On Drama
You know how bookworms have this reputation for being quiet, demure, shy people? Usually women, with thick glasses and a school-girl type style? Yeah that’s the biggest crock of bullshit ever. Trust me. I speak as someone with incredibly thick glasses.
One might be persuaded into thinking that because bookworms are, understandably, well read, the book community is rather calm when it comes to discourse. One might think that, but one would be very, very wrong. Here’s the thing: people of all kinds like to read. That means that all kinds of opinions and personality types make their way into the bookish community. Generally, all are welcome. The exceptions are fairly obvious (bullying, hate speech, discrimination, etc.), but that doesn’t mean they don’t rear their heads.
All that is to say, I’m not surprised that we’ve had yet another instance of an author lashing out at a reviewer for an unkind review.
Let me be perfectly clear as both an author and a reader: that kind of behavior has no place in the bookish community. You, as an author, have zero control over the reception of your work. Once you publicize, that’s it. It’s out of your hands. You have no right to lash out at the very people that are giving your work their time and energy, even if they hate it. Unless someone is attacking you personally outside of your career as an author, threatening your safety, or the safety of your circle, then stay out of it. Let reviewers and readers have their space.
As not-surprised as I am that this has happened yet again (and will continue to happen. The war between the artist and the critic has existed since the dawn of time), I can’t say that I’m not disappointed. I am. Very. Situations like this make me fearful as both an author and a reader; afraid that people will be reluctant to engage with my work because they don’t know how I’ll react if they don’t like it, and afraid that I’ll anger someone if I’m honest with my opinions. It’s a terrible position to put anyone in, and shame on the authors that are using their platforms to belittle and (let’s be honest here) bully reviewers who often have much smaller followings.
Social media is a powerful tool and unfortunately, this is one example of people using it irresponsibly. If you read a negative review and it upsets you, then I’m sorry. I can sympathize with the despair of putting your heart and soul into something only to have someone tell you that you shouldn’t have bothered. It sucks. You’re allowed to hurt over it. You’re allowed to cry over it. Hell, you’re even allowed to curse that person in the privacy of your own home. What you’re not allowed to do is drag that person’s name through the mud, putting a target on their backs for all of your fans to find, simply because they disagreed with you. The world doesn’t work like that.
And to anyone out there who regularly reads and reviews books from indie authors, thank you. Thank you, and please don’t stop what you’re doing. For every asshole author out there ready to lash out at the slightest criticism, there are a hundred more who are ready to cry their eyes out in gratitude for giving them a chance (guess which one I am).
(I really hope you didn’t guess the first one)
