And the fun continues. . . This time an author calls the reviewer a b*tch and encourages her fans, via Twitter, to go to this reviewer's Goodreads page and "like" all the four and five-star reviews. She didn't have to tell them to leave a few flames while they were there. Here's the link to the original GR post and the ensuing crapstorm. I'm sorry to be devoting two entire posts to this, but it's like I just landed on Mars or something. I knew there were whiny authors out there; Anne Rice has been famous for complaining about negative reviews for at least the last 30 years. I just had no idea there were writers, supposed professionals, who would go to such great lengths to trash people who didn't like their books. My concern is not for myself as I step hesitantly into authorland, but more for the utter lack of civility and maturity that exists in the publishing world. It makes it hard to know whom to trust as one makes connections and forms friendships with other writers. It seems to me that an author this petty and childish isn't somebody I can trust, nor would they be somebody I'd want to have coffee with. How can I know that some of the vitriol directed at a reader wouldn't also be directed at myself? I don't really want to be walking around the publishing universe worrying about where the next knife in my back will be coming from.
I have written far harsher reviews than "Wendy"'s and have been flamed a couple of times by other GR posters, but I have, thankfully, managed to fly under the radar of any authors. I admit I keep a pretty low profile over there, though. I thought "Wendy"'s objections to Cass's book were thoughtfully written, and she supported all of her assertions with passages from the book. After struggling valiantly through 168 pages, she was criticized for not finishing. Most readers give up after 20 or 30 pages; "Wendy" only continued reading so she could write a more objective and thoughtful review. A book this poorly thought out, with dialogue and description this *facepalm*ingly cheesy for the first 168 pages isn't suddenly going to become awesome at page 169, so the flames for not finishing the book were completely groundless.
That same week, another Amazon review gets some underhanded treatment (brief explanation here) from the author and her fans. There are references to the author having apologized in the OP's comments, but one gets the impression that it was a less than gracious one, justified, in the author's mind, by having had her feelings hurt over a negative review. Call the waaaaaambulance. EVerybody gets bad reviews.
My problem is with sockpuppeting and flaming of dissenters being treated by authors as if it were perfectly normal and justifiable as they invite family, friends and fans to join the dogpile. Again, I refer you to the final paragraphs of this article from the UK's Guardian.
Here are two much more balanced views on the subject: one from Veronica Roth at YA Highway on the ambiguity of the dynamics of the author-reviewer relationship, and a very contrite one from Hannah Moskowitz, who is obviously embarrassed at the nursery-school behavior of her fellow writers. Hannah's post contains sentence enhancers, so consider yourself warned.
Finally, a few words from Neil Gaiman: Scroll past the top paragraphs about The Venerable Bede to get to the advice on how to reply to bad reviews. Among other things, he writes: "I suspect that most authors don't really want criticism, not even constructive criticism. They want straight-out, unabashed, unashamed, fulsome, informed, naked praise, arriving by shipload every fifteen minutes or so."
And:
"When you publish a book -- when you make art -- people are free to say what they want about it. You can't tell people they liked a book they didn't like, and there is, in the end, no arguing with personal taste. Different people like different things. Best to move on and make good art as best you can instead of arguing." In other words, how to reply to bad reviews? Don't. How to react to bad reviews? Here's help from Kingsley Amis: "A bad review might spoil your breakfast, but you shouldn't let it spoil your lunch."
Next week: Thoughts on the writing of reviews.
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