I am publicly apologizing to SEE.
Who is See, you may ask? Well, I don't know.
Why am I apologizing? Because I forgot the power of social media. I did something that resulted in CONSEQUENCES I never intended. I perpetuated what is commonly referred to as cyber bullying.
Did I intend to do that? NO!
Last night I posted on Facebook that I read a 1 Star review of my first book Consequences. The review, literally, made me giggle. I am no stranger to 1 Stars. When I received my first one I cried. Yes, I did. It was actually my FIRST Amazon review. So there was my newly published book with 1 review, a 1 star. Now, two and one half years later, that same book has over 1000 reviews, 650+ are 5 Stars,, 170+ are 4 stars, and yes, 70 are 1 Stars.
A few years ago, I was communicating with a representative of one of the "big" publishing houses. He told me that he loved the reviews of Consequences. He said that 1 Stars are as important as 5 Stars because they show that my writing evokes emotion in readers. From that moment on, my attitude toward 1 Star reviews changed.
I evoke emotion! Check me out!
The reason the review I posted on my Facebook page made me giggle was that the reviewer not only bestowed the title of "Worse Book Ever" (Pretty damn cool when you consider the millions of books out there) but the reviewer went on to say that she (he) didn't finish the book, skipped a lot, and read the end. It was all bad. I laughed.
My post was meant "tongue in cheek" to say...hmmm maybe if you actually read the book - all of it, you might have liked it, or not liked it, based on evidence.
I wasn't upset. I don't dislike this reviewer. I don't wish bad things on her (him).
I forgot that in the world of social media, I have fans. That is hard for me to say. I'm not a person who thinks of myself as having "fans". I have readers. People who enjoy or enjoy hating my make believe friends. Nevertheless, I have people who love me and feel the need to protect me. For that I'm grateful.
Posting that review was not meant as an invitation for those people who care about ME to attack SEE.
I learned that I have a responsibility to use my forum in a way to promote my books and promote others. I learned that the misuse of that forum can result in unintended glitches.
I promise SEE, my family, my friends, and my readers that I will work to remember this lesson.
Aleatha
