A cautionary tale: An author confronts her #1 critic

[Nerds_feather]

My husband regularly takes months to read a book. It's because he pays attention. Anyway, a reviewer can write what they like. They are the audience. People can walk out of Waiting for Godot and say nothing happened whilst another can get to the end and call it a marvel of wit and satire. A reader can say it took me eight months to read the book because it didn't hold my attention.

THIS. Readers are under no obligation to like or mince words about a book they read. I personally do try to be fair, and don't do "hate reviewing." But if a writer (or director or artist or game developer) thinks they are entitled to praise alone, they are in the wrong business.

 

[SFBookclub]

must be tough pouring your soul into a book only to see people trash it because they didnt enjoy it. So it would seem a tough skin is a handy thing for a writer to have :-(

 

[Hex]

must be tough pouring your soul into a book only to see people trash it because they didnt enjoy it. So it would seem a tough skin is a handy thing for a writer to have :-(

Totally and utterly this. It must be awful. I hated agent rejections and they weren't even personal.

But there is a difference between feeling ghastly and hurt and furious and reacting publicly. I think it's one of the problems of social media, the way you can instantly broadcast your feelings to the world when you're hurting and before you've had a chance to think it through.

 

[Ray McCarthy]

Always log out, don't learn the password and keep your password address book in a locked drawer.
Actually I think it's madness to put any real or personal information on Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, Tumbler, Youtube, Google+ or Linkedin. Bunch of exploitive parasites.

 

[ratsy]

I can't wait to have a book out there that the public can bash!!

This was a disturbing article, and she really went over the edge. If someone stoops to that low of a level to cyber attacking an author, then ignoring them would probably be the best solution. How long would she have harassed the author if she never spoke back to her?

This kind of thing just reiterates why I like the Chrons so much. The rest of the internet is out to get you, but not here...most of the time

 

[Nerds_feather]

I can't wait to have a book out there that the public can bash!!

This was a disturbing article, and she really went over the edge. If someone stoops to that low of a level to cyber attacking an author, then ignoring them would probably be the best solution. How long would she have harassed the author if she never spoke back to her?

This kind of thing just reiterates why I like the Chrons so much. The rest of the internet is out to get you, but not here...most of the time

All very good points. I completely agree.

 

[tinkerdan]

Authors are like everyone else ; they have certain triggers. They don't always have thick skins.
It goes further than direct attacks as some have websites from which they criticize the critique and place a link so that their fans might do all the dirty work.
In fact my group might never have known about one such critique of a critique had not the troll arrived and attacked the author of the original critique.
We eventually removed the critique because we were concerned that it was being used to advertise for the author.

 

[Foxbat]

Perhaps authors should spend some time doing live performances - that would thicken up their skins. In the years I played in bands, I had many people tell me how much they enjoyed the gig but also had others tell me how awful it was (to my face!).

If you think it hurts in print, or online, try standing there while somebody tears you apart and looks you in the eye while they do it. Fair play to them for their honesty but it hurts like hell.

You either soon learn that you can't please everybody or you crawl into a hole and never come out again.

 

[Jo Zebedee]

Get loads of betas right from the stage when you're writing is very, very bad...

 

[Chel]

I suspect adrenalin rush.

 

[psychotick]

Hi,

I think that no one here truly appreciates the problems that this brave author has exposed for the world to see. The time and effort required to hunt down your one star reviewers. You guys simply don't seem to get the level of energy needed to properly harass these people. Honestly some weeks I'm spending so much time doing it that I barely have time left to write!

I think we should start a support fund for authors so that they can more properly - and forcefully - engage with their detractors! (And maybe a legal defence fund too!)

Cheers, Greg.

 

[Nerds_feather]

Hi,

I think that no one here truly appreciates the problems that this brave author has exposed for the world to see. The time and effort required to hunt down your one star reviewers. You guys simply don't seem to get the level of energy needed to properly harass these people. Honestly some weeks I'm spending so much time doing it that I barely have time left to write!

I think we should start a support fund for authors so that they can more properly - and forcefully - engage with their detractors! (And maybe a legal defence fund too!)

Cheers, Greg.

Haha this cracked me up. Yes, we should really think about her sacrifices!

 

[Ursa major]

Yes, we should really think about her sacrifices!

Doesn't it depend on who she's sacrificing...?

​

 

[anthorn]

Kathleen Hale is just plain crazy. Stalking, obtaining information illegally, lying to publishers etc is NOT OKAY. This is not the first time she has done something like this.


And the first time she was congratulated by her mother for obtaining information from private files, cyber bullying the person, and pouring peroxide over the girl in the cinema.