During times of crisis or high stress, many people look to the Arts, entertainment, and other areas of popular culture to help them cope with what is happening at the time.
There have been several instances where well-known authors, such as Richard Chizmar and Stephen King, and others in the corporate entertainment industry who are by no means struggling in any way, are giving away free books free materials as a courtesy to others. And a thankful audience often has been buying additional work from these people as a way to say thank you.
However, there are those small press or independent authors, artists, and the like who do not write or draw or do anything in a full-time Manor and in fact during the current situation with COVID-19 may not even have a regular job that can work at during quarantines. To some people who do not understand how independent authors, artists, and Publishers work they are treated as they’re not real artists or writers, just because they do not do it full-time as yet.
For some of these people not have the opportunity to engage with your audience at a convention, or either due to lack of work do not have a secondary income from selling your books or other works, or if they work at an industry which isn’t having me that allows no time for anything else then they aren’t even able to do any further work in their artistic field due to having to put in extra if their regular is an ‘essential’ one.
In some circles, those levels of position have been ignored or treated with disdain. However, some small press editors and publishers, have taken umbrage with that mindset.
While discussing the giveaway by the above-mentioned authors and the dismissive attitude towards small press authors, Lisa Vasquez, CEO and of Stitched Smile Publications, had this to say:
The same authors who give their work away for free just to share a bit of happiness, to HELP others in the same situation, are ignored.
please remember them as they’ve been giving their work for free since week one. Why? Because they are your neighbors, your Lyft driver, your grocery cashier, your mechanic, your delivery driver, and oh yeah … your doctor!
As bigger and shiner forms of entertainment are still being fed by consumers, even after freebies are given, it’s quite easy to forget about those who aren’t as fortunate to have a corporate machine to keep them in the public eye. It’s quite easy to forget how as in every other aspect of life during a crisis that the industries we take for granted can be affected.
Although some attention has been paid to the big names in the comic book industry, such as DC and Marvel, there are small press publishers that don’t have the recognition of a character in a $20 million dollar movie, or parent companies like WB and Disney to help them out. There are plenty of small press publishers that are struggling now, that can only advertise via free sites or on Facebook, just to get noticed. Or those bands that are tied to small record labels that can’t record or can promote via concerts due to social distancing needs. These people don’t get to be broadcast on TV/streaming/social media for supposed free concerts to stay in the public eye. They have to hope they can continue to publish the books they love or make music that makes sense to them and pursue their art.
If you are a fan of any type of entertainment arts and would like to give back to those people, who at cons, clubs, and festivals bring so much joy because they spend time with their fans, it would behoove you to give something back. Support the indies and small press, because they have done the impossible, and that makes them mighty.
