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Worst reaction ever to a critical review?

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Mythica
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Post by Mythica » Tue March 29th, 2011, 12:10 pm

Wow. At first I was just completely dumbfounded. My second reaction was to laugh (it's so ridiculous, it's laughable). My third was to feel very sorry for Ms Howett.

She brought it on herself, of course, and I don't blame anyone for the things they said about her behavior or writing because they are all accurate. But in my experience, people who react so volatility to constructive criticism are usually suffering from severely low self esteem. Depression and low self esteem can make people lose all sense of appropriate behavior as their negative emotions consume them. I hope she can overcome this - maybe this was even her breaking point.

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Misfit
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Post by Misfit » Tue March 29th, 2011, 2:29 pm

Interesting is BigAl has posted the review at Amazon. Wowza at the helpful votes it is picking up for this. Same thing happened to the gal who posted the review on Candace Sams. She flew to the highest peaks of Amazon ranking land. Just for fun let's see. Currently #5885.

There's a whole slew of reviews up on Ammy as well. Management just walked in the door, will have to read them later, but they look interesting.
Last edited by Misfit on Tue March 29th, 2011, 2:33 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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sweetpotatoboy
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Post by sweetpotatoboy » Tue March 29th, 2011, 3:42 pm

Ow, that's simply marvellous!! Couldn't read all the comments, but got as far as her classy two-word response, which told me all I needed to know!

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parthianbow
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Post by parthianbow » Tue March 29th, 2011, 4:23 pm

What I don't find attractive either, however, is the way so many people are now queuing up to kick her. That's not to excuse her behaviour in any way shape or form, but the response reminds me a little of a feeding frenzy. I mean not one of the new reviewers have ever responded badly to a criticism, have they?

It's one of the things to be expected on the internet, I suppose. :-(
Last edited by parthianbow on Tue March 29th, 2011, 4:25 pm, edited 3 times in total.
Reason: error
Ben Kane
Bestselling author of Roman military fiction.
Spartacus - UK release 19 Jan. 2012. US release June 2012.

http://www.benkane.net
Twitter: @benkaneauthor

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Misfit
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Post by Misfit » Tue March 29th, 2011, 4:30 pm

[quote=""parthianbow""]What I don't find attractive either, however, is the way so many people are now queuing up to kick her. That's not to excuse her behaviour in any way shape or form, but the response reminds me a little of a feeding frenzy. I mean not one of the new reviewers have ever responded badly to a criticism, have they?

It's one of the things to be expected on the internet, I suppose. :-( [/quote]

No I agree, what's being posted as a review at Amazon is really out of line and bashing the author. I wrote to Amazon and asked them to have a look at them and hopefully remove the ones not in their posting guidelines.
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Vanessa
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Post by Vanessa » Tue March 29th, 2011, 4:37 pm

Yes, I think it's getting a little nasty to say the least. She's stabbed herself in the foot with her remarks, so I don't think there's any need to rub salt into the wound.
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boswellbaxter
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Post by boswellbaxter » Tue March 29th, 2011, 4:43 pm

I'm trying to feel sorry for her, but I can't. As a formerly self-published author, I can testify that it's very hard to get reviewers to look at one's book, and behavior like hers just gives reviewers another excuse to avoid self-published books. Which is a pity, because there are a lot of gems out there.
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Misfit
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Post by Misfit » Tue March 29th, 2011, 5:38 pm

I'm chuckling a bit over the thread about this at the ABNA forum (Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award). After the huge kerfuffle and major flame war over critical reviews they received from some vine members now it's all about how important critical reviews can be, over opinions from friends and family.
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Ariadne
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Post by Ariadne » Tue March 29th, 2011, 6:10 pm

I recognize the name. She had left a comment on my blog plugging her book after I posted a review of a different nautical fiction novel. (All comments of that type get removed.)

I'm amazed how much press this kerfuffle has gotten - it was in two of my publishing e-newsletters this morning.

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Mythica
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Post by Mythica » Tue March 29th, 2011, 7:35 pm

[quote=""boswellbaxter""]I'm trying to feel sorry for her, but I can't. As a formerly self-published author, I can testify that it's very hard to get reviewers to look at one's book, and behavior like hers just gives reviewers another excuse to avoid self-published books. Which is a pity, because there are a lot of gems out there.[/quote]

Feeling sorry for her doesn't mean I excuse her behavior, if that's what you're thinking. I feel sorry for because I understand why she's probably reacted this way - but that doesn't mean her behavior isn't wrong.

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