comments are gold to authors

emotionalmorphine:

See, the thing is, when an author becomes a fan of something and wants to write a fic for it we have absolutely no way of monetising our work. No one wants to buy a tote bag with a Drabble written on it or a shirt with some obscure line from a fic we wrote. There’s no Patreon account for our scraps. On Tumblr a decent piece of art might receive 300 likes, whereas a similarly decent fic might receive 30.

But y’all love fanfiction.

So, here’s an idea.

As a fan, your presence has currency. You carry value within you. Every show you watch, every Tweet you make, your time is worth something.

As a fan you carry limitless value just in your interest in something. Infinite value. If you like a fic, reach into your bottomless sack and take out a dollar. That’s a kudos or a like. Everyone can pay a dollar for reading something they enjoyed, right? Reach back in and take out a $5 and that’s your reblog. Let your friends know that hey, there’s something awesome over here! And if you’re really feeling it, you’ve got tears running down your face and you can’t stop thinking about this fic, then reach into your endless sack of wealth and take out $10 and leave us a comment. Surely if you enjoyed a fic that much, you can fork out ten bucks.

Reading a fan fic and just leaving with no tip is like walking out of a restaurant before paying your bill. Leaving us nothing on the table tells us that either the meal was shit or you’re a dick. We can’t monetise our skills so your tip means everything to us. Don’t be a dick.

It means nothing to you. You have an endless supply of money in the sack. But a kudos or a like gives an author a smile. A reblog gives them exposure to other people willing to leave a tip. And a comment? A comment can mean hope, self esteem, acceptance. That writer might have been considering giving it all up before you left that comment.

And it cost you nothing.