Misbehaving author number.... I've lost count

Off-topic from the behavior issue, this is what boggles me (and also makes me extremely leery about the categorization of ebooks): the author is publicizing the fact that his book (apparently a mystery or thriller, definitely fiction) is number one in the NON-fiction, technical legal category of "conflict of law" (which is jargon for situations where a court needs to decide which jurisdiction's law applies to a situation, where two or more jurisdictions might apply, and the laws are substantially different). Anyone who actually knows what "conflict of law" is, and is looking for a book on that topic, would NOT have any reason to be interested in fiction, and on the very odd chance that they do want to read a fictional account of the subject, it does not appear that the book has anything to do with the legal meaning of the phrase.

I absolutely think this is the case. Before, authors would have to address the reviewer through their publication (because the lay-reader didn't have a public forum for their opinion either) or the phonebook. Now every reader potentially has a public forum to give their opinion. With this capability of the lay-reader having a voice comes the realization that the author is actually a person...not just the brain behind the words behind the publishing world's iron curtain. ;-)I always read my reviews. I NEVER comment on them and this policy will always be unbending. It's been easy so far. Every review has been CRAZY good.

I don't think authors should ignore reviews, but I do think they should read them and move on.

Twitter's a pretty good place to commit career suicide too, if you're that way inclined.

Pretty good chance your publisher will see it and blacklist you, without anyone having to snitch on you. If it's in public, anyone can see it -- and that includes those with the power of life and death over your career prospects.

Mostly what I'm getting from that thread is that people who are supposedly authors don't have a clue how the amazon rating system works.

scarletpeaches said:

Twitter's a pretty good place to commit career suicide too, if you're that way inclined.

Pretty good chance your publisher will see it and blacklist you, without anyone having to snitch on you. If it's in public, anyone can see it -- and that includes those with the power of life and death over your career prospects.

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I'd certainly wash your twitter mouth out with soap! ;-)

Shut your baboonhole, Kevin.

Internet for the uninformed.

Doesn't just ruin authors. If you're gonna post public, you gotta have thick skin. A punchbag nearby sometimes helps. Or a pile of spare keyboards. If it's too much to ask, don't even try.

On a more serious note.

It's not the internet, it's the user - as with so many things. A professional knows how to act and react. This often involves common sense and some experience. Someone who 'claims' to be a professional does stupid things and doesn't know how to handle the consequences.

I personally think the internet is a good thing (the best is probably word processors) for authors if they use it correctly. If not, it's a time bomb just waiting to go off.

I've tended to believe that the internet makes people more stupid in general. In terms of actions anyway. But yes, I think the ability to make a hasty choice in the heat of an emotional moment does increase the odds. Before you'd have had to write a letter, look up an address (if you could find it), and so on. Probably before you ever got that far you'd end up ranting to a loved one and then look back on that letter and think, "Wow, that's kind of a dumb idea. Maybe I shouldn't do that after all."

But I thought whatever was said on the internet was just pretend stuff. It's not like it's real is it?

seun said:

But I thought whatever was said on the internet was just pretend stuff. It's not like it's real is it?

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Got that wrong, bub. Everything said on the internet is real and true.

kaitie said:

I've tended to believe that the internet makes people more stupid in general.....

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after some of the spam shit well-intentioned relatives send me, I'm inclined to agree. We now have access to the world's biggest library, and the end result seems to be 20 IQ points shaved off the populace as they pass along tidbits from deep thinkers like Glenn Beck, The Situation, etc....

KTC said:

Got that wrong, bub. Everything said on the internet is real and true.

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Damn it, Kev. You misread my withering sarcasm as me being serious. You swine.

kaitie said:

I've tended to believe that the internet makes people more stupid in general.

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It's the rule of inverse.

Once you get more than 3 people together, their collective IQ drops proportionate to the inverse of the number. As the Internet is the largest collective / hive mind / angry mob in existence, the Internet IQ is hovering somewhere between amoeba and plankton.

scarletpeaches said:

Twitter's a pretty good place to commit career suicide too, if you're that way inclined.

Pretty good chance your publisher will see it and blacklist you, without anyone having to snitch on you. If it's in public, anyone can see it -- and that includes those with the power of life and death over your career prospects.

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I have yet to get in on a good Twitter-author losing their shit moment.

I think the internet is only an obstacle for authors who tend to be a little impulsive (or very impulsive). Or crazy.
I there are way more good things about the internet than the bad for writers, potential writers, and even established writers who have a wide fan base.

The ease of communication - I mean, I found out Neil Gaimon was on Ferguson through Twitter. I never would have known he was going to be there otherwise. Until the next day, when it was reported how goshdarn funny it all was. And then I'd be all sad and stuff.

