We have some very interesting news for ya’all today. Our man inside of the Asshat group, which is no longer a private group btw, tells us that Kathy (from convo in Asshats Will Be Asshats) had started a thread in the Asshat group asking if she would be ostracized for reading a blacklisted book. After assurances that nothing would happen, Kathy posted a five star review and was kicked out of the group by Angela. After that an internal shake-up occurred and Angela herself left the group in a huff and joined forces with Coaxial and a few sock friends to launch a tirade of fake one-star reviews on BBA blacklisted authors, including the one that Kathy reviewed. Suddenly all of Kathy’s reviews and messages that included recommendations disappeared. She started to rebuild her bookshelves and added the blacklisted books in protest, then her account was deleted. It’s clear that someone high enough in the administration of Goodreads to have access to personal bookshelves and group messages has been assisting boycotts for the BBA group. This has escalated to the level of organized crime with Goodreads staff at the center of illegal activity. Kathy herself wrote to us and explained the selective deletion of her messages. In the email, she said:
“I thought you were all just crazy, paranoid f**kers. Now I wonder if you’re paranoid enough. There’s something rotten to the core at Goodreads and I hope the site implodes.”
We were also given this:
Then, Tink sent us these shots which are only just a two cases of Angela’s tirade yesterday launched against BBA blacklisted authors:
So… guess Angela got a little pissed off by our post yesterday. Hmm…
But wait! There’s more!
Remember when we told you Eve Thomas returned to GR after the launch of her new book, Fifty Shades of Abuse? Eve Thomas who was accused by Angela of sock-puppetry (among other things) of which she was completely innocent?
Well, out of nowhere, Eve’s GR account was deleted and she has been banned from GR. We received this from a site visitor who was in contact with Eve yesterday:
We wrote to Eve and asked her what happened. She said:
Eve sent GR an email back, telling them that she had no idea what they were referring to, that she hasn’t ever attacked anyone on GR. So far, no response back from them.
Now, as for Eve’s blog post that was so offensive to GR, here it is:
So, what was the real reason she was banned? It’s because she spoke out and told the truth about GR. And GR can’t handle that.
Gosh, does this kind of remind you of events that have happened to others in the past? I can think of one author who reported a bully review via GR’s reporting system and was banned from Goodreads for doing so:
We have no doubt that Angela and Coaxial are behind these recent events, but the facts tell us that people high up in GR staff itself are also involved. Without a doubt, we now know for certain that there is indeed something rotten at the core of GR.
Aaaaand this is why Goodreads is utterly worthless for authors: The inmates are indeed running the asylum over there — or, at the very least, one of the inmates has access to the security office.
I know I should be suprised, but I’m not. I don’t think anything Amazon/GR related would shock me anymore. I read something the other day about Amazon’s review guidelines and nearly died laughing. The Amazon rules and regulations go against every single thing they actually do.
So true. I saw a one-star review that said, “I wouldn’t wipe my ass with this book.” I reported it. Did Amazon take it off? Nope. I got a form letter that said it was within their guidelines, even though their “guidelines” supposedly prohibit profanity and personal attacks.
It’s all really a huge sham, and they run a very shifty operation that always hides under the radar for one reason or another.
I just hope the rotten core of the GR apple doesn’t transfer over to Amazon, although I have my suspicions there, too.
They are trying to run amock on Amazon, too.
Note what Nenia said in the Asshat group: “I took care of Punked for you, Angie!”
So she knew she was the one who got Punked kicked out? How did she know?
What’s weird about these authors that seem to have a lot of pull at Goodreads is that they aren’t famous or successful at all. It’s not as if it was Dan Brown asking people to be kicked off. No, Goodreads is bending over backwards for some total losers.
Good point, I noticed that too!
Without a doubt GR is rotten to the core. I always suspected that GR staff were involved in the bullying.
Oh, by the way Angela. It was me who used to post under the Name Punked Punx, not Eve. Eve doesn’t even know who I am. So you were WRONG again Angela.
Angela is like a cornered rat, she is lashing out and attacking everyone. The name really suits her.
Since Goodreads is now owned by Amazon has anyone looked into contacting a lawyer to put together a class action lawsuit against the company and hold them liable for the fiscal damages the behaviors of their “mods” have caused to writer’s profits and reputations. Since many of these kinds of lawyers only want to pick up cases that have the potential for huge pay out this might be very temping for someone to tackle. Amazon would settle outside of court of course, but it might be enough to make them question whether this kind of behavior is worth the money. Then Amazon/Goodreads can go after the individuals to recover the assets that they will have lost in the settlement. Just a thought.
