I spent the last 11 months working with my illustrator, Marta, to make the children's book of my dreams. We were able to get every detail just the way I wanted, and I'm very happy with the final result. She is the best person I have ever worked with, and I mean, just look at those colors!
I wanted to tell that story of anyone's who ever felt that they didn't belong anywhere. Whether you are a nerd, autistic, queer, trans, a furry, or some combination of the above, it makes for a sad and difficult life. This isn't just my story. This is our story.
I also want to say the month following the book's launch has been very stressful. I have never done this kind of book before, and I didn't know how to get the word out about it. I do have a small publishing business and a full-time job, so I figured let's put my some money into advertising this time. Indie writers will tell you great success stories they've had using Facebook ads, so I started a page and boosting my posts.
Within a first few days, I got a lot of likes and shares and even a few people who requested the book and left great reviews for me. There were also people memeing on how the boy turns into a delicious venison steak at the end of the book. It was all in good fun, though. It honestly made made laugh. Things were great, so I made more posts and increased spending.
But somehow, someway these new posts ended up on the wrong side of the platform. Soon, we saw claims of how the book was perpetuating mental illness, of how this book goes against all of basic biology and logic, and how the lgbtq agenda was corrupting our kids.
This brought out even more people to support the book, so I just let them at it and enjoyed my time reading comments after work. A few days later, then conversation moved from politics to encouraging bullying, accusing others of abusing children, and a competition to who could post the most cruel image. They were just comments, however, and after all, people were still supporting the book.
But then the trolls started organizing. Over night, I got hit with 3 one-star reviews on Amazon. My heart stopped. If your book ever falls below a certain rating, it can be removed, and blocked, and you can receive a strike on your publishing account. All that hard work was about to be deleted, and it was all my fault for posting it in the wrong place.
I panicked, pulled all my posts, and went into hiding, hoping things would die down. I reported the reviews and so did many others, but here's the thing you might have noticed across platforms like Google and Amazon. There are community guidelines that I referenced in my email, but unless people are doing something highly illegal, things are rarely ever taken down on these massive platforms. So those reviews are still there to this day. Once again, it's my fault, and I should have seen it coming.
Luckily, the harassment stopped, and the book is doing better now, at least in the US. The overall rating is still rickety in Europe, Canada, and Australia, so any reviews there help me out quite a lot.
I'm currently looking for a new home to post about the book and talk about everything that went into it. I also love to talk about all things books if you ever want to chat. Maybe I'll post a selfie one day, too. Otherwise, the book is still on Amazon, and the full story and illustrations are on YouTube as well if you want to read it for free.
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Shout out to autistics who:
Don't know much about their special interests
Likes food commonly disliked by other autistics
Dislikes food commonly liked by other autistics
Enjoy social settings
Use sign language as their primary form of communication
Use diapers or have troubles with toileting
Like childish things or age regress
Are unable to work
Are unable to figure out their gender
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Being in your twenties is just
Have I eaten today? Do I have autism? I want a new job. Am I dehydrated? God, I want top surgery so bad. Where's my birth certificate? Oh it's nice out today! Should I get high tonight? I'm so hungry. I'm so sad. Do my friends hate me? I need a nap. I'd be so much hotter without tits.
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Transphobes hate us whether or not we go by neopronouns. You are not quirky or cool because you hate neopronouns & the people who use them.
We will never meet their expectations, so accusing certain trans people as being the problem makes you just as bad as transphobic people.
You don't have to understand it to be respectful. Calling someone "xe/xem" or "bun/bunself" isn't going to make you combust into a million pieces. As long as they aren't hurting anyone, let them live.
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🏳️🌈 Severely disabled trans person in need of money for rent, bedding, necessities, & food after recovering from homelessness ♿
hello, i am a multiply disabled autistic trans person who was just homeless for 6 months straight. i am mstruggling with schizophrenia, PTSD, DID, hypermobile ehlers danlos syndrome, and arthritis0. i use a cane and wheelchair. i had to live in a hotel for 2 months almost exactly which ate through my f unds and sal es. i appreciate everything that has been done for me thus far, orders have resumed shipping now that people have aided with us getting a new printer
you can find these new pieces on our Ko-Fi shop, among others, even sharing this post does a lot for us. thank you, i really appreciate all of the support and kindness during this time in my life. you kept a disabled trans person housed for 6 months. we can't thank you enough!
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