So, I may have been a little over-excited on my last post and it may have come across differently to different people, I understand that. But boy, the reaction I got from Amazon’s Romance forum is just plain evil. First of all, the fact that these people are actually taking the time to verbally abuse me is beyond my understanding. I for one don't spend my days trashing people I don't know. They seriously must have no lives. I mean, I apologized twice on the forum for posting what they thought was spam, but the attacks just got so personal I find it disturbing. Why are these people so mean? Here are some of the postings. Please tell me if I’m wrong about these people.
angela longstaffe says:
Read his profile. A minor in "Critical Thinking". Now who would have thought so?
R. Simpson says:
That is truly pathetic. Before everyone had a cell phone this girl in high school wasn't interested in you, so what like what 15-20 years ago this happened and you are excited that you now get to reject her on facebook. Seriously you never got over that and moved on from it in all that time, that is very, very sad.
R. Mahala Burlingame says:
Let me give you a clue, Ostroff. Even if you posted that little blurb in the "right" forum you would have at least a few posts from women wondering how it was possible that you managed to fit your head in that particular body cavity due to the fact that your head seems to be about the size of Being an author doesn't give you any respect here in fact even being a NYT best selling author doesn't give you any (cough, Laurell K Hamilton, cough). What gives you respect is something that you seem to be lacking. You probably published that little story everywhere you could, didn't you? And now you whine what meanies we all are, let me put this in words simple and clear enough for you-what a dumb*** you are.
Let us all celebrate with dumb*, I mean Neil, how truly wonderful he is...
And, yet, you haven't removed the post.
Methinks you are lovin' the attention. Another indication that you are still living in your high school years.
Dog Lover says:
The title of the thread is a strong indicator as well. "Better than sex?" ... as if he would know.Maybe (probably not, though) better than the hand jobs he's had to rely on all these years.
R. Mahala Burlingame says:
It must be hard for him to find a place to live, that ego takes up a lot of space.Now, am I wrong here? I mean really folks, who has this kind of time and hate? They don't even know me. Please let me know if I'm in the wrong here.
Thanks.
It's hard to judge without seeing what you wrote, Neil. I agree from this perspective that those comments are about as bad as you see on You Tube (which is the worst for jerky comments), but it's hard to be objective from only seeing the reaction.
ReplyDeleteYou are correct in your assessment of how mean they are!! It hadn't happened to me, but I have read some pretty awful posts from Amazon customers/posters!! I was so appauled at their personal attacks of authors...I even wrote a blog post about it back in July on my Blog. I really felt for some of these authors that were attacked and vowed that I would never use those Forums. I personally feel that some of those people should be blocked from posting bc their posts were so nasty!!! Anyway, my take on it...Don't let it discourage you, those people have some serious problems!!
ReplyDeleteT Denise Clary
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI've been a victim several times now. Don't take it to heart, they aren't worth your time.
ReplyDeleteI used to post regularly there but left a couple years ago. There are a few divas there who like to run things and tell newbies what they can and cannot post. And if you don't agree with them, they can get very nasty. You're better off posting somewhere else and ignoring them.
ReplyDeleteBest of luck with your writing!
Unfortunately the one and only person who might have had an opposing opinion in the comments has been deleted.
ReplyDeleteHmmm. You didn't exactly give the whole story in your blog post, did you now?
Amazon customers are just fine until self-published authors butt in on their discussions and start with the irritating self-promotion. Customers don't want people with very biased opinions pushing their homemade books on us.
@Louise Wise, you have a nerve. You hang around the Amazon forums deliberately provoking arguments, and then run off to other writers, crying victim.
Why writers can’t leave customer discussions to the customers, I do not understand. The Amazon forums aren’t a free advertising service!
Neil,
ReplyDeleteHow about giving a link so that we can view the entire conversation? As Michelle Philhower said, it's hard to judge without seeing the what you wrote. If you are the innocent, injured party you shouldn't have any problems with giving us a link so that we can view your words.
Two comments above, SN says "Amazon customers are just fine until self-published authors butt in on their discussions". That is patently false. These people go out of their way to find authors they can skewer on their forums. They dredge through reviews of books they don't even read, looking for authors who dared to comment on their own reviews, even to correct misinformation. They then gang up to upvote bad reviews and downvote good ones, again for books that aren't even in their genre and that they have no real interest in. Several of them will even leave bad reviews just because they've worked up a good steam against a particular author. They'll download the book and then get a refund.
ReplyDeleteWhen the author finds all these comments and goes looking for the source, they're often surprised to find themselves in the forums, where the same nasty core group of people have made their home.
Self-promotion is annoying, but it's not nearly as destructive as what those in the romance forums do.