Yet Another Reason Not to Diss Reviewers

lizmonster

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I don’t know how to feel about this. Clearly snarking about a 4-star review is excessive. But for the publisher to drop the book? Given all the badly-behaving authors out there, this doesn’t seem to make sense.

I feel like the coverage is leaving something out.
 

mrsmig

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I'm wondering if they not only dropped the author, but pulled the book. Its listing on Amazon shows it as "currently unavailable."

The reaction does seem a bit extreme on the part of the publisher. Still, an interesting object lesson on how not to react to an "unfavorable" review.
 

lizmonster

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I'm wondering if they not only dropped the author, but pulled the book. Its listing on Amazon shows it as "currently unavailable."

Sparkpress describes themselves as a "hybrid publisher." I didn't find a Bewares page here on them, but that casts a slightly different light on things, I think.

Still, an interesting object lesson on how not to react to an "unfavorable" review.

This is why I stay away from reviews as much as possible. :)
 

AstronautMikeDexter

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One of the comments on the article seems to be from the person who left the four-star review (of course, that can't be confirmed). But she says the author doxxed her? Which, if that's true, even more yikes - it makes me understand more why the publisher may have dropped her.

The whole thing just comes across as so immature. It's astounding.
 
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lizmonster

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One of the comments on the article seems to be from the person who left the four-star review (of course, that can't be confirmed). But she says the author doxxed her? Which, if that's true, even more yikes - it makes me understand more why the publisher may have dropped her.

The whole thing just comes across as so immature. It's astounding.

It does read very like a high school argument, doesn't it? But enough for the publisher to feel like canceling the book was less of a financial hit than moving forward with it.
 
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Sonsofthepharaohs

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I don't know whether the snark was intended to be tongue in cheek and didn't come across that way (as she claims) or whether it was a knee jerk reaction she later regretted and tried to claim was in jest. But either way, it was a pretty dumb move. Responding to a review is risky even when you do it courteously, but to result to name calling is so unprofessional. I can see why the publisher dropped her, if I'm honest.

What concerns me most about this story is the coordinated response of social media land. Sure, people have a right to express their views, but the way a negative reaction can have a snowball effect is pretty scary. Once the pile on starts, it's impossible to halt it.

This is why I stay away from twitter and tiktok :LOL:
 

mrsmig

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I wonder if there's a "termination for misbehavior" clause in the publisher's contract. One finds that more and more in talent contracts.

Sample:

Termination for Misbehavior. If you have committed, or shall commit, any act, or have or become involved in any situation or occurrence (collectively, the “Act”) tending to bring you into public disrepute, contempt, scandal or ridicule, or tending to shock, insult or offend the people of this nation or any class or group thereof, or reflecting unfavorably upon our reputation, our brands or our products and services, then we shall have the right to immediately terminate this Agreement. In the event of such termination, no further compensation shall be due Talent except for amounts already due. For purposes of calculating what may be due, the fee shall be pro rated based on days elapsed of the Term prior to New Avon’s final use of Materials. Our decision on all matters arising under this paragraph shall be conclusive.
 

lizmonster

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The publisher's package costs 10k. And, sure, the cover looks nice, but it's still wildly expensive. Having your book pulled when you paid that much is pretty shitty.

Without seeing the contract, we don't know she's out the money. And honestly, for me, this being a vanity publisher makes the whole thing feel very different.
 

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If it's true that the author based it on her own experience, then she's been through trauma (surely starting well before it escalated to abduction). She probably has an emotional hair-trigger, and no good role models or scripts for how to deal with conflict.

Her response was clearly out of line. But the pile-on, and the assumptions about what she's like that would lead her to do it ("dumb," "immature") seem to me thoughtlessly cruel and lacking in empathy.

When someone is behaving that out-of-proportion, the best thing to do is be the grownup in the room and not get reactive. Her actions warranted a mild "Wow, okay," not a social media feeding frenzy.
 

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What caught my eye in the article was her career as a commercial producer and that the book had been optioned (for film, I presume.) Those sorts of things in a bio/etc (coincidences, connections, and so on) always make me feel like books are picked up for the connections of the author. Hybrid press or not. That had a person with no connections in the industry written the thing, it might not have found a publisher (Hybrid or not.)

Maybe the film option went up in smoke as a result of the storm, and the publisher's financial calculation shifted.
 

BabyBoomer

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I am very perplexed.
It's not the first time that Publishers, I have large networks of Films and TV series, decide the destinies of authors etc, based solely on the screams coming from social media.
I don't think it's correct, it doesn't matter if a product is good, social networks say no, and all your work should be trashed.
I'll be me, I'm too old, but I have the impression that the number of followers matters more than the quality of a product.

I am always happier not to advertise my books, and to write them under a false name..

social media can be a wonderful tool, of help, and solidarity, but instead they are used very badly.
 
