Got Trolls?
Got Trolls?
Break Glass in Case of Trolling
This is page is a tool for those who have experienced some kind of trolling in regards to their book reviews. It contains information on what to do and not do, what you can expect and how to get help. Stephanie and I have a long history of dealing with both trolls and harassment on both our own reviews and on our friend’s behalf. We have seen almost every type of review trolling and know firsthand what it’s like to experience this kind of bullying.
What is trolling?
Trolling in the book review community is not always synonymous with the term in a general context. In general, what members of the book community often refer to as trolling is often just flaming.
If You Don’t Like it Then Don’t Read It
I am going to be honest. I am getting sick and tired of hearing this from people who dislike negative reviews. Have you ever actually thought about that statement before? I mean really?
It doesn’t even make sense. On soooooooooooooooooooooooooooo many levels. “If you don’t like it… Don’t read it!” Now someone please, tell me exactly how can you know that you won’t like a book before you’ve read it?
You can’t, but lets look at some of the most popular tagged on statements I’ve heard.
How to Respond to an Author or Troll Attack
Emails we get surprisingly often look something like this:
Hey I need help. I’ve had an author comment on a review I’ve written. What should I do?
Having your first author run-in or serious troll/flammer can be scary, intimidating, infuriating. After you process it, you have to decide what to do, how to respond, if you respond at all. This page is a tool to give you some advice, perspective and information from vast experience in dealing with these matters.
If you read nothing else – at least read this:
Depending on each individual circumstance, you will need to tailor your response. But there are some basic things you should always do, no matter how it happens.
I’m Not Pretending to be a Professional
I think we all know where this post is going. I’m going to pretend you all have been informed of all the recent drama between reviewers and authors. But in case you missed the wankfest you can check out this recap.
Once upon a time I wrote a review for a book called Carrier of the Mark and it happened to ruffle some feathers. At the time of writing the review, I was an angry little reader flabbergasted by a few issues I noticed. I wasn’t thinking of what the author would think of the review and contrary to popular belief, I couldn’t have cared less what she thought. Because once I care, I’ll be forced to sugarcoat. Anyway, usually I write my reviews with the reader in mind, but the Carrier of the Mark review is the only review I have written for myself.
Negative Reviews
Recently there has been an uproar from a few authors on the practice of reviewing books, specifically on GoodReads. They think reviewers are too harsh, they hate the use of pictures and GIFs, and they feel like majority of the negative reviews author bash. I’ve found that majority of authors complaining happen to write in the YA genre.
Now, here are my thoughts. Sure, some reviews are harsh, however those reviews are usually of the books that truly are awful. And I’m not talking about the reviewer just not liking the book. Oh, no. It’s way more to that.
Reading from Other Sites
How to tell if you’re a troll – A quick little quiz by The Bloggess.
