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rolanniA couple days ago ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
janni posted a wise and reasonable opinion on the value of readers having space to talk candidly about books with other readers, without being afraid that the writer will be looking over their shoulder.
I agree with much, and possibly all, of this post. One of the things I miss is being able to talk candidly about books here in my own blog. Alas, experience has shown that I hurt the feelings of people I know when I do that, so I don't. Readers who don't know A Lot of science fiction and fantasy writers, but who read a lot of books of which they have opinions, shouldn't have that problem, particularly.
We all know not to respond to nasty reviews -- even those which are gratuitously and specifically mean to the author -- because that's 'way more trouble than anyone wants.
But.
What about the folks who make the. . .effort, I suppose it is, to write an email to a particular author specifically to complain about an aspect of the writer's work? I'm not, note, talking about readers who want to know What Happens Next (though, really, I'm not going to tell you in an email; that's what books are for) or who have questions about plot, world building or character. All of those communications express interest and involvement in our work -- and that's a Good Thing in my view.
What I'm talking about are the folks who write to say that they find the fact that Priscilla goes topless in the privacy of her own home offensive. Or need to share that they dislike Miri because she has bad grammar. Or who are compelled to say that their least favorite books are those dealing with Val Con, because they're so violent. Clearly, these are opinions held by these readers, but am I the reasonable recipient?
My inclination has been to throw away communications like the above, unread. Certainly, an honest response is not appropriate in such cases (see "We all know not to respond to nasty reviews..." above), and it would seem that we have a case of, "If it sounds like a griefer, and disrupts like a griefer, it's a griefer."
Does anybody else get these sorts of emails? How do you deal with them?
Progress on Ghost Ship
janni posted a wise and reasonable opinion on the value of readers having space to talk candidly about books with other readers, without being afraid that the writer will be looking over their shoulder. I agree with much, and possibly all, of this post. One of the things I miss is being able to talk candidly about books here in my own blog. Alas, experience has shown that I hurt the feelings of people I know when I do that, so I don't. Readers who don't know A Lot of science fiction and fantasy writers, but who read a lot of books of which they have opinions, shouldn't have that problem, particularly.
We all know not to respond to nasty reviews -- even those which are gratuitously and specifically mean to the author -- because that's 'way more trouble than anyone wants.
But.
What about the folks who make the. . .effort, I suppose it is, to write an email to a particular author specifically to complain about an aspect of the writer's work? I'm not, note, talking about readers who want to know What Happens Next (though, really, I'm not going to tell you in an email; that's what books are for) or who have questions about plot, world building or character. All of those communications express interest and involvement in our work -- and that's a Good Thing in my view.
What I'm talking about are the folks who write to say that they find the fact that Priscilla goes topless in the privacy of her own home offensive. Or need to share that they dislike Miri because she has bad grammar. Or who are compelled to say that their least favorite books are those dealing with Val Con, because they're so violent. Clearly, these are opinions held by these readers, but am I the reasonable recipient?
My inclination has been to throw away communications like the above, unread. Certainly, an honest response is not appropriate in such cases (see "We all know not to respond to nasty reviews..." above), and it would seem that we have a case of, "If it sounds like a griefer, and disrupts like a griefer, it's a griefer."
Does anybody else get these sorts of emails? How do you deal with them?
5799 / 100000
