In a perfect world, everyone would get along. Love would outweigh
hate and discrimination wouldn’t exist. Sadly this isn’t the case. Our blog
hasn’t been as active as it was in the first year of joining our mutual love
for books and sharing with the community we love so much, for a number of
reasons. Life is a major reason and explanation enough.
Recently there was a post about an author stalking a blogger
for a negative review. Normally I wouldn’t say anything about it because it doesn’t
concern me directly. But in a way I guess it does. Christina and I started this
blog to share our love of reading with other individuals. To promote authors
that touched our hearts and share their stories with everyone we could reach.
When I decided to embark on the journey of becoming an author, I had no
expectations. If I sold one copy of a book I wrote, I considered myself a success.
So speaking from both perspectives…IT'S NEVER OKAY TO BULLY.
I remember the first review I received with a few negative
comments. Did it hurt? You bet, but did I try to make the person who left the
review worry about his or her safety? No. Some things should be common sense. The
reason behind reviews is to voice your opinion on the book your reading. Not
every book you read or write will appease the masses. We are individuals for a
reason.
Now I’ve read about a blogger blackout taking place. In my
opinion I feel like everything is escalating to a point that eventually authors
are going to have to take a stand as well. What happens when authors decided it’s
not worth handing out ARC copies of their books to blogs? Let’s be honest, some
blogs are in it for the free books and when they receive copies of the books, a
post isn’t always guaranteed. Maybe I’m shooting myself in the foot by saying
this but without each other, neither of us would be here.
Our relationship is symbiotic. We thrive off each other.
Authors write to tell their stories and hand out free copies so we can read. In
return we write reviews, we tweet, and facebook our love of said book to new
people. The new people in turn buy the book, supporting the author and
continuing on the cycle.
The point of this post is to say we all need each other.
There shouldn’t have to be lines drawn. Indie authors, traditional authors, and
bloggers. Love is louder and we should all support each other. We all have the
same love of reading, writing, and getting lost in a world away from our
reality. That’s what we all need to remember. It’s not okay for anyone to bully
another person. Bloggers are people. Authors are people. We are ALL people and
we all deserve to be treated with respect.
This is the first time that I have ever been to this blog. I agree with every sentence that you wrote. I am a blog reader and do choose items to buy because of a recommendation from a blog. Thank you for sharing you thoughts and opinions. I will be back to read your blog/
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