@kraykrayforbooks: TO THE INDIE AUTHORS/SMALL AUTHORS: Your time and effort in writing your books, IS WORTH SOMETHING, and you can invest in whatever marketing strategy you see fit, but it doesn't entitled you to free exposure from macro influencers. TO THE SMALL CONTENT CREATORS: Your time and effort to create and do reviews for people, IS WORTH SOMETHING, stop selling yourself short, but also be realistic with your pricing (start small if you have a small following and increase gradually!) TO THE BIG/MACRO INFLUENCERS: Your time and effort in creating and posting for companies/authors/events IS WORTH SOMETHING, and you are entitled to asking for compensation, but if you expect a large payment, be professional about what you post! Stop bashing eachother, this community works when we support and are kind to each other. You can invest your time in money in what YOU choose, but don't act all high and mighty when you don't agree with something you don't understand! We are all human and we are all trying to make it through this less-than-whimsical life. Sending you all hugs and a slap on the head "get it together, book community" 🥴🫂 #kraykrayforbooks #bookstagram #BookTok ##bookishcommunity

Leigh Hull :

Speaking as an indie author, there is absolutely no problem with paying for promotion. However, that is wildly different in the publishing world than paying for a review. The latter is considered unethical in publishing (maybe illegal, but I'm not certain). Considering he charges just to listen to an audiobook (crazy expensive thing to create, to the point of being almost impossible for small authors), then an extra $800 to post a video regardless of if it's good or bad, that definitely crosses the line from promotion into review. I'm not saying content creators don't deserve to get paid, but charging for reviews is not the place to do it.

A :

I think people are more so upset at the price. $1K is a lot to ask for for a video about someone’s book when they’re an indie author. It costs ~$1-2+K for professional editing, then he specifically said it had to be audio book format, which is another ~$2.5-3+K. These authors are paying for this out of pocket, they’re not a huge company that can just shell out all this money. So on top of that +$4K dollars spent to create a audiobook, he’s asking $1K? To **me**, that is ridiculous. I’m not saying do it for free, but to ask indie authors to pay that is out of touch. That’s $100 an hour just to listen to the book if it’s 9 hours, and to spend an hour making a video.

GingerIvyMn :

I agree the delivery was bad. the part that gives me the ICK is the audiobook part. well said 👏

aurellstorm (writer) :

that! someone said that! I was not offended by what he said, in my workd it's pretty normal to pay for a job😂 he is not arc reader, he is a content creator

Author L.M. Mountford :

i've paid influencers for vids before, i don't mind it but frankly the return doesn't validate the cost. when content creators charge a price, i expect a similiar rate of return.

💙Tippy.Ann📚🌵 🆘🇺🇸 :

I see it like this: Out of 125,000 concerts goers, you pay $10k for backstage passes to meet the band, get shirts autographed & take pics. That’s 💯 normal & okay! These indi authors want that same exclusivity from PBS (or big influencers) but for free! He has a FULL TIME “grown up” job and does social media on the side! Some ppl on here must have a lot of spare time on their hands (and the audacity) to be mad at him for him basically saying “hey, I don’t have a lot of time to read 100 books a week & I have a mortgage/rent to pay!” And like he said, for ADHD ppl like me, we ONLY do audiobooks. I do agree that he should have worded it better. Or just said “DM me!” 🤣

WitchyNikkiReads📚 :

I have said in my own video that I understand social media influencers want to be paid. That’s not my issue. It was the $200 to listen to an audio book which he called a deposit and then an additional $800 deposit to make the video. If you don’t like the video, then he won’t post it. At no point did he say that the money was refundable if he didn’t post the video. Which to me, is the quite questionable part bc you’re skirting that line of paying for positive reviews. No indie author would pay someone to post a negative review. So he’s essentially promoting paying for a positive review.

Momma K :

They were asking him to read and review. He provided the cost for that service. Why is this such a big deal?

Rachel :

I don’t understand all the hate?!? I thought what he was offering for the following he has was reasonable. Why are people reacting like he got on here kicking puppies?? I saw the original video before he took it down and didn’t think twice about it. Didn’t think he said or did anything crazy. Actually thought it was a good idea for him. Got on TikTok later that day and saw what people were saying and was so confused why they were reacting the way they are.

Elle Reid - Romance Author ❤️ :

I wasn’t shocked by the price. But his delivery felt icky. And I feel he doesn’t have any backing for charging that sum from the get go. It felt like he was like ‘hey, I’ve seen this idea and I’m poor so pay me to read your book’. There are plenty of creators out there with the proof they are worth that amount.

Rylie :

See, this is why I wondered where the $200 deposit and $800 thereafter was the end result. Where did that number come from…he got it from somewhere. If that’s the going rate, then authors need to take a closer look at what’s the exchange that’s going on in the field. It’s not just their upset and outrage at their whole lot. There are details that I think are missing.

Erika Aylward Author ✍️ :

Personally I get where he’s coming from and appreciate that people deserve to get paid for their time. My thing was his delivery- it was my first time seeing/coming across him and just on that video alone I personally wouldn’t use him because of the way he came across not the cost - if that makes sense.

Crystal :

twilitlugia :

I have noticed, especially over the past 5 years or so that people think that small businesses, creators, etc are these infallible groups that can do no wrong which I find to be a very dangerous way of thinking. Thank you for showing a very reasonable take.

Charlotte Rose 📚🎮🐶 :

it's how he handled it. he singled out indie offers and came off as a jerk about it. he may have been frustrated but he really ruffled a lot of feathers with his post. I'm okay with asking to get paid.

Ana S. Donner :

as a small indi author, if i had the money i would pay him the 1000$ to talk about my book... and im happy for every indi that can pay him.... and everyone who gets mad is stupid,

katabasis :

thank you!! I agree it feels like they want free labor!! theyre talking about exploitation and its laughable. he did it poorly, it should've been better worded and organized but he literally has 500k followers and they want free adspace to profit off

Ember-Raine Winters :

Amen! Totally agree and I am a small indie author.

G.T. Daybook :

I'm thankful someone has said it. Content creation, book reviews, etc. are a form of marketing. Marketers get paid for their work.

Sabrina Hoffmann | Author :

Thank you! I really don’t get the outrage. Almost every Booktok influencer is doing this. Be it for publishers, big time authors etc… if you’ve built a huge following, monetizing it is just the logical thing to do. The only difference is, that he made a video about it which was not a smart thing to do. And the way he phrased it was also kind of tone-deaf. Honestly, I don’t find him very likable and I don’t get why he has such a huge following. But I think a thousand dollars for a review on a channel of this size is reasonable and I bet publishers would be willing to pay that amount. I know of much smaller creators who charge 400 dollars per post. Yes, having a channel with half a million followers post a promotional review isn‘t something the average indie author can afford. But we also can’t afford a billboard ad on Times Square and nobody is complaining about that 🤷🏻‍♀️

Bennywithbigjets :

Well said.

🦝⃤Spicy Kaia Kazamaki🦝⃤ :

Sophieeeeeee

Alesia Romero :

I'm not a content creator, but I agree with you!!

Emily B :

everything they are mad about he has made comments on. to me it sounded like he was tired of the comments and the DMs. Hes commented about feeling weird for being asked to sign books. could he have said no, absolutely but im a people pleaser so saying no to a person is hard. the not having anything to read. I have like 4 audio books, 17 physical books and a endless digital TBR and I have nothing to read. but thats me.

Dragonzladi :