HaleNo

I’m a writer.

I’m a blogger.

I’ve got to be honest, up until today I didn’t realize there was that much of a difference between the two things, but then along came #HaleNo.

Last night I read The Guardian piece that kicked all this palaver off, and it made me think about my own book, and the bloggers who’ve reviewed it.

I’ve been lucky, I’ve only had two indifferent reviews from bloggers about my book (so far…), one gave me three stars, and although those three stars stung, I could live with a little sting.

More painful than a sting was the blogger who wrote the following:


Ouch.

I’ll be honest that hurt me more than a one star review.

It was like someone looking at my baby and said “meh…”

Actually, thinking about it, it wasn’t “like” that.

That was exactly what they’d done.

They’d said:

“meh”.

And not only had they said “meh”, they’d said it to everyone who logged onto Goodreads.

I wasn’t angry though.

I was devastated.

I’d put two years into that “meh”.

I’d struggled with a crap job, long hours, two broken relationships (yes two, although in fairness that could be because I’m not as nice a guy as I think I am (there could be another blog post in that)).

Two years, two relationships, totaled up equals…

“meh.”

Like I said, I was devastated.

The thing is though, I’d asked for it.

I’d put the book out there, I’d given it to the world (or rather the lovely people at Harper Collins had, but it is basically the same thing) I’d offered it up to the internet and I’d said “go ahead, I can take it…”

So I had nobody to blame if I didn’t like what I heard back.

Now I’ve learned a little about selling books in the last few weeks, but I’ve learned a lot more about the power of the internet in the same amount of time.

One thing I've learned though is that despite what we all think, the internet is no different from the “real” world in that if I ask for an honest opinion, I shouldn’t complain when I get one.

It’s an opinion, a view formed by a free thinking mind.

Who am I to be unhappy with a free thinking mind?

All I’ve got to remember is there are good bloggers and there are bad bloggers.

Just like there are good writers and there are bad writers.

I can say I definitely fall into two of those categories, but which two?

Well that is a matter of opinion, and if I ask for yours, I can hardly complain if I don’t like what you say, can I?

What I can say is this, in my opinion; people shouldn’t be bullied for having a free thinking mind.

People should be applauded for it.

I do hope you managed to finish reading this blog post though.

Tony

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