Karen Knows Best

AztecLady And Karen Speak: Much Ado About Fuck-All…

I pay dearly for my weaknesses, particularly my curiosity.

During a recent post discussing LLB quitting blogging, Throwmearope mentioned how it’s become sorta the “in” thing to do. Quit then come back. Quit then come back. Quit… well, you know, like Cher or Michael Jordan: lather, rinse, repeat.

And that brought to mind author Tess Gerritsen and her earlier epic flounce. Some of you may remember that she felt overwhelmed by the meanness. Then again, some of us readers felt rather unimpressed by the whole “if you are not a writer you have no call to write a review because you just don’t understand writing” that she espouses in her blog (yeah, I’m paraphrasing—sue me).

So, since curiosity is my besetting sin, I wandered over to TG’s blog to see how that “not blogging” thing was going. Imagine how utterly unsurprised I am to see that she’s back to it.

Ah but the goodness doesn’t end there, no siree! Following a recent link, I found this little pearl of wisdom over at Murderati: Can a bad review kill your career?

And Ms Gerritsen categorically replies, “Yes.”

Worse, the evil internet just gave an opportunity to the mean people to spew their bitterness and envy to everyone, and preemptively kill the newbie author’s career. Because bad reviews can mean no order from big chains, Walmart, CostCo, etc.

Wow, aren’t we humble reviewers powerful, huh?

But wait, wait! We can also destroy the careers of established icons such as Stephen King and Ms Gerritsen—because of the hurt we cause them.

Yes, people. Bad reviews hurt authors. How dare we hurt people we don’t know! And worse, when we ourselves haven’t sweated blood over our mind babies!

But what is this I see?

Oh no, no, my mistake! It’s only reviews like PW’s that can destroy careers and hurt writers’ sensibilities. We ignorant amateur reviewers can only make them stop blogging. (Or give them fodder for long diatribes, depending on their character)

Okay, that was catty and petty and mean. Glad to get it out of my system.

Here’s the thing, though. I don’t write reviews for writers, I write them for other readers. Yes, writing a review puts the writer’s name and book title out there for people to be aware of, which hopefully will translate into sales and benefit the author. But that is not the main reason for reviews. Reviews are written to share a reader’s view on a book with other readers.

Further, a bad review and a negative review are not the same thing.

A review that says “buy this book, highly recommended!” is as bad as a review that says “this book sucks, should have never been published”

A review that says, “I didn’t like this book; I found the writing/the editing/the plotting/the dialogue/the characterization to be terrible; I wanted to shake some sense into the characters; had a scene/plot device that drove me up the wall” is not a bad review.

But you know what? This is not about reviews. It’s about maturity. You know that whole, “If you can’t take the heat, stay out of the kitchen”? It would seem that someone who cannot take any criticism of her work without internalizing it into being about her should try harder to avoid learning of said criticism.

You know, don’t have google alert you every time your name is mentioned. Don’t go trolling Amazon for reviews. Ask your friends, publicist, agent, what not, to refrain from sending you links to reviews.

Or grow some thicker skin.

Karen’s Thoughts…

My thoughts on the matter? Pathetic. Absolutely pathetic.

Tess is either a manic depressive, or a huge fucking drama queen. I vote for both actually.

As a cyber-pal commented the other day, she seems to be the kind of person who’d take to her bed if she broke a fingernail. Harsh, I know, but seriously, come on, she’s as big a wimp as I’ve come across in Blogland. Her problem is, she wants to be universally loved as a blogger and a writer. Somebody should tell her that that’s an ambition that’s bound to go a bit Pete Tong.

Like I wrote over at Murderati, reviews can’t end a career, only the author has the power to do that.

If you put your work out there, then you’d better be prepared to take the negatives as well as the over-the-top adulation, because no matter how good a writer you are, not everybody will love your work. What’s so difficult to understand about that?

