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The Top Ten Things An Author Should Not Do at Amazon

I read an interesting article here about the things an author shouldn't do at Amazon. Case in point, an author whose latest book I've reviewed here, and who was mentioned in the article, who has been attacking Amazon reviewers in an unprofessional way. In my case, I published my review of her book on July 4th; not long afterwards, I got a comment on the review on Amazon from the author that wasn't exactly flattering--to say the least. I really wish I'd copied the comment down, because Amazon took it down later. I never responded because, well, I didn't see the point. But I think this whole thing is rather interesting, how an author might stoop to that kind of level. My thought is that if you can't take the good with the bad, then you shouldn't publish your work. I'm glad to see that I'm not the only one affected!

Comments

Chrisbookarama said…
That seems to be a problem with authors on Amazon. It's so unprofessional and doesn't put them in a good light with me. I wonder how they got so far in the publishing world to have such a thin skin. Most authors have been rejected time and again before becoming published. What's a few bad reviews on Amazon!

Unbelievably, Anne Rice made a big fool of herself on Amazon. She's become a joke on some review sites. Such behaviour can only come back to haunt an author.
July 22, 2008 at 2:38 PM
Lezlie said…
I read the author's Helen of Troy book, then never touched her work again. Very telling, considering I am an extremely forgiving reader. Hearing about this makes me glad I didn't contribute any more money to her career.

I've seen some of the Anne Rice comments, and a comment to this story also mentions that Laurell K. Hamilton has done some raging at reviewers. I'm with you. An author has to take the good with the bad. Not everyone is going to like every book. That doesn't excuse readers who are just plain mean-spirited when they write a review, but that certainly was not the case here.

Lezlie
July 22, 2008 at 3:30 PM
Anonymous said…
Wow, I hadn't heard about this kind of stuff. It's really ridiculous. And, Anne Rice? Isn't she suppossed to be very religious?
July 23, 2008 at 8:14 AM
Serena said…
I completely agree that authors should just take the good with the bad...because you can't "please all of the people all of the time."

I say if someone doesn't like the review, it is only one person's opinion. Get over it.
July 23, 2008 at 9:09 AM
Anonymous said…
I have had a similar problem at my own blog before, and I wonder how much of it is author's not accustomed to getting poor or negative reviews. I mean, few magazines, papers, etc. that actually do book reviews seldom seem to present poor reviews. In addition, it's no secret that the Internet easily brings out the worst in some people, which I suppose goes to show that authors are only human too.

Interesting to hear about Anne Rice though!
August 20, 2008 at 10:49 AM
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