Saturday, July 21, 2012

Goodreads Drama--"Bad Blogs and Bloggers"

Hey guys.
So normally I don't really make posts about all the drama/newsworthy news that happens in the book blogging community... but I thought I'd make an exception just this once because I really wanted to talk about this particular happening.


If you're on goodreads, then you may or may not know about a certain author who made a post promising a list of "bad blogs and bloggers" who accepted a novel and promised a review, but reneged on that promise. 
If you haven't read the post, you can read it HERE. (I highly highly recommend that you read it).


Basically, this particular indie author (Carroll Bryant) was approached by some bloggers who wanted a copy of his book for review. However, some never actually posted reviews while others said they probably weren't going to and now Bryant is pretty much saying he's going to put all these bloggers (the gist I'm getting is that most are teen bloggers) on a black list of sorts for Indie authors to avoid.


And I'm just like...


This whole blacklist thing is just such a bad idea for so many reasons...
For one, it doesn't do the author's reputation any favors. Sure I'm sorry he got cheated by a couple of bloggers who never gave reviews, but threatening to blacklist them is only going to stir up SO much more drama in the book blog community! Already there are probably hundreds of replies on GR by bloggers voicing WHY this is not a good idea. In fact, this doesn't even do Indie authors very much good in the long run because it's actions like this that's going to make bloggers refuse to accept indie books for review! 

"Now I know that I was being humored by these liars and thieves. By these children who don’t realize the impact that their blogs can sometimes have on an independent author." 


As a teen book blogger, it's also a little insulting and demeaning that Bryant basically said that we blog just to "swindle" free books! This is not a job. I blog because I genuinely love books and reading and I want to share that with other people. Let me be clear about one thing: I am not getting paid for this
Do I wish that I was? Heck yeah, I do. But I do it everyday because I enjoy it! And I take it seriously.

"Look at it like this, it’s a lesson in business ethics for these young people. Something that they can learn that when you make a promise and then break it for no reason, that there can be consequences behind that."


Also, I'm sorry dude, but, contrary to popular belief, I do NOT spend all day glued to my laptop or a book. I have a life and, unfortunately, sometimes that makes for a slow reading pace. Sometimes bloggers just don't have the time to get to your book. That doesn't mean they're not going to read/review it. It just means that it will take them TIME. In fact, this is mentioned in countless bloggers' review policy. Sometimes they can't guarantee a timely review.  Like I said, we have lives. From fall to spring, I have school and (God forbid) HOMEWORK. However, me personally as well as many other bloggers I know, if we've made you a promise to read and review a book, we're gonna do it! It might take us a while because there are other things we have to do, obligations we have to fulfill, but we will do it!

"a promise is a promise, business is business and since these people chose to do bad business with me, I am going to do bad business in return and “out” them for their unethical behavior. Trust me, it is not a game. You want to play grown up? Welcome to the grown up world of taking responsibility for your actions and choices. Maybe if people feared ending up on somebody’s bad list made public, many of these people would cease their unethical practices."

The fact is, as an author, you also took a business gamble sending ARCs to people. Sometimes, business doesn't necessarily pay off in the way you dreamed of. A review isn't always guaranteed! And I cannot stress enough that blacklisting teenage bloggers is NOT going to do you and your books any favors in the long run. I mean, just look at the already present drama on goodreads! These people are essentially your target audience! The people you need on your side. Targeting them is not good for book sales. Regardless of the intention of such a post, a lot of other bloggers are going to take great offense to this because Bryant has basically lumped a lot of bloggers together when it's only a handful of individuals who may have broken some promises.


I normally don't like to rant on my blog, but Carroll Bryant's post just rubbed me the wrong way--possibly because of the way he phrased his post, in a way that was damaging to people who weren't even involved. Bryant has stated that he's no longer posting The List on goodreads, but instead only on his blog, but I have a feeling the damage has already been done on goodreads. 


OK. Rant over. Let me ask you: what do you think of this incident? Any thoughts? 

14 comments:

  1. It's actually a "he", the name of the idiot that started this latest storm of excrement is "Carroll Bryant". (You said "Carrie" up above at the beggining) He's a male author.

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    Replies
    1. oh whoops! Sorry about that, I've just fixed the typo!

      Delete
  2. This sort of thing makes me angry. He makes it sound like we're children playing a game, when I love books more than anything. It's not "business" when there's no money (and barely a promise) exchanged. It's for fun and maybe publicity (for the authors we like). There's no guarantee that we can get around to it, when teenagers are just as busy as adults. Gah! Sorry for my rant that agrees with your rant, but I don't like it when people try to shun others like this.