Some people are looking into it. I think a lawsuit for one person would be expensive, but for a group of individuals, it might be worth it. It would have to organized right and the plaintiffs would have to collect enough evidence to prove damages. But in the end, it could work.
If it’s a group and the defendant was a company like Amazon/Goodreads where there is almost a 100% guarantee of a settlement rather than pay for court costs, you might be able to find a lawyer who will do it for free. With enough people, and as much evidence that has been collected over the years, they wouldn’t stand much of a chance and they know it. The fact that the “staff” is actively participating in the “criminal” activity of defaming and destroying the business (I believe that would be considered a violation of free trade not sure) makes Amazon/Goodreads liable. While this would not include the “bullies” there is a very good chance in retribution that Amazon/Goodreads will sue those individuals to recoup their losses and could even press criminal charges for using the platform to commit “cyber crimes”. It wouldn’t be much of a stretch and considering how expensive defense attorneys are, it probably wouldn’t matter. They would be forced to take a plea otherwise risk jail time. Either way, the damage would be permanent. I think it would only take one of them going down in flames to drive home just how serious this could get. It will all depend on whether or not Amazon or Goodreads wants to make an example of someone. I can almost guarantee you to protect their image to the public they will do it. And don’t think this hasn’t been done before. Not long ago there was an internet forum popular in one hobby group where similar types of incidences were occurring. The individuals responsible thought they would never get nailed and the site owner thought he was untouchable because he was just “the site owner” but because he knew what was happening and chose to ignore it, when the ball got rolling the site was gone within 6 months. In that case the people involved did not get sued or charged with anything–the got something worse. The situation unveiled the identities of the people involved. Their families, their community, their places of employment all learned of their behavior. I know several of them lost their good standing with their organizations. I could only imagine the whiplash from the community and the shame their behavior brought on their family, friends, and children.
I believe The Eve Thomas Foundation, Onevoice are looking into this, its a pretty big organisation that is now worldwide and I don’t think Eve and her team are going to let this one go.
Hey Lost…you are correct on this one. I believe that’s what’s coming for the vicious stalkers. They are going to realize at some point in time that their communities, friends, neighbors, associations, all they affiliate with on a daily basis will ostracize them. At that point, maybe they’ll wake up to the fact that the pain, suffering, mental anguish, and intimidation they’ve caused hundreds, if not thousands of people, has all returned on them in the form of Karma…did I say Karma? Wow, yes, sometimes people do not remember that what goes around, comes around. Yes it does.
Being able to hide in the shadows anonymously is one thing. Having your real identity exposed will have it’s own consequences for these heinous monsters. Once they are shunned in their communities they’re finished. I anxiously await the shunning, the embarrassment, the feeling of shame and abandonment by their formerly loyal followers. Watch how fast loyalty disappears from the equation in this scenario.
Now, this is important, and I want to put this out there for all who have been involved in this fight for justice as normal human beings…I have already begun to warn newbie self published authors about posting anything about being attacked by cyberstalkers on the KDP forums. DO NOT, understand any circumstances post your problems there! You will immediately be mercilessly chopped up and put into their meat grinder just because you dared to reach out and beg for help. Yes, you will be targeted immediately because that’s what these sickos do. They scour the forums for helpless victims who have no where to turn for advice or help. I know this sounds horrifying indeed, but it’s the truth. There is no mercy on an innocent unsuspecting victim. They will attack quickly and your life will turn into a nightmare from hell so quickly your head will spin.
This is the evil of cyberstalkers such as the ones mentioned here on STGRB. You can believe it or not believe it, but remember…the people who post here speak from personal experience, and you have been warned. Spread the knowledge, spread the warnings, because no one deserves the wrath that these animals dish out daily to unsuspecting newbies.
What is so ironIc about Goodreads protecting these people under the flag of freedom of speech and non-censorship is the fact that those principles are exactly what they are breaking by deleting Eve’s blog post and her account. Not only that, they deleted Kathy’s comments and reviews and then finally her account. And she was a reviewer! How is this not censoring? How is this upholding freedom of speech?
I received one of those ’emails’ earlier today. Why, because through my blog, I published a list of known Trolls. So much for Freedom of Speech if you are a writer, or being allowed to defend yourself when the trolls attack your work with their one star reviews.
