Why I am no longer Indie Review Managing Ed for HNS

AUTUMN 2016
Dear all,

There are a few misconceptions regarding my ex-role within HNS (Historical Novel Society) Indie which I would like to clarify.

First of all, I thoroughly enjoyed being Managing Editor for Indie Reviews because, apart from getting to meet so many lovely writers and readers, I am proud of the fact that because of HNS Indie several talented indie authors were given that all-essential boost up the ladder which, usually, is given to mainstream authors via an agent or publishing house. Many people forget that indies do it on their own – including making the errors. The one advantage for indies is that any errors can easily be put right.

I had one aim during the five years or so that I was involved with these reviews, and that was to do my best to improve the quality of historical indie fiction. I insisted that incorrectly formatted books (left-justified text etc) would not be reviewed, and only the better books would be selected for review. (Like it or not, there are some very poorly written indie books out there.) For mainstream, agents and publishing houses are the gatekeepers for good v poor quality writing. For indie/self-publish there is no gate, let alone a gatekeeper. The HNS Indie Review Team provided gate and gatekeeper.

To encourage this higher quality standard and to give indie authors a goal, I suggested the introduction of an Award, and also to select the Editor’s Choices in the same way as the mainstream reviews did, both of which were very much appreciated by the authors.

I also tried my best to dispense with the distinction between mainstream and indie: it was, and remains, my belief that Historical Fiction should be reviewed for the HNS magazine regardless of how the book was published. I failed to achieve this, but not for want of trying. (I was repeatedly told 'not enough room'.)

I must mention the conference in Denver. There was a lot of ill-feeling towards indie authors because only indie books were on sale in the book store. I must point out that this was caused by an unfortunate situation on the book- ordering side and was nothing whatsoever to do with indie authors. In fact, I was as bitterly disappointed as the mainstream authors: I am traditionally published in the US. Denver was my one chance to sell my US books in the US, sadly the opportunity did not occur.

Yes, I openly pushed for indie authors to receive the recognition they deserve, maybe sometimes a little too enthusiastically, and if I inadvertently annoyed anyone then I most deeply apologies, but indies do not have the support of agents or publishers to speak out for them, and I know that many indie authors have been very grateful for the support that was offered. 

I wish to state that I did not find the ‘job’ hard or over-taxing and no, the ongoing demands  (as has been suggested by certain people within HNS) were not the reason why I ‘stepped down.’ I did not want to do so. I had wanted to pass the overall Managing Editor role over to a new person as I felt it was time for a fresh face, new ideas etc, and I was doing two jobs - managing editor AND UK Editor, so I wanted to just concentrate on the UK Editor side and hand the larger responsibility over to someone new. I had, in fact, found someone who was interested in taking over as Managing Editor.

However, there were a few frustrating issues which arose for the 2016 UK Conference, and I am ashamed to admit that I over-reacted to a certain situation and, seeing no way to vent my frustration, I indicated to Mr Lee (HNS Chairman - although there is no committee so I don't know how he can be styled 'chairman')  that I was considering resigning. I received no response, the conference went well (very well) and the silly storm in a teacup subsided. Or so I thought.

 As nothing was said for three weeks, I assumed my ill-judged outburst had been taken as such – ill-judged, and now forgotten. A subsequent out of the blue email from Mr Lee assuming that I had resigned therefore stunned me. I apologised profusely, assured him that I did not wish to resign, retracted any suggestion of doing so and assured him that I fully supported HNS (although I did still want to find a replacement fresh-face as Managing Editor.) To my utter dismay, the apology and retraction were not accepted. 

It was made quite clear that I was no longer regarded or wanted

 as Managing Editor or UK Review Editor.

So to the person who put on a social media thread: ‘…Helen's resignation, leaving the founder to contend with the ramifications of her departure...’ I would like to say, not so. It is an outright LIE.

I did not go voluntarily, I did not wish any of this to happen, I am bitterly disappointed on behalf of all indie authors, and I am extremely hurt by various accusations and misconceptions made both in public and behind the scenes, that have been aimed at me. I am deeply upset by all this, not for myself, but because I am so sorry to have let so many talented indie authors down.

I do not know what has become of HNS Indie Reviews, you will have to ask Mr Lee, but from what I can see indie reviews by HNS are now few and far between  -  'My' team of  about fifteen enthusiastic reviewers were submitting about eighty indie reviews a quarter to be published (online) by HNS.

2018:
Since my departure from HNS I have established my own review site: Discovering Diamonds, with nearly all 'my' HNS review team coming with me to remain as enthusiastic team members (none of them received a thank you for the voluntary 'work' they had undertaken with HNS Indie Reviews.) To date (August 2018) we have reviewed several hundred wonderful indie novels on #DDRevs and have passed the 200,000 page view mark - so thank you to my incredible review team, admin support and general enthusiasm from authors and readers, and thank you to all who have shown me such kindness and support since the acute distress and disappointment of 2016 that I experienced. It is very much appreciated. 

Helen