Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Don't Judge a Book By Its...Author?

Do you care about how an author behaves, and does that weigh into whether or not you'll read and/or buy her books?

Would it turn you off an author to hear her making comments about disliking her cover or being upset with her publisher? What about defending misstatements made in a less-than-flattering book review? What about an author publicly blasting someone regarding a super-negative book review?

What about authors with big egos...does it bug you to hear about divas?

Basically, I wanna know--are you the kind of person who takes a book as-is and don't worry about what the author may be doing? Or if you hear of an author behaving badly, will you refuse to read and/or buy that person's books?

22 comments:

  1. As for me, if I know of an author misbehaving, it's REEEEEALLY hard for me to be enticed to pick up that person's book and read it. I don't like ego. I don't like rudeness. I don't like unprofessionalism. Basically, I have a hard time supporting an author who acts inappropriately.

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  2. For me, it doesn't matter if it's an author, an actor, a musician, a sports figure... If they behave badly, I have a really tough time continuing to enjoy their work. Which is one reason why I avoid watching the news.

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  3. Amanda Brice9:42 AM

    Authors need to remember that they are professionals, and they need to behave that way. If you don't like your cover or disagree with something your editor said, you can tell them and try to work it out (but don't expect that to work), or you can complain to your critique partner/spouse/friend/relatives, but DO NOT take it public.

    At the KidLit Con the other day, everyone was talking about the Justine Larbalestier LIAR cover. The general consensus amongst the reviewers (the authors didn't think this) was that Justine only spoke up when it became a controversy, thus she must have liked the cover previously. Um, no. There's a huge misconception out there that authors actually have control over their covers. She was acting professionally, and even though she strongly hated the cover (and told her publisher this), there was nothing she could do about it, so she didn't go off publicly trashing her publisher...she was being smart. Once it became a controversy, she could admit her feelings, but unfortunately, it led many to believe she'd approved of the cover.

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  4. Jennifer Russell10:13 AM

    I, too, think professionalism is key for authors . . . and in most other professions, as well. It is extremely easy (given the availability of various types of media) for even the most seemingly meaningless comment or incident to be blown out of proportion. This can have a negative effect on the public and, consequently, on their desire to read that person's work.

    Personally, when I hear about an author behaving inappropriately, I am less inclined to read their work. Though the work may be very good, their behavior has left a lasting impression.

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  5. Yes, it really does make a difference to me. For all the reasons listed.

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  6. Guess I'm going to be the lone voice of dissent here because things like this mostly don't matter to me. I read what I read because I enjoy it. That's all I'm looking for from a book most of the time, just to be entertained. The author can be the most "professional" of people, but if her books don't do it for me, then their behavior doesn't make a bit of difference. Criminal activity and plagiarism, yes, those will turn me off, but a tiny tantrum or two, just a tempest in a teapot IMO.

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  8. For me, it depends on what they write and how "badly" they misbehaved. If their books have a strong message, and I discover something that proves they're a hypocrite, then yes, it affects me. If they did something that is just so beyond the bounds of reason, then yes. But if they write something that's just for fun, and I can easily forgive it under the "bad day" or "we think differently" category, then I don't think it really matters to me.

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  9. I guess it really depends. I'm trying to think of an author behaving badly whose books I read and I can't. I think much of that has to do with the fact that I read books by friends or authors I have a rapport with already.

    But...while I haven't spent money on a Michael Jackson song in years, I still liked his songs. I still watch movies when I know the actors are jerks.

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  10. Yes, yes, yes, yes. Absolutely.

    I was just talking/ranting about this!

    http://susanadrian.blogspot.com/2009/10/how-not-to-act.html

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  11. Authors misbehaving definitely influences my decision to not read their books; however, most of the authors who I've heard misbehaving didn't have very good books in the first place, IMO, so I most likely wouldn't have read further in their series anyway. I'm not sure how much misbehaving is tied to ego and bestseller-dom, but there sadly seems to be a link, in that some bestselling authors lose touch with what it's like to be on the other side of the words/event/issue. And not even ragging on their publisher, or blasting reviewers who've given them a critical review. Even offhand comments to one or two people about things out of their hands that they are less than satisfied with and were annoyed by influence my opinion of them.