Here is the link to the post that offended GR: http://havewehadhelp.wordpress.com/2013/05/20/are-internet-trolls-really-a-threat/#comments
Eason – reading through your blog now. Excellent posts on the topic!
I now see what Rick Carufel is talking about in relation to criminal charges (the Minn. statute and I’m assuming he is in Minnesota). I admit that I have no idea what some of you have endured with this gang, but imagine that it must be really serious.
They’re still dropping 1-star reviews on my books over there, or at least an old troll (new account) did post one yesterday. I responded. I respond to everyone and seriously doubt that I’ll change at this late date because a gang of trolls claims that I can’t. The review was so absurd that I knew it was a troll and sure enough the rest of them piled-on as soon as I responded. Btw – the new troll name is Windy Neptune.
One thing I do not understand Mr. Eason – Why do you not name the site or the offenders in any of your posts? I mean, the events did happen and speaking the truth will never be considered libelous in the US. It is the false statements that are libelous and those can only be attributed to the troll gang.
I have not blogged on my current fiasco or the general problem yet, with ‘yet’ being the operative word, but when I do, I’ll certainly be in take no prisoners mode.
I did name one of sites indirectly when I referred to Goodreads when talking about the Hate Lists I had been put on. Most writers know that Goodreads is now owned and operated by Amazon (the other site in question). I heard last night that because of my blog posts I am now on yet another GR Hate List. Apparently the woman concerned was laughing about it, calling me a whiner and whinger.
Here is the link to my latest post: http://havewehadhelp.wordpress.com/2013/05/23/it-would-seem-that-we-publish-and-are-damned-for-doing-so/
It is clear that there is no “right of rebuttal” on GR. I did respond to the last nasty troll that posted a 1-star and my responses were deleted by it and in place there were sentences excerpted and taken out of context. I guess that’s why it’s not advisable to respond – they cut-out parts that suit their warped agenda. Oh well – whatever.
Interesting blog post and a sad situation.
Whoa, whoa, wait a minute — the Goodreads staff won’t merely delete your posts, but actually edit them to say something different???
No, the troll reviewer did that by deleting my comments and copying a sentence into its comments. However, in the first nasty review earlier this month the troll reviewer delted my comments and then posted ‘Vicky said…’ attributing nasty cursing statements to me that it created – that review was all cursing and was deleted by someone.
No, the troll reviewer deleted all of my comments and then posted excerpts. I am fuessing that the troll (Windy Neptune – new account) copied my posts before deleting. As of yesterday, it looked like the sentences were at least my sentences taken out o the context of the conversation. However, when all of this started for me earlier this month the troll reviewer actually deleted all of my comments and then posted BS created statements and attributed to me in its own comments, for example deletes my comment completely and then posts, Vicky said “… nasty obnoxious statement…” When that happened on a review the review was deleted because it was all cursing – every other word was f or sh.
I am not one to curse publicly unless I am really angry about something and a troll reviewer does not have the power to anger me. So to attribute screaming cursing crap to me under a review of one of my books is appalling, which is probably why GR did remove it. I was back and forth in email with Emily and while she was not really helpful at all, the nasty review later disappeared.
Great blog Jack. Well done. It’s great to see so many people exposeing the bullies!
Thanks Juno
You have a very impressive blog. I hope you continue. And I admire your courage for doing this in the first place.
Sorry. I meant that for Jack Eason, below.
We’ve noticed this, too. That GR is heavily skewed toward legacy publishing. We’ve been seeing these attacks on indies more and more since we started our blog in July 2012, so it didn’t surprise us when Barry Eisler was attacked by a bunch of literary agents after he gave his talk on legacy vs. indie publishing. The fact is that Barry was right and that’s why these people responded the way they did, trying to silence him.
NY publishing is dying. We’ve heard from so many authors, not just indie, but many traditionally published authors, that the money in NY publishing has dried up. Completely. This is what they say:
“NY publishing is struggling to survive and as they do, they will stop at nothing to keep the competition from drowning them out, but it’s already too late. More and more indies are hitting the best sellers lists and as the publishing world makes it’s full shift into digital, we will see indies become more and more successful. Because let’s face it, legacy publishers are really bad at pricing ebooks. Consumers aren’t stupid. They know that there is a big difference between a digital book and a print book and so they expect to see a difference in price as well. This is why you see many readers boycotting overpriced ebooks. Consumers have become so used to cheap ebooks because of the low prices indies charge, the publishing companies can’t compete, so what do they do? They launch attacks on indies.”
