I just read a post about author bullying as it pertains to book bloggers' reviews and I had every intention of looking that Mike Kearby up, hijacking his blog, and schooling him on how to be a decent human being. Fortunately, I decided to vent on my own blog instead of going to jail.
As an author, we put our 'babies' out there for the world to read and enjoy - not everyone is going to be candid about their opinions. Some bloggers are more direct than others - they shave off the candy coating and say exactly what they think. Those are the bloggers that usually have the most followers. Just sayin. But the premise behind it all is just that...it's what they think. An author who bullies and takes revenge on a bad review needs to take a look at themselves and try to decide why they are writing in the first place.
In a writing class in college I handed in a poem that I wrote a couple years earlier. Out of all the poems I'd ever written it was my favorite. I was so excited to hand it in for an assignment and share this awesome talent and innerworkings of my mind with the world!! It got a D+. Take down the congratulations banner and box up the celebratory cookie cake, people. My professor ripped my poor little poem to pieces. It was literally bleeding from the seams. There was more red ink on that piece of paper than a christmas card.
I had a moment of wanting to slit my wrists, but it passed and I realized although it rolled off the tongue nicely and had some kick ass metaphors throughout - my grammar SUCKED, I had mispelled several words, and I'm pretty sure there was one word in there I had made up completely. So all in all it was a epic failure in its representation of the english language. Hence the D+ grade it received.
So I guess my point to all of this is that you can paint a magnificent picture, but if its wrinkled, ripped along the edges, and has a broken frame no one is going to want to hang it on their wall. I can build a beautiful story and even describe a paperclip in a way that you'll think it's the most magical thing you've ever heard of, but without my editor it would never make it past my own laptop. I believe the authors that have a tendency to bully are the ones who are surrounded by people in their lives that are afraid to be honest with them.
It's easy to say that you wouldn't take it personally if you got a bad review, but that is almost impossible. Of course it's personal! It's your book!! However, you have to step back, take a sip of wine, and remember you are not perfect. And in presenting your 'baby' to the world; you take the monumental risk that the world might actually be honest with you.
