Author, Shiloh Walker has an interesting post up on Romancing The Blog, it’s all about Authors Behaving Badly. She has some relevant and useful advice for every author, who’s work has been criticised by a reader at one time or another.
My favourite paragraph was this one:
I think some of us would benefit from taking a big step back and asking ourselves…so what they didn’t like this this this or that… is it really worth it to get that upset over ?
For those who haven’t worked it out yet, the answer is no. Authors also need to remember that what goes on in Blogland doesn’t always stay in Blogland.
Apparently, Laura Lee Guhrke, MJD, and Adele Ashworth, have all had (dis)honourable mentions in this week’s Romantic Times. I wonder what the readership is these days…
Anybody seen the article yet?
MaryJanice Davidson
July 9
3:22 pm
Sure, saw it last week. The relevant post is in this month’s FanForum and goes like so:
“See if you can figure out who’s behind these displays of poor showmanship:
What New York Times bestseller got herself into a pickle by challenging the head of an e-publishing company to post her royalty statments online because she didn’t believe e-book publishing can be very profitable?
What other bestselling authors showed their fangs, implying that readers are stupid and don’t understand the sarcasm on a controversial romance blog?
What author flamed out on a message board, complaining about hurt feelings after readers pointed out numerous grammatical errors in her work?”
Now, except for one of the middle authors being me (other bestselling authors think readers don’t get blog sarcasm? cool!!!) I have no idea who the others might be. I just wish they’d printed our names. Do you know what an ad COSTS in Romantic Times?????
Desiree Erotique
July 9
5:40 pm
I try to remember that being an author is a profession. As with any industry, somewhere along the way you’re going to have a dissatisfied customer. This doesn’t mean you should or need to react poorly by disgruntled comments. Easier said than done, perhaps; but looking at it this way makes for much less headaches all around.
Anonymous
July 11
3:17 am
Hey, MJD, I still want to know the answer to the question. How the heck do I know I will like a book, before I read it? Since you told us all on the LKH board that if we didn’t like a book, to not read it. I just want to know how that works… still waiting for the answer,
MaryJanice Davidson
July 11
8:08 pm
Good question; sorry I didn’t see it on the other board. If it’s part of a series you’re steadily disliking, don’t buy the new one. But if you buy a book, read it, and hate it (or can’t even finish it, it’s so bad) take it back to the bookstore. B&N in particular will take back any new book (even without a receipt) for store credit provided it’s in their inventory. (“Reason for return?” “It blew rocks.”)
So like I said, if you read a book and thought it wasn’t worth the $7.99 or $14.99 or $23.99, by all means, return the thing, post haste! Books are too expensive to get stuck with a bad one.