    As for negative reviews, I'm still struggling to think of ways that authors may politely and maturely address reviews that totally didn't get it. But the more I think about it, the less I think can be done. Some people will get your book, and some people won't. All you can do is ignore the bad reviews, the ones that don't get what you were trying to do with your book, and instead focus on the positives, of which there always will be some. It's a tense world out there, and yeah, everyone has to behave like professionals when it comes to book publishing and publicity: authors, bloggers, publishers, and all!

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  12. I may if I know beforehand, but if I'm already reading them and they have me addicted, I won't stop. I mean Stephen King was on every drug under the sun for many years, but I still read him. He clean now. I'm still reading him.

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  13. Despite being friends with a lot of writers, I just try not to find out anything about my VeryMostFavoritest ones, so I can devour their books without worrying about the actual person who wrote them...because finding out he's a woman-hater, or rude to his fans...will make it hard for me to read his book without bias.

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  14. I guess to me there are two basic categories of unprofessional behavior:

    1) the author behaving like a jerk or egomaniac (e.g. being rude to fans, publicly dissing other authors in an uncool way, acting like a diva, etc...)

    and

    2) the author being indiscreet or such (talking about his/her editor, cover, income, etc, in a public or semi-public forum.)

    Now, the way I see it, category two can certainly hurt an author's career, but I'm not sure that I as a reader am affected by that... In fact, sometimes when an author admits "I hated this cover" or "the publisher made me change this and that in the plot and I think it made it weaker" I find that really interesting, and feel like I'm not being "sold to" so much...

    But if I hear about category one stuff, then I may be less inclined to read an author... (Though I also keep in mind that gossip distorts and exaggerates such things!)

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  15. It does make a difference to me. I will go out of my way to get the book of an author I know online who is supportive, fun, professional, etc. The opposite is also true.

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  16. I'm going to agree with Kathleen. If he or she is just a bit of a jerk, or has different ideas and opinions? I don't care. If he or she maybe had an online tiff and didn't behave all that well? I'm all about the front seat for the smackdown, but I don't care.

    But I will refrain from financially supporting anyone who I find morally reprehensible. I won't support somebody I feel is harming others or has become a genuinely bad person.

    I was still reviewing when THE PIANO came out, for example. I got free tickets. It was absolutely brilliant.

    I would never buy the DVD. Polanski doesn't get my money.

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  17. you guys make some GREAT points. thank you so much for sharing!!

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  18. To me... it's more like how bad it is... if it's egregious and uncouth, then I'd probably boycott. If it's just natural human behavior blown out of proportion, then I don't usually care.

    But I agree with Gerb... if the author makes a huge effort to be nice and friendly and gracious, then I'll go out of my way TO pick up their stuff.

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  19. It makes me really sad to think about authors misbehaving because there are SO many other offers just hanging out in the wings awaiting their turns! I love the authors that act graciously and let me twit stalk them or, as the case may be-- twit stalk me *cough Rhonda cough* :) Seriously, though... if I hear of an author acting like a B to the ITCH--I am not interested in upping her amazon rating. :)

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  20. There is one particular author that has an attitude that rubs me the wrong way. I want to read his/her books, but I haven't been able to bring myself to buy them over others on my list. I'm not opposed to reading them, and do want to, but it's certainly affected my position on buying them!

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  21. That usually doesn't matter to me, in any media. I don't care what an author/actor/singer/whatever does in their personal life. The product stands on its own to me. To me, it doesn't matter what Britney Spears does in her own life; if she's still making good music, I'll continue buying it. Same with an author. If their stuff is good, I'll read it, whether it's from a library or bookstore.

    Luckily, the vast majority of authors that I've come across through my review site have been extremely nice and friendly, so I haven't had to deal with any divas or anything.

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  22. Honestly, it depends.

    There are a few authors I refuse to buy new because I don't want to support their behavior. Terry Goodkind has reviled the genre in which he publishes in along with his fans, and he has made many comments that I don't consider OK in the slightest. Laurell K. Hamilton... I really don't like supporting an author who believes her characters are real to the point of ripping fans a new one.

    Holly Lisle published a reader's e-mail, tore it apart scathingly, and deliberately asked her blog readers to gang up on the reader. She's done a lot of other things, too, including telling people not to buy at chain bookstores because they are "evil", and "only" buy from Indie bookstores... regardless of how good your local Indie bookstore actually is.

    There's another author out there who tried to compare the pain of self-injury with the pain of editing a manuscript. And another who publicly spoke out and said it was God's will that a young girl died of diabetes because her parents neglected to get her medical treatment.

    Yes, there are some things I simply will not financially support in any way whatsoever.

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