By the way, I’m pretty sure the blog moderators will remove my comment sooner or later, it seems that they’re all about deleting comments that they don’t quite approve of.

Some guy called Jim asked the question as to why Tess keeps writing when she clearly seems to get no enjoyment from doing it. His comment was removed. I wouldn’t mind, but he wasn’t even trying to be a smart-arse.

When Tess recounted the story of the blood and sweat she’d sacrificed during the writing of The Bone Garden, only to have some reviewer absolutely go to town on it, I laughed out loud.

I recall thinking that The Bone Garden was the most self-indulgent book I’d ever come across. No wonder the reviewer skewered it. I actually like Tess Gerritsen as a writer, but TBG was nowhere near her best work. I always felt that she was trying to be a little too clever in terms of her execution, and somehow, she wasn’t able to bridge the gap between information dump, and the formation of a cohesive story. I’m a simple gal with simple reading tastes, so trying to keep up with the goings ons within two different time periods, and trying to work out who the perp was, was so tiring, it took me nigh on three months to finish the damned book.

Anyway, I digress.

Apparently this particular review was the worst in her twenty-one year writing history, and it affected her so much she wrote in a cloud of depression afterwards. Sigh.

Now I realise that writers and other creative types feel that they have the market pretty well cornered when it comes to being bombarded with criticism, but for fuck’s sake, this is no different to being told that your performance sucks in a regular job. You either tell your employer to go stick their job, or you man up, and do better.

Anyway, the asinine comments weren’t just restricted to TG, some of her fawning peers also put the ass into assholic. Here’s an example:

It seems that some reviewers find it more enjoyable (for themselves) to see how nasty they can be. The bigger the author, the nastier the review, just to get attention for themselves. “Oh, wow, you really took on famous XYZ author.”

Yeah, I’m sure that’s exactly how it is. It can’t possibly be because the reviewer thought the book sucked arseholes.

This next comment annoyed me no end:

But the bitter truth we critics must face, is that in the grand scheme of things, the average piece of junk is more meaningful than our criticism designating it so.

What an absolute crock of shit. There are plenty of reviews out there that are probably better written than the work they were analysing. Not every author who gets a book contract is a great writer, that’s just a sad fact of life.

This comment from some chick called Eva made me want to gnaw my own arm off:

The more you get famous (and you are very famous !) the more some reviews will be brutal and humiliating. These reviews tell us more about the reviewer’s soul and state of mind than about the quality of the reviewed book. It is the old adage of conceiled (or maybo not so well conceiled) jealousy …

“These reviews tell us more about the reviewers soul and state of mind”? Is she kidding? So a negative review has nothing at all to do with the fact that the reviewer possibly hated the book, and everything to do with the reviewer being a jealous hag? Really?? Oooo-kay then.

The same commenter went on to add:

“So please just keep writing and do not stop. Your readers are more important than your reviewers.”

Here’s me thinking that reviewers were readers too.

Listen, I know authors who dread, absolutely dread getting a bad review. I know authors who feel like the world has ended because somebody said their book sucked, and I sympathise up to a point, but it’s not my responsibility as a reader to make the author feel better about themselves. It really isn’t.

In my opinion, authors who think that people who review their books should consider their feelings need to get a huge fucking grip.

At the time of the Tess Gerritsen/DA Lovefest, I didn’t really get why a post on a reader blog, would lead her to want to take her toys home in a snit. I mean, she’s a best-selling author for fuck’s sake, she doesn’t need to prove anything to anybody.

My advice to Tess would be to grow a pair, otherwise she’ll spend the rest of her life on medication, wondering where her dangling participles went wrong.

30 Comments »

Jessica
October 20
12:13 pm

I agree with you, and I actually attempted to do two things in two separate posts on my blog, first to determine the moral status of snark in reviews (where I considered the question of whether possibly hurting the author makes a snarky book review immoral in some way) and second the question of whether a book review is just one person’s opinion (and thus meaningless if you don’t care what that person thinks). My answer to both questions was NO.

