I received an email this week from a blogger who was angry that we’d hired a specific freelancer to write an article for us. I checked and the article was published years ago.
Did she have a problem with the article on WritersWeekly itself? No, she did not. This individual had a personal beef with the writer, and was trying to not only ruin her reputation, but to make her lose paying work as well. On further investigation, I discovered the complainer owns a blog that competes with the writer’s. And, it seems she was using nefarious methods in an attempt to get her competition shut down.
Like I do with similar sour-grapes emails, I did not respond. I simply deleted her email. And, of course, if that woman ever tries to get writing work from us, I won’t hire her.
This reminded me of the woman who wrote in demanding to know how much money we’d paid a writer because he was her ex-husband, and allegedly owed child support. While that may have been the case, and while I have complete sympathy for any parent in that situation (since I’ve been there myself!), I can’t legally give our writers’ or authors’ income information to third parties unless I’m under court order to do so.
Then there was the woman a few weeks ago who complained that her ex-husband was publishing a book through our BookLocker.com division using her photos. I reviewed his manuscript and he had one photo it in, which was purchased legally from a stock photo agency. She was wrong and her email made her look incredibly immature. (It also wasted several minutes of my time that day!)
If you have a problem with someone, or with their opinions on a certain topic, you need to contact that person or your lawyer. Trying to harm someone’s reputation, or make them lose paying work, is the wrong way to settle your differences. And, it’s incredibly unprofessional.
While I’m on my soapbox, I have another beef to share. We received three complaints about the first place winner of the Winter, 2018 24-Hour Short Story Contest. They all complained that the story didn’t have a “happy ending.” It was a funny story! I was tempted to respond with an inquiry about how many books and movies don’t have happy endings…but that doesn’t detract from their entertainment or educational value, or their quality. But, I know sending such an email would be a complete waste of my time.
So, I clicked delete, and continued on with my day.
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Got questions about Print On Demand and Self-publishing? Ask Angela Hoy.
About The Author
Angela Hoy is the publisher of WritersWeekly.com, the author of 19 books, and the co-owner of BookLocker.com (one of the original POD publishers that still gets books to market in less than a month), PubPreppers.com (print and ebook design for authors who truly want to self-publish), and Abuzz Press (the publishing co-op that charges no setup fees).
Angela has lived and traveled across the U.S. with her kids in an RV, settled in a river-side home in Bradenton, FL, and lived on a 52 ft Irwin sailboat. Angela now resides on a mountaintop in Northwest Georgia, where she plans to spend the rest of her days bird watching, gardening, hiking, and taking in all of the amazing sunrises.
WritersWeekly.com - the free marketing ezine for writers, which features new paying markets and freelance job listings every Wednesday.
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Abuzz Press offers FAST and FREE book publication, but only accepts a small percentage of submissions, and only works with U.S. authors.
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QUERY10
I loved the winning story! It was hilarious, and completely original.
I don’t usually hit “delete”. I created a special folder for such nonsense years back, just in case I need to reference it later.
How incredibly mature……just hit delete. Think how much less wheel spinning this world would endure if everyone, rather than spending the day under an angry cloud, simply hit the delete key. Personally, I have no spam or junk folder in my eMail client. I delete about 100 junk messages every day as I glance at the subject lines. In addition to never missing an important message which is inadvertently misdirected to the spam folder, I get a daily update on the latest scams & foolish notions of the day. It’s for the same reason, while I get my newspapers on line, I get the PDF version with all the advertising: There’s as much information in the ads as in the news.
Well, it may make you feel better to realize that none of these incidents truly wasted your time. Rather, they provided fodder for you to write an entertaining article that might even help stop some people from doing similar types of nonsense in the future. Good job!
I can envision you at your computer each morning, wondering what today will bring. Cheers to you!
Who really cares (besides these few people) that the winner of the Winter, 2018 24-Hour Short Story Contest didn’t write a story with a happy ending?
Some of the most dramatic works — on stage, on the screen, and in novels don’t have ‘happy’ endings. That’s life.
One person in particular was mortified that someone may have died in the story. She said it ruined her day. My eyes rolled so back in my head and I almost fell over. It’s FICTION for crying out loud!!! 😉
Love that you don’t feed snakes! Cracked me up! No better way to shut ’em down.
Angela, I really like your attitude about these people trying to discredit others. Not responding is a very smart move, probably irritates them more than starting an argument. Keep up your good work! Judy Pearce
My motto is: “Don’t feed the snakes!” As soon as you send a response, they’ll want to start a huge fight. And, they’ll turn their attention from their last victim to you, and do the same things (try to harm your reputation, discredit you, etc.). Unfortunately, bullies exist everywhere, including the adult world.
Angela Hoy, Publisher
WritersWeekly.com and BookLocker.com