Today I'd like to talk about three things most bloggers will encounter eventually. In the spirit of staying up beat, I'd also like to discuss how to stay positive in the face of these situations. Of course there are MANY different ways to respond to these situations and there is no one right answer. I'm sharing how *I* would respond, and I hope you will share in the comments how YOU would respond!
By laying out some of the pitfalls now, I hope to help newbies (and established bloggers who have been lucky enough to avoid these dips!) prepare themselves for these situations so they won't be caught off guard.
Because the thing is, there ARE downsides to blogging, but they're manageable. I promise.
Someone plagiarized my blog!
Yes, it happens. It has happened to me (it is likely STILL happening to me) and it may happen to you.
Here are a few excellent posts written by other bloggers about plagiarism, what constitutes plagiarism (yes paraphrasing IS plagiarism!), how it feels to be plagiarized, and what to do if you've been plagiarized:
They've done a fantastic job covering the ins and outs of what IS plagiarism, so I'm going to focus on the emotional side of things.
Having your work plagiarized is upsetting. It hurts and it kills the motivation to continue blogging like nothing else. For weeks after I found out my work was being plagiarized, I couldn't bring myself to write a single word (here's another example of why scheduling your posts in advance is wonderful.)
I couldn't shake the depressing thoughts of "Why bother? Someone is just going to take it, replace a few of my words with some synonyms, and pass it off as theirs."
It's hard to get past that, and honestly, I STILL struggle with this. The reality is that your work is always at risk of being plagiarized. To get back into writing, I needed to remind myself why I blog.
I feel great whenever I get comments and positive feedback. I have gained friends who brighten my life. I feel good when I introduce someone to a book they then read and enjoy. I love talking about books with fellow bookworms. I gain internal satisfaction from the pride of knowing I have produced written content, stuck with and nurtured a hobby, and continued to persevere even when I have encountered bumps in the road.
No amount of plagiarism can take any of that away. If your work has been stolen and you're having trouble finding the motivation to blog again, try to remind yourself of the positive side of blogging.
Authors Behaving Badly
Unless you post nothing but absolutely glowing reviews, it is likely that, at some point, your review will upset an author and they will publicly discuss it. Maybe the author is straight up immature. Maybe the author read your review when they were already having a really bad day. There are a million reasons, but the result is the same: Public confrontation.
How you handle it is a personal decision, but this is what I say to myself:
When this happens, recognize that you are probably dealing with someone whose feelings have been hurt and they are lashing out with all of that emotion and pain. Those emotions are natural and understandable and it is important to remember that. It is equally important to remember that this is no excuse for bringing those feelings to a public forum.
Likewise, YOU will be emotional and hurt if an author criticizes you. Recognize your emotions, but do not allow them to dictate your actions. This is what the author should have done, but they didn't and the result wasn't pretty, was it? Don't make the situation worse by adding your own emotional response to the mix. Maintain your professionalism.You cannot control the author's actions, but you can control your own response.
On your blog, you do have the option to delete offending posts. It is a good idea to make a note of what types of posts you will delete either on a policy page or in a customized comment form message. This can be a good approach to help avoid conflict on your blog and prevent anyone from (further) losing face.
If you choose to respond, be polite and do not argue with or engage in the specifics of their comment. Settle on agreeing to disagree and then wish them and their book the best. Leave it at that and move on.
If the criticized post is the result of a book you received for review, then you can direct the author to your review policy. Make sure your policy clearly states how you handle reviews for books you do not like and books you do not finish (and make sure your reviews adhere to this policy!). By providing a book for review, the author/publisher is agreeing to work with your policy.
Is this the pushover approach? Maybe. But, for me, it's also the approach that saves me from a boat load of drama, headaches, disappointments, and hurt feelings. I can't stop an author from getting upset and lashing out, but I have far too many books to chat about to waste my time on negative drama. I want Small Review to be a happy, welcoming place and I will always strive to keep it that way.
Oh, oh no
Have you ever misspelled an author's name? How about the title of their book? Or, oh gosh, have you ever sent the wrong review/email/request to the wrong author/publisher?
*cringe* I have. The thing is, we all make mistakes, and if you blog long enough, odds are you will make a mistake like this at some point. There's no getting around the fact that this is mortifying, but it also isn't the end of the world.
Again, authors are people, and since you are a person too, try thinking about how you would feel if this happened to you. What would you want the person to do to fix the mistake? Would you want an apology? Would you want the mistake corrected? Would you want to be assured that they do in fact care enough about you to make sure they get your name right?