We have to say that this is probably right. We’ve seen evidence that the people behind these attacks are people who have a vested interest in the book industry.
quote: “let’s face it, legacy publishers are really bad at pricing ebooks”
Yes, just like some Ebooks I’ve seen for $9. Yes, $9 for a stinkin’ ebook, published by a trad house.
Eh, I don’t think so.
And some of these trad publishers brought this on themselves. Like, when they choose to make $$$ off the more popular money-making indie books by offering to publish them. They cannot have their damn cake and EAT it too. It doesn’t work that way!
50 Shades of Shit was one such book. Random House got the rights, I believe. Again these asswipes want it both ways.
50 Shades of Shit – LMAO!
I’ve just permanently deleted my account on GR. To put it bluntly, I’ve had a gutsful of the spoilt brats in adult’s bodies on Goodreads, masquerading as ‘reviewers’.
From now on, anyone wishing to find my books outside of Amazon only need go to AuthorsDen, a troll free zone.
http://www.authorsden.com/
Thanks for adding me to your list of subscribers by the way.
Here’s something for a little comic relief:
Okay, about one week ago the bullies joked on the BBA thread about making up jokes about BB authors, jokes that were similar to “lawyer jokes”.
Well, I came up with some jokes about the bullies. So without further ado:
First of all, we shall come up with an acronym for the bullies.
Goodreads/Amazon Bullies/bully
The acronym would be: GAB which is a fitting name
Shall we begin?
Q: What’s the difference between a GAB and a petulant child hating the more popular kids?
A: None
_____
Q: What’s the difference between an A. Welling and a whale?
A: what do you think?
________________________
Two guys go into a bar. One guy is known as Old Rocker.
The guy asks Old Rocker what drink he’d like. Old Rocker says: STFU
Then the guy asks OR why he told him to stfu. OR says: STFU
So the guy punches OR. OR says: STFU
Finally the bar tender explains that the only word OR knows how to say is STFU.
OR replies: BSIKHTSA! STFU = bs, I know how to say anything! so stfu!
_____________________________________________
Q. What’s the difference between a maggot and a GAB?
A. A GAB is much slimier
__________________________________________
Q. What’s the difference between a poisonous snake and a GAB?
A. one uses their venom to incite flame wars. The other (snake) uses it to survive.
__________________________________________________________________
Q. What’s the difference between a whiny author and a whiny GAB?
A. one complains justifiably about fake bad reviews. The other just likes to complain.
______________________________________________________________________________
Q. What’s the difference between a GAB and a stalker?
A. The stalker’s more fun to have around.
_____________________________________________________________________
Q. What’s the difference between Anna Karenina and Peachbird?
A. They’re the same person with different usernames.
_________________________________________________________
Oh, and here’s a dumb grammar mistake made by one of the bullies:
Winter says: “So let me see if I understand it’s latest attempts to communicate it’s most recent hatreds and loathings.”
it’s in both instances should be ITS, since it’s the possessive form. Durr.
____________________
*applause* Thank you. *does curtsey*
What’s the difference between Anna Karenina and PeachBird? None, because in following her antics as a dress-up fantasy queen cyber bully extraordinaire she changes handles when she feels that a particular post will get her into trouble over at her school. She’s been in hiding for years, but I think she’s close to an ‘outing’. This elitist woman with all of her elitist rants and put downs, is nothing more than a wannabe. Can’t wait for the reveal….yummy as Amber and Peach and all other flavors of this fake human being. Fraud, fake, smoke and mirrors..
Anna Karenina is an interesting bully. She once tried to goad me into a conflict in a very sneaky way on an Amazon thread and I didn’t bite. I’ve never been familiar with Amazon threads, and the only reason I commented that time was because they were going after someone I respected. In this case it was a reviewer, of all people, and not an author. When Miss Anna Karenina realized I wasn’t going to go for her bait she left me alone. But I still remember how she went about trying to get me to explode. She’s a dangerous person.
