I am an avid fan of other writers and have friends who are authors, and I am just as happy to help them with legitimate and helpful hints and not criticism. If you write a story, and do not check your spelling and grammar, then fine, explain it kindly. Not harshly. Not everyone went to University and got an English Literature degree before they sold or wrote a tale.
The object of telling or writing a good story is to have fun doing it and have friends help you along the way. Some writers take years to put out one book, some can write one in a month.
I am a genre writer and I am not ashamed to say it, a Vanity Press author. I am probably never going to have a serious publishing house take an interest in whatever I write and neither am I ever going to probably have a "best seller". It would be nice but I know my limitations. But no matter what I write I have had fun writing them and I can say "I am a storyteller." I have plenty of ideas and enjoy laying out the groundwork and eventually putting it up for others to read. My greatest kick is when a buyer of my work lets me know they enjoyed the read.
I wouldn't lower myself to condemn another for doing the same. And fighting about it is just so crabby as to be unbelievable. Those authors on Amazon need a wake-up call. Stop fighting over something so stupid that in a few weeks will no longer matter. Why? Because in a few weeks, nobody will have remembered what was written because something else has their attention.
Am I low enough to rate authors. Yes I am. Some authors are so low and petty minded they need slapping. Some might have fabulous books but as a human rating they suck!!
Apologies aside, but really what it boils down to is EGO. I have personally met a few famous authors and believe me as soon as I found out what they were like as people, they lost me as a fan. Alan Dean Foster and Wilbur Smith come to mind. Mr. Foster is a jerk of the highest order. His ego alone is big enough to feed the world's millions of starving people. He's unreliable and expects his fans to pay for his entertainment. I had him stay with me, because a personal friend and fellow actress/author Bjo Trimble asked me if I would do so. After a week of Alan Dean Foster's company I was ready to throw him to the sharks. He autographed all his new books for me and then left me his international telephone bill to pay when he left. His books went into the bin! Wilbur Smith did not write Dark of the Sun, a friend of mine did. She got nothing or even a mention when he became famous for it. For that alone, I won't buy or read anything he writes. I am uncertain if he even writes them, maybe he has a few Ghostwriters on the side. If an author cannot acknowledge help from another writer then I have no time for their musings or stories.
Bjo Trimble is a wonderful, warm and caring lady and I love her to bits. She reminds me a great deal of Christine Feehan, another kind and generous woman. I have met Bill Shatner and I think he is funny and kind. These authors are the good people, they put you at ease and are not pushy or arrogant. I can't stand arrogant authors. If an author is arrogant and only pays lip service to a fan he/she is liable to get a flea in the ear from me. Unfortunately I am one of those authors who hates injustices or slights, because they are unnecessary and cruel.
It doesn't matter if an author is famous or not. Losing a fan is not a good idea.
Having hundreds of your books in a book store sounds great. It really does. However, if they don't sell because of the way an author speaks to a fan, who tells others of their experiences, that author is not going to get paid royalties and quite frankly he/she would deserve it. FANS are IMPORTANT people. Without them you are nothing. You may as well just be writing for your own enjoyment and not bother sending them to agents or publishers.
I do understand that some fans are neurotic about their author heroes and some fans are downright scary individuals at times. But the majority of fans are just happy to get a "thank you" from their favorites and a possible autograph. I don't think saying "THANK YOU" to your fans is a hardship. But some authors think it is.
Thats why I can't understand why these Amazon authors are squabbling about what was good or bad being written. Who DAMN cares?!
They should stop worrying about the critic and get back to writing. Those who criticize authors - don't write books! They have no idea what it entails to put pen to paper or write a story from scratch. Because if they did, they would not be so quick to criticize or judge.
Never give up-never surrender.
