Author Behaving Badly (My Take)

Or in this case, maybe the title should be "Would-Be Debut" author behaving badly. 

So we've had a bit of a blow up in the literary world that apparently came to a head in just the last few days. It apparently reared its ugly head as a big Goodreads scandal via Twitter ("X") and other social media sites.

Not being a big fan of social media, I missed this entire kerfuffle, but my Google search snagged it because it was allegedly, and very sadly, a debut science fiction romance author who appears to be at the root of the scandal. 

Over the years, I've seen similar author vs. author sabotage attempts. In the end, it always comes back to bite the one who's attempting to downgrade his or her peers' books in hopes of making theirs look more appealing. 

It almost always backfires, and sometimes -- like this instance -- spectacularly.

Authors are often accused of bad behavior (sometimes merely for trying to ethically promote their books) but this is the definition of bad behavior via a particularly vicious form of competition assassination by leaving negative reviews under an array of false identities for their (so-called) competitor's books. And according to multiple articles, it costed the author in question her debut book release, her agent, and probably her career after first attempting to blame it on a "friend," and then finally admitting responsibility.

Let me link you to one of the articles (that isn't behind a paywall) before I continue, so you can catch up on the situation:

Review Bombing and Lost Book Deals: The Goodreads Scandal Explained

Sadly, what this and a few other authors don't sometimes grasp is that they have a unique product where sales are often boosted -- not impacted -- by similar books that sell well. These aren't refrigerators we're selling, where a single sale per customer isn't probably going to be repeated for ten or so years. People who buy books buy a LOT of books, and reading one book they really enjoy often causes them to search out more books in the same vein. Authors, therefore, aren't in competition with each other, and can instead complement the success of peers by supporting them and their work, and helping to create a demand for books in the same genre. 

So instead of trying to wreck havoc on sales for our peers (and wrecking our own careers in the process), we're much better off helping to build support for their books with a good review or mention to other readers. I had a peer who used to say "A rising tide floats all boats."  

The more popular the genre, the better for all who write the books. 

How very sad this individual didn't learn that "golden rule of the publishing industry" before they brought ruin to their own would-be career. 

Other sources:  NYTimes