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lizmonster

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What caught my eye in the article was her career as a commercial producer and that the book had been optioned (for film, I presume.) Those sorts of things in a bio/etc (coincidences, connections, and so on) always make me feel like books are picked up for the connections of the author. Hybrid press or not. That had a person with no connections in the industry written the thing, it might not have found a publisher (Hybrid or not.)

Connections matter, sure, and I expect are what got this thing a film option. (The terminology in the article is fuzzy here - the publisher apparently claims production is scheduled? But an option isn't the same as committing to a film. Options are common.)

And if this is really a "hybrid" publisher, there was nothing magic about the author landing the deal apart from her $10K check.

Like I said: I feel like there's information missing.
 

Sonsofthepharaohs

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If it's true that the author based it on her own experience, then she's been through trauma (surely starting well before it escalated to abduction). She probably has an emotional hair-trigger, and no good role models or scripts for how to deal with conflict.
That may be true. But it's also not a reason to excuse it. When someone behaves badly, do we ignore it because they might not know any better, or do we point out that the behaviour needs correction? I agree the response to her response was disproportionate, but that doesn't make her response ok. And it doesn't make the objections to it invalid.
Her response was clearly out of line. But the pile-on, and the assumptions about what she's like that would lead her to do it ("dumb," "immature") seem to me thoughtlessly cruel and lacking in empathy.
No, it's a valid judgement. The judgement doesn't require us to know the reasons for the behaviour. That's not what is being evaluated. Only the behaviour.
When someone is behaving that out-of-proportion, the best thing to do is be the grownup in the room and not get reactive. Her actions warranted a mild "Wow, okay," not a social media feeding frenzy.
This, we agree on.
 
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Am I the only one who can't imagine complaining about a 4 star review? I'd love one of those 😍(if my book were out).

I don't know if the author meant the original comment as a joke or not, but maybe a better joke would've been something like 'aw where's my fifth star?' Keep it light and maybe don't call people bitches.

I know what Meg means about the emotional hair-trigger. That's understandable when the author has written a deeply personal book, but of course the reader feels no obligation to tip-toe around it, if they're even aware of it. And I agree that social media pile-ons are rarely justified.

Doxxing is pretty bad, if she did that. And 10k sounds like... a lot.
 

neandermagnon

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Based on what I've seen of internet dramas over the years - what you get to see as an outsider is never the whole story because there's likely to have been other stuff going on behind the scenes. Also, toxic people lie, gaslight others and play the victim - carefully crafting their side of the story, while honest, professional people keep stuff private that should be kept private so might not even be able to present the whole story from their side on a public platform. And as an outsider, it can be very hard to tell whether either party (or both, or neither) is behaving or has behaved in toxic ways, particularly in terms of day to day interactions prior to the event that caused everything to blow up on the internet. Hence I would hesitate to jump to any conclusions about anyone in situations like these.
 

Meg

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That may be true. But it's also not a reason to excuse it. When someone behaves badly, do we ignore it because they might not know any better, or do we point out that the behaviour needs correction? I agree the response to her response was disproportionate, but that doesn't make her response ok. And it doesn't make the objections to it invalid.
I don't think this is a fair reading of what I said.
 

ChaseJxyz

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lol when I was reading the article once it said it was based on her real-life experience my immediate thought was "oh did she take whatever the criticism was personally? That anything negative was an attack on her experience?" And, obviously, that is what happened. What happened to her is fucking awful! I'm sure she's super traumatized by her parents paying to have her kidnapped and tortured! And I'm sure anyone saying anything negative about the story so closely based on those experiences hurt!

But part of being an artist is separating yourself from the art. A criticism of the art is not a criticism of you, irregardless of how closely the art matches your lived reality. As a comedian, she should understand that. Someone saying your joke about your life sucks doesn't mean that your life sucks or you as a person suck. It just means your joke was not very good.

The fact that a vanity press dropped her even though it already took her money is extremely funny, though. I hope they don't give it back to her (sometimes mistakes are expensive but that's how you learn)
 

Sonsofthepharaohs

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But part of being an artist is separating yourself from the art. A criticism of the art is not a criticism of you, irregardless of how closely the art matches your lived reality. As a comedian, she should understand that. Someone saying your joke about your life sucks doesn't mean that your life sucks or you as a person suck. It just means your joke was not very good.
Exactly. And if receiving feedback on a book that is so personal to you hurts, then maybe... don't put it out there for the world's opinion?
 

lizmonster

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I just struggle a bit with a publisher dropping someone for responding badly to a review, when there are authors out there who are objectively far, far more horrible, and outspoken about it.

I know this is all about the money, and undoubtedly there's something in the contract spelling out what the publisher has to do to back out.

I'm still leaning toward "publicity stunt" though.