Condescension Unneeded

I said what I wanted and needed to say about my novel in yesterday's post. And I'm not deleting it, regardless of whether anyone thinks it sounds self-pitying. There may have been a touch of that, but mostly I spilled the reality of my situation. I re-read it yesterday, and I stand by it, mostly.

But then, just to confirm my stance, I clicked on the "read sample" button on the book's product page, and damn--that's some fine writing. I could tell I worked hard on honing my words. 

Granted, the sample only displays the first chapter or so; thus, the story could well have taken a bad turn as it went along. (No, I'm not going to re-read it.) But as for the writing itself, I'm a really good writer.

So, when I found a Reddit post later in the day, titled, innocently enough, "How many self published books leave their fates to the whims of the amazon algorithm." (Is that a question? The punctuation belies that), the first response I read was:

"Most fail because the authors either do no marketing or just publish bad books. No matter what anyone says, publishing is not free." 

Hmmm, really? I felt compelled to respond.

"I don't fall into either category, and I've still barely sold any books." 

Today I received notification of a reply:

"Then something is wrong, either your marketing is targeted wrong, your cover is bad or your book is bad." 

I might say that something is wrong with his punctuation skills, but I'll forgive that, since apparently those things aren't taught in school anymore. (A comma is the incorrect punctuation to use after "wrong".)

Here's the deal: I'm not about to let a statement like his stand. Thus, I responded to his response:

"My cover is great, as is my book. So, yes, maybe I'm not marketing correctly. Or my genre just isn't very popular. It doesn't matter to me at this point, but I will say that no one would know if my book was "bad" if they hadn't read it." 

To be fair, this guy's not the only person I've seen online who serves up the proposition that a book doesn't sell because it's a bad book. Even so-called experts have proffered that excuse. I would love to be telepathic, too. It would save me so much grief, just in my everyday life, not to mention my publishing life. 

This is what we refer to as "lame". It's saying, I don't know the answer, but I want to sound like I do, so I'll say your book is bad. 

I don't know what this guy writes--hold on--well, I couldn't find any reference to his writing, but he does post a lot of elementary questions about home-related things, in which he appears to be completely clueless (and he's in his fifties!) His replies to others' posts are curt and dismissive. Oh, and he's active in the atheist sub, which explains a lot. Atheists always think they're smarter than everyone else, except apparently in home maintenance.

This old dude, who still plays video games, responded to me at the exact wrong time. Don't you dare presume that my book is bad. What's yours like, if you've even written one? If you've made so much in royalties, you should be able to afford to hire a handyman, one who, unlike you, knows how a screwdriver works.

I've no choice but to accept negative reviews. What I won't accept is some anonymous asshole telling me that my book is bad. (That's my job.) 

Maybe I am marketing wrong. The trouble is, there's no right way, because I've tried them all. I'm assuming from his immaturity that he writes sci fi (if he writes at all). Well, hello! Sci fi ranks in the top five bestselling genres for 2025, whereas women's fiction doesn't even rank. 

All sales evidence to the contrary, I am a good writer. It takes skill to turn a so-so plot into an interesting read, after all. Even if it's so confusing with its "back and forth" that it makes a dunce reviewer's head spin. 

Yes, I've reached Stage 2 of grief: anger. To be clear, I've kind of jumped around between the stages (or went "back and forth", as they say). I did "denial", then "depression" (yesterday); never went with "bargaining", because I'm not going to bother God with something so trivial. "Acceptance"? Sure, pretty much. I'm kind of at the crossroads of anger and acceptance right now. 

Laugh hysterically over my lack of sales; that's fine. That's deserved. Even an illiterate sells more books than me. It is funny, when you think about it. 

Just don't denigrate my writing. Especially if you've been on the earth for six decades and still haven't mastered something I learned how to do in my first ten years of life--wield a screwdriver. And I'm a girl. 

Dismissing my writing talent is something I won't abide.