By Cindi:

You read the title of the blog post and immediately thought “Here we go again” right? Yes, I am very aware of all the various posts scattered all over the internet about the exact same thing. Will our post be different from the others? Who knows? All I do know is that this is something that has bugged the hell out of both Kazza and me lately and after a couple of recent incidents we knew we had to throw out our own two-cents.

What is with people these days? I’ve written posts about inconsiderate and rude readers before but not much about rude authors. This blog strives towards positive feedback and critiques, both in our reviews and our own personal comments. We may not always like an author’s book but never have you seen us attack the writer personally. Reviews are opinions and we don’t always share the same ones. But there are some who don’t deserve our kindness and believe me, I’m about to tell you why whether you want to read it or not. This will also touch on readers as well but the main focus at the moment is for authors.

For authors:

Do like or comment on reviews.  Some authors don’t interact with readers for various reasons, which is their prerogative. BUT if you agree with the picture to the right of screen, if you have ever posted one like it, if you have ever asked for support yourself as an author then supporting reviewers in return, being appreciative is a pretty good idea.

Don’t attack a reviewer because you don’t like what they have to say about your book. I can read something and love it and my blog partner may read the same thing and hate it. That’s life. If we all shared the same views the world would be boring as hell. If you have something bad to say in regards to a review do it privately… or better yet say nothing at all. Attacking a reader (as I’ve seen a number of authors do recently.. .which is the purpose of this post) makes you, the author, look bad. If I see an author arguing with a reader it is a safe bet that I will never read that author’s work again regardless of who he/she is or how much I’ve loved that author’s work in the past. A good example occurred recently. A reader was pretty harsh in a review and an author went off on this person. Not only went off on him but described in detail why he thought this particular reader was an idiot.  This same author told another reviewer that the day he or she (the reviewer) publishes a book is the day that his or her opinion will matter.  I’ve read this author’s work before and I have a couple of his books on my Kindle as I type this. Now? I will chalk those two books up as a mistake and not read them. The unread books were deleted from my Goodreads shelves. No way in hell will I support an author who calls readers idiots. Believe me, had the time not expired on doing so, I would have been demanding a refund for those two books.

Don’t type ranting blog posts naming names. This also makes you look bad and I assure you that this will come back to bite you in the end whether from your sales dropping or others jumping in to defend the person you are ranting about. It will get nasty. I’ve seen this happen many times. Do you seriously want to be brought into an angry debate with a complete stranger? Let it go. Seriously.

I have a book on standby that I have committed to read for a publisher. It was written by one of those “authors who behaves badly” and I will forever kick myself for requesting it. This person made a snide comment to my blog partner awhile back so it’s a given that I am no longer a fan of this person even though I’ve been a huge fan for as long as I can remember and even have a shelf on Goodreads dedicated to this person. I will read the book when the time comes and I will review it fairly regardless of how I feel about the author. It is, however, a good bet that I will never read another by this writer. My apologies to Kazza K for committing to read it. I know you are okay with it but I’m not.

For readers:

Don’t review or rate a book you haven’t read. For some reason there is a small group of people who get off on attacking authors this way. Why is that? Do you think that people really care that you formed an opinion of an author because of gossip? Read the book and then your opinion might matter. Until then, go away. I have seen two of my favorites get one-star reviews for books that had not even been published yet and then this person, who seems to think that others are eager to read his/her thoughts, types a long review about why they won’t read the book and why they hate the author. Did I mention these readers have never actually read anything by these authors? I avoid attention whores on Facebook and in real life. Apparently Goodreads has given them another medium.

Do be fair when you type reviews. If you don’t like a book that does not give you the right to attack an author personally because of it. State why you didn’t like the book and do it fairly. You just read an author’s baby that he or she worked hard on. There is no need to be nasty in regards to the book or who wrote it.

For authors and readers:

Don’t tell a reader that their opinion is wrong and then go on to explain why… publicly. We don’t care if you are the author, the author’s friend or beta or whatever. We have formed an opinion on what we just read and it angers us when someone tries to lay out all the reasons why we are wrong in our assessment of the book. And for God’s sake, if you don’t know what you are talking about how about saying nothing? I’d love to give examples but I won’t. That would be attacking authors and readers and I made it clear that this blog does not do that. If you… the author… feels that we misinterpreted something by all means contact us privately but do not turn it into something public. Our contact information is at the right side of our blog entitled contact us and it is on the bottom of this blog, so by all means send an email. If you wish to speak with one of us individually, send a message on Goodreads (click our pictures on the side… it will take you there) or request our private email address.

I will end my part of this post with this…….. I discovered early on that the LGBT authors are the kindest and most approachable and those mentioned above are the minority. I was welcomed into the reading community with open arms. Recently I contacted a favorite author on Goodreads. I wish to read all of his books this year if possible. Within minutes I received a response back. Not just a response but an offer to be available if I have any questions in regards to his books and he even offered to give this blog an interview. He is quite popular in the M/M fiction community and has published over 60 books and shorts. For him to be kind enough to offer up his time for me, a total stranger, proves my point. Not all authors (M/M or hetero) attack their readers. Most are appreciative and know how to accept criticism. It’s those who aren’t who inspired this post.

I’m just adding my thoughts. What Cindi has laid out is how I feel as well. I think the fact that people are blogging on this topic points out that we live in a world where manners, decency, common courtesies and respect have been replaced by a feeling of either being anonymous or untouchable through the distance of the world wide web. Some people have simply found a new medium for their rude or bad behaviour.

