Discussing Downsides

Writers were talking about
Amazon giveaways,
how they can be
a powerful way to increase
a writer’s followers.

I mentioned
that Amazon
will likely start charging
writers or publishers
to send notifications
to followers.

In that case,
the quality of followers
will be more important
than the quantity of followers.

Having quite a few
freebie hunters as followers
could be costly.

Some writers told me
I was full of sh*t.
There were no downsides,
they declared.
I was a fool
to make them up.

At that point,
I realized the talk
wasn’t a discussion.
It was a sales pitch.

Because there are ALWAYS downsides
to EVERY situation.
Winning the lottery
has a downside.
Having a baby
has a downside.
Making a first sale
has a downside.

Not discussing it
doesn’t make
that downside go away.
It merely makes us
unprepared
to deal with the downside.

Discuss downsides.
Don’t pretend like
they don’t exist.