Nenia Campbell's Blog - Posts Tagged "i-cant"
Cloak and Dagger Has Almost 400 Ratings!
I'm so excited! I'll have to think of a fun promotion to do....
I've been so busy with work and the BF that I haven't had time to write anything. Maybe I'll try to work on another anthology of short stories, like Wishing Stars, or an instructional/nonfiction piece like How to Write Good, just so you guys have something to read. :)
Meanwhile, Goodreads reveals that their Sitewide Announcement tool is not broken by advertising the GR app on Kindle Fires.... HMMMMMMM...
No. Not going to go there. I have to get up early tomorrow.
But still.
HMMMMMM.
I've been so busy with work and the BF that I haven't had time to write anything. Maybe I'll try to work on another anthology of short stories, like Wishing Stars, or an instructional/nonfiction piece like How to Write Good, just so you guys have something to read. :)
Meanwhile, Goodreads reveals that their Sitewide Announcement tool is not broken by advertising the GR app on Kindle Fires.... HMMMMMMM...
No. Not going to go there. I have to get up early tomorrow.
But still.
HMMMMMM.
Why Negative Reviews Are Good
Negative reviews are super controversial -- but why?
No, I know why. Because they're mean, or because they wreck careers, or because they are not based on fact and blah, blah, blah. But that's not really an answer. That's opinion. And speculation.
Why are negative reviews so controversial?
They actually do everyone a huge, heaping favor.
Who Is Really Impacted By a Negative Review?
One of the arguments against negative reviews is that they keep people from buying books.
Really? Since when did negative reviews become the online equivalent of a chain-link fence?
If people want to read a book, a few negative reviews aren't going to change their mind. Bad author behavior might (we'll get to that later), but negative reviews? Unlikely. Especially if the negative reviewer in question doesn't have a whole lot of books in common with them.
At the very least, it will cause them to take your book with a grain of salt.
There are three ways a reader approaches a book:
In the first scenario, the reader does not want the book. At all. Cool. Not all books are for everyone.
In the second scenario, the reader does want the book. Again, cool. New readers are fun!
In the third scenario, the reader is not sure if they want the book. It might be outside their usual genre but they find the summary somewhat intriguing. Or maybe they really like the cover. Or maybe a friend recommended it to them, but the friend isn't one of their go-to reviewers so they aren't sure.
Again, cool.
This third scenario is important. Why? Because these are the people who will be impacted most by a negative review. They were on the fence from the start, and some of them will be persuaded by a negative review. BUT it's likely that they were already swinging towards no from the start.
So really, negative reviews do you a favor; they prevent people who weren't all that keen on reading your book from the start from reading your book and not liking it.
Takeaway Lesson: Negative reviews create a self-selecting pool of readers.
No, I know why. Because they're mean, or because they wreck careers, or because they are not based on fact and blah, blah, blah. But that's not really an answer. That's opinion. And speculation.
Why are negative reviews so controversial?
They actually do everyone a huge, heaping favor.
Who Is Really Impacted By a Negative Review?
One of the arguments against negative reviews is that they keep people from buying books.
Really? Since when did negative reviews become the online equivalent of a chain-link fence?
If people want to read a book, a few negative reviews aren't going to change their mind. Bad author behavior might (we'll get to that later), but negative reviews? Unlikely. Especially if the negative reviewer in question doesn't have a whole lot of books in common with them.
At the very least, it will cause them to take your book with a grain of salt.
There are three ways a reader approaches a book:
In the first scenario, the reader does not want the book. At all. Cool. Not all books are for everyone.
In the second scenario, the reader does want the book. Again, cool. New readers are fun!
In the third scenario, the reader is not sure if they want the book. It might be outside their usual genre but they find the summary somewhat intriguing. Or maybe they really like the cover. Or maybe a friend recommended it to them, but the friend isn't one of their go-to reviewers so they aren't sure.
Again, cool.
