And the WAR of the Indies continues ...

Yes, that's right. Do you remember the tagging WAR I had last year in May, when I was falsely accused of having an author's book tagged with inappropriate tags in German (because it could only have been me, for I'm German. Yeah, right.) I reported about this here.
Well, recently I was told that he's still onto it and I looked at the forum where said author, as expected, was tangled up in a hostile argument, again throwing abusive comments at people.
I quickly popped by to set the record straight, without talking to my 'stalker', but mentioning that he's got a reputation for being rude and abusive in his comments. He was pulled up for spamming the fora, although he knew about the MOA and that plugging is not permitted anywhere else, then said it was an honest mistake, which I don't believe. I mentioned that I have a strong suspicion that he's partaking in download and review exchanges. Looking at his reviews and then the authors who wrote them, one will find that this was a mutual agreement. Something I'm strictly against. This was a few weeks ago.

This person has now gone and left a review for my Rage against the Indie book, but only on the .com site, although he lives in the UK. It reads as if it was just posted in spite and not as if he's read it. In fact, both 1-star reviews do.

Here it is:
This offering was a load of outdated nonsense. i couldn't decide whether the author needed a pram, a nurse or a shrink. A rant maybe for the sake of hearing her own voice over and over again. It spoke of nothing new, it was at least insulting to anyone with an iota of intelligence. Where to place a comma, you will put your full stop here and not there was laughable. i was robbed, or should i say conned. 

How can you be conned if you didn't buy the book? I suspect he didn't put the review up on the UK site, because it would show that it's not a verified purchase. As you know I'm quite cool and laid back about negative reviews so, again, I'm asking you to not do anything about it. I find every person with common sense can see that it was just pay back and nothing else. The review is from a person who once said to me I should go back to Germany, because that's where I belong!
This is Indies for you, Ladies and Gentlemen. I'm not upset, but I'm annoyed and if this doesn't stop, I'll take further action. This is beyond having a normal disagreement, this is sabotage. And that's one reason why authors get their reviews deleted, because people use the system for childish revenge and authors, understandably, are not having any of it.
I don't have a problem with people hating my books, that happens, but if someone tries to deliberately harm me, that's where I draw the line.

Are you a review whore?

Something I forgot to mention in Rage against the Indie is the constant moaning of authors to not get any reviews. They will say, I've given my books away for free (just out of interest, what do your normally charge when you give your books away?), and I still don't get any reviews. Whine, whine, whine!
First of all, if you call it promo, then treat it like a promotion; that means you give the books away as a marketing tool.
The aim of a promotion should be to spread the word about your books, to generate interest for your other work, in short: it's an introduction of your name. That's all there is to it.
Authors keep expecting readers to fulfil a contract they didn't sign. I've seen many comments--angry comments--saying that a review is the least authors could expect in return for a free book. Nonsense. It's a present from you to the reader and nothing else.
There's only one occasion when you can expect something in return: that's when you give books to reviewers in exchange for a review. There's an agreement on both sides..
If I'm entirely honest, I'd rather have ten readers tell their friends about my books, so that they go and buy them, too, than ten reviews and no further sale.
And I wish authors would stop saying they want the feedback from readers; it's curling my toes. It's not that I don't like hearing from readers, particularly if they loved my books, for it gives me a warm and fuzzy feeling. It's nice to know when people like what I've sweated over, but if they hate it and leave negatives reviews, does it make me stop writing? No, it doesn't. When I hit the publish button I'm 100% behind the book and confident that it's a good book, not some kind of drivel.
I'm an author, it's my job to create a story readers can enjoy. I put my heart and soul, and all my knowledge into my books, and if someone comes along who happens to dislike my them, I'm not going to fall apart. Those reviews are not for me anyway; they're for potential buyers who still have to make a decision. Reviews are like buses: you wait for a long time, and then they come in bulk. I'm always grateful to see them arrive, but I don't expect them. If they come, I use them for marketing purposes, but I won't take any notice regarding my writing. Everyone's a critic; and I'm the most critical one when it comes to my own books.

The army of beggars

It seems that the most recent development among self-published authors is to share that ridiculous advice, suggestion, or you could even call it passive plea 'how to support your favourite author'. It suggests that you should buy books (really?), tell your friends (ah?) and leave a review (nope, I'm out!).
To me it feels like the main reason behind that advice is gathering reviews praise. There's almost nothing self-published authors value more than positive reviews and here's where the trouble begins: first, it was the review-exchange, which they quickly learned wasn't the best idea, then there was the bribing of top reviewers; didn't work either, and now it goes a step further: advising educating readers.

