Author Bashing - How Far is Too Far

I started off today with another idea for the blog, but felt I wanted to touch on another subject – Author Bashing. I’ve seen a lot of author bashing over the last year and yesterday good friend Helen Hardt and I became targets.

It all started with a Google alert. I opened the alert to see my name was mentioned on a website I’d never visited and I was curious to see why my name appeared. Well, let me just say it wasn’t what I was prepared for. The person, who remained anonymous, took to bashing pen names. Let’s assume for argument sake it’s a she. She compared Amber Skyze and Helen Hardt to stripper names and said they were only suitable for Vegas strip clubs.

Her comments were nasty and rude. First of all Helen’s name has sentimental value, along with the fact her first name is HELEN. She posted her feelings yesterday on her blog, if you care to take a peek - http://helensheroes.blogspot.com.

My last name also holds a special meaning for me. Ten years ago I own and published a romance magazine Romancing the Skyze. It was my baby and I enjoyed running it for a few years until I got sick. I was hospitalized for a few months and the recovery was even longer. I had to stop publishing my magazine. So when I needed a pen name I knew Skyze had to be part of it.

I know Helen attempted to leave this evil person a comment. I chose not to engage her. Though I visited the site this morning and there are NO comments. The funny thing is, she inadvertently brought more traffic to my blog. Oh and she also said that people weren’t buying our books because they’re too busy laughing at our names. Well, I guess I’m laughing all the way to the bank with my royalty checks…because they’re proof people ARE buying my books. J

So in this case bad publicity is good publicity.

That’s not always the case though. I’ve seen friends have their books released and some nameless bitch go to the publisher’s website and give them low ratings. I’ve seen book reviews where the reviewer gives brutal comments. I was a reviewer before I was published. I’d NEVER EVER think about bashing an author. I would give an honest opinion if I didn’t like the story, but I wouldn’t resort to things like – “this author is too stupid to live and should quit while she’s ahead” or “this book is the worst piece of crap I’ve ever read, don’t waste your money”. I’ve seen worse, but I’m toning it down a bit.

Writer’s have feelings. They’re human. Some mothers, grandmothers, wives. They’re normal everyday people who enjoy writing. While I know we need thick skin in this business there’s no reason for personally attacking authors. The Internet has given way too much leeway for people to spout viciousness.

Have you ever been a victim of some idiot’s rantings? How did you deal with it?