Do what YOU would want done. Do what would make YOU feel better.
Plus, it's not like you would blacklist someone forever and ever if they made a mistake about your name, especially if they made an effort to fix that mistake, right?
What do you think are the dark sides of blogging?
How do you address them?
Have any of these situations happened to you?
Do you have any advice on how to handle them?
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How do you address them?
Have any of these situations happened to you?
Do you have any advice on how to handle them?
I've noticed that I've gotten a lot more hits on my blog than I used to, but I still don't seem to have a lot of comments. Very few. I wonder to myself what must be wrong with my reviews or other posts that people are not wishing to comment.
ReplyDeleteBookish...
DeleteI have the same problem..lots of hit and maybe on comment..this is very frustrating to me. I know they are looking at it, but no interaction. A simple hello..or I would even take.." Hey this sucks.." to know if I am doing right or not LOL
I don't think there's anything wrong with your reviews! It's probably a combination of a few things:
DeleteMost readers are not commenters. I think there have even been studies on this! Take this post, for example. So far there have been 88 pageviews, but only 15 comments.
Also, you might just happen to have more quiet readers. Book people seem to be a quieter group who tend to be shy, so you may have dedicated readers who are just more comfortable lurking but still love your blog.
Or busy readers! Lots of people have only enough time to read a post but not enough time to properly comment. There are also readers who don't have an account and so they can't comment (unless you allow anonymous comments, which I don't).
It's frustrating to see pageviews and significantly fewer comments, but it is normal. There are a lot of contributing factors, and most have very little to do with the quality of your content. :)
This is fantastic advice! As much as I adore the book blogosphere, bad things do happen every once in awhile, and it's good to know how to prepare for them!
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry to say that I've also been plagiarized, and it SUCKS. To think that somewhere out there, someone is copying and pasting (or paraphrasing, but I think the former is even worse) my content is just so demoralizing. Luckily for me, it's only happened once (that I know of), and the blogger in question took the content down when I asked.
Thank you! It was really helpful for me to see some of the bigger bloggers talk about mistakes and pitfalls. I felt like I had a better handle on what to expect and I wasn't as blindsided when they happened to me.
DeleteAh, I'm so sorry you were plagiarized! It is completely demoralizing. I think paraphrasing bothers me more because the blogger doing it is more likely to get away with it or not see that they've done anything wrong. But I might also be bothered more by it because that's the type of plagiarism that happened to me :P
I don't know if I've been plagiarized. I think I'd rather not know. Well, sort of.
ReplyDeleteI've only had one bad comment from an author. It wasn't horrible, but the guy got defensive. I think it was the first book I'd ever accepted for review. The funny thing is that I've also noticed him getting defensive on other blogs that reviewed his book. He has several sequels to his book and I've purposely not read or reviewed them after that first experience with him. Not going to give him the attention.
When I posted my very first author interview, I spelled the author's name wrong (Leah Cypess). I spelled it Cypress. I was so embarrassed when I figured it out.
I would rather not know about plagiarism, too. What I don't know about doesn't hurt me :P
DeleteHa, yes, I wouldn't give an author who did that anymore attention either. It would make me feel better to know that the author responded in a similar way to other people as well. Not that I would want other people to go through that too, but I guess it's a safety in numbers kind of thing (and that it wasn't ME specifically)
I ALWAYS want to say her name as Cypress. I've seen other bloggers make the same mistake. It happens. I always hope I'll catch it quickly.
Thankfully I have only ever had to deal with one of these problems before, and that was someone plagiarizing my blog. I just sent them an email and asked them to give me some credit on the blog post, and they were kind enough to email me back saying sorry, and put a link to my blog in their post.
ReplyDeleteAnd oh my, I really hope no authors contact me after I write a bad review for their book. I already dislike writing bad reviews, but that would just kill me.
I'm glad your plagiarism situation worked out so well. I'm so nervous about it.
DeleteI hear you on the authors! It's SO hard to write a negative review to begin with that getting a negative author response on top of it is like getting kicked when you're already down. I don't want to write a negative review and I'm disappointed that I didn't like the book. It's all very sad.
How do you guys, find if someone plagiarized your reviews?
ReplyDeleteAnd should i feel proud, when nothing of the above happened to me? :p
Sometimes you can do a google search of a snippet of your review. I do that every once in a while. I think there are programs that will do a similar search for you, but I'm not familiar with them outside of academic settings. This only works if they've directly copied your work word for word.
