We Need To Talk....Book Blogging - It Is Also About Community

Book blogging is about more than just books. It is also about community. I learned that over the past two weeks. 
I try to keep personal stuff from bleeding over into my blog because I want to keep it focused on writing and books. I'm a writer and a book blogger, after all. Sometimes, though, it helps to share something personal. 
Over the last two weeks I've been dealing with a very sick husband. I won't go into the details, of course, but it involved lots of doctors and hospitals and just general suckiness. There was no fun to be had anywhere for anyone. And I was really worried about him. A few authors and blogger friends know what I have been going through and I am eternally grateful for their patience and understanding through everything. And I want to give a big THANK YOU to all of you other hard working book bloggers out there who have posted fantastic discussions, reviews, and just general silliness that I was able to lose myself in during those waiting room visits. 
I love being a part of a community of bloggers that is so passionate about books but is even more passionate about other people. It's very heartwarming to see people who in some respects could be your competition reaching out to you and just leaving a simple "How are things?" in your inbox. Or a funny reply to a comment that you left them on your blog. The littlest things matter to people when they're going through something big. 
My wonderful husband has, by the grace of God, been given a clean bill of health, for now. We have finally gotten back into the usual swing of things and I can get my focus back on writing and trying to work on this blog. Posts and newsletters will eventually get better. Eventually.....
To all of you book bloggers out there, thank you for the hard work that you do and thank you for allowing me to be a part of your bookish world. It means more than I can ever really express. 

We Need To Talk....Goodreads, Reviewers, & BingoGate

I'm usually a day late on everything, I have no problem admitting that either. It is what it is. Yesterday I got on Goodreads to read a new review of my book. Thinking back now, ironically, the review of my book could have been taken negatively. I was so tickled to have an honest review that I didn't even think to let it hurt my feelings. As a matter of fact, I sent the reviewer a heartfelt "thank you" message because I truly appreciated the fact that she took time out of her busy life to read my book that may or not be crap. 

While on Goodreads, I noticed a review for a book on my To-Read list had gotten a lot of attention. And thus was my introduction into BingoGate. If you are behind like I was, let me break it down for you. 

• Author wrote a book 
• Author allowed people to review the book
• Reviewer posted review on Goodreads 
• Author didn't like review on Goodreads
• Instead of taking the criticism and turning it into something positive or ignoring it all together, Author acted like a 5 year old and created a "Bingo" card for other YA authors who are also part-time kindergartners. 
• Reviewer(S) saw said Bingo card and felt insulted
• Author tried to backtrack and say that it was all out of fun and that she wasn't intending to insult anyone (although she did post on a question on Twitter asking what pissed you off the most in Goodreads reviews of YA novels right before the posting of the Bingo card and then posted about how it took an hour for anyone to get mad at her about the Bingo card which let me know that pissing people off was exactly what she intended) 

I've seen several authors saying that it was funny (kudos to you if you thought it was) and that sometimes authors just need to blow off some steam and that is probably what she was doing. I'm sorry, I call bullshit on that excuse. There was a lot of thought put into this Bingo card, which means she had time to think about what she was doing before she posted it. If she wanted to feel some sense of validation for her feelings and shared it with other authors where reviewers couldn't see it, I don't necessarily think that would have been a bad thing. Instead, she knowingly put something out there that would hurt feelings and cause drama. 

The biggest problem I have with BingoGate and the issue between authors and bloggers is that SOME authors treat book bloggers like they're beneath them or that they should be falling all over themselves because an author gave them the opportunity to review their book.

GET REAL.

In the world that we live in today where most people are connected to the internet, book bloggers are of vital importance to your book. Not the other way around. Book bloggers do not NEED your book on their blog to keep going. They can pick up several other books and keep right on moving without it even affecting them. Authors, on the other hand, need that promotion to keep people interested in their book so that people will buy it. Before I became a book blogger I checked Goodreads quite frequently when I was thinking about buying a book in order to see the reviews. I don't want to waste my hard-earned money on something that really wasn't worth it. 

As an author, I am THANKFUL for any review that I get. Even if a review says that it sucked and they send me a video of themselves setting my book on fire, I am still thankful and appreciative that they took the time to read my book. Yes, I will probably have the Ugly Kardashian Cries for a little bit BUT that comes with the territory of being a WRITER. As much as you want EVERYONE to love your book as much as you do, it's just not going to happen. Someone somewhere is going to find something wrong with your book even if you've had God himself edit it twice. 

