Underfictionated

When I first ventured out into this fandom, I was timid (still am), inexperienced, and painfully naive. I learned fairly quickly how difficult a place the fic-verse is for a newbie. Breaking into this over-saturated field, where the supply outstrips the demand by a mile, is not an easy feat. Unless you’re a Big Name Author (BNA), friend of a BNA, or favored by one of the Big Name fansites, the chances of your story finding a readership is close to zero - regardless of the quality of your work. Case in point: In the Shallows. When I found it, it had 29 reviews after being completed. I kid you not!

Maybe that’s the part that got to me the most.

Anywho, after being bounced around a bit, I came across lulabelle98, my friend and beta extraordinaire. She rescued me from my atrocious (mis)use of punctuation and over the months became a dearly beloved friend. In addition to being a Super Beta, she’s a very  talented author too. If you haven’t read her stories, I strongly encourage that you do. I suggest you start with A Healing Touch.  There’s the good chance she’ll soon be a published author and I couldn't be more proud!

Lou and I were discussing one day about the challenges and pitfalls of being a new or under-appreciated author. How terrible it feels to be rejected and ridiculed - or worse, ignored altogether. 

Thus, Underfictionated was born. The site primarily functions by getting the word out via twitter about new/lesser known stories by using a large array of affiliates. No one is excluded. There’s no maximum or minimum review count in order to qualify for the service. If you feel like you could use some help with publicity, Underfictionated is your “go to” spot. There are several sites that provide tweet updates for authors. @TwiFicCentral and @TweetAFic of course have been at it since the beginning. I know @AvantGardeAward, @WaywardPushers, and @TwilightFicZone are awesome that way too. More recently I've noticed @TwiVDFicRecs. 

Then you have @Twi_Network. While they have launched an amazing initiative of involving all the participating authors to help each other out with PR, their selection process is not unconditional. I applaud their idea just the same. It's absolutely brilliant!

What Underfictionated does isn't unique by any means. But having one more place to turn to when you need help isn't a bad idea. We’re always looking for affiliates to reach as large an audience as possible. So, if you run a twi-site, whether personal or public, go pick up our button and become our affiliate. You’ll be helping a lot of new authors. You can find us on twitter at @Underfictionate.

Thanks!
X0X0