So many of us are in jobs where we are subject to anonymous reviews of our work. As a professor, I get hundreds of anonymous comments from students who fill out end of term evaluations for the uni, as well as hundreds more on websites like Rate My Professors. My K-12 teacher friends, doctor friends, lawyer friends and many others have the same set of institutional and extra-tutional reviews to deal with.

In fact, social scientists have a name for what is essentially a large social change: the audit society.

Why should authors be immune? It’s ridiculous, and, you’re right, thin-skinned.

And the funny thing is, I started reading romance and kept on reading it because of reader blogs. they represent a key part of my experience as a romance reader.

Great post!

theo
October 20
12:26 pm

These reviews tell us more about the reviewer’s soul and state of mind than about the quality of the reviewed book.

Okay, I got a distinct picture of this one typing her comment sitting in the midst of a bunch of daisies with a little halo of them around her head and bluebirds flying around her, carrying a piece of material like they do in Cinderella because that’s exactly what that comment makes me think of, a fairy tale. Sorry, but hey, that’s the way it is.

I agree though. If you can’t accept any criticism, why bother to look for it? Better yet, why write in the first place? If you only want fawners and not anything constructive or honest about your work, DON’T PUBLISH!! It’s that simple! Keep it amongst your friends who will tell you what you write is ‘perfect’ rather than hurt your feelings.

And let’s face it, there are people who can’t review. They don’t know how. Those are the ones who give a ‘this book really sucked’ without anything else review and yes, they’re harsh but do they really count? I want someone to say, ‘the pacing was off’ or ‘the plot didn’t resolve’ or ‘the characters were too shallow’. That kind of review I’ll take seriously. The others, phffft! They’re an emotional response and nothing more.

But if you’re going to put yourself out on a limb and expose your writing to the general public, expect that limb to crack now and then. Get over it. Opinions are like…well, never mind, we all know.

I haven’t read TG in a long time now. I think I quit the first time I heard her whine about someone who didn’t love one of her books and said so. Maybe if she’d just been gracious and said ‘thank you for reading’ I still would be. I don’t think I’m alone in that either…

Shiloh Walker
October 20
12:54 pm

I dread a bad review. But I know I’m going to get them.

Reviewers are opinions. Through the Veil worked for some people. It didn’t work for others. Hunting the Hunter worked for some people. It didn’t work for others.

Some of the reviews basically boiled down to this: the book didn’t work for me. That, there’s nothing I can do about. Every book will not work for every reader. Plain and simple. And enough people liked the books that I’m not of the mind that the books totally sucked. Well, not entirely true…I think everything I write sucks, but that’s beside the point. Enough readers liked them, so I did something right.

Then there are other reviews that pointed out very real issues that I need to work-repetitive phrases, the plot wasn’t tight enough, the characters weren’t as fleshed out as they needed to be. This, I can do something about, and it’s something I keep in mind with each book I write.

Now if it’s a review like, Omg,this-was-the-worst-piece-of-crap-ever-and-the-author-is-a-big-stupidhead and that is all the reviewer says, it’s useless. It doesn’t offer other readers insight into whether they’d enjoy the book or not. It doesn’t tell the author what went wrong and what needs work. It’s useless, and I don’t pay them much attention.

That said, the reader is perfectly entitled to think it, and it’s not going to have me ready to slit my wrists with my letter opener. It’s one viewpoint.

A bad review isn’t going to wreck a career. Even an author having a tantrum about a bad review isn’t going to wreck a career, I don’t think. What can wreck a career is bad writing, or stagnant writing-or not writing.

Reviews can offer insight how to improve writing if the author can look at them objectively enough.

But if they are going to cause online flounces and sulks and scowls, it’s easier to just not look at them. If they get an author so depressed, it colors their lives, they need to stop reading them.

There’s my two cents.

