When it comes to this blog, I usually speak out and there are times when I am very angry about the things that I say. So tonight, it seems that I’m going down that path again.
I received an e-mail the other night. I’m not going to say who it was from. This person alerted me to the fact that there has been some bullying going on on Goodreads and Amazon. I didn’t know who this person was but later on, I found out that this person took their information off Goodreads and the Amazon site mentions that there are people and trolls who are deliberately making false and hideous reviews on this person’s book. The reviews are false because they're not reading the book.
Then I went on Google and started reading more of this in Salon.Com and The Huffington Post. It seems that a woman was driven off of Goodreads in the same fashion. The story was that she was unhappy with a review and responded to that person. Evidently, she was bashed with hideous remarks from lots of people after that. One of the remarks was “you should be raped in prison.”
I feel disgusted at the sight of this, much less writing it. It makes me sick to my stomach. Part of me shouldn’t be surprised. This is the kind of stuff that has happened on Twitter. I’m sure people remember when Josh Thole was on and there were people who had nothing better to do with their lives but go on and bash him, saying things like “I hope you die.”
It’s hard to react to people who cross boundaries like this in order to say these hideous things. I like using the word hideous because that’s what it is though. It’s the kind of thing that is said and as a result, someone like Josh Thole leaves Twitter. The other people on Twitter are disappointed because they lost the opportunity to communicate with him, which I’m sure included many Mets fans.
When this happens, it spoils it for other people as well. It shouldn’t have to be like this. I like Twitter. There are a lot of good people on Twitter. The other night, I posted a review from one of John Sanford’s books and his son responded to me, thanking me for posting it but asking me why it took a major paper like the Washington Post so long to post the review. I enjoyed that. That’s the fun of being on Twitter yet when we have people like the one who chased Josh Thole off Twitter, then it spoils it for others who say “why should I be on Twitter? There are so many lunatics on there. Look at what happened to Josh Thole.”
Now Goodreads is getting this kind of reputation from a group of people who are nothing more than lunatics. It makes me furious. Why? I like Goodreads. It’s a great community. I joined it not because I want to meet more people online and ask them to read my books. I joined it because I liked the idea of being in a bookclub and communicating with other people about the books that we like or dislike. They have a lot of groups were you can read along with other people, giving you the feeling that you’re in a club and you can give your responses on the book you're reading on the message board.
In addition, you can discover new authors that you never heard of. For example, I’m in a Fantasy Group and two months ago, we read Monster Hunt International. I wanted to join this group because I wanted to find a great book to read in this category and I have a hard time finding one based on the book reviews. I would say that I loved this book and not only gave it five stars but wish I could give it more. And here is the best part. The author of the book, Larry Correia, was an Indie author. Yes, he put his book on the web and lots of people read it and today, more and more people are reading it.
As an Indie author, part me understands that a negative review is tough to take. But let’s face it, you can’t please everyone. Look at the reviews of authors who have big names. I read Linwood Barclay’s book, Trust Your Eyes, and thought it was one of the best books I read this year. Sure, there were a lot of people who agreed with me. Then there were others that didn’t like the book at all.
A few months ago, I read a book by another Indie Author. It was part of a group reading. The book opened with a graphic rape scene. I don’t like to quit on a book so I read a few more chapters and it only got worse. So I stopped reading it. I even called Amazon and they gave me my money back. Yes, there were some other people who felt the same way but there were others who liked the book.
I’m not saying that I’m defending the author that wrote that book. In fact, there are books on the mass market that have scenes like the one that I read which was much worse. One book is Steig Larsson’s The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. I didn’t like this book either.
Yes, authors are not always going to get the best reviews. Logically, if someone is interested in reading your book, you may say that person will never read my book because it has negative reviews. It may be a valid point but as a reader, I think you owe it to yourself to say that if you have an interest in reading a book and you’re stopping yourself because of some bad reviews, you may be missing out on a good book that you may like. Just because someone else didn’t like the book doesn’t mean that you’ll feel the same way. Who knows, you may discover the next indie author who will have a contract.
But when we have people who cross boundaries like the ones that I mentioned, it taints the whole process. For example, if you look in USA Today and read the reviews in the book section, you will find that they come from GoodReads. Now what will the editors of USA Today say if this continues. Suddenly, those reviews won't be on USA Today anymore because of a few people like the ones that I mentioned.
I received an e-mail the other night. I’m not going to say who it was from. This person alerted me to the fact that there has been some bullying going on on Goodreads and Amazon. I didn’t know who this person was but later on, I found out that this person took their information off Goodreads and the Amazon site mentions that there are people and trolls who are deliberately making false and hideous reviews on this person’s book. The reviews are false because they're not reading the book.