Anna Karenina AKA Janis Hinkle is not interesting. She bills herself as an international woman of James Bond mystery because she thinks of herself this way, but in reality she is a nobody. She wakes up every morning foaming at the mouth to attack someone, get to work and tear down someone’s confidence, their stability, their hope, their enthusiasm, and their work. She does not wake up in the morning and head for work with a smile on her face, a happiness inside her heart, nor a possibility of any of helping anyone achieve anything. This is a treacherous, crafty woman who wakes up daily with up daily with evil on her mind. She is extremely dangerous.
I’ve experienced quite a bit of danger in my lifetime, but nowhere along the way have I seen anything like this woman. I kid you not.
The woman is a menace. I feel so sorry for the innocent children that Janis Hinkle teaches. We’ve all had sadistic teachers in our lives, and she is most definitely one of those, based on her toxic, corrosive behavior on the Amazon forums.
Really, I know what you all mean. AK seems alright sometimes, but there’s times when you can tell that she’s two-faced.
STGRB: have I told you lately how much I lurve you?
Yup, I’ve had bad teachers like that. Oh, the awful memories!!!
anonabus: I’m sorry you had a terrible run-in with AK.
Trust me. I know how it feels, and it doesn’t feel good.
Thank goodness for STGRB.
Thank you for the comments! Sorry we’ve been a little incommunicado lately. We’ve all been on vacay, but we will be posting some updates soon!
tee-hee, very funny. Your post made me laugh, I’m only sorry that it took me so long to see it!
I had a blast making up those jokes.
LMAO! Sorry, I missed those jokes!
I too have been watching all this and I must say what a joke GR is and I hope the authorities come down hard on them. It is very obvious what is going on here, someone very high up at GR is deleting accounts, shelvings, messages etc, do these ignorant bullies not realises that IP addresses etc are caught and that the illegal goings on with minors on the site is disgusting.
Come on FBI catch these morons!
Rick why don’t you get in touch with Eve Thomas from The Eve Thomas Foundation and Onevoice? She has stated on her blog that she has contacted the authorities and a criminal case is being put together. Her email address is on her website.
“My first advice to people would be to be careful what you say and how you say it because Bully Nation will spin it and take it out of context but, then again, they do this with anything their perceived enemies say. For example: If you were to say you love puppies, they would accuse you of bestiality.”
Sage advice. These bullies are experts at twisting your words back on you.
Yes, well, a gang of trolls does not get to decide who I speak to, what I can say, or who or what I support publicly via thinly veiled threats of attacking all of my titles everywhere. Not in this lifetime.
For me this will be a fight till the end. If I croak in the process, my estate will deal with the lot of them. They can count on *that*.
My GR profile was deleted completely last week! The only thing I can think of is that it happened shortly after I had left a comment on Angela’s Book “Bite” that I would not read her books due to her behavior on the site and bullying tactics! Evidently, Angela is screwing someone high up at GR. Two of my friends on GR had their profiles deleted as well when they “Liked” my comment, and “Liked” Annabelle’s comments on not-reading Angela’s books as well!!
Wow! Really? That is interesting. So apparently she can do it to everyone else but no one can do it to her. Something is definitely rotten in GR. I’m glad I pulled my family off the site months ago. If Patrick ignoring reports of minors in sexual role play wasn’t enough, this is another confirmation of the shady activity that goes on there.
This is amazing! People were kicked off for clicking “like?” I hope these people start speaking up about it and letting other people know this is happening at GR. I have a feeling there’s a conspiracy and all these things are connected somehow to GR and Amazon. Nothing would surprise me anymore, and that includes Angela being somehow affiliated with Amazon and GR. These web sites were built on this carnival sideshow behavior and that’s how they became popular. It stands to reason they would want to continue it for as long as they can. Does anyone really know who Patrick Brown actually is? Does anyone know anything about him? Be interesting to investigate him and see what happens.
Patrick Brown is a real guy. I know people who’ve met him.
Yes, one GR buddy simply commented on Annabelle’s reason for not reading Angela’s book by saying something like “me too” and his profile was deleted!
Now I REALLY am curious.
Who could Angela be screwing?
Emily? Kara? Patrick? Take your pick.
They must be pretty hard up.
Lol!
Good Lord, that’s what I was thinking.
Angela is ugly inside and out. Though I dislike Patrick, I really think he’d have much higher standards than to sleep with the likes of the hideous Angela.
How can they simply delete GR profiles without just cause? And the fact that it is selective and appears to apply to Angela – that is the ONLY common denominator between these particular GR buddies and me!!