Here's the most recent merry-go-round: Click the picture to enlarge.

I'm a reader, too, and I don't want to see a plea or worse: a reminder to leave a review if I liked the book I just finished. What if I didn't like the book and have only one desire: to walk away? What if I feel insecure about giving my opinion? What if I can't be bothered? I bought the book, I read it and that's all you can expect from me. Sorry. What I do after that is my choice, my decision and not yours. I think everyone would agree with me that sharing a book that has touched me, is almost common sense or even human nature. If I have friends who read, I'll recommend it. And, of course, I'll look for another book by that particular author.
The key element here is that a book must really stir something in me, good or bad, before I talk about it. And I would think that applies to most readers. Why recommend a mediocre or terrible book? The latter perhaps for a laugh, but if something doesn't convince me, I move on and forget.

I see people complaining about having plenty of downloads when their books are free, but that nobody leaves a review. It's all over several fora, Facebook, blogs, and Twitter. Some moans I've seen even sounded like demands: I give you a free book, something I've worked on for years, now you have to review praise!
A reader doesn't owe you anything. If you give your book away, it's your choice. A choice you made for marketing purposes. Being snappy because readers grab the opportunity with both hands is wrong.
Free means free and that means it doesn't come with conditions, unless you have an agreement with a reviewer, which is an entirely different case. Expecting something in return is pretty cheeky if you ask me.
People stack up their e-readers, collect freebies; they don't necessarily read the books straight away, or maybe they do and quickly delete it and move on. If they dare to give an honest opinion and bravely leave a negative review, they get shot down and attacked by the author's friends, in some cases even by the author. Because the call for reviews is secretly a call for praise.

Reality check: self-publishing is not a walk in the park.

Speaking of self-publishing: as you know, my experience with self-published books has been catastrophic, so I don't blame any reader who tries and deletes, walking away in silence. I honestly think that many authors would be devastated if they knew what their readers really think. Many authors seem to believe that their offerings are exactly what readers have been waiting for, brainwashed by the success of Hocking, Locke and E.L. James, but those success stories are rare.
Don't get me wrong, I'm in this, too, you know? I had over 4k downloads during my trial with the KPD Select programme, and I didn't get any reviews. Probably for the same reasons: I didn't touch the readers, those of them who read the books. Taste is subjective and if it didn't impress them enough to recommend it to their friends, then there's nothing I can do other than continue to write. I've had people tell me in person, via e-mail, Twitter, Facebook, and even the Amazon forum that they loved my books, but they didn't leave a review. Did I ask them straight away to do it? No. It's their choice. I said thank you so much and grinned like an idiot for most of the day.
Imagine you walk into a book shop, and at the till you are told to leave feedback, buy another book by the author if you liked it and please share your opinions. You'd probably be pretty gobsmacked, wouldn't you?

Guilt-tripping a reader into a review, recommending your book or else insults a person's intelligence. Leave the reader be; stop blaming everyone around you when your book isn't a success. Start looking at your writing.

And another Indie rant

Today, I did something, I shouldn't have done: I contacted an Indie author and informed her that her novel contains errors in dialogue punctuation, which disturbs my reading experience. I was only 4% in and thought she might want to know, since she praised her editor's precision skills and the polished book. Well, I found about twelve (more or less) errors in the opening, one already in the prologue.
Her writing was good, but I'm very particular with dialogue attributes. I contemplated for a while if I should get in touch with her or not. I did, anonymously, because I know many can't take this sort of criticism and will shoot back. She replied to my comment on her blog and gave me her e-mail address, asking me to point out where the errors are. I e-mailed her, saying that I was trying to help, as it would be a shame if someone would vote her writing down because of the errors.

Her response irritated me even more than the actual errors. First she said that grammar check didn't pick up on the upper case in the dialogue tags, and then she said something that made me furious: that most readers won't know or be bothered.
And a minute later, she asked for my titles. Here we go, I thought. I didn't even write a review, which I could've done, and then leave it open for others to read.
A reason I don't review anymore is exactly such a response. Doesn't matter what state my books are in, though I certainly hope they're almost perfect now, pointing out that my book might contain errors won't eliminate hers, right? Those, who have told me about my errors, know that I was most grateful for pointing them out and I went through several stages of correcting.
To be honest, I wouldn't be surprised, if she now searches for my books, just to pick out some errors.
Yeah, Indies, and you wonder why readers don't review your books anymore or silently delete them from their Kindles, not even considering giving your other books a go.