Sorry, publishers and authors. I am no longer able to cross-post my reviews to Amazon. According to the new rules (pictured), I haven't made any credit card or debit card purchases on Amazon. I've only acquired books there via Amazon Associates credits or free eBooks.
You'll still be able to read my reviews on my WordPress and Goodreads.
So last night things happened when I was on my tablet, so I couldn't screenshot everything.
In short: in an author's closed group on Facebook, she started a thread ("let's discuss" and "thoughts") about how she didn't see what was racist about the altered image of Bolt with Ellen on his back. So what does she do? Instead of researching to find out the history of slave imagery, she and her fans decided it's not racist. There were comments about people "choosing to be offended", and even the author said that "political correctness" (which translates to "treating people with respect" in my language) has gone "OTT". But because the thread was deleted before I could screenshot them, and they weren't in my email, I have no evidence.
And in case you don't see what's racist about the altered image? Beforehand, I saw this Tweet, so by the time the Facebook thread came along, I already understood what was wrong. Yes, Ellen didn't mean to enact slave-owner imagery, but POC were still harmed by it. I didn't even need to RESEARCH the history - I just follow smart people on Twitter who RT helpful things.
The screenshot above shows the author's opening post, my comments, some other people's comments, and the author's closing comment. Apparently only the perpetrator gets to decide what's racist. *eyeroll* *headdesk*
Went online today to find a new post by the author:
"Hey there - not trying to cause a debate in here, so I deleted my post about the Ellen incident. Everyone has an opinion, and a valuable one at that, so I wouldn't want anyone to feel uncomfortable here. My opinions on race have been heavily detailed in all my books and the way I carry my life. So <3 and positivity. That tends to be the best response anyway."
I'm not familiar with the Southern way of speaking, but I know "bless your heart" means "up yours", so now I'm wondering what "<3 and positivity" means. Probably exactly what it says. But that she deleted the thread only when someone (me) spoke up to disagree, and say it's not up to us white people to decide what's racist and what's not...
Respect to her for openly announcing the deletion, instead of pretending the post never happened. Just too bad that she and her fans ended up showing their disdain for "political correctness" - aka treating people with respect.
(Oh, and if you're anti-PC, keep your thoughts on your own blogs and social media and not on mine. Thank you.)
Telling others to upvote/downvote certain reviews goes against Amazon's Anti-Manipulation Policy for Customer Reviews.
I witnessed an author doing this PUBLICLY on her Page today - not Friends-Locked. So I checked Amazon's policy, and here it is (in this screenshot I took).
If you witness anyone conspiring, and encouraging others, to upvote/downvote certain reviews, please report them to Amazon.
Remember: reviews on retail sites are not for the author, or for the fans. They're for potential readers/customers, to help them figure out whether it's worth them spending time and/or money on a particular product. Don't talk to me about "algorithms", or "if I get so many reviews, I'll get more publicity". STOP IT. Go offline, and write your next manuscript instead - it'll be a much better use of your time.
Thank you.
Log in with Facebook 