I set a new profile up, but I have lost all of my reviews, my friends, my book reading history, my shelves! I’m afraid to complain because apparently, that gets you banned for life! What is Amazon doing about this? BUT – I don’t have a lot of faith that Amazon is much different than GR when it comes to integrity – sorry, but I’ve had some bad experiences with Amazon and what they allow as far as bashing reviewers and authors alike.
They do all the time. One person was deleted just for reporting a bully review (a review that attacked the author.) That’s all she did and she was deleted.
Did they tell that person that was why the profile was deleted? I got no email from GR, neither did my friends. They were simply deleted with no explanation!!!
I’m to the point where I think there are enough people to start a Class Action suit against GR for walking all over our FIRST AMENDMENT rights. The fact that GR is a public forum and is SELECTIVELY and SUBJECTIVELY quashing freedom of speech is a violation of the 1st Amendment.
Nope. They told her nothing. They just removed her account.
The 1st Amendment doesn’t mean anything in the context of internet forums. It really only applies to government entities, plus the internet isn’t an “American” space. It’s similar to how a restaurant has the right to kick out anyone who complains about the food.
I think you are right. It’s the same right we have to kick anyone off our site for whatever reason we want. The truth is, however, a person can start a lawsuit for whatever they want as long as they can argue and prove their point effectively, they might win. For example, if a person could prove that something GR did damaged them or their business in some way, they might have a good enough case to sue.
That’s exactly right, Athena. If the authors involved as targets in this “Bully Operation” can prove that the negative comments and harrasment has cost them financially that equates to “Damages”. Case in point: check our some of the bully posts and their “puppet” followers who state something to this effect: “Oh I’m glad I saw this, I will never buy any of “so and So’s Books” or “I was going to buy this, now I won’t.” It is extremely prevalent on the posts that this does in fact cause financial damages to the author who is being bullied. It would be a Civil suit that would cause so much negative publicity to GR and their new owner, Amazon would not appreciate.
I am just wondering if they are starting to purge all the crap. After I closed my membership due to massive attacks, they sent me email telling me they could not remove everything, only the basics. I really wanted everything removed, every scrap. I know many, many authors who would like to remove everything from there and just not have anything to do with them any longer.
Honestly, someone needs to contact Dateline to have them investigate this stuff. Bet the peeps over at Amazon and Goodreads will buck up and fix the problem then. Who knows.
THAT IS A GREAT IDEA!
Goodreads seem to be very busy deleting accounts this week. It’s never the bullies accounts that are deleted. It’s only the people who stand up to these bullies who have their accounts deleted. That says a LOT about Goodreads.
Goodreads are totally corrupt, there is no doubt about it. They won’t get away with it forever……
While I certainly understand that there are odd issues with GR, I also at least hope for some balance in the conversations. I had a really nasty review of me (not the book) removed earlier this month and they did delete the account of the nasty cursing witch that wrote it – Gretchen the Goddess. However, I also feel that she opened a new account with a new alias (Windy Neptune) to give me a nice as pie fake BS review on a different book. I also have numerous reviews from the troll gang that show on a specific book in Google Books, but when clicking to see the actual review, it states the review does not exist – I have done this anonymously and logged-in. I do not know enough about the backend system at GR to know what’s up with that.
While all of this is going on, I was simply told that the nasty cursing review of me on a book did not violate the GR ToS and that I should not respond to the reviewer because it never works out well. Of course I informed GR that I would not be the only one it would not work out well for. I have numerous emails from this discussion with Emily.
Also, I did not sign-up with an author account – only a user account, yet in the middle of this mess that I complained about they sent me another email thanking me for signing-up for an author account. Of course I responded that I did not and they needed to remove this “author” tag because I had no intention of joining as an author on that site – as one of my many denigrating shelves state: when-hell-freezes-over 😉
I think this troll / bully gang has used GR as its playground for too long and I believe their days are numbered. At any rate, I have sent DMCA notices for each of my titles on their site and when they are removed (covers and descriptions), I do intend to close my only account there.
Amazon is buying GR, but they have not bought it yet. Even then, the staff doesn’t necessarily go with it, especially the problem staff. I think I’ll look around and see where they are in the process.
Oh my. I googled Gretchen the Goddess and found this
Wow! Wow what a bitch. You weren’t kidding about this person. It’s great that GR banned her.
