Celestial Chicken Blog

Almost every week, I participate in a scheduled chat session with a few ladies from a sewing forum I hang out on. Sewing is a hobby of mine, but I’m by no means an expert, and by no means do I see it as my only form of entertainment. I’m one of several moderators of this chat, mostly because I have technical experience and can boot out the bad guys when they come along (which honestly doesn’t happen often). As the weeks go by, I realize that I don’t have as much in common with these people as I may have before, but I still go because they are my friends. Last night there was much discussion about one of the members writing a how-to sewing book. The member in question said she was looking into self-publishing. I said that I was happy with my experience with self-publishing, but that I wasn’t selling any books doing it. I also mentioned that I didn’t care if I sold any, it was just nice to have an outlet for my work. This woman’s response was to say “well, if that’s all you want, then self-publishing is fine, but I want to make some money!” The condescending tone was obvious. The conversation continued on (without any input from me) about getting an agent, distributing your book to sewing or quilt shops, etc. It was one of the few times while in that chat that I thought I could contribute to the conversation, but was once again reminded that I am not a respected member of the group (despite my moderator status). But I think what hurt worse was the inference that I wasn’t a “real” author, somehow, and that I had nothing to contribute to the conversation. Twenty or so minutes later a condescending comment was made about homeschooling, and everyone in the chat room knows that I am a homeschooling mom. I left shortly after that without even bothering to say goodbye. I think I’m going to find somewhere else to spend my Wednesday nights. I could have gotten a lot of writing done in the hour and a half I wasted hanging out in the chat room last night being insulted.