Teddypig
October 20
1:07 pm

So a review is like a voodoo doll with which I can then emotionally manipulate the author?

OH GOODY! *Rubs hand together with expression of pure unadulterated evil*

vanessa jaye
October 20
1:22 pm

This is gonna be an agree to disagree (sorta) post.

Tess is undoubtly too sensitive when it comes to reviews, and she knows this, but I really felt the response to her months-ago post(s) that peeps had, was just as extreme in its way as the perceived insult/offense they found in her comments.

She had a number of folks, including myself who asked her to either *not* stop blogging, or continued to ask her to come back. (I never took her off my blogroll, just like I’ve never taken McVane/Mallie or TaraMarie off). And I’m sure that had *a lot* to do with her coming back.

Yeah, she had (has?) to grow a pair, man-up, ignor the reviews and differing opinions if she intends to keep blogging and not get stressed out. Yeah, she has to realize that a number of folks just sit down at the keyboard and throw out an off the cuff opinion. No soul searching, or revelations of character, or deep thoughts or agendas, involved whatsoever. There are other reviews that are the complete 180.

But either way it’s just an opinion. Cuddle it close and have its babies, or kick it to the curb. End story.

She’s one of the few authors out there *consistently* blogging about the business side of publishing in a fairly transparent, straight-forward way, based on her personal experiences or what she’s gleaned from discussions with her peers. I, and others, appreciate that.

btw, this is not a fan girl post; while I do follow her blog, I’ve never read (completely) one of her books. I’ve tried but it’s one of those things were her voice hasn’t worked for me. ::shrug::

Picking up on another point in your post–it does seem like: quit, come back, quit, come back, is the new black. I’m pretty sure when the change over of management at AAR is settled in, Laurie will be back too. 😉

Indida
October 20
3:22 pm

“dangling participles”

Lol! That just about got me caught at work. Fantabulous!

JC Wilder
October 20
4:30 pm

There is a certain segment of the population who enjoy bringing down ‘famous’ people. There is also a segment of people who are writing bad reviews out of jealousy.

That said – a review is One Person’s Opinion and nothing more.

TG need to grow a thick skin and get over herself. If a bad review can cause a writer to stop writing then they weren’t very serious to begin with.

And that is this One Person’s Opinion… 🙂

Jody Wallace
October 20
4:44 pm

for fuck’s sake, this is no different to being told that your performance sucks in a regular job. You either tell your employer to go stick their job, or you man up, and do better.

But it is different. In most positions, there are more empirical ways of determining job performance than one person’s subjective viewpoint. This assumes whatever the reviewer(s) concluded is a matter of universal truth rather than personal opinion and the aspects of the book he or she disliked need to be repaired in future works by that author.

Teddypig
October 20
5:00 pm

In most positions, there are more empirical ways of determining job performance than one person’s subjective viewpoint.

Depending on how you write the review. I could map my opinion of the book to editing problems for example page 46 or character issues for example page 37 and quote away.

I in fact I like doing that because what is in black and white is not questionable but then the complaint is I am dissecting the book and spoiling the plot for everyone.

Well choose your poison then, I can dissect and analyze each judgment I make firmly or play by these other rules and speak in sweeping generalities without pointing out the exact spot which then they call me a big bad jealous meany.

I am literally getting to the point where I am just going to only use the blow by blow page numbers and excerpts all included approach.

theo
October 20
5:01 pm

But it is different. In most positions, there are more empirical ways of determining job performance than one person’s subjective viewpoint.

More often than not, it really IS only one person. The immediate supervisor/manager/what-have-you that does the performance review, then takes it to their boss once it’s been presented to the employee. By that time, the employee knows what’s up and the manager’s boss probably never does unless he works side by side with the employee. He only has the employee’s immediate supervisor to go by.

I have to agree with AztecLady and Karen. It is very definitely like their comment:

this is no different to being told that your performance sucks in a regular job.