This third scenario is important. Why? Because these are the people who will be impacted most by a negative review. They were on the fence from the start, and some of them will be persuaded by a negative review. BUT it's likely that they were already swinging towards no from the start.
So really, negative reviews do you a favor; they prevent people who weren't all that keen on reading your book from the start from reading your book and not liking it.
Takeaway Lesson: Negative reviews create a self-selecting pool of readers.
Bullying: A Personal Anecdote **trigger warnings**
Sometimes I get people who wonder why I side with the so-called bully reviewers as an author. Am I trying to damage other authors' careers? Please. Do I enjoy the mob mentality? No. Am I a mean person? I don't think so, but at the end of the day that's really up to you.
This is a personal blog entry, and for some of you it might hit a little too close to home. There are anxiety and bullying triggers in this post, so please, consider yourself warned.
When I was in high school I had really bad social anxiety. Giving oral reports would cause me to have nightmares and stomachaches in the days before. I would shake so badly my knees would tremble and you could hear my notes rattling in my hand. Making friends was really difficult for me. I felt like everything I did was being noticed and criticized. I really, really, REALLY hated being forced into social interactions. Even buying something at a register made me feel faint.
During my freshman year, I had some people who were my friends betray me in the worst way possible. They decided that they had had enough of my weirdness and were going to teach me a lesson. They shoved me around and threatened to beat me up. They made fun of the way I looked, the way I dressed, the music I listened to, and even what I wore. They called me things like "dyke" and "tranny", just because I was a tomboy, and defaced all of my blogs with insults under various sockpuppet accounts. They would invade my personal space. They took my stories and shared them with other people without my permission, talking about how I had no talent and was a pathetic hack, and speculated about what these stories said about my mental state. They then turned all of my other friends against me - because my other friends were afraid of getting bullied too, and were too cowardly to stand up for me when I couldn't do so myself. It got so bad that my mom had the school put me on "watch" because she was terrified that something bad would happen to me. The school talked to the bullies, who then mocked me for being so pathetic that I had to get my parents to fight my battles for me. I was 14.
This went on for three. Fucking. Years.
I would come home, and I wanted to die. I felt so frustrated, so powerless, so angry. For the first time in my life, I understood what would drive someone to show up to school with a gun: it felt like I didn't own my own mind. It felt like I was being dissembled piece by piece, until I wasn't even a real person anymore. I felt so depersonalized. I felt like a monster.
My teachers looked the other way. Some of them even victimized me, also, as a way of establishing rapport with the other students. The principal didn't do anything, claimed that there wasn't anything the school COULD do, because this was mostly happening online. (This all happened when the internet was fairly new, and before all those Myspace-related incidents of bullying resulted in those highly publicized suicides.) I spent lunches in the library, because I felt too sick to eat. Sometimes I'd fake sick so I wouldn't have to go to school. I really, truly hated myself.
And I hated them for making me feel like I might even remotely deserve this. I hated them for making me hate myself.
It took me five years before I was able to really trust people again.
It took me five years to realize that overtures of friendships aren't traps being set by people who want to exploit and terrorize you.
It took me five years to be able to confide in other people without fear of rejection or retaliation.
Five years of my life.
When I see these authors throwing around the word “bullying,” just because of ONE NEGATIVE REVIEW (warranted or not), I get infuriated. Because that's not bullying. That's not even close. If you think that's bullying, you're damned lucky, because if a negative review is the worst case of social rejection you've ever gotten, you've probably lived a pretty good life.
When you throw the word "bully" around, you reduce its effect. Bullying is a serious problem. It ruins lives. Authors who make sock puppet accounts, or launch attacks against reviewers in some misguided attempts at justice aren't crusading against bullies—they ARE bullies. And some of those people you're victimizing? They might just be fourteen, too. They might be younger.
Five years of what should have been the best years of my life were ruined because of bullies.
Because of real, actual bullies.