DeleteFor me, I found out because I read the person's blog. Otherwise I probably never would have known because my work was paraphrased not direct copy and paste.
Again a wonderful post. Luckily, none of the above ever happened to me and for this I am very greateful. However, I'm aware of what can happen to a Blogger and yes I can imagine that it hurts. Apart from the fact that it is just plain wrong.
ReplyDeletePlagarism is the worst. If you don't know anything to say about a book that there is no way you can steal and seriously, the person wouldn't belong to the community of bloggers. Why blogging in the first place if you don't write your own thoughts!
About Author/Blogger/Review drama.. Uh. What can I say? it makes me sad. It makes me sad seeing Bloggers that overstep in their reviews and get personal about authors. I hate too snarky and too bitchy reviews. In the end, there is an author with feelings behind a book, so bloggers should keep that in mind when trashing a book.
Then, there are these authors that have to comment on negative reviews. Well, they shouldn't! There is nothing wrong with a negative review - the only thing that's wrong is their response. Negative Reviews can give as much publicity as good ones, maybe even more.
So I keep my fingers crosses that non of this will happen to you and to all those bloggers I value so much!
Thank you, hun! I'm very happy none of these things have happened to you. :)
DeleteI agree, plagiarism bothers me a lot. I can see how it happens though, especially with paraphrasing. I don't think a lot of people realize that paraphrasing and taking a distinct idea IS plagiarism. When I worked in editing/teaching, many, many of my students didn't realize that what they were doing was plagiarism. They honestly didn't mean to do it, but they were.
I totally agree with you about the blogger/author drama. It's sad when attacks happen on both sides (and they DO happen on both sides). I've only had this happen to me once, and it was very minor. I cringe every time I post up a less than glowing review though.
Strangely, I feel left out *lol* I haven't encountered any of these problems, so it's weird when I hear about it happening to others. Maybe it's because I have a tendency to be in my own little world and don't really notice, even when it's staring at me in the face...?
ReplyDeleteGAH. I hope I don't ever send the wrong thing to someone/misspell a name! I'd die of embarrassment and NOT know how to fix it. I'd probably just keel over in shame *lol*
- Asher (from Paranormal Indulgence)
I think it all depends on how long you've been blogging, plus random chance.
DeleteIf you ever send the wrong thing/misspell a name, don't worry! It happens. Look at all the typos in ARCs. And I can't even tell you how many times people have called me Small ReviewS with the S on the end. Mistakes happen, but sincere apologies usually smooth things over. :)
Oh gosh, I vividly remember hating the first book someone ever sent me for review. I had to re-write my review at least 4 times so that it wouldn't just sound horrible. I still got a critical email from the author and 2 hurtful emails from the publisher. I haven't accepted a book for review since! It's just hard to be critical when someone took the time to seek you out and send you their precious work. Much easier to write a thoughtful (potentially critical) review when the book came from a shelf in the library!
ReplyDeleteOuch! It is hard, but when an author or publisher solicits you for a review they should understand that you cannot (and should not) guarantee a positive review.
DeleteI agree though, I breathe a sigh of relief when the book I dislike came from the library. There's less direct confrontation that way. Though with Google Alerts, the author may very likely still see the review.
Because I write too, I know how much time, energy, sweat, and tears goes into creating a book. I have worried that a review will end up getting back to an author and end up upsetting them. But I'm not going to write glowing reviews of every book...
ReplyDeleteSo I try to always come up with at least one positive thing to say, and start with that. But then I go into my criticism with very specific reasons on why I didn't like that aspect of the book and how I would have liked to see the author change/address it in the novel.
This was a great post, and gave me a lot of things to think about :) Thanks!
Lauren @ Hughes Reviews
That is an approach I've heard a lot of people take, and it seems to work well for them. I think we can write a negative review while both honoring the effort the author took to write the book, as well as our honest feelings.
DeleteGreat post again!
ReplyDeleteI am a non-negative reviewer. If I really disliked a book I was sent and feel I need to review, I will have one of my students read and review it. I find one that normally likes everything. I don't do this often but the main reason I do is because I am not the intended audience for MG/YA books--so I hate giving it a negative review. I find someone who is the intended audience and let them have their say. And I need to hear some positive things especially if I have bought it for my library so I can effectively "sell" it to other readers! (If I don't feel I need to review it, I won't, but I will send a note to my contact and let them know why).