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  3. Wow, that's horrible for him to say! I agree with you and Danielle >_< I feel terrible that he had to deal with those types of bloggers, but I think he should have let it go. Some things don't go as planned. I don't like how he made us sound like we were little kids playing a game. Why did you hand out ARCs to us then? I understand his frustration, but it shouldn't be taken out like this. Perhaps he should've sent an e-mail and said "Look, I'm pretty upset that you have't posted a review as promised, but can you at least pass it along to someone who will?" Anyway, great post!

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  4. There's so many dramas going on in GR and book blogger lately. I haven't heard of this one until now and I think it's sad how this turned out so badly. Whenever an indie author ask me to review his/her book I don't promise to be able to write a review right away but I do promise that I would write one once I finished it. Sometimes it takes me a really long time before getting on their books because I have other things I need to do too aside from reading. Other than that there are other books that first came to me and needed to be reviewed first. He could have just let it go because we aren't getting paid or he could have just personally asked those bloggers why they didn't review the book. I'm sure these bloggers have valid reasons for not doing so. :)

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  5. Sweet Jesus!! What the fuck?! I didn't even know about this!! Damn my two jobs, fuck. What a jerk. I completely agree with you Joie!! We DO have a life.

    I got a book for review a month ago and I tried to read it and good I couldn't get into the story and everything in me repelled about that book, so I read just half of it and decided to stop. I wrote a review about it explaining why I haven't finished it. And the author was ok with it.

    Black list?! Of the all damn things!! And the post on goodreads doesn't exist anymore. lol. I will google his blog :D ahahaa.

    Thank you for sharing this! ;) I agree with your opinion! ;) ;) <3

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  6. Ok, I've read his blog post. And I want to say.. I think he isn't totally wrong. I'm not saying he is totally right either. It's just, come on 9 months for a book review?! I thought he was pissed because the review hasn't showed up in 2 months not 9! 9 months?! Another thing, he said that bloggers REQUESTED the book, and not him telling them to do a review. This is a little insane, I mean, if you ask for a book then is usually more certain you want to read it than the other way around when the author asks you to review it. What a mess. Whatever. What do you think Joie?
    I know I would be pissed off, too :P

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    1. That a valid point too! I think he's totally entitled to be mad, but taking it so far as to blacklist some people is a bit too extreme in my opinion.
      And it causes SO. MUCH. DRAMA.

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  7. OH and btw!! I love your new design of the blog!! ;) It's cute ;) :) <3

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  8. You have every right to rant about this incident, and I'm totally with you. Even face-palmed with you. Your point about us teen bloggers being the target audience really hits home.

    What is this guy thinking? And really, there are many of us that have reached quite a professional level with blogging, and then there are others (like me) who blog entirely out of enjoyment and out of love for books, and this author is generalizing all of us and forcing us to enter a business world?! We'll get there when we get there, but that's totally unfair to use that attack on all of us in general. (which is basically the feeling that he's implying in his words.

    And YES, WE HAVE OUR OWN LIVES!! If he's to send ARCs, then has he not read review policies from teen bloggers before? Another super valid point.

    Ugh. No matter how you look at this one, the negative effects outbalance the positive by a massive amount, like 99%.

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  9. Aww, I try my best to stay away from all this author/blogger drama. There are just so many dramas going on lately, especially in Goodreads... it's so sad since we all start the blog and review thing because we love books. And yes, we all do have life outside of our blog. Most of us are not professional bloggers, we just dedicate ourselves to our blogs because we love blogging.

    This a brilliant post, Joie! <3 Hopefully the dramas will stop soon. Finger crossed! x)

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  10. I've seen this whole "blogger blacklist" thing before, and, as another teen blogger, it really upset me! The author is really making us look like little idiot thieves, who just want to steal his books. It's frustrating.

    Anyways, I loved what you had to say on the matter, great post!

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  11. I really think the only person who comes out looking bad in all of this is this author. So the bloggers didn't review your book immediately or they didn't review it at all...that is the cost of doing business, my friend. Teens or not, shit happens. Complain to your real friends, move on, and stop throwing internet tantrums.

    Don't let this guy's incredibly poor judgement and just really terrible logic bring you down. Every time I see a list like this (such as the grbullies) I just add those people as friends and follow their blogs. They usually end up having some of the best reviews--both positive and negative.

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