A lil story… run run far far away or click the saint for a long ol ramble
Tara posted a now edited ranty rant the other day which sent me off to search for what annoyed her.
AKA it is tara’s fault I was looking at message boards 🙂
Someone posted a thread “You will hate me…” on Avon Book Discussions message board {pay attention to the folder name, there will be a test later} I say someone cuz the thread is now deleted. The post asked for books that didn’t work for people. And was about 4 pages.
One poster attacked another poster… in a omg you big ol meanie how can you be so ugly, these AUTHORS pay for this site and like could be here READING, you meanie how can you say anything bad about a person who is paid to do a job and do it so super special they make the NEW YORK TIMES BESTESTEST SELLER EVAH LIST, please everyone forgive me as I now bash this person, post their real name, their blog name, their real super secret meaning cuz they are too stupid to say what they ‘really’ mean which is ok cuz like I am a big ol fangirlie and she doesn’t matter cuz like she isn’t a author I LUV and I am such a nice girlie so that is ok… right?
{that is paraphrased}
Shockingly enough I was moved to posted. ::waits for shock to disappear:: Why did I bother, you ask?
1. thread wasn’t bashing, attacking or being evol to authors
2. at that time there were no rules against such a post {those taking notes, this is important}
3. I can’t stand people who bitch and moan about people having the nerve to bitch, as they bitch. You wanna be a bitch, be a bitch. Stand up and wave your bitchy lil flag and go with it. People can like it or not. But don’t wrap it up in pretty colors and say look at how nice I am to bash you in the head.
4. it is worse when you complain about all those nasty people out there ::looks at bloggers and those other message boards:: you know who you are you bitches… and then do the same fucking thing.
Yes, I do know I can be a bitch. Yes, it has been told to me, posted, written, stated, said and even agreed with. I know I am just shocking the hell out of yall today. Such is life, I am right sometimes, wrong others. I am not gonna slap your ass for being a bitch, tell you how horrid it is to be a bitch, then be a bitch and play like a nice fangirl. I can squuueee with the best of em but color me honest, hell I like Palmer, I can’t take myself too seriously.
I have a copy of my post, which I am playing with posting but it quotes others muchly and since post is now removed it would be rude of me quote. I guess… but a part of my response to the above (ok’ed)basher ask (again paraphrasing) – When did that become such a bad thing to only want to blow smoke up authors asses?:
It becomes a bad thing when fangirls get up in arms over big ol meanies saying what they like or don’t like. Every author on the left list here knows they will get a bad review. It is impossible to please
everyone. Nor have I read anywhere that the authors pay for this site
only so they have a ‘safe’ place to come get stroked. Honestly if that
is what this board is for that would border on pathetic.But if that is one of the rules then it should be publicly posted or a
moderator should address it. uh and sorry jenna… feel free to beat
me at will LOL not that you need my permissionOr sticky a post on top saying only feed authors sweetness and light
anything else will send them screaming into the night. uh just an idea
{my stupid self thought jenna mod’ed the board, looking now she doesn’t}
So this morning there is an email that there is a response on the board. I hit and board shows thread has been deleted. So I check the board and there is a sticky on the top of the board saying to please read “Let’s keep it “Positive”.
So I responded, nicely!:
sybil sez:
Two questions and a suggestionavonadmin wrote:
Recently there have been some threads which were totally “negative” in content. We would like to ask that you refrain from starting topics that are negative.. such as asking about Books or Authors that you “Don’t like”.We realize that not everyone will like all books and or authors.
sybil sez:
Who is we? All the authors on the side board?avonadmin wrote:
You are welcome to comment on something that you don’t like.. but only in the context of a general discussion about that book and or author. We are not trying to censor people’s comments or feelings, however, this forum’s purpose is for the PROMOTION of Avon Authors. We hope that you will understand why totally negative threads are inappropriate.sybil sez:
PROMOTION board is different than a Discussion board, isn’t it?::checking Merriam-Websters Online Dictionary::
Main Entry: pro·mo·tion
Pronunciation: pr&-‘mO-sh&n
Function: noun
1 : the act or fact of being raised in position or rank : PREFERMENT
2 : the act of furthering the growth or development of something; especially : the furtherance of the acceptance and sale of merchandise through advertising, publicity, or discounting
– pro·mo·tion·al /-shn&l, -sh&-n&l/ adjectiveMain Entry: dis·cus·sion
Pronunciation: di-‘sk&-sh&n
Function: noun
1 : consideration of a question in open and usually informal debate
2 : a formal treatment of a topic in speech or writingAm I missing something? Can you state only positive happy happy joy joy posts and have a true discussion of anything?
avonadmin wrote:
We will no longer allow any topics that is only negative in nature.
We will not delete random negative comments in the context of general discussions.Thank you for understanding.
Feel free to email me at avonadmin@booktalkauthors.com if you have any questions about this decision.sybil sez:
That is understandable. But as discussion does give off a vibe that is at odds with your goal, you or we (whoever we may be) might want to look at renaming the folder or putting a note in the description.Right now it named:
Avon Book Discussions
and says:
Discuss books, authors, writing etc hereDoesn’t sound like that is what should be there. So to keep people from coming to the board thinking they can discuss a book you might want to rethink those.
Just saying. All positive all the time is cool, free speech isn’t a ‘right’ on a private forum. But it would help frustration levels of your members if you said what you meant. Right now it looks like you want to be a promo board with the look of a discussion board.
To which the SITE ADMIN answers…
I am not going to respond to every question of yours. Feel free to email me if you need further discussion.
And then decides what should or shouldn’t be publically asked of her.
Color me stupid but was I rude? I tried ever so hard to be polite. That is a private board paid by someone not me. As a moderator on another board, I completely agree there are rules you have to follow when you REGISTER to POST on someone else board.
