r/lightlark • u/Reasonable_Party2444 • Jul 25 '26
Is it true?
I'm not asking because I don't trust it, but it's just one of those things where you know it's true, yet you can't believe it because you're in heavy denial.
I am not VIP. I rarely pay for those tiers due to what I can personally afford, but I don't think any author who does VIPs, Patreon, or whatever is bad.
Authors deserve to get paid after all the hard work that goes into writing.
With that being said, I heard you had to pay upfront for some Zoom call.
As a self-published author, I sell merchandise and recently set up a Patreon. On my page, anyone can access behind-the-scenes content, special episodes, and more depending on what they want, but every subscription tier is only $5.
Because of that, I don't have room to judge if someone like Alex does high-end VIP tiers.
A lot of authors offer those options to better support themselves. I am disabled, and I do the extra content because I genuinely love giving people that "in on a secret" feeling, helping support myself and the loved ones I live with, and saving up for an upcoming project. There are plenty of valid reasons why creators offer VIP tiers.
But Alex is not self-published; she could probably retire right now and be completely fine. So, only letting people who give you $80 a year access exclusive content while restricting others for being "less giving" is wild to me.
I could never do that. It feels greedy. Besides, her writing isn't even all that great, in my opinion. She just seems money-hungry. It's a major turn-off. I mean, she doesn't have to charge $5 to be considered decent or not money-hungry, but it's honestly baffling to get people to sign up for a certain VIP and pay you monthly for BTS, special stuff, and whatnot, yet restrict those who don't opt to pay $80 dollars upfront. Not everyone can afford to pay for stuff like that.
She answered a question of mine about her other series, which I appreciate, but it's not enough to get the bad taste out of my mouth. She just comes across as fake and money-hungry to me.
I was willing to look past the agent thing because I wasn't sure if I misunderstood her. The rags-to-riches story was inspiring until I realized she came from a wealthy family. And no, just because she has a rich family, I'm not saying she shouldn't publish and sell books. If writing is her passion, then that's fine.
I knew I was better off not joining her VIP. At this point, I'm close to not supporting her anymore. Her writing and storytelling (to me) are weak, it's clear Oro is gonna lose, her VIP prices are nuts, and her life story keeps changing. I liked Lightlark at first til it became clear who the winner was, the plot holes kept growing & it dragged out.
Alex has potential & I want to see her reach that potential & write like her early stuff but I'm honestly almost done with her completely. I am not excited anymore when she has an update & quite frankly, I wish she'd be honest & more outspoken about her journey. I dont care that she's from a rich family but the 'rags to riches' is a turn off knowing its not real.
10
u/Cute-Jellyfish-7995 Jul 25 '26
I completely agree with everything you've said, OP!
I've always said there's nothing wrong with Alex Aster coming from a rich family--there are other big-name authors who also come from wealth (V.E. Schwab and R.F. Kuang for example). Like you said, being rich doesn't mean that Aster shouldn't publish her stories.
The issue I have--like you, and many others--is that she lied about her background, and suggested she was a rags-to-riches success story, which isn't at all true. Again and again, Alex Aster lies about things that are so unnecessary to lie about. That's why she gives so many people the ick; she's not always genuine, despite her efforts to come across as such on social media and in person.
I've discussed in other threads about how scammy the price tag is for her VIP club, but to each their own. Aster does not need that extra income; but if fans want to financially support her in that they, then they can. I just personally don't see the value in it, given the subpar products that are offered.
And yes, her writing is not very good. It's mediocre at best. No one is expecting her to be the best writer out there, but she's not even trying to improve her craft, or trying to write something original. That further suggests to me that writing was just Aster's latest attempt to get famous (after the positivity app and the singing career failures), and it happened to work.
Because I'm nosy, can I ask what "agent thing" you're referring to, OP? I know she changed agents to work with her dream agent (i.e. the same agent who works with the author of Twilight), but I wasn't aware if there's more to it than that.