I'm really not trying to rip off anyone's blog content but this particular issue won't get out of my head until I express some sort of opinion.
This other author, some chick named Jaqueline, went off on a blogger (not Nathan) who gave a negative review of her book. She threw a cyberspace tantrum to the nth degree in the comment section, saying he didn't read the version of the book that she wanted him to read and other immature, sometimes profane, things. I'll provide the link at the end of this entry so you may look upon her comments (assuming they're still there) and cringe like I did and maybe laugh a little like I did.
There's a lot about this situation that bothers me. First, no author should ever do what she did. She showed a general lack of appreciation, class, manners and mental stability responding that way. What she should have done is taken the criticism to heart, figure out what she could do better and keep her opinions to herself and OFF the public forum.
That blog entry would have disappeared from people's memories in like ten minutes had she just left it alone.
What did she do instead? She pissed off a mob who proceeded to trash her not only on the comment section of a blog, but on Amazon where her book now has a 1 1/2 star average rating. One person even posted some rude "customer images" with the cover art.
Another negative aspect of this debacle was that it gave the people who have something against authors who publish their own work new fuel for their snobbery. One person wrote that they didn't review self-published books because of the lack of professionalism. Generalizations like that are really awful.
I've read a few indie titles in my day. Only a couple of them were overly rough in the writing department. And I have never seen any author kick and scream like she did, indie or otherwise.
There was also a lot of debate (in the comment section) about self publishers calling themselves indie because indie used to mean you were published by a small press, not yourself. That bugged me. Last time I checked, I was free to call myself whatever I wanted. If you don't like it, please feel free to look away.
Basically what I'm saying is that she didn't just make herself look bad with her infantile behavior; she made us all look bad. Earning credibility in the publishing world is tough enough without this chick throwing around her confetti of craziness.
If I were to offer her any damage control advice, it would be - yank your book from amazon (I think you can at least remove it from active status now), new title, new cover, new picture of you, change your pen name, and pretend you don't know past you. If anyone asks about the incident, just act like you have no idea what they're talking about. LOL
The review
The book on Amazon with bad reviews and questionable customer images
Nathan's blog
That is all. Ryan - out.
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Hey, want some free reading? Check out the fiction freebie page on this very blog! There you shall find links to two free ebooks on Smashwords and novel excerpts on Scribd.
Other places to find me: http://www.LeaRyan.com/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/LeaRyan1
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