On the Facebook group: Kindle Horror Books, an open group, author Lee Allen Howard posed the question:
Why would anyone go to the bother of writing a bad review for a book they got for free?
It’s an interesting question, especially for me, having read it, after spending long hours revising a bunch of writing. Below’s my answer, long-winded, and being a first-draft, probably riddled with embarrassing errors. So be forgiving.
Incidentally, Lee Allan Howard can be found at: http://leeallenhoward.com/ Do give the site a visit. He’s got an outstanding essay there called: “Treat Your Digital Fiction Like Software.”
Why would anyone go to the bother of writing a bad review for a book they got for free?
I get a bit tri-polar about crappy books. A person puts out a book, say $3.99, and for a couple of days, promotes it for free. A reader picks it up, and right out the gate, the book’s lousy. Poorly written, poorly structured, but out there, out there competing alongside with work that writers have bled over.
Does this give one a right to be overly vitriolic? No. There’s still such a thing as good manners. But with some of these books, I’ve seen the same editor’s name mentioned, an editor I presume got paid some amount of money–and they took the client for a ride. What to do then? Point this rip-off artist out? Warn one’s scribbling siblings? Maybe. Then again, these writers/”authors” are adults, and they’re out trying to find service on the cheap. It’s a confusing time.
Hell, even some legacy works are getting put out … works that suck. What then? Who to gripe to?
Much of the sentiments said above hit home. Writers make for too easy of a target, and many of them, when they do screw up, don’t know any better, and if just given the courtesy of a private message, an e-mail, whatever, more-’n-likely they’ll respond with an attitude of gratitude.
The field is in flux, though. With the collapse of the Big Six–which is absolutely happening–there are amazing opportunities for authors, seasoned and new, but the market’s getting flooded with garbage.
Previous generations of authors have referenced time and again how they’ve written for years before getting published, have told of that novel, of three of them, of ten! that will never see the light of day–and shouldn’t; they’ve talked about how they cut their teeth, had to learn, but kept at it, and the result … when they finally did hit the market, they kicked ass.
No longer.
With the new crop of would-bes, there is no set of dresser, or attic mss., beloved work that should forever stay private. Instead, they’re up on Amazon, drawing flies.
Writers, by default, take on certain responsibilities, one of which is to be a guardian of the language … and to look out for their fellows. Is it professional to gripe about a bad book? Answer varies. A reviewer’s motive is key. If it’s just to be a troll, to attack, that’ll show through to the savvy reader, with such reviews speaking more about the poster, than the book they’re pointing at.
But what about publishers? Should they be griped about? Is that professional?
I’m thankful that Briane Keene helped blow the whistle on Dorchester, or that just today, the god David Morrell talked about the Department of Justice investigating a number of mainstream publishers.
On a personal level, I’m forgiving of authors who blow it out of ignorance, but who, once informed, bust it to put out the best product possible. And with e-files, it shouldn’t be hard. Has a bunch of errors? Fix it. Billie Sue does.
Would be nice, though, if writers–especially the new ones who’re dumping their crap on the market–gave more of a damn. Here’s the reality: a person reading a work is spending TIME. Irreplaceable time … verily a chunk of their life. They fish for a product, free or not, read about it, take a chance and download it, and then start to read. When the author’s failed to take minimal steps to insure their work’s ready for consumption, then they’ve failed to respect the reader.
It’s a travesty.
Simple mommy-wisdom dictates that a job worth doing, is worth doing well. My mother said once about the job market: Employers only pay enough to keep people from quitting, and employees only work hard enough to keep from getting fired.
The above might be an overly-simplistic statement, but I believe it. There’s a similar problem in publishing, with houses and editors taking advantage, and artisans putting out crap.
Exploitation is wrong–always. Exploiting writers. Exploiting editors. Exploiting houses, and exploiting readers. It’s wrong no matter what side of the fence a person’s on. A good deal is one that’s good for both parties. I’m not responsible for how my work’s received, but I can make sure that I put out the best craft possible. When I know that’s the case, and it’s always the case when I send a baby out to be read, then I don’t care about the gainsayers.
Are bad reviews mean-spirited? Depends. Like with porn, there is no absolute. But I know one when I see it. And so do my fellow authors. To my brothers and sisters who dare to brave fixing the evil of a blank page, I say, if you get a bad review, be honest with it. If the reviewer points out that you didn’t respect readers giving up chunks of their lives, then get humbled and put out a better product.
If it’s just some piss-widget getting off on attacking authors, that’ll be apparent, and not just to you. Sometimes we just have to let the dogs bark. Otherwise, be happy. Let people love or hate our work. Indifference is the ultimate insult to an artist’s baby.
R.M.M.