Thanks! You bring up a good point about the age of the reviewer versus the age of the target audience. I often have trouble rating those books because there is a difference between my personal feelings for the book and how I think the book would be received by the target audience.
DeleteMe too! Reading positive reviews for books I didn't like helps me "sell" the book to other readers at my library.
Thank GOD I've never dealt with plagiarism. That to me is the darkest side of blogging.
ReplyDeleteIt is a very dark corner. I think, unfortunately, a lot of it stems from ignorance of what actually constitutes plagiarism. But, even more unfortunately, some people are just straight up dishonest. :(
Delete*hugs*
ReplyDeleteBeing plagiarized sucks, my stories have been a couple of times- I write fiction and post it on fiction press, or used to back when the creative juices still flowed - and it makes me feel so... dirty and just awful. Because good or bad, I put lots of time into them. But in the end, there is only so much you can do, other than let people know.
I don't think I've ever been in the line of fire with any author, but I have seen it happen before and I think both parts should just learn to be mature about it and agree to disagree, like you said. Reviews are nothing but a reflection of personal opinion, and that's it.
As for the blunders, I make many of them, mostly in how spell things, :P part of it is because my first language is Spanish and part of it because sometimes I'm just distracted or typing fast. I think it's just bound to happens sometimes.
Aw, *hugs* back to you! I'm so sorry to hear you stories have been plagiarized. Yes, dirty and awful is exactly how I felt.
DeleteYou're right, maturity on both sides is key. Cooler heads prevail.
Yep, mistakes happen. I have no second language excuse. I was just trying to juggle too many things at once and got my wires crossed :P
This is SUCH a helpful post on so many big blogger issues out there. :) I haven't been plagiarized and I hope that day never comes. But at least I will know that I'm not alone and this has happened before.
ReplyDeleteI'll take your precautions and just hope I don't run in to drama anytime soon!
I'm so happy you think so! :) I hope your blogging experience continues to be drama free! (but if it ever comes your way, you'll totally handle it like a pro)
DeleteI have not to my knowledge been plagiarized. I don't understand why anyone would do that. If you want to review books why steal someone else's thoughts? Why have a blog?
ReplyDeleteAuthors/Bloggers behaving badly. I remember one issue on your blog, which you handled with grace. The ILLUSTRATOR did not. But on Goodreads it's a hot button issue. And I've recently been told that some bloggers write negative reviews just to increase comments and page views. Another thing I don't understand. I HATE writing negative reviews. I've only written one and the author was very professional and courteous. I'm trying the sequel because of her professionalism. I hate DRAMA. Well, except in the books I read!
I think seasoned authors don't generally comment on reviews positive or negative. I've probably had a handful of comments from authors since I've been blogging (18 months). And smart ones, don't comment!
Mistakes, hey, I've been called by another blogger's name for review requests. We are human. You're right, fix it an go on.
I agree. The plagiarists who copy and paste baffle me. Don't they realize they'll be caught eventually and people will NOT look kindly upon their actions? For the other type, the type that plagiarize but don't realize they are, I understand how that happens but it still hurts. Hopefully the efforts of the bloggers I linked to above will help spread the word about what actually constitutes plagiarism.
DeleteAw, thank you. Luckily that instance you remember is the only one I've experienced on the author negative behavior front. Every other author experience I've had has been wonderful. I don't mind at all when an author comments kindly on a positive review I've written (I'm flattered!), but when I have to write a negative review I prefer that all parties follow the "Do not make eye contact, do not acknowledge" route :P
That is a shame that some bloggers would purposefully write negative reviews to increase pageviews and comments. I believe it though. Some people are drawn to drama. I'm with you--I hate writing negative reviews.
Haha! I love it! Yes, please no drama in real life, but lots of drama in story plots! :D
The first two I've mercifully avoided (although how does one know if one is being plagerized?) but the third one--so many ouches in my blogging past. The only thing to do is correct the mistake, and appologize! I'm especially bad with names of characters, but I've gotten an author's name wrong too....sigh.
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad you haven't had to experience the first two. Sometimes you can catch someone plagiarizing your blog if you do a Google search on a snippet of your post, but that only works if they took that exact section. I happened to see the one that happened to me because I read that blog.
DeleteI'm so bad with character names, too! I almost always have to look them up again when I write my review. I agree, apologizing goes a long way to helping correct those mistakes. I think most people are pretty understanding.
Hi Heidi! I'm so glad you do. :D It's nice to hear that. Every time I post one up my stomach goes in knots.