Karen Scott
October 20
5:03 pm

Jody, the point I was trying to make was that it’s not only artists and the like who are subject to criticism. In fact, dare I say that being criticised at work is probably worse because there is more power in an employer telling you that you suck, than a reviewer opining that they didn’t like your book.

No sole reviewer holds an author’s career in the palm of their hands. Sure they can affect sales to a certain degree, but they don’t have the ultimate power to stop an author from ever writing again. The same can’t be said in the work place. And I can certainly give examples of people being pushed out of jobs, based on one person’s subjective point of view, regardless of the empirical processes in place. That’s why there are so many unfair dismissal cases going on in this country as we speak.

MB (Leah)
October 20
5:06 pm

I’m going to agree with Jody, but for a different reason. A book is an object. While it is the sum of someone’s hard work and personal creativity, it’s still, bottom line, a commodity. And I want to know what I’m getting before I spend money on it. Just like I would a piece of electronic equipment, or any other “useful” item. So I rely, many times, on reviews to get a better idea if it’s worth spending my hard earned money on or not.

So I think it’s fair for people to review and comment on their experience of a book. If this were a free trade thing, then it’s a different story. But buying a book is a business transaction and it should be treated as such. I think.

Jody Wallace
October 20
5:44 pm

Oh, I don’t deny a job review in a non-creative field can be subjective or inaccurate, but book reviews are almost always subjective. Not many reviews concentrate on editorial/grammar/mechanics issues backed up with quotes from the text. This is a good thing because most potential readers/buyers are just as interested, if not more interested, in other aspects of the book. They’re a consumer product, albeit a product about which the assessments are more personal than, say, whether or not a toaster toasts or a car gets good gas mileage.

I agree book reviews should be for readers, not writers, and when I’m looking for book to read, I prefer in-depth reviews. I only disagreed with the one short statement, that a poor review of a single book is directly equivalent to a poor performance review at a different type of job and that the solution is to quit or “man up, and do better”. That statement accredits a book reviewer with a lot of power over the author when the rest of the article points out that reviewers don’t have that kind of influence.

Leslee
October 20
6:02 pm

I agree with Theo that TG should have been gracious, “Thanks for reading” and moved on. I was a big fan of Karin Slaughter’s Grant County series. When I read the end of Beyond Reach, I wrote a letter to Ms. Slaughter. I expressed my hurt and disappoinment at how the series was going. I didn’t feel like I could post a review anywhere because I was not in the right frame of mind (I was pissed off). She was very gracious in her response. She said she was sorry that I was unhappy with how things went but she hoped that I would give the next book a try since she had a reason for what she did. But even if I didn’t, she hoped that I would continue to search for books that I would enjoy. This stuck with me and after my anger passed I figured I would give the next book a try and see how things go. If she had blown off my opinion and said that I didn’t know “art” and how she slaved over her work I would have written her off as a person and an author! I understand having a deep attachment to your work but you can’t hate reviewers because they are readers, too!!!!!

shirley
October 20
6:20 pm

Sure they can affect sales to a certain degree, but they don’t have the ultimate power to stop an author from ever writing again.

Probably not stop them from writing, but depending on where the 86’d review comes from, or how far it spreads, it could prevent said author from selling work in the foreseeable future.

Although, I have to say, I didn’t take the tone in the Murderati post at all like whining or complaining. TG put in plenty of business side information to balance personal POV, and if you look at a lot of author blogs/pub blogs/heck even agent or editor blogs (google sales and reviews in books in every different combo you can imagine and you’ll see what I mean) you can find plenty of evidence that really negative reviews (especially by ‘powerful sources’) can alter the path of an artists career. And on the cusp of a books release, said reviews can and do affect sales and in turn the near future of the author – especially a newbie. I don’t really understand how there can be an argument here – maybe I’m looking at it from the side or something.

