I have mentioned the desire of doing this for quite awhile, but I finally had all my stories taken down from fictionmania. Normally I don't like to post what I do on one site on another, but I thought this was appropriate because I know of several authors who cross-post to both sites.

I wanted to explain my reasons and the final straw.

First and the major reason why I pulled my stories down was the majority of content on Fictionmania didn't coincide with what I was producing. All in all, I am trying to be a "real" author who produces thought provoking, hard-hitting, emotional works that have a certain level of professionalism and quality to them. I tend to stay away from the fetish of cross-dressing and the false stereotype that all transsexuals are "Cum thirsty cum holes" (their words, not mine). With the abundance of smut and the desire expressed on their message board for finding such smut or the creation of more smut, I decided that it was best if my stories found a better playground to play in.

Second, there is a real lack of support on that site. People rarely comment, and when they do they are unfairly critical. I for one appreciate criticism when it's valid and put across as being supportive. I have been critical of author's here, but always with the design to help them improve their writing, never to tear down and never to build myself up. I am always seeking to improve, and the only way I'm going to improve now is if my flaws are pointed out to me (I'm not going to discover that I've been doing something the wrong way after 30 years of doing it). I remember when I started posting and Erin pointing out, quite strongly, that I needed to learn the differences between there, their, and they're and your and you're among other mistakes. We are suppose to be a writing community (I think) and that means helping us get better.

Third, and maybe this is nit-picky. I don't like the site layout. It seems like everything you do has to be a chore. To submit a story takes about four separate pages to do so. To comment on a story and to look up comments you have to go to separate pages as well. It just doesn't flow that nicely.

And finally, and this is what broke the camels back. They don't allow you to promote your work that is for sale. I personally think that it is bullshit. I could understand if they took that stance for authors who never posted works on the site or who had a habit of only promoting their books, but for an author who had been their over a decade and posted numerous stories through the year, I think that is a poor policy. Because I offered my book on Amazon and signed up for their kdp-select program, I was not allowed to offer the work for anywhere else for 90 days. I got permission from Amazon to post part of my work on story sites as a way to generate interest and went well beyond the percentage that they agreed to. Just like I did on BC, I submitted a third of the book God Bless the Child to FM with a link to buy the remainder at Amazon. The story was never posted and the early version wasn't allowed to be taken down with a note saying it was now available as an e-book. It's a shame, because at least with FM I had another audience.

So, you can all read my works here. I know that I have other works lingering on other sites. I know I got some on Crystals and I think I have 2 stories on Piper's website. But, I made a decision and I am sticking with it.