hmmmm

okay so let's say last year there was a big online kerfuffle. All about a writer who was perhaps abusing the ratings system at an online store. Big, big stuff.

And let's say you're a snarky writer who got offended by the whole thing....and you make a remark out on the interwebs that you probably shouldn't have. No, you definitely should have stayed quiet.

So time has passed. Before all this started you published a couple of books under your name. Of course not everyone likes those books, but still you're sort of oh, bummer about the fact that the books have a pretty poor rating over at goodreads. Oh well, you say. Tough noogies.

More time passes. You're supposed to write a synopsis but instead you do all sorts of things to avoid doing that, including updating profiles everywhere including goodreads.

And as you're doing that, you look at your own books to see if anyone's read them lately and if the ratings have gone up...and hey....

you finallynotice that two of the three 1-2 star ratings were done on the same day by two different people. Just about the time you made the remark. And that all three of those crappy ratings were posted by friends of the author you talked about.

So what do you do? You shut up. You think. Hmmm. Passive-aggressive is pretty hard to prove, that's why passive-aggressive is something that can work. It could be an amazing coincidence.

But you're also annoyed people might be putting up a rating for a writer's books that's a reflection of their opinion of the person and not the books (a complaint which, if one stops to think about it, is a nice change of pace. Usually authors are offended because they don't want to hear about their lives. The deal is the BOOK is what MATTERs and LEAVE me OUT of the equation.)

And then you passively aggressively post about it in your blog.

Comments

  1. I would say they suck big money balls, of course in a very passive aggressive way.

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  2. I would say, "Ahhh, the 'clickies' strike again--and they've found a new forum to abuse."

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  3. heh. I'd suck money balls too if I could.

    Hi Kristina!

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  4. Anonymous8:37 PM

    Sorry this happened to you. Wish I could say I was surprised.

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  5. they posted YEARS after the books came out so it can't affect sales. I discovered and got annoyed by it today...but the fact of it is old, old news -- the ratings were posted months ago. But nothing dies, ever, out here in web-land

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  6. If these folks don't have enough to do, I've got some floors that need cleaning. I can't believe how parochial this all is.

    (And I, too, am in a bit of a kerfuffle, although mine is more close to home. Gah, the power of the interwebs).

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  7. The more time they waste composing vindictive reviews, the less they have to write books.
    Who's that hurting?

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  8. The problem with this whole interweb business is that people tend to think what they say is safe, but, unlike gossip in a small town, the town has become huge and you can never tell who is listening or reading what, and how they will strike back, if they are so moved.

    I keep remembering what Thumper's mom told him in Bambi (great reference there). If you can't say nothin' nice, don't say nothin' at all.
    True, true.

    This goes for everyone. Everywhere.

    And, you have to take into consideration that there are weird folks out there....

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