Where was I going with this?

Oh - internet: good for normal human authors with good impulse control.

Internet: bad for nutjobs.

bettielee said:

Internet: bad for nutjobs.

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Oh crap. (But I agree with you about impulse control)

bettielee said:

I have yet to get in on a good Twitter-author losing their shit moment.

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You missed yourself earlier this week, then. An AWer who hasn't posted on the site in a while managed to get herself blacklisted by more than one erotic romance epublisher when she did indeed 'lose her shit'.

I'm not saying this to gossip -- I'm saying this to emphasise how big the internet is, yet how small. It's a village in some respects. In this industry (erom epubs I mean), everyone knows someone over in that publisher, or has heard about this or that author...and to meltdown on a publicly-viewable website is just the height of idiocy.

Or depth, I should say.

seun said:

Damn it, Kev. You misread my withering sarcasm as me being serious. You swine.

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No I didn't. I simply took advantage of it to say the opposite, which is what I knew you meant. I am the great Kevlar...mind reader extraordinaire!

scarletpeaches said:

You missed yourself earlier this week, then. An AWer who hasn't posted on the site in a while managed to get herself blacklisted by more than one erotic romance epublisher when she did indeed 'lose her shit'.

I'm not saying this to gossip -- I'm saying this to emphasise how big the internet is, yet how small. It's a village in some respects. In this industry (erom epubs I mean), everyone knows someone over in that publisher, or has heard about this or that author...and to meltdown on a publicly-viewable website is just the height of idiocy.

Or depth, I should say.

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*secretly wants a link*

Sometimes it's really clear that people do not understand how the internet works. How social networking works. How word of mouth works.

It's sad, really.

megan_d said:

Does anyone else think that the internet and especially sites like goodreads are making instances like this more common?

I imagine that in pre-internet days it would have been much harder for an author to make an idiot out of him/herself.

Of course, it's not like the internet is holding a gun to anybody's head and forcing them to look bad...

The internet: best or worst thing to ever happen to authors?

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Absolutely more common. It's the equivalent of a tape recorder. Very dangerous to spew what may seem like a good idea at the time. Permanent evidence of spew.

But like others have said, if you conduct yourself in a moderate fashion and take the time to consider first in an emotional situation before clicking "SUBMIT REPLY", you'll be fine. You're allowed to be human.

Also, on the subject of inappropriate promotion of books, MY book.... <content deleted by author>

Back in the good ol' days...

...when authors behaved badly in public with grace & wit & bodily fluids. It was back in '97 when the Great Rushdie-Le Carre-Htichens Flamewar erupted in the Guardian. I was living in Prague & I'd go down to the British Council to loiter & read free newspapers. There was some series on Le Carre I'd read and the next thing I knew here was a letter to the editor from Salman Rushdie. Le Carre had commented on free speech & Rushdie, to the effect that someone else (the Japanese editor, iirc) paid the price for Rushdie's free speech.

Well, it was on like donkey kong. S*** went down & Rushdie was ready to cut a bee-yotch. You can read it here:

http://www.rjgeib.com/thoughts/burning/le-carre-vs-rushdie.html

The opening line of Hitchens' letter was the A+ funniest letter I have ever read on an editorial page. Urine? Hats? Twitter that!

scarletpeaches said:

You missed yourself earlier this week, then. An AWer who hasn't posted on the site in a while managed to get herself blacklisted by more than one erotic romance epublisher when she did indeed 'lose her shit'.

I'm not saying this to gossip -- I'm saying this to emphasise how big the internet is, yet how small. It's a village in some respects. In this industry (erom epubs I mean), everyone knows someone over in that publisher, or has heard about this or that author...and to meltdown on a publicly-viewable website is just the height of idiocy.

Or depth, I should say.

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Wow, I miss everything.

It didn't happen here. It was on Twitter. People started exchanging links on Facebook, it spread, editors from various publishers got to hear of it...now her career's fucked.

Moral of the story? DON'T LOSE YOUR SHIT IN PUBLIC.

scarletpeaches said:

It didn't happen here. It was on Twitter. People started exchanging links on Facebook, it spread, editors from various publishers got to hear of it...now her career's fucked.

Moral of the story? DON'T LOSE YOUR SHIT IN PUBLIC.

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Train wreck interesting stuff never happens when I cruise by Twitter. And this seems like a doozy.

Goodreads has actually started posting a fairly pointed warning when authors try to respond to reviews of their books - a sort of "do you really want to do this? 'Cause it generally doesn't go too well," thing.

But I guess it doesn't do much to discourage authors from posting in other areas of the site...