How dare you do that to someone. How COULD you do that to someone? How could you stalk and harass someone over something as stupid as a book? How could you tell them they're worthless and that their words aren't worth hearing? How could you want to force them to real their true identities so you can stalk and harass them further? How could you say the things you said, knowing you have to look yourself in the mirror the next morning? How could you do that? How could you?
How could you?
WHY would you?
You're authors. You, more than anyone, should know the power of the words you use.
Stop bullying.
Please.
This is a personal blog entry, and for some of you it might hit a little too close to home. There are anxiety and bullying triggers in this post, so please, consider yourself warned.
When I was in high school I had really bad social anxiety. Giving oral reports would cause me to have nightmares and stomachaches in the days before. I would shake so badly my knees would tremble and you could hear my notes rattling in my hand. Making friends was really difficult for me. I felt like everything I did was being noticed and criticized. I really, really, REALLY hated being forced into social interactions. Even buying something at a register made me feel faint.
During my freshman year, I had some people who were my friends betray me in the worst way possible. They decided that they had had enough of my weirdness and were going to teach me a lesson. They shoved me around and threatened to beat me up. They made fun of the way I looked, the way I dressed, the music I listened to, and even what I wore. They called me things like "dyke" and "tranny", just because I was a tomboy, and defaced all of my blogs with insults under various sockpuppet accounts. They would invade my personal space. They took my stories and shared them with other people without my permission, talking about how I had no talent and was a pathetic hack, and speculated about what these stories said about my mental state. They then turned all of my other friends against me - because my other friends were afraid of getting bullied too, and were too cowardly to stand up for me when I couldn't do so myself. It got so bad that my mom had the school put me on "watch" because she was terrified that something bad would happen to me. The school talked to the bullies, who then mocked me for being so pathetic that I had to get my parents to fight my battles for me. I was 14.
This went on for three. Fucking. Years.
I would come home, and I wanted to die. I felt so frustrated, so powerless, so angry. For the first time in my life, I understood what would drive someone to show up to school with a gun: it felt like I didn't own my own mind. It felt like I was being dissembled piece by piece, until I wasn't even a real person anymore. I felt so depersonalized. I felt like a monster.
My teachers looked the other way. Some of them even victimized me, also, as a way of establishing rapport with the other students. The principal didn't do anything, claimed that there wasn't anything the school COULD do, because this was mostly happening online. (This all happened when the internet was fairly new, and before all those Myspace-related incidents of bullying resulted in those highly publicized suicides.) I spent lunches in the library, because I felt too sick to eat. Sometimes I'd fake sick so I wouldn't have to go to school. I really, truly hated myself.
And I hated them for making me feel like I might even remotely deserve this. I hated them for making me hate myself.
It took me five years before I was able to really trust people again.
It took me five years to realize that overtures of friendships aren't traps being set by people who want to exploit and terrorize you.
It took me five years to be able to confide in other people without fear of rejection or retaliation.
Five years of my life.
When I see these authors throwing around the word “bullying,” just because of ONE NEGATIVE REVIEW (warranted or not), I get infuriated. Because that's not bullying. That's not even close. If you think that's bullying, you're damned lucky, because if a negative review is the worst case of social rejection you've ever gotten, you've probably lived a pretty good life.
When you throw the word "bully" around, you reduce its effect. Bullying is a serious problem. It ruins lives. Authors who make sock puppet accounts, or launch attacks against reviewers in some misguided attempts at justice aren't crusading against bullies—they ARE bullies. And some of those people you're victimizing? They might just be fourteen, too. They might be younger.
Five years of what should have been the best years of my life were ruined because of bullies.
Because of real, actual bullies.
How dare you do that to someone. How COULD you do that to someone? How could you stalk and harass someone over something as stupid as a book? How could you tell them they're worthless and that their words aren't worth hearing? How could you want to force them to real their true identities so you can stalk and harass them further? How could you say the things you said, knowing you have to look yourself in the mirror the next morning? How could you do that? How could you?
How could you?
WHY would you?