ReplyDeleteYes, you are spot on. It's important to remain constructive and professional, but I've seen attacks happen on even the most cordial reviews. It's a shame, but we can only control out own actions.
As for rallying blogger friends against a plagiarist, this is definitely an option. I think it feels good in the immediate, but it's one of those things that I think would bother me once I cooled down. I don't want to incite drama and create a situation that will hurt more feelings than have already been hurt.
I found out I was plagiarized from a Google Alert on my name. It seemed like a bot had put together a "blog" full of other people's posts, as a way of generating their own pageclicks and ad revenue. The funny thing was, they didn't even take my name off of the reviews! Fortunately, I was able to simply get them reported as spammers/scrapers and their site went down.
ReplyDeleteI've also (falsely!) been accused of plagiarism. I wrote a picture book review, and quoted the same repeating refrain, and had one sentence of my own that was nearly identical to another reviewer's. What can I say? It was a short book, and I think ANY review that cut to the heart of what the book was about would have mentioned it. Fortunately, they dropped the matter after I sent them a politely worded letter, pointing out those facts.
I'm so sorry you were plagiarized! Those types of plagiarism sites are irritating. It's so ridiculous that they didn't even bother to remove your name! I guess that's better for tracking them down at least :P
DeleteYou have a good name for Google Alerts. My blog name is totally useless for that.
What an interesting experience! I think it's fairy easy to tell when someone has paraphrased plagiarized and when they are legitimately talking about something that other people would also talk about. I'm glad they dropped it and everything worked out for you.
I'm not sure if I've been plagarized, but I try my best to write my reviews first before reading anyone else's. I know we all have similar thoughts and ways to explain them but that doesn't give anyone the right to copy and paste the work of others. Doesn't that defeat the purpose of blogging? I know I have included links to other reviews especially if there's a book that I was "meh" about but others loved such as Nevermore. I think my "job" as a blogger is keeping people informed and giving them enough info to make their own opinions.
ReplyDeleteAs for incorrect spelling, I've been there and it's extremely embarrassing, but I've fixed it as soon as I learned I made the mistake.
I agree. I don't understand the kind that direct copy and paste. Where is the enjoyment of blogging in that??
DeleteHehe yes, I think a lot of us have made mistakes on incorrect spelling. I'm sure I'll do it again! I'm always so nervous every time I click "send" :P
Knock on wood, I still haven't misspelled an author's name - that's something I usually check twice. I've messed up on release dates though so it's good that someone eventually notices and lets me know. It's embarrassing but you know it's bound to happen.
ReplyDeleteSmall, it sucks that you're being plagiarized. If it's the same person, have you tried possibly talking to them?
Double checking is the smart thing to do! :P And triple checking.
DeleteI haven't. I don't like situations that cause hurt feelings, but I really do need to say something soon.
Great post. I'm not sure if anyone has ever plagiarized. I'm sure if I would be able to tell if a paraphrase has been plagiarized from me. What if have some of the pros and cons about a book? Or maybe I'm just too trusting.
ReplyDeleteIf it's plagiarism, then you would be able to tell. It would be more than just saying something similar about your likes/dislikes or the pros/cons of the book. It would be copying your sentence structure, your way of saying things, and your original idea. It would sound like YOU with your own unique style and voice. Steph Su has a great explanation in her post I linked. :)
DeleteA really interesting insight into the world of book review blogs. I blog on completely different subject matter, so I haven't run into any of these things, but it surprising (and yet I guess it really should not be) that someone copied your work. Its unfortunate, but thanks for pointing some interesting things out for people to watch for.
ReplyDeleteOverall, we're all just people, and blogs are (usually) un-edited ideas, a way for people to share. Conversations, even lively ones make ideas flow even more. Hopefully authors in the future will learn to learn from all points of view.
I was surprised, too. I'd heard about it happening before, but I was surprised it happened to *me* (like, who am I that someone would want to take my writing?)
DeleteI agree! I love the conversational opportunities blogging affords. I think so many book lovers have a lack of bookish discussion opportunities in person, so it is wonderful that the internet provides us the opportunity to come together. I don't even mind if I'm talking about a particular book I don't like with someone who does like that book--I'm just happy to be talking books! :P
I really like this post! Authors & bloggers should respect eachother & if someone writes a negative review, so what! There are other bloggers that loved the book too. ;)
ReplyDeleteI agree! Negative reviews are extremely helpful to me. I like knowing why a person didn't like a book so then I can determine whether or not that dislike is something I would share. The fact that it is a negative review doesn't turn me off in the least. It's the reasons that help me choose.
