LendInk: why I was angry, and why I am sorry

A week or so ago, it was brought to my attention that my books were listed as available to borrow on a site called LendInk.com. To say that I was confused was to greatly understate the situation (more on why momentarily). I was also angry -- angry enough to fire off a blunt and thoughtless post on LendInk's Facebook page. I also sent a request to LendInk's owner, Dale Porter, via the corrections e-mail listed in their FAQ asking that my books be removed and explaining why I thought that should happen (again, more on that momentarily).

Well, within 24 hours of me sending that correction request, LendInk was taken down by its ISP. I wasn't the only angry author, and some of them contacted the web host directly (I did not). When I received a notice from Amazon saying that LendInk was not authorized to lend out books on their behalf, I got even more angry.

I let people affiliated with my publishing group know what had happened. Those were all of the actions I took.

I am now, along with several other authors, the subject of a vendetta/revenge campaign by users of LendInk.

Mr. Porter explained (in the article I'm about to talk about) how his service actually works, which was *not at all clear* in the FAQ. Apparently, what they do/did was connect people with a book to loan with people who wanted to borrow it ... sort of a social media site.

Now, I can't speak for anyone else ... but I know why I was angry. Here's what I wrote in response to an article about the matter on the-digital-reader.com:

Hi. I’m one of the people who posted a rather blunt note on LendInk’s FB page. I did not send a notice to LendInk’s host (as some people accuse), but did send a letter to Dale via the corrections e-mail listed in the FAQ and asked that my books be removed. Yes, I was ticked off.

Here’s why. I specifically opted *out* of lending programs on B&N and Amazon. That’s right, I unchecked the little box. I am now working with them to discover why my books are available for loan when I asked not to have it happen. I was especially disturbed when I received a letter from Amazon saying that LendInk was not authorized to act as their agent. I appreciate Dale’s additional information above.

I totally get that LendInk was a set-up for readers and thus (according to some readers) does not owe authors any explanations. I also get that some of the users are angry — angry enough to organize a vendetta campaign against me and other authors. Some of us did what Dale’s site asked us to do in sending a correction letter (as I said, that’s what I did). Should I have been angry on Facebook? No. And honestly, with this additional information, I’m not angry at Dale either. I’m angry at Amazon and B&N for not honoring what I agreed to on *their* end.

I understand that many of you are too mad to give a damn about that. I’m sorry.


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Yes, I am sorry. I considered saying nothing at all about this, but I realized that my angry FB post was out of line. And no, I am not saying this because of the vendetta; I'm saying it because I know I made a mistake in where I directed my anger. I'm not one of those people who fail to read a contract; I'm not one of the people who ignore the "uncheck to opt out" boxes (despite the fact that I think they're kind of slimy, as people should have the right to opt-in instead of the reverse).

I made a mistake in where I directed my concerns ... and yes, temper ... and thus contributed on some level to the demise of what appears to have been a legitimate project after all. I hope that Mr. Porter will accept my public apology.