Hello, I have a confession to make. And I hope what I'm gonna say here will not change anything about me in your eyes. So, since the issue about the upvote shops is rising these days, I will have to be really honest here about my 'past' mistakes. I just can't keep everything inside me and pretend like nothing is happening at the moment. 

Honestly, I did request upvotes and subscriptions at an upvote shop for two of my stories. But believe me or not,I didn't have the intention of getting those stories featured. You see, I did that because I had realized people will usually pay attention at the number of the subscribers and upvoters. I was desperate that time, and seeing many writers around me using the method of having 'fake' subscribers and upvoters to gain more readers (or perhaps they really want to get featured), I just couldn't keep still. The thought of it was so appealing!

I submitted two requests at the same time for different stories, and when the results came out, guess what?

I felt nothing.

I wasn't happy, and sure, I felt bad. For myself. I didn't take any actions though, and I thought it was normal to feel that way. The guilt of doing it will be forgotten soon enough. 

After reading some blogposts regarding this matter, however, I'd realized just how immature my choice was. So, here, I want to apologize, sincerely, for all that I've done. I won't do it again (but to some ads shops in which I've requested and paid, just completed your duties). I hope I will not involve myself in such a disgraceful act.

My advise is: don't send any of your stories to upvote shops, you'll regret it. For your information, yes, it does feel horrible, as if someone is hounting you. Don't make a choice that you will only regret later on. 

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I also have some thoughts about ads and upv shops. For me, advertisement shops are fine to go with, but not upvote shops. When visiting ads shops, all that I see in the packages is the wallpost. The purpose of having my stories advertised is to get more readers who shared the same interest with me, the writer. Wallpost will definitely be helpful as we're not forcing someone to subscribe to the story, but promoting it. Even though some people might find this annoying. 

At least we're not giving a false hope to ourselves with all the 'fake' subscribers and upvoters. And of course, not cheating to get the fame we do not deserved.