And as a mod, I have and do tell people to knock it off and take their shit off board. But uh… as much as being a mod can be a bitch… you do it after posting to them a few times and they get obnoxious… I have posted a total of NINE times to that board. Says 8 cuz the one yesterday was in a now deleted thread. Out of NINE posts, one would be counted as against rules enforced AFTER I posted.
Does that make me a troll? Honestly I can’t see that is does but I could be wrong. As I often don’t have anything to add to the discussions there I rarely post. Out of those nine posts six were prolly regarding DiW.
Am I being mean here? Maybe but tis my blog and I will say whatever the fuck I want. And anyone is welcome to post. Am I going to email the rude lil shit to ask her to make sense and do her fucking job? As she said, “The administrators of this forum work for them.” Them being the authors:
Victoria Alexander, Mary Kay Andrews, Adele Ashworth, Alexandra Benedict, Sara Bennett, Toni Blake, Shane Bolks, Stephanie Bond, Elizabeth Boyle, Meggin Cabot, Gayle Callen, Dixie Cash, Kathryn Caskie, Mary Castillo, Jacquie D’Alessandro, Sylvia Day, Robyn DeHart, Christina Dodd, Suzanne Enoch, Cathryn Fox, Sarah Gabriel, Shana Galen, Rachel Gibson, Laura Lee Guhrke, Karen Hawkins, Lorraine Heath, Judith Ivory, Eloisa James, Samantha James, Jessica Jiji, Sophie Jordan, Shirley Karr, Lisa Kleypas, Stephanie Laurens, Edith Layton, Kimberly Logan, Cait London, Elizabeth Lowell, Kinley MacGregor, Sara MacKenzie, Julianne MacLean, Suzanne Macpherson, Margo Maguire, Anne Mallory, Cathy Maxwell, Mary Reed McCall, Judi McCoy, Jenna McKnight, Teresa Medeiros, Debra Mullins, Hailey North, Kayla Perrin, Jenna Petersen, Susan Elizabeth Phillips, Julia Quinn, Karen Ranney, Christie Ridgway, Sari Robins, Sonia Singh, Susan Sizemore, Kathryn Smith, Kerrelyn Sparks, Marianne Stillings, Melody Thomas
Since the site admin is too busy to answer a simple question the first time it is asked. And instead clarifies who ‘we’ is referring to in her first post by saying:
“First.. yes, The authors listed on the sidebar pay for this forum. The administrators of this forum work for them.”
I chose to assume the site admin is a dummy not the authors. It is something of a stretch for me to believe all those people listed (who are writers) approved a the policy that conflicts with the stated words used on the site. But I could be wrong.
But the front page says:
This web page is our way of introducing ourselves to readers. We hope you’ll come in and enjoy the latest news about your favorite authors and discover some new authors as well. Come tell us what you think. Come talk about romance. Or just come and browse.After you’ve cruised through our site, grab a cup of cyber-tea and drag a cyber-chair over to our message board. You won’t believe who drops by, and we’d love to talk to you—especially about the stories we love to write!
Happy reading from all of us, to all of you!
First thought…
This is how they want to be introduced to the random reader?
Second thought…
Come tell us what you think. Come talk about romance. Or just come and browse.
Does any of that say, don’t say anything not happy happy joy joy?
The LINK to the message board is the word – DISCUSSION. I can’t believe the site admin is correct and none of the above authors know what the word discussion means.
At the end of the day does this matter, other than showing how easy it is to amuse me, not really. But hell, if you wanna be fangirl, be a fangirl. Wear your flag proudly and wave it around. Be open, be honest, don’t tell me you want to be a promo, only stroke the authors for their egos are fragile {no I don’t believe that, looks like just the site admin and some posters do} board but NAME yourself a Author Discussion Board.
Say what you mean, mean what you say. Pretending you are something you’re not just annoys.
I am ALL for rules and following them. Posting a link, to a different folder and thread named ‘Posting Guidelines > Let’s keep it “Positive”‘ but then contradicting yourself by naming the folder “Avon Book Discussions” with a description of “Discuss books, authors, writing etc here”. Will confuse people, well I think. And I could be wrong.
Either way I still want Scandal in Spring, Duke of Scandal, From London with Love, Angel in my Bed, Autumn in Scotland and will still read Lowell’s only books over and over. I will still buy Avon. I still look forward to seeing what Avon Red puts out {pun intended}. I will still like some and I will still hate some. I will still post about wanting Heath to do more westerns. Hell I want Lowell to write more westerns and I know that will like never happen.
So I shall just skip that board (and yes I knew going in it was over run with fangirlies and is a big reason that Avon has the rep is does but it wasn’t a stated rule being said to be approved by the authors).
Stop looking at me like that… I have HOPE damn it! I want to believe! Sorry, watched X-Files for too long.
The internet is a big ol place with a message board, web site, blog or whatever the fuck for everything. And I shall keep reading and reviewing the above authors (well that I am interested in reading) until someone tells me that yes the author(s) really can’t handle people saying anything negative about their work evah and think only happy fluffy bunny thoughts should be said about them.
Cuz then I will stop buying them… and just mock them.
Don’t get me wrong, I understand that hearing someone might not like your work can hurt. And anyone wants to hear sqqqqquueeeeing over booooooooing. But if you can’t handle the bad, you don’t deserve the good. So don’t publish. You don’t deserve the money, the readers or the fans. Create yourself a yahoo group, only let people in who will lick your ass and post your writing. Sort of like a private mental hospital others can avoid cuz they know you are there. And then you never evah have to see a bad word about yourself. (that you would be general)
Really color me naive, but I truly think more authors than fangirlies will lead you to believe are big girls who can take the good with the bad. I will prolly add some author links later but I have wasted more than enough time on this, for now.