A majority of consumers listen to other consumers when looking to buy items.(Though I’m sure tons of people will chime in and say they don’t, in which case I’d have to wonder why. You mean you just grab what you think might work, instead of actually checking things out? Well, that does seem to be how many new authors get screwed over… but I digress.) Especially new to them or to the market. One of the things I remember most of my years – a long time ago- of waitressing was that for every bad service experience someone had, they’d tell seven people. For every good, two. I’d think by virtue of word of mouth, which is still a very powerful marketing tool, if PW or the NYT or some other highly regarded media format tanked someone’s book then sales would likely suffer.

Either way, considering the length and breadth of many of the review sites, it seems, well, amazing that reviewers are so shocked that their words can have an actual impact on an author’s career, for whatever reason. Any artist personalizes their work, if they are worth their salt. Enough bad juju, in other words, could push someone to give up. It happens all the time in school, when some kid gets attacked left and right. And I think we’ve already clarified before that it doesn’t necessarily matter how the reviewer ‘intended’ the review. All that matters in such cases is how the receiver feels because that is what that person will act on. That’s what all of us act on – how we feel about a situation.

If an artist doesn’t take the comments too personally, a lack of sales, or low sales, are also going to affect whether they continue to create in a commercial capacity or whether they stop. That’s pure business logic. If you can’t turn a profit, you go out of business.

*****That is not to say that reviewers should be thinking about their potential impact when writing reviews. Readers who read them want an honest opinion, we don’t want to read a bunch of hot air and brown-nosing. I feel like reviews, at times, could be a bit less inflammatory and more objective, but they aren’t supposed to be a book report. It’s the reviewers emotional input which can move a buyer for or against the material being reviewed.*****

Shayne
October 20
6:37 pm

Wow, an author had an opinion. MFer. When will they learn they aren’t allowed to have them.

What do you have to do? Beat them over the fucking head?

Shiloh Walker
October 20
7:19 pm

Probably not stop them from writing, but depending on where the 86?d review comes from, or how far it spreads, it could prevent said author from selling work in the foreseeable future.

I’d have to disagree that one review could do it…even coming from an influential reviewer/review site. One of my Hunter books got the kiss of death from Publisher’s Weekly, and for booksellers and the book industry, PW is a very big deal. The kiss of death~they called the book a humdrum foray. Not a good review, at all, but not awful…just bleh, boring.

If I had to pick between boring a reviewer or just having them totally blast me, I’d take the blast, because at least I made them feel something. Bleh, boring…kiss of death.

Anyway, that was my first mass market and the reviewer from one of the biggest places didn’t care for it. It didn’t keep me from selling more work.

One opinion isn’t the problem…, even if several notable reviewers don’t care for a book, it’s not anything that I can see affecting careers. It’s when the majority of readers have the same opinion.

MB (Leah)
October 20
7:43 pm

It’s when the majority of readers have the same opinion.

If that’s the case really, then most probably the book does really suck. Some books are really awful and shouldn’t be out there. But I think that’s rare.

But I discount when an established author whose books have been popular and a have a cult like following, like J.R Ward’s, gets slammed en masse by readers whose expectations have gone through the roof. I think there’s probably nothing the author could do that would rectify that because now the expectations are too high.

sallahdog
October 20
8:31 pm

I doubt that a few bad reviews would kill or even harm an author… Heck, look at the Amazon reviews for LKHs last several books, she still makes the best seller lists..

Is it hurting her sales? Maybe, but I think if the people who didn’t like her books now quit writing slam reviews it wouldn’t be affecting her sales,except negatively, since most of them BOUGHT the book in order to read it and slam it..

As far as a favorite author behaving like a putz on the web? Ehh.. I try to avoid reading fav authors blogs anyway, but I have seen a few comments that I truly shook my head over, but I still read their books.. Its not like I am inviting them over to dinner..

