Note: this article is about John Green the blogger, not the famous author of Fault in Our Stars.
Why do the bullies spend so much time trying to destroy authors? I don’t know, but there’s definitely a pattern emerging with these people, as many of them are ostensibly authors themselves—sort of. They are authors in the sense that they try to write a book but never quite complete it, which is also likely why they act as though it is such a trivial and easy process to create a novel yet fail to complete any of their own.
Much like Ginmar, who churns out poorly written fan fictions but has never managed to create something original and complete, John Green is a “writer” in name only, as his super-duper amazing fantasy book has been in the works for years but somehow he’s never managed to complete it. And yet, despite never actually experiencing the pressures and challenges of finishing and publishing a novel of his own, John is a self-appointed member of the “book police,” using his blog to demean, malign, and publicly shame victims whom he feels have violated his code of “author behavior.”
Yes, an “author” who cannot even finish a single book wants to tell other authors how they are to behave, write, and think. And should you run afoul of his guidelines, you can expect a thorough public shaming courtesy of his blog. Often it’s just filled with vulgar demands telling author’s to “fuck off” despite the fact that he’s the one up in their business.
Rest assured, however, that his commenters are just as lovely and charming as he is. Just ask one “Mike Ledo,” who had the following to say about an author who had an opinion he didn’t agree with.
Much like his bully friends, John goes pretty far to find material with which to attack people. If you’re an indie author, expect to have people like John Green crawling around your Facebook at all times looking for something to screengrab.
Shortly after bombarding an innocent author’s books with one-star reviews, John took it upon himself to monitor her Facebook to further shame her.
Yep, John sure does love to use his blog to shame authors for stupid reasons.
Err, I’m sorry. Did I say blog? As in one? I actually meant blogs. Because apparently, one attack blog isn’t even enough for these people anymore. No, he needs to have two attack blogs—that we know of. We recently discovered that he is also the user GreyWarden on Booklikes, which opens up a whole ‘nother can of worms. If you look into the upper-right corner of this archive, you can see his identity.
As usual, if you think he’s vicious on his own name, he’s even worse on his formerly anonymous one, because he’s also delusional and paranoid in addition to being downright mean. On his second attack blog (because of course he has to have two), he pens bizarre articles in which he somehow attributes street harassment of women to Anne Rice. Don’t ask.
But mostly, it’s just hit piece after hit piece. And if not written by him, then reblogged by all the usual suspects, such as Mahala R. Burlingame
Here, you can see him defending the reprehensible actions of Jenny Trout, who had a black woman’s innocuous book pulled down for being “racist towards black women.”
We advise you stay clear of this nasty bully, but under no circumstance should you give in to his demands. Even if afraid, remember that allowing these people to police you gives them the false sense of moral justification to police others.
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Excellent article. Keep up the good work. The integrity of the Amazon customer review system is worth fighting for. And the integrity of the book world is worth fighting for. And by “the book world” I mean all of us who love books, read them, write about them and write them — the wholesome world of libraries, brick and mortar book stores, and online bookstores like Amazon and Barnes & Noble. This world also includes countless book groups off line and on line. And encompasses anybody and everybody who has ever loved a book, enjoying it in private, or sharing it with others. The bullytariat is a serious threat to the book world. It’s made up of a small group of people who have no respect for other people, no respect for the truth, and a great desire to “control” who reads what. These people have no respect for the traditions of the book world. They want to change it to suit themselves. They want to boycott and destroy those whom they personally don’t like for one reason or another. They want the power to do harm to authors and reviewers who don’t agree with their “rules” or “dictates.” The book world in one form or another existed long before these people came along, and it will exist long after they are banned from the book sites they abuse and prey on. But the bullytariat is a problem that we individually and personally can do something about. We can do something about it as STGRB does, by spreading the word about bullying. And we can do something about it as Amazon customers by reporting abusive attacks on authors and other reviewers when you see them on Amazon. Amazon invites its customers to do this. You could say that Amazon depends on its customers to do this. So again, thanks for the good work you do here, STGRB, in documenting abusive behavior as you have done with this article. And in supporting the book world.
Thank you, Anne!
This breakdown reminds me of how Dear Author, Smart Bitches Trashy Books, Karen Scott and a few others would co-ordinate a take-down. Brings back bad memories. So glad you are here. Many of us took this abuse alone for a very long time.
Glad our site helps!