DeleteGreat advise...Things can be depressing even to the most up beat...I almost had a meltdown over the weekend where I seriously considered giving up blogging (I came to the realization that I was spending 2/3 of my free time blogging and only 1/3 actually reading!) But luckily I came to my senses and realized that it is just a matter of prioritizing and better scheduling...as well as putting less pressure on myself! This is supposed to be a fun hobby to accompany my love of reading after all!
ReplyDeleteAw, *HUGS* to you! I'm glad you're NOT quitting :)
DeleteHave you checked out Ruby's Busting the Big Blogger Blues posts? She has a lot of great discussions going on about that very situation. :)
You are spot on, prioritizing and scheduling go a long way to making blogging less stressful.
I'm with Alison - I think I'm okay not knowing if someone's plagiarizing me. I looked into setting up those searches, but in the end it was just another thing to monitor and it wasn't enough of a priority. I'm so sorry that happened to you Small! Of course, the gossip in me is dying to know who it is and if you still follow them, but I can imagine you don't want that info out in the world. :)
ReplyDeleteI did spot a plagiarized review on Goodreads once and pointed it out to the original poster. The stealer was someone I had been following on GR and Twitter, and she saw my comment to the OPer and wrote back that someone else must have done it and deleted the review. Uh-huh. I quit following her and never looked back.
I think it's a good thing that my name is so hard to google ("small review" gets you all kinds of small reviews). It helps curb my tendency to obsess. :P
DeleteWow, for some reason I've not even considered the possibility that someone might have plagiarized me... Yeah, just like Alison and Logan, I wouldn't want to know if it has happened because it would probably be very upsetting (sorry it has happened to you!). I'm okay with staying naive in this situation.
ReplyDeleteIgnorance is definitely bliss in this type of situation!
DeleteThis is such a great post! I have no idea what I'd do if I found out someone plagiarized my blog. Go apeshit probably. They will be so hearing from me! It's terrible that people would have to plagiarize BLOG posts. I swear. It's not that hard to write your own review. Jaysus.
ReplyDeleteUgh, Authors Behaving Badly. Makes me upset. I can review what I want, the way I want, and when I want. I have experienced this before and it makes me very uneasy and unhappy. They should just stand back and relax. I don't consider the author the same as their book, so they should make that distinction too.
...I've misspelled an author's name before too... -_-;;. Like Scott Westerfeld, I wrote Scott Westerfield. Oh gawds.
Haha if anyone ever plagiarized you, 1) It would be super obvious because your style is YOURS, and 2) I would LOVE to see your response! It would be epic, I imagine.
DeleteI feel so bad for you with the authors behaving badly! Reviews are for readers, and your reviews have helped me as a reader.
ha, I've made the Westerfeld/Westerfield mistake too :P
I had someone plagiarise a number of my blog posts and it made me so mad. I just can't understand why people bother creating a blog if they don't have their own ideas and words to put on it!
ReplyDeleteI agree! I'm so sorry that happened to you. :( I hope it has been resolved now.
DeleteMost of the time when we absolutely hate a book we don't bother to finish it...but sometimes we do (hoping it gets better) and post a review that tells you why we didn't like it. Every now and then we get a huge email from the author telling us just how wrong we are and those emails get crazy personal which freaks me out just a little bit! I've written back that it was unprofessional and to please remove me from their contact list - though no response would have probably been even better. Blah!
ReplyDeleteOh my gosh! I think I would cry if I got an email like that! *hugs* to you. :(
DeleteI read this when you first posted it and thought it was insightful but not particularly relevant to me. But an author just called me a classist on Twitter (polite enough not to do it to my face, I suppose), so I rushed back here for comfort! Thanks!
ReplyDeleteI've modified my review a bit to clarify my position on the book, but I'm not going to respond directly. But it's sort of a shame because I was somewhat interested in the sequel and now...not so much.
I'm glad this post was able to be so timely for you, but I'm sorry to hear you needed it! :(
DeleteNothing kills my interest in a book faster than poor author behavior. I'm fine with negative reviews, but an author response like that will make me not want to read a book even if it sounds like something I'd like.
I feel like some bloggers just give up. They feel like they're swarming in their TBR lists and feel that blogging is no longer fun.
ReplyDelete-And YES! As a newbie, I have felt envious of other blogs, and I have to remind myself that I started MY blog for me, and hopefully people will recognize that.