Author Pet Peeve #1

Written By Jerrimiah Stonecastle

I'm sure I'm not the only author to experience this, but I thought it was time to share it.

A co-worker asked to see one of the books I wrote, so I brought it in. She said thanks and opened it up.

She then said, "Oh you left your bookmark in it."

I said, " I know because I'm re-reading it."

She looked shocked and said, "I thought you were giving it to me for free."

Ummm...no. I didn't spend a year, sometimes writing in 6-hour blocks, at all hours of the day and night, and the money paid to finish the book to just give it away. And this is not uncommon. I've discovered this in the past six years since I've been an Indie Author.

Family and friends act like you're supposed to give them your book just because of the relationship. That's like having the valet go get your car in the pouring rain, and you take the keys after saying thank you. No tip.

Authors may write for the love of the art, but we still have to eat.

Have I given away free books? Of course, I have, but don't assume I'm going to do it for you because you're a cousin, or we went to high school together. The proper thing to do is to offer to pay for the book. So if you have a friend or family member who is a newly published author, show some support by buying his or her book.

And give him an honest review. If the book sucks and you say it's excellent, you're doing more harm than good. The author can't grow or get better with reviews like that. Stephen King didn't always get good reviews.

Jerrimiah Stonecastle

Stonecastle Publications LLC

"Throwing Stones at a Glass House"

Jerrimiah Stonecastle

Born and raised in the slums of New York, he was raised by a single mom who earned her Master's in Early Childhood Development while working as a teacher's aide. She sent young Jerrimiah to the prestigious Power Memorial Academy for Boys, the Alma mater of NBA great Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. He worked part-time after school to help his mom pay for his tuition.

He declined a full scholarship from Concordia University and joined the US Army and became a combat medic. He returned to New York upon his discharge where he was hired by the NYC Chief Medical Examiner’s Office as a medical stenographer.

In 1982 he joined the New York City Police Department. In 1983 he was recruited by the Organized Crime Control Bureau (OCCB) as an undercover officer in their narcotics division. He finished out his career as a detective assigned to the Bronx Homicide Task Force.

When he retired in 2002, he relocated to Florida to pursue his passion for writing. After hundreds of rejection letters and reading Amanda Hocking's story, he decided to self-publish his own works. In 2016 he formed Stonecastle Publications LLC and has published 30 books so far. He has an additional 400 fiction and nonfiction novels in draft form in his company's literary vault.

On October 31, 2018, He launched his first horror novel "FRANKENSTINA" and released the sequel "FRANKENSTINA REBORN" on Halloween 2019. There are two more books in the horology.

On March 7, 2023, he received the Literary Titan Book Award for the apocalyptic thriller "A Flash of Light".

Stonecastle Publications LLC

"Throwing Stones At a Glass House"

https://jerrimiahstonecastle.org/
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