Abuse and Respect Towards an Author


I talked earlier about how I was going through a book's Goodreads reviews and how shocked I was about how people weren't simply giving their opinion on a book but going into full on verbal abuse.
Online, verbal abuse and (online) bullying are topics that I am quite passionate about and I apologise in advance if some of this might be a little jumbled. It's just that when it's a matter I care about, the heart sometimes takes over from the brain.

That is why I would like to reserve this space on my blog to address the subject of abuse and bullying, even if it is just a small fracture of it.
This is a book and author's blog so I will mainly address the disrespectful way people are approaching authors (and then I'm not even discussing the way people approach each other).

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You have the right to...

It's a readers' right to like or dislike a book.
It's your right to chose whether you continue reading this book/series or not.
It is your right to post an honest review.
It is your right to say that you liked/disliked a book.
It is your responsibility to do all of those things in a respectful way.

The key aspect of your right is to be respectful.
Understand that I am in no way forbidding you from saying that you hated a book, though some people might perceive that as rude, you can use the word 'hate' all you want in my opinion.
You can say that you hated a book for this or this reason and I could respectfully agree or disagree with you.

But as a reader you do not have the right to abuse an author - any author!- because you didn't like their books/writing style/personality/looks/etc..

As a person who writes myself, I know how much time and effort goes into writing a story. A writer puts all their efforts and love into their story and truly wants to make it the best they possibly can. They aim to create the perfect story for themselves and their readers. It costs them blood, sweat and tears (believe me, I'm speaking from personal experience).
In that manner, every author has their own voice, their own way of writing, their own story to tell and it is not their fault if you don't happen to like what they have to say.
But it is their right to write about what they want to write.

As a book blogger and passionate reader, I also know that there are books I will like more than others and that there are books I won't like at all. But no matter how much I disliked a book, NEVER would I consider expressing to an author how awful they are as a writer or (even worse) what a disgusting person they are.
You do not do that to anyone! It is rude, disrespectful and most of all it is abusive and considered as online bullying!

When a book blogger gives a book a 1 or 2* review because they do not like the book at all, it is a book bloggers' responsibility to express their opinions in a respectful way. They do this because they know that no matter their personal preference the author still put a lot of effort into writing the book. It is why they are and how they remain a respected book blogger.





As a reader it is not your right to bully an author because you did not like their book.

It doesn't matter if this person is a famous author or a lesser known one. It doesn't matter if this person is known by the general public or only by a handful of followers.
The social status and popularity of a person does not change the nature of your abuse.
It doesn't matter who you are talking to, online bullying is online bullying!

Books/series shouldn't be stopped from being published.
Authors shouldn't be stopped from writing their stories.
The only thing that should be stopped is the writing of abuse.





*And even though this post is specifically talking about authors and readers, this goes for everything in life. Just because you don't like something, does not give you the right to verbally abuse or bully another person.

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