Lupe Farkas

Sooooo, Rebels…

Welcome to The Indie Author Experiment Day 3, where yesterday’s Kraken has been replaced by a migraine, a podcast and the sudden need to appease the Goodreads gods. If you missed the previous disaster, you can read Day 2: Release the Kraken first.

Today started with me analysing my to-do list while my migraine screamed that no, today was absolutely not the day.

But because I am a hustlerrrrrr, I took a sumatriptan.

I know. Sumatriptans are not sweets, and this is not medical advice. It is simply the only thing that works for me when the migraine monster arrives, grabs my entire day and refuses to leave. For a few hours, at least, it can take that monster by the neck and kick him out.

Unless I get stressed.

Which I did.

Yes. I got very stressed today.

We will arrive at that drama shortly.

First mission: edit the podcast

With the migraine temporarily under control, I decided to kill the first item on the list: edit my first-ever interview for the Imperfect Rebel podcast.

Did I edit it properly and professionally?

Why?

Because I do not know how.

Also, I am not entirely convinced I want to polish the life out of it. Imperfect Rebel is a rebellious and imperfect podcast. It is raw, genuine and real.

Maybe too real?

Yes.

Could it be better?

Of course.

But for now, it is what it is, and we are going to love it exactly like that. Right?

Say it.

I cannot hear you.

Louder.

You know what? I still cannot hear you. But if you listen to Imperfect Rebel on Spotify, follow the show and leave an honest rating, I may hear you loud and clear.

So yes, I edited and published my conversation with Roie Oknin, author of Ramen, Existential Crises, a book I loved so much that I also wrote a complete review of Ramen, Existential Crises.

The plan was an 85-minute interview because the ramen in the book cooks for 85 seconds. The episode lasted approximately one hour and thirty-four minutes.

Close enough.

Then Goodreads entered the chat

After publishing the podcast, I wanted to attack the next items on my list. But first, I checked Goodreads.

Of course I did.

And there it was, happening in real time: a rating changed from five stars to one. The previous review disappeared. Then the same profile rated the revised edition, the edition with corrected English, additional material and extra chapters, one star too.

This was someone I knew. Someone who had read the ARC I gave her, spoken with me for hours about how much she loved the book, asked a million questions about Book Two and worked on the Slovak version.

Later, we disagreed about something. We did not manage to resolve it, and we stopped speaking. While I was looking at Goodreads, the profile name changed and the account stopped following me.

I cannot prove what another person intended, and I am not naming anyone. But from where I was sitting, watching it happen, it felt painfully personal.

That was the part that hurt. Not because every reader has to love my book. They absolutely do not. Readers can dislike it, criticise it and rate it honestly. That is part of publishing.

What upset me was seeing something that looked less like a reader changing her literary opinion and more like a personal disagreement following my book onto a public platform.

Was I angry?

For a moment.

Mostly I was sad.

Now I am okay.

The migraine, however, saw the open door and shouted, “Hiiiiii. I’m back!”

And I was like: fuck, I still have a million things to do.

If you have a Goodreads account and genuinely want to help this tiny author, you can follow Lupe Farkas on Goodreads, become my Goodreads friend or add Before October Ends to your reading list.

And if you actually read it, please leave your honest review. Not a revenge five-star rating. Not a sympathy rating. A real reader review. Those are the ones that help.

Did I still work?

Yes.

I published the podcast.

I wrote the episode post.

I promoted it on social media.

I posted on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn.

Did I show my face after avoiding it since Day 1?

I posted a photograph of myself on Instagram Stories and a video of my hand showing an ARC I am reading on Kindle.

Does that count?

I have decided it counts.

Pinterest and I are in love again, so I am forgiving Exhibit 001 and returning to posting tonight.

I also conducted a small Tumblr study. Tomorrow, migraine permitting, we are experimenting there too.

The official chaos ledger

The five scammer stories will eventually become podcast material because, if people insist on trying to scam me, the least they can do is provide content.

The three ARC requests are much more exciting. One of them may become a favourite, not only because the author is sending a physical paperback, but because the book has an entire story and visual design built around it. I am already in love with the concept, and I cannot wait to share it.

This is one of the best parts of working as a professional ARC reader and book reviewer: sometimes a review request arrives carrying an entire little universe with it.

If physical books begin arriving, I will open a PO Box and share the address for authors, publishers and Rebels who genuinely want to send something. No pressure. No compulsory offerings to the Goodreads gods.

Yesterday’s dinner, because you wanted to know

The leftovers from Day 1.

As you know, the Asian food was ugly when it was fresh, so you can imagine how visually successful it was the next day.

But Lupe, you are Italian. Your food should be amazing.

It is.

The taste is amazing. It is the appearance that has chosen violence.

It is an amazing book with an ugly cover.

Would you read it?

Better question: would you eat it?