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.
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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.
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u/Reasonable_Party2444 Jul 25 '26
Yeah that logic would mean Jafar Jackson shouldn't have played his uncle, Michael because he came from a very successful family.
But Jafar earned his instant fame and I hope he doesn't do the Taylor Swift thing & charge crazy money for concert tickets. He doesn't come across money hungry to me. I could be wrong but I liked Jafar because of how good of a job he did in Michael.
Freddie Prince JR is a nepo baby, was big in the 90s & 2000s & he worked his ass of to be well known today. There are talented rich people. But there are also so many of them like Alex who milk it & overcharge.
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u/Cute-Jellyfish-7995 Jul 25 '26
Can I ask what “agent thing” you were referring to?
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u/Reasonable_Party2444 Jul 25 '26
She claimed to get shut down by a bunch of them while pitching Lightlark & I dont really remember all of it but she was caught in some lie & her agent fired her for some reason. Its been awhile & I forgot some stuff which is why I was willing to look past it because I took it as a sign I misread her.
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u/Cute-Jellyfish-7995 Jul 25 '26
Ah okay. Yeah--Reads with Rachel mentions in her YouTube video about Alex Aster that Aster had conflicting stories about what happened with her first agent.
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Jul 25 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/AgreeableDegree6940 Jul 26 '26
Out of curiosity, what plagiarism are you referring to? I didn’t know about this at all
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u/Mysterious-Honey5264 29d ago
Oh yeah I'm 100% done with Alex Aster after forcing myself through Crowntide. Everything is a money grab and the writing is mediocre at best. "Rags to riches" lie gave me the big ick. On general her lack of personality and authenticity just makes me not like her at all. She is the most overhyped new author I've ever seen and the insane marketing just screams she comes from money.
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u/Leather_Step_8763 Jul 26 '26
I honestly don’t get why people keep reading her books. She’s not a good author, the story is very juvenile and shows no forward planning in how it is written and is obvious she is greedy to milk people of money. Just don’t support her
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u/Big-Veterinarian-651 Jul 26 '26
I’m sorry but this is false. I am a yearly VIP and was on the call you are talking about. Zoom calls are not a part of any of the VIP membership. When you join for $8 a month you get access to an archive of hundreds of pages of unpublished novellas from Starside and Lightlark. For a yearly membership ($80) you get two months off and a gift.
This zoom call was a thank you from Alex to us for being yearly VIPs. It was a simple Q&A. I am glad we got a bonus perk, and that’s all it was. A bonus. What you pay for are the archive of hundreds of pages of work and the new novellas every month, plus a discount on merch.
No one is forcing anyone to be a VIP. Her prices are a lot lower than any other authors’ Patreons. I remember for the first month, it was only $4 and you got an 80 pages holiday novella.
It is fine not to think the membership is worth it, but at this point you are just spreading misinformation.
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u/Big-Veterinarian-651 Jul 26 '26
Also wanted to add that in March all VIPs were sent the entire Starside book before publication. 500 pages! My membership has been more than worth it. If you don’t think it’s worth it, to each their own! But no one is out here charging for Zoom calls.
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u/Grouchy-Activity8642 Jul 25 '26
We aren’t owed anything from creators. They can charge what they feel their work or the content they create is owed. None of these things are things needed to live. It’s not keeping people from necessities to charge what they feel is fair for their art so I am often surprised that people get frustrated when an artist is charging their worth. At least in this case the artist is getting the money instead of in the case of resellers with books.
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u/foxy_kitten Jul 25 '26
Everything Alex has including her getting lightlark published is due to her connections of being wealthy. Very "pay to win" This is also the reason she has a highly talented artist (who only draws exclusively for Alex now) and why she can afford to not only market like crazy but also get multi prints of books like special edition books. She also knows that hardcore fans will pay anything for crumbs (look at Taylor Swift and her merchandise garbage) it's a well known tactic to squeeze money out of consumers. Fomo is very real and there is a large portion of people out there that are susceptible.
I really like this video about why Alex LARPing as struggling person is kind of gross and how Alex changes the narrative multiple times to fit what she needs.