Recently I have noticed a trend towards something disturbing in ‘rating/reviewing’ in the LGBT genre. People who join Goodreads, and suddenly go on a spree of rating same-sex attracted books, for example, all 1 star. I first noticed a pattern on a couple of books that I have read and I then followed the trail – just joined, all 1 star reviews for LGBT books in the period of a few hours maybe in a day, little to no comments (rude, if a line). I did attempt to talk to one person about this pattern of theirs but to this date they have not responded.  For writers who have a smaller reader or review base this drastically alters their median rating for a book. Just disgraceful behaviour on so many levels – bigoted, not based on knowledge, you now, like actually reading the book, and maliciously altering ratings.

Likewise, I’m not happy about false reviews inflating ratings on behalf of a pal and giving unrealistic medians. I understand the driving motivation. I know it is meant in a certain spirit of solidarity but, yet again, it skews ratings. Readers are like everyone else, they work hard for their money and they need to have as many impartial reviews as possible in order to formulate an idea about a book and allocate their book buying budget. Times are tough for a lot of people and money is tight. So reviews by mean-spirited individuals or from over-zealous friends are not helpful. I’ve seen a backlash or two when people suspect this has occurred.

When I first started reading fiction again I looked to Goodreads, amongst other review sites, for opinions on books and those reviews carried weight for me delving into new genres and unfamiliar territory. I have learnt a whole lot since stepping into romance, erotica and LGBT reading. Obviously I review now as well, and reviewing means a great deal to me for several reasons –  I feel like I am giving back, and maybe I’m helping people formulate an opinion on something they want to buy…or not. And it is a creative outlet. I am always honest in what I say, believe it or not. I added that last part as I noticed a comment recently aimed at people who receive ARC’s and, yes, I do receive ARC’s in return for an honest review. I am not a sycophant, thank you to the reader who made a comment to that affect recently.

I will say one last thing about reviewing. Don’t read books you know you will not like the content of, in a genre or sub-genre you don’t enjoy, and then complain the book was full of things you didn’t like – all bets are off if the content is not reasonably labelled. I have seen readers/reviewers label books as ‘disgusting’ and ‘perverted’, particularly in relation to BDSM. When a book is clearly marked as a BDSM book and you still buy it knowing this and complain loudly (and in a personal manner), you are not adding to the reviewing process in a productive way. You aren’t being reasonable. If you don’t like BDSM yet you pick up a BDSM book you don’t have the right to lowball the book and bitch about it based on your (negative) preconceived ideas. I just read a review, as in a couple of days ago, where this happened. Some readers jumped in to defend the book and the author, and I had to agree with them as the review was petty and used some horrible language, and I don’t mean swearing. I noticed they took the reader/reviewer to task for their personal/biased comments and they did it in an adult way. The author didn’t jump in and abuse the reviewer, nor did they gee up their fan base. Kudos to them.

AUTHORS

I’m going to be very straightforward and say this -how dare you set your minions on a reviewer. How dare you espouse,  from the comfort of a social media, that which is incorrect, fanning the flames of vitriol and mob mentality amongst your faithful. How dare other authors get involved without knowing what is being said. Something I have observed first hand. Shame on the seasoned authors who should know better than jumping in.  And how dare an author tell a reader/reviewer that they can’t review/critique their book because they have never written anything themselves. I have now seen this occur on more than one, two, three……occasions. I have never written anything. Well, yes I have, but not books, and I review books…a lot. I either pay for them, which is the majority, or I have them supplied to me in return for my opinion, my review. I understand that it is hard having your blood, sweat and tears pulled apart, but people have a right to review your work. One aspect of what I do is  writing work-based performance reviews on other people. I’m sure (I know) some don’t like them, others do, and I have had them written on me. I know I didn’t like some of mine, I felt they were unfair, but I had to cop it on the chin if I wanted to keep my job. Some were fair and I had to listen to what people thought I could do to improve my personal performance. I was being paid by them. I don’t know of anybody who hasn’t been critiqued, reviewed or put under a microscope in one capacity or another. There is no escaping it. You don’t get a job – you feel that’s personal, you don’t smile enough, you smile too much, you’re not pretty enough, slim enough, you’re too slim, not handsome enough, buff enough, people don’t like the colour of your hair, some people just don’t gel with you…..The list goes on. Readers don’t like your characters, they don’t like your story line, they don’t feel the chemistry. Yep, I imagine it hurts, but we all have to deal with it by putting ourselves out there in the world every damn day. And if we want to keep working, doing what we do, we have a say into our pillow and we move on. If you, as an author, publicly attack a reader for their opinion, the time they have spent to review your writing, remember that some readers may have long recall on such events.

I don’t mind authors private messaging me if they don’t agree with something I have said – maybe I missed an historical date or mixed up a name. Message me and be pleasant. I’m approachable and I’m open, within reason. But DO NOT come onto our book blog and tell us where we got our opinions ‘wrong’. Don’t sic your minions onto us because they will not be well received. It is our opinion, our interpretation, our feelings. We may not agree with you, but so what? I look at some reviews and then look at mine and think “did we read the same book?” No judgement, just something that we have all thought at one time or another in our lives. People interpret things differently. People have different pet peeves. Different tastes. Cindi and I don’t always agree on books or concepts. We have authors that we both like and some we don’t share enthusiasm over. We are a microcosm of the larger (reading) world. Thank goodness for different tastes because the world would be pretty darn boring otherwise.

We like reading, reviewing and chatting with pleasant, book loving people – let’s face it, for some people Goodreads, Amazon, blogs are the only places they can chat about some of the romance, erotic or LGBT books they read as family and friends don’t understand or appreciate their ‘reading material’. Plus, it’s nice to talk to people who get your crush on fictional characters. I’ve noticed some authors are in the same boat, they don’t want family, RL work colleagues or other people to know what they write for various reasons. Let’s be reasonable  and play as nice as possible in the book-world sandbox.