Then I went on Google and started reading more of this in Salon.Com and The Huffington Post. It seems that a woman was driven off of Goodreads in the same fashion. The story was that she was unhappy with a review and responded to that person. Evidently, she was bashed with hideous remarks from lots of people after that. One of the remarks was “you should be raped in prison.”
I feel disgusted at the sight of this, much less writing it. It makes me sick to my stomach. Part of me shouldn’t be surprised. This is the kind of stuff that has happened on Twitter. I’m sure people remember when Josh Thole was on and there were people who had nothing better to do with their lives but go on and bash him, saying things like “I hope you die.”
It’s hard to react to people who cross boundaries like this in order to say these hideous things. I like using the word hideous because that’s what it is though. It’s the kind of thing that is said and as a result, someone like Josh Thole leaves Twitter. The other people on Twitter are disappointed because they lost the opportunity to communicate with him, which I’m sure included many Mets fans.
When this happens, it spoils it for other people as well. It shouldn’t have to be like this. I like Twitter. There are a lot of good people on Twitter. The other night, I posted a review from one of John Sanford’s books and his son responded to me, thanking me for posting it but asking me why it took a major paper like the Washington Post so long to post the review. I enjoyed that. That’s the fun of being on Twitter yet when we have people like the one who chased Josh Thole off Twitter, then it spoils it for others who say “why should I be on Twitter? There are so many lunatics on there. Look at what happened to Josh Thole.”
Now Goodreads is getting this kind of reputation from a group of people who are nothing more than lunatics. It makes me furious. Why? I like Goodreads. It’s a great community. I joined it not because I want to meet more people online and ask them to read my books. I joined it because I liked the idea of being in a bookclub and communicating with other people about the books that we like or dislike. They have a lot of groups were you can read along with other people, giving you the feeling that you’re in a club and you can give your responses on the book you're reading on the message board.
In addition, you can discover new authors that you never heard of. For example, I’m in a Fantasy Group and two months ago, we read Monster Hunt International. I wanted to join this group because I wanted to find a great book to read in this category and I have a hard time finding one based on the book reviews. I would say that I loved this book and not only gave it five stars but wish I could give it more. And here is the best part. The author of the book, Larry Correia, was an Indie author. Yes, he put his book on the web and lots of people read it and today, more and more people are reading it.
As an Indie author, part me understands that a negative review is tough to take. But let’s face it, you can’t please everyone. Look at the reviews of authors who have big names. I read Linwood Barclay’s book, Trust Your Eyes, and thought it was one of the best books I read this year. Sure, there were a lot of people who agreed with me. Then there were others that didn’t like the book at all.
A few months ago, I read a book by another Indie Author. It was part of a group reading. The book opened with a graphic rape scene. I don’t like to quit on a book so I read a few more chapters and it only got worse. So I stopped reading it. I even called Amazon and they gave me my money back. Yes, there were some other people who felt the same way but there were others who liked the book.
I’m not saying that I’m defending the author that wrote that book. In fact, there are books on the mass market that have scenes like the one that I read which was much worse. One book is Steig Larsson’s The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. I didn’t like this book either.
Yes, authors are not always going to get the best reviews. Logically, if someone is interested in reading your book, you may say that person will never read my book because it has negative reviews. It may be a valid point but as a reader, I think you owe it to yourself to say that if you have an interest in reading a book and you’re stopping yourself because of some bad reviews, you may be missing out on a good book that you may like. Just because someone else didn’t like the book doesn’t mean that you’ll feel the same way. Who knows, you may discover the next indie author who will have a contract.
But when we have people who cross boundaries like the ones that I mentioned, it taints the whole process. For example, if you look in USA Today and read the reviews in the book section, you will find that they come from GoodReads. Now what will the editors of USA Today say if this continues. Suddenly, those reviews won't be on USA Today anymore because of a few people like the ones that I mentioned.
The next thing you know, the authors that have big names will look at this and say "I don’t want to be part of this community either." Could you blame them? Other people in the community will feel the same way. Who wants to hear that people are being abused because they wrote a book. Who wants to hear that people are being abused if they have a disagreement with someone on Goodreads or Twitter and the next thing you know, the argument creates hideous remarks.
As a result, we’re back to Josh Thole and the authors on Goodreads who are being based and abused by people who have nothing better to do with their lives but criticize others with these hideous remarks.
We don’t need to hear this kind of thing anymore. I think a lot of people are tired of it. I know I am. I think a lot of people would agree with me when I say that we would like the people who make these hideous remarks to do all of us a favor and shut up.
Rick Holman
As a result, we’re back to Josh Thole and the authors on Goodreads who are being based and abused by people who have nothing better to do with their lives but criticize others with these hideous remarks.
We don’t need to hear this kind of thing anymore. I think a lot of people are tired of it. I know I am. I think a lot of people would agree with me when I say that we would like the people who make these hideous remarks to do all of us a favor and shut up.
Rick Holman