I Forgot to say that some chick named “Miranda” commented twelve times on the review of that person’s book I linked to. Me thinks that “Miranda” needs something else to do with her free time. Perhaps see a psychiatrist for her obsessive disorder?
Then there’s good ‘ol Angie H. She put that book on the shelf noted:
‘meow, conflicting-reviews, obsessed-bba, sock-drawer, vomited-in-my-mouth’. Angie thinks she’s edgy, doesn’t she? To me, she comes across as a moron more than anything.
Laugh my ass off. How old is this Angie H. lady? She looks at least forty or so years old. Why does she act like a two-year-old baby?
Here’s more of Angie H.’s comments…
“Why do they say it doesn’t matter if they’re BBA then freak out when they’re shelved or rated poorly? If it means nothing, shut the f up already.”
*snicker*
Also Angie H. misspelled “veteran”:
“This is her comment to a reader who had issues with the way veterns were represented.”
Angela: you are a fu*kin’ idiot.
& you can’t spell worth a f**k either.
Maybe you should find another hobby besides writing? Because you’ve made it clear that you don’t know spelling or grammar from your ass.
That is one of my books that you linked with the “Gretchen the Goddess” review. It’s an original edition (there is a second edition).
Also, that was her edited review. Her original review had “fuc*” and “shi*” in every sentence (literally). After GR deleted her account, she returned as “Windy Neptune” and reviewed a different book of mine, which was later deleted. Not sure if “Windy Neptune” still has an account with GR or not. At least 10 in the gang commented on each of her reviews on my books and Miranda did so often.
All of that because I unknowingly dared to respond in comments to a weird shelf used for each of my titles… Oh well – of not for their weird shelving, I never would have found STGRB! 😉
I forgot to add that the original edition of that book has not been available as an ebook for about 18 months. As it has only the rare paperback sale, I seriously doubt that any of them read it. I set the price at $19.95 for the paperback to encourage any interested reader to purchase the second edition instead. But there’s nothing wrong with the original edition anyway…
AMEN!!!!
Because of the gang trashing of that book, I chose to make the PDF edition free. It really matters to me that people read the particular book about my story and what was done to me. I’m smart enough to know that with multiple gang members claiming the writing is terrible or “3rd grade level” that it will no longer have sales. That game won’t work with my other titles, but it did with this one.
If the topic interests you, go to its “about” page on my website and scroll to download the free PDF:
Angela’s sock puppet names LATELY have included Planets, i.e. “Neptune”, “Jupiter my Hair is Blond,” there was also one with “Saturn”. She needs to mark her socks as “URANUS IS BLEEDING” LOL!!
Ummm if I find out that dog did it, I’ll take it up a notch. She (Angela) was the first to attack me and my titles and then seemed to back away. “Windy Neptune” was definitely a new account – joined in May 2013.
I know this post is late to the party, but did anyone notice that when you click on coaxial’s name in the open link about Gretchen ( I believe it’s message 4) that All Hail Grimlock’s profile pops up? Interesting.
Coaxial changed her name just recently on GR to All Hail Grimlock.
Yeah, good idea
Anne Rice has taken sides!–FACEBOOK
Anne Rice shared a link.
about an hour ago
“Dead Ever After,” the last of the Sookie Stackhouse novels continues to be a great success. Congratulations to Charlaine Harris. Here’s a recent review of the book. Comments welcome. (Make no mistake, the obsessed negative fans keep strafing the Amazon site trying to destroy the publication, but it’s pretty obvious now that the book is doing just great, as it should; and they are a noisy, pest minority. The book is the No.1 Bestseller in the country!)
WHEN TROLLS AND CYBER BULLIES ARE CORNERED:
Been reading AK’S stories all day over at BBARedux. Amazing, she is now telling everyone her life story about what a good, decent person she is. How none of us have any clue how much she does when she’s not trashing innocent, unsuspecting victims on forums…
Violins.
I’ve noticed the same thing. Whenever they’re backed into the corner it’s suddenly “Poor me, poor me!”.
Old stupid-ass Rocker got on the BBA thread and poured out his wittle heart about a recent hardship he’d had with his wife. It was very personal and sad, but he was only mentioning it to get people to feel sorry for him.
If it was Jamie McGuire or another so-called “BBA” who spouted a sob story, the assholes on the BBA thread would just bully the person until they finally left the thread entirely. They don’t give a shit about anyone else but those in their wittle circle of enablers.
