Petition to Use Real Names on Amazon

There is a petition circulating where people are trying to force reviewers to use their real names on Amazon. Some authors are signing it. Anne Rice is even on board.

I say, fuck that.

If you bought one of my books, it is yours. If you want to cherish it and put it on a mantle and pray to it, that's cool with me (send me a pic of that). If you want to tear the pages out and wipe your ass with them because you hate it so bad, that's cool with me (don't send me a pic of that). You want to leave me a scathing review on Amazon that says I write like a brain-damaged monkey on meth, that's cool with me. I might think you're an asshole, but hey, so am I.

You took a chance on one of my books. I'm grateful for that. Don't get me wrong, no one wants to get shitty reviews, but it's a part of the game. Taking away the privacy of customers will have a chilling effect on reviews. I'm not OK with that. I want you to have your privacy and I want you to speak your mind.

So, dear freaky readers, you can say or do whatever you want about my books, anonymously or not. It's ridiculous to think that authors can write books under a pen name, but customers can't review the same way.

Most reviewers are helpful, good people. We don't need to punish them because of a handful of assholes.

/BrantRant