Instead of throwing a fit all over social media, take all of the criticism, good and bad, and use it to make your writing BETTER. No matter how long you've been writing, you can always improve. Use the reviews as a way to evaluate your work with an outside eye. Or say lots of cuss words and scream into pillows. Cry. Do whatever you have to do to deal with it personally but do not act a fool in public. It makes you look very unprofessional and very ungrateful. Most of these book bloggers aren't professional book critics. They are READERS who share a love of books and want to take an active role in the book world. They are the people who are going out and buying your other books or telling their friends to go out and buy your books. If you piss them off or piss all over them, you run the risk of losing your readership. As it stands now, I've seen several people state that they're not reading the Bingo book simply because of the author's behavior. And yes, I am one of those people. 

I feel like I just wrote about this a few days back. Snobs in the Bookish Community

Don't treat people like crap just because you didn't like something that they said. And don't be mistaken and think that book bloggers owe you a positive review because you gave them a free book. They owe you nothing other than an HONEST review, which you agreed to when you offered them a free copy of your book. 

To sum it all up: 

Don't put your book out into the world if you aren't ready for the reviews. Don't criticize others if you cannot take criticism yourself. Be grateful that people are taking the time to review your book. Treat your readers with respect. Stop being a cry baby. Be a professional. 

Or stop writing. 

We Need To Talk....Snobs In the Bookish Community

You guys, we need to talk....

What about I'm about to talk about it isn't necessarily news. 

Snobs. 

More specifically snobs in the book community. Listen, I get it. I really do. I understand that you have spent the majority of your life getting degree after degree after degree and you've been featured in at least four literary magazines before you were potty-trained and blah blah blah blah....

STOP. 

I do not care how many books you have published. I do not care how many magazines, journals, radio interviews, or TV spots you have done. I don't. Don't get me wrong, those are all great accomplishments and you should be proud of yourself. However, you should not treat people, more specifically people who might read your work, as if you are better than them. If you are an author and you're walking around with your nose up so high in the air that if rained you would drown then you should probably check yo self before you wrickey-wrickety-wreck yo self. 

(I'm sorry, I saw an opening and I had to use it.) 

Since writing and publishing my book I've been perusing a lot of book blogger blogs and author blogs to find people to approach for reviews and for ideas of how to market my blog. I've noticed some authors, usually bigger name authors or authors who at least have a few books under their belt, are not very polite to their readers. In a world where social media makes everyone reachable, this is really a shame. You don't have to become best friends and swap Snapchats with every one of your fans. A simple and POLITE "thank you for reading my book" or "thank you for supporting me" would suffice. Don't be a jerk or just completely ignore people who are reaching out to you. If you didn't have fans reading your books, you would not be selling books. You would just be writing for yourself. 

This goes for book bloggers, too. Don't think I forgot about you! It's great that blog has taken off and has thousands of readers checking your pages every day. That's AWESOME! I hope to have that kind of success with my blog one day. I know it took a lot of hard work to get there but that doesn't mean you should be butt-holes to your readers and/or other bloggers. Be respectful of people who took the time to not only read your blog but to also take the time to comment. Just like authors, if you didn't have readers reading your blog, you'd just be writing posts for yourself to read. 

I get so tired of seeing authors and bloggers treating other people in the industry like they are better than them because they've sold more books, have 58 doctorates in writing, or have a larger fan base. Don't be a douche canoe. 

There are already so many other problems in this world. Instead of treating the very people who support you like they don't matter, show a little appreciation. Even if you're a high-class fancy pants and think that only other high-class fancy pants people should be reading your stories you should still be nice and polite when Delta Dawn from the trailer park in Woodstock, Alabama decides to praise your work. I promise you, as a reader, if I try to approach you about something on your blog or about your book and you are rude to me, I will no longer support your work. I will not bad mouth you or your work but I definitely will not spend any more of my hard earned money supporting your writing. And I'll probably throw your books in the burn pile next to 50 Shades of Grey and Twilight....

I feel like this all boils down to manners. If you are guilty of treating people like this then obviously you have misplaced your manners. It's really simple. When someone compliments you, you say "thank you". When someone insults you, you turn the other cheek and move on about your business. Be the bigger person and do not embarrass yourself by lashing out at someone else. If they simply say they didn't like your work, just thank them for taking their time to at least read your work and for their opinion. Use whatever criticism they gave you and make yourself better instead of taking everything so personally. 

If you can't be nice to people, well then....