Mary Winter
October 20
9:25 pm

You know, this thread reminds me of George Martin’s “A Game of Thrones.” The book was recommended to me as THE BEST fantasy novel of the year by an agent and I had to read it. It took me two years to get through the book and sadly when all the characters I cared about were shunted to the side in the end of the book, well, let’s just say I haven’t picked up any sequels. My boyfriend on the othe hand, LOVED IT! Like ZOMG!BESTBOOKEVAR! Loved it!

Like Shiloh says, one book may work for one person that doesn’t work for another. He tends to like deep, weighty, convuluted fantasy, and since I tend to read in snippets, I like far lighter fare I can dive right back into at a moment’s notice.

Not everyone likes everything. It’s what makes us individuals. The world would be boring if we only liked and only wrote one kind of book. 🙂

kirsten saell
October 21
1:28 am

It took me two years to get through the book and sadly when all the characters I cared about were shunted to the side in the end of the book, well, let’s just say I haven’t picked up any sequels.

Philistine! How dare you deride the twisted, literary work of genius that is GRRM’s Song of Ice and Fire!!??

I’m definitely a member of the LOVED IT! Like ZOMG!BESTBOOKEVAR! Loved it! camp. But you know, I guess I can live with the fact that someone out there doesn’t like it as much as I do, or even at all. Pretty sure not everyone who reads my books will adore them, either, though I’m still waiting for that one scathing review. Won’t feel like I’m a real writer ’til I have one. Any takers??

AztecLady
October 21
1:36 am

Shirley said,

TG put in plenty of business side information to balance personal POV

My bad, I’m sure, but I didn’t see that.

How does it help other writers to say, “If you get a bad review as a debut author, your career is over; and if you get it as an established author, it may kill your creativity and make you want to slit your wrists”?

Writers do not have any way to affect any given reader’s reaction to their work. The only thing an author can control, once the book is out, is his/her reaction to reviews, to praise, to criticism, to sales numbers, to snubs, to fangrrrrrrrrrrl squeeing.

So going on and on about what a horrible thing “bad” reviews are? Not so much with the helpful, from where I sit.

Of course, I’m one of those “don’t write nor wanna” meanies, so what do I know?

Throwmearope
October 21
4:48 am

Jeez, I didn’t mean to start a sh*t storm. (Ducks.)

Seriously, in my field, if I mess up enough, I could get my ass sued off. IIRC, TG is also a physician and should be aware of the difference between a bad review and a lawsuit. So I thought then and think now that she ought to get over herself.

joanne
October 21
8:34 am

What is it with authors when it comes to reviews? What makes authors think that their craft is any more vulnerable to reviews, or that their craft is so much more difficult to judge by the public, than any other?

Did Robert Altman stop making movies after “Dr. T and the Women” got raked over the coals? Did he whine all over the web? If movie producers acted like such prima donnas, almost no horror movies would be made (not that I’d miss them).

Do playwrights and theater producers act as if no one who actually writes or produces plays has the right to judge their work? Does not the reaction or the opinion of the audience matter?

Should only painters or sculptors be allowed to judge the work of others who work in the same medium?

Ms. Gerritsen seems to be throwing a temper-tantrum, yet expecting everyone to genuflect at the altar of her literary greatness. Sorry, life doesn’t work that way.

If you’re a waitress, you get better tips if you do a good job and less or no tips if you do a poor one. If you’re an office clerk, your salary depends on your manager’s opinion of your work. If you’re a chef, no one will eat your food if it tastes bad, and they will tell everyone they know about it. Everyone, in every profession, has the quality of their work judged by people who do not do the exact same thing they do.

Grow up, Tess! You’re just a human being like the rest of us, no matter what your fangirls say.

Michelle
October 21
2:21 pm

She is simply sad and pathetic. She needs to learn that an author’s poor behaviour is much more likely to affect her career than a bad review. But how much more fun and satisfying to blame others.

veinglory
October 21
5:54 pm

Re: ‘what is it with authors’. I don’t think she is representing all authors. Or at least I don’t recall electing her Queen of the Scribblers during our last hive meeting.