ice!

Supposedly, QiE-Novel was a predatory corp who would strip him of his rights and name. She also outlined how they apparently faked their view rates, but at this point he bought none of it.

It had become clear she was just a competitor looking to get a dime out of signing him. At this point, he even doubted if she read or enjoyed his book.

Morpheus#1909: Thanks for reaching out, but I’m not interested at the moment. I’ll get back to you if I change my mind.

Cordially parting ways, he was nonetheless annoyed to have wasted an entire hour hearing about random competitors. He’d never even heard of GreatNovel before, and after a first look it had become apparent it was way smaller than QiE-Novel in reach.

“No wonder they’re so unscrupulous.”

Still, Murphy was inherently a skeptic, so he wouldn’t put subjective anger into action. Though he felt tricked, he decided to seek a second opinion.

Surprisingly, the helpers were very insightful this time. They systematically disproved most of Elend’s claims and helped him realize he chose the right platform.

According to Naide, top authors earned five figures monthly by posting on QiE-Novel, something other platforms couldn’t compete with.

To Murphy, nothing had better credibility than solid cash, so he heeded their advice and immediately blocked the poacher.

In doing so, he sealed that path and steered his course directly towards ruin. The gigantic maw of the Chinese corp readily swallowed him whole. 

There was no turning back now.

- —    ✎    — -

Even with a goal lined up for him, writing didn’t get any easier. His book didn’t get any new readers, either. Refresh as many times as he might, it hardly changed reality — His book was boring.

Despite inwardly disagreeing with the one-glance critics, he felt more and more compelled to listen to their advice. 

If people wanted noodles, he was deemed wrong to prepare a full course meal for them. Their advice was to simplify his work and rid it of its essence. Then, to cater to more people, he was to introduce more popular or trendy tropes.

To him, it was no different than asking him to butcher his own child. 

Inherently, he knew it was a mistake to think like that. He was not meant to be bound to his ideas, especially when he was so new to the practice. He should have heeded their advice. After all, he asked for it. 

Still, something rubbed him the wrong way about this. He wasn’t sure if it was instinct or bitterness, but his heart screamed against it. 

“I’ve been led astray by you before,” he clutched his chest, the scars of past woes hidden, but still there, “I will not succumb to your beats this time.”

Mulling over his options, he chose to bide his time. In truth, their trojan advice already poisoned his mind and subverted its passion. 

His flame of passion dwindled, dimmer than ever before, and he experienced his first barrier. 

Murphy had heard many speak of this elusive ‘writer’s block’, but he never gave it any consideration. 

As far as he remembered, he could always think of something to write. He was Morpheus, weaver of dreams endless. He had enough content to ramble about for a lifetime.

At least, it should have been that way. But as he hovered over the keyboard, nothing but laments came out. His fantasy was dead. 

Submitting to reality, he closed his eyes to his dreamscape. He let logic and money dictate his path, and he readily walked on it. 

Somewhat ironically in retrospect, he recalled the bible. It too spoke of a broader path that’s easy to tread, and a much narrower one that only a select few can complete.

“If so many tread upon it, how can it be wrong?”

Letting logic reinforce his resolve, he caged his heart entirely and wrote. 

Without passion, without dreams, but he wrote something.

Like a bland factory, he churned out chapter after chapter. 

Scene after scene, from cheap romance to the development of whole harems. Combat and action that made little sense and had no planning, regularly saved by plot devices to retain coherence. 

He sunk so deep into the grind, it had stopped disgusting him. 

His quality faltered, but his views rose. 

Was he happy?