Author rants, epic fails, the blahs and what have you

First, for those who've been worrying about me on on twitter…I'm still alive.  I'm just down and I've got the the blahs.  I need some time away.  I'll be back around.

Second…onto author rants and the epic-failness of such.  There was a big, epic, screeching whine about unprofessional blogs and how these don't benefit an author.

First…well, most blogs are run by readers as a labor of love.  They don't get paid.  So, technically, by definition, I reckon they aren't professional…by definition.  But, by my definition of professional, an author who goes on an epic-y rant about a blogger's lack of professionalism, all because the blogger gave a subjective opinion in her book review…well, um…I don't consider that professional, either.  The fact of the matter is, most reviews are subjective, because we are reading them and discussing our thoughts related to the work, right?

Now if we were discussing the technical aspects-unfinished sentences, bad editing, etc?  Sure.  Put that out there as objective criteria.  (FYI, I use unfinished sentences, it's part of my writing style, I'm fine with it, I know some don't like it.  That's fine.  I'm not changing how I write and if it causes a negative review?  I'm fine with that.)

But if the book didn't work because of plotting issues, they didn't like the story, the character…whatever…that's subjective.  As a writer?  If you don't want to go insane in this biz, it's best to just learn to accept it.  If you can't? Don't read reviews.

Back in 9/2010  , I posted this…

There are certain things that just don't do a writer any good at all…

Things like…

Screeching about bad reviews.  Deal with it.  It's going to happen.  Everybody is entitled to an opinion and when you rail about somebody not liking your work, you're basically telling them they aren't entitled to their opinion.  Move on.

Want to rail about it? Go ahead. But you might want to be aware…it's not going to help things, change things…unless it changes them for the worse. You can't deny a reader the right to voice their opinion. You just can't.

My two cents? Save the upset until one of them gets personal and attacks you and doesn't say anything about the book. And instead of screeching? Call a friend. It will save you grief in the long run.