Fans or no fans, I don't get how this guy thinks that ANYONE should put his (i.e. this guy's) family and his income over their own family. Seriously, what a f***wit!
Sorry, I'm laughing at this, because it's so beyond anything that resembles sane. I mean, this is a temper tantrum of such epic proportions, it's comic. How tiny is the box this asshat lives in for him to think that this adolescent snit isn't akin to taking a flamethrower at whatever career he has? He cannot possibly imagine anybody is going to read that ("real" fan or not) and find it a reasonable and rational response.
otoh, if an author sets one of these things up ('crews' 'clubs' whatever), that author has the right to set the boundaries, and the right to re-set those boundaries if needed. Poking a stick at the author in the form of arguing with them about the rules or changes to the rules is also, after a point, irrational behaviour and not the done thing.
Don't get me wrong - this author is a complete asshole and an idiot to have responded to any provocation this way; but it's also fairly immature on the part of whomever it was that provoked this childish response. If the new 'rules' are distasteful; drop the author and find a new one. They're a dime a dozen.
This setting up of clubs/crews by authors is just so weird to me. I don't remember when I started noticing it, and it seems very tied to Goodreads since it's a platform that encourages that kind of interaction. But really, if you have to rally supporters around you to defend and advertise your writing... it just seems like the author is really insecure.
It seems to be a popular movement in the cozy genre, as I've been invited to join at least a dozen of them. The concept felt off to me from the start; dare I say it had a whiff of an Amway/cultish vibe to it, and I've stayed well away.
otoh, if an author sets one of these things up ('crews' 'clubs' whatever), that author has the right to set the boundaries, and the right to re-set those boundaries if needed. Poking a stick at the author in the form of arguing with them about the rules or changes to the rules is also, after a point, irrational behaviour and not the done thing.
Don't get me wrong - this author is a complete asshole and an idiot to have responded to any provocation this way; but it's also fairly immature on the part of whomever it was that provoked this childish response. If the new 'rules' are distasteful; drop the author and find a new one. They're a dime a dozen.