TB here.
I’ve shared before why I started IHS after moving to Dublin, Ireland in 2016. Long story short, I wanted a website to help with sapphic book promotion.
But I don’t think I’ve confessed that the other reason I started it stemmed from anger.
You see, when I started publishing in 2013, a lot of websites that helped with book promotion didn’t include LGBTQ+ books. Some didn’t promote any books with sex in them. Or foul language. Or other rules that were kinda hard to follow when writing romance. While this was disappointing, these websites were run by individuals or companies, and they could do what they want.
What really stung was the sheer number of sapphic book reviewers and websites I encountered who also slammed their figurative doors in my face.
I fully admit, I don’t always know how to play the game right. I wasn’t with a publisher. I didn’t become active in social media groups. I didn’t try to kiss up to people to get them to help me. I hate the whole pay to play mentality. Also, these games remind me of my school days when I wasn’t cool (still not), and the mean girls made my life hell. I’ve never been one of the cool kids. Honestly, I’m not sure I ever wanted to be because it all seemed so fake.
Maybe if I had done some things differently, I would have had better results. All I know is, after I received yet another sorry, this isn’t the right book for us message from a sapphic website I’d really hoped could help me, I’d pretty much had it. I decided I was going to build a place where everyone was welcome. Even if they didn’t have a publisher, or an advertising budget, or a ton of reviews, or a beautiful cover.
That’s one of the biggest reasons why IHS came to exist, and why it operates the way it does. I wanted a place for everyone. That’s why, for example, even though I was an indie author (and still am), we include indie, trad, and hybrid authors equally.
The one restriction IHS used to have was that a book had to be for sale on Amazon. This was a budget issue. IHS receives Amazon Associates commissions for book purchases, which helps fund the costs of the site. But when I tried to expand into other affiliate programs, all the other retailers said no (a theme in my life). That’s why, up until now, we only linked to Amazon.
Now that we’re dealing with some major changes at Amazon (if you haven’t heard, you can read all about it here), we made the decision to add more buy links in addition to Amazon. Having our website designers make this change isn’t cheap, but we feel it’s time to take this step.
A lot of authors know this, and many have suggested that we start charging for certain features, like making authors pay to have a book featured in the new release post or setting a fee to add the non-Amazon links. The only thing authors are asked to pay for is advertising. But they don’t have to pay to be in a new release, to take part in the book challenge, to submit an all about the books, author interviews, or any other features on IHS.
Let me explain why I prefer to keep IHS fee-free.
The simple reason is I know not every author can afford to pay for marketing. There was a time in my late twenties when I got kicked out of my home and nearly ended up on the street. Luckily, I had a small community of people who stepped up to help me through this difficult time. There was no way back then that I would have been able to pay for something like a new release feature. I could barely afford food. But if I’d had a book to sell at the time, that sure would have helped. I hear from struggling authors in similar situations like this all the time. I would rather not put up a barrier for entry to anyone.
Instead, I have faith that those who have the means to do so will show their support. Authors and readers can join our Patreon and/or buy us a coffee. And many have, helping us to continue to grow the website.
The other reason is that I’m really opposed to the whole pay to play mentality. One thing I can promise is authors don’t have to kiss my ass to be part of IHS. In fact, I’ve had a few scream at me in emails behind the scenes, but we still include their books on the website. That’s just how it works. (In all the years since IHS began, we’ve only banned three authors, all of which involved financial or identity fraud perpetrated on and well documented within, the wider sapphic community.)
We want to continue to build the IHS community. As of writing this post, the website has had over 6.8 million views and over 921,000 visitors. Those numbers warm my heart, especially when years ago, I couldn’t get anyone to give me a chance as a new writer.