You're authors. You, more than anyone, should know the power of the words you use.
Stop bullying.
Please.
The Soapbox: On Authors, and Entitlement, and Magical Unicorns
This is gonna be pretty short because I think I've made it pretty clear that when people start these pointless and silly Authors versus Teh Evol Reviewer type battles, I'm going to side with Teh Evol Reviewers. Every time.
90% of authors are pretty cool people. But 10% of them subscribe to a really shitty attitude. Like, "Oh, I wrote this awesome book and these people are too stupid and jealous to get my genius!"
WRONG.
Reviewers can say whatever the hell they want about your books and that's their right because -- guess what -- THEIR REVIEW IS THEIR REVIEW. And once you release your book into the wild, it stops being your precious little baby.
And hey, maybe once in a while, a reviewer gets something wrong. They have a typo or they don't read until the end of the book or they say something that is completely irrelevant. Does that give you the write [sic] to correct them?
NO IT DOESN'T!
Does that give you the right to call them names?
NOPE!
Does that make them an inferior human being in any way?
WRONG AGAIN!
Authors need to be really fucking careful about what they say because they have a lot of people watching them. That's the price of fame. It makes things unequal. However much you FEEL like you're the victim, what you LOOK like is the bully beating up smaller kids on the playground to compensate for...whatever it is you're trying to compensate for.
You're more than a person, you're a brand. And if you are a brand that is unsatisfying (or outright hostile), you're going to find yourself a very unsuccessful brand.
Because -- and here's the thing -- however great you think you are, you're only as great as the people who buy your books and blog about you and support you MAKE you. Authors cannot be authors if they don't have readers. And if you treat your readers like shit, they will ditch your sorry, ungrateful ass.
It's important to remember that most bloggers don't get paid for what they do. They are doing this because they have a passion for it, and that's pretty fucking incredible, don't you think? I think so. You don't have to treasure every review that comes your way (although I do, and a lot of the authors I consider friends do), but you DO have to be respectful. And you can start by following your own advice -- if you can't say anything nice, just don't say anything at all. Thank your five-star reviewers, maybe, instead of taking them for granted as the status quo.
/soap box
/unicorn
90% of authors are pretty cool people. But 10% of them subscribe to a really shitty attitude. Like, "Oh, I wrote this awesome book and these people are too stupid and jealous to get my genius!"
WRONG.
Reviewers can say whatever the hell they want about your books and that's their right because -- guess what -- THEIR REVIEW IS THEIR REVIEW. And once you release your book into the wild, it stops being your precious little baby.
And hey, maybe once in a while, a reviewer gets something wrong. They have a typo or they don't read until the end of the book or they say something that is completely irrelevant. Does that give you the write [sic] to correct them?
NO IT DOESN'T!
Does that give you the right to call them names?
NOPE!
Does that make them an inferior human being in any way?
WRONG AGAIN!
Authors need to be really fucking careful about what they say because they have a lot of people watching them. That's the price of fame. It makes things unequal. However much you FEEL like you're the victim, what you LOOK like is the bully beating up smaller kids on the playground to compensate for...whatever it is you're trying to compensate for.
You're more than a person, you're a brand. And if you are a brand that is unsatisfying (or outright hostile), you're going to find yourself a very unsuccessful brand.
Because -- and here's the thing -- however great you think you are, you're only as great as the people who buy your books and blog about you and support you MAKE you. Authors cannot be authors if they don't have readers. And if you treat your readers like shit, they will ditch your sorry, ungrateful ass.
It's important to remember that most bloggers don't get paid for what they do. They are doing this because they have a passion for it, and that's pretty fucking incredible, don't you think? I think so. You don't have to treasure every review that comes your way (although I do, and a lot of the authors I consider friends do), but you DO have to be respectful. And you can start by following your own advice -- if you can't say anything nice, just don't say anything at all. Thank your five-star reviewers, maybe, instead of taking them for granted as the status quo.
/soap box
/unicorn