It’s pointless to even attempt to reason with those idiots. Everything a person tries to tell them goes in one ear and straight out the other. They believe their own bullshit. After all, it’s the only way they can face themselves in their mirrors every day.
And yes folks, this is the masterpiece if you ask me. I don’t know the person who posted this, but I applaud his bravery. If he’s an author, I feel badly for the wrath that will suddenly and in large numbers be evoked by the woman he addresses here in his pleading..(P.S. is AK going to answer to him?)
In reply to an earlier post on May 26, 2013 9:44:51 PM PDT
Daniel Smythes says:
In Anna’s own words:
“My brilliant masterpiece, and masterpiece it shall be, is coming. It takes time to recover from being thrown under the wheels of a moving train. Not my idea! If Leo had but asked I would have nipped that nonsense in the bud.”
I did not imply that reviewers should be authors (although Smashwords encourages the practice), and since Anna does not review, that point is wasted in any case.
The point is that her energies flow down the path of destruction instead of construction. It is her choice, but I leave Anna with one question.
What would you tell a talented student in your class to do? Log on to Amazon and spit at people, or write a wonderful novel? Do you love your students more than yourself? And are you an example for them, or just another wilting teacher, waiting to retire?
Think about it please. Your students deserve better, and you can be something better. Use this summer to change your life, and the lives of those around you.
Good night.
Well said. There’s a quote I read recently by a famous author whose book was trashed by a few nasty reviewers: “I write books. They write reviews.” Enough said.
Anyone USA, the VERY same thing happened to me on GR. My user name on GR was Punked Punx. I read half of the Angela’s book “The Bite.” I couldn’t finish the book because it was so bad. So, I left an honest one star review on her book on GR, but then my GR account was deleted. Ummm….
GR never emailed me to explain why my account was deleted. So, I emailed GR and asked them why they deleted my account, but they didn’t reply. I sent them numerous emails, but they totally ignored me.
I had never used my GR account much. I never had any problems with people on GR. I was polite to anyone that I spoke to while I was on GR. But when I gave Angela’s book an honest one start star review my account was deleted.
The thing I find VERY strange is the comment Nenia posted saying, QUOTE: “I took care of Punked Punx for you Angie.” How did Nenia manage to “Sort me out?” There is clearly some sort of corruption in GR. There is no doubt what so ever!
Yes Juno, I totally agree with you. I have suspected for a while that some of these bullies have connections very high up and are able to dictate “actions” they wish to be taken when they are crossed by objective reviews, or anti-bully comments. I hope Amazon CLEANS HOUSE but then again, I’m not overly impressed with Amazon’s handling of bullies, either.
Juno – Did you leave the review on Amazon? Just curious because there are a couple authors on Amazon that can receive nothing less than a three-star review, i.e., Amazon won’t publish any 1 or 2 star reviews for these particular authors…..
Would love to know the names of those authors!
Juno–I know on Amazon there is at least one author who doesn’t receive anything less than 3 stars for her one and only published book….anything less than that will not be published on Amazon…just wondering if you attempted to leave a review on Bite on Amazon, and if so, did they publish?
Yes, AnnaJanis, you certainly do!
In reply to an earlier post on May 27, 2013 1:51:31 PM PDT
Anna Karenina: Ready To Fry says:
Most of the time, you get back what you give.
Patrick announced that the Amazon sale has been effected last week.
Regarding this topic I can say that I noticed this before. A GR friend told me that it’s quite impossible to leave 1 or 2 star reviews, however well-justified and reviews well-written, on certain books. The first time I thought he was pulling my leg, the second time I checked, and indeed, there were books written by people who also were GR staff or senior librarians which sported almost exclusively 5 star reviews, lots of those too, a few 4 star ones and somehow proved to be teflon-covered for anything less.
Either the lower ratings and reviews were deleted, with an ease and speed which would drive tears into the eyes of anyone who ever tried to have for instance harrassing reviews and ratings removed, or they sprouted over night triple the amount of further glowing 5 star reviews, all of which came from staff or librarians. Said friend has since dropped out of GR because he is not interested in contributing to a platform which shills like that from within its own staff.
The corruption at Goodreads is both repulsive and frightening.
Check this out everyone. A friend and fellow writer posted it on Facebook. In particular note the hashtag one star thing for Twitter. I just did it:)
http://greenembers.wordpress.com/2013/06/05/why-amazon-thinks-youre-stupid-opinion-piece/
Great post! He’s right.