Tuesday, June 09, 2009

Writers: How NOT to Self-Market Yourself

I mentioned Sunday afternoon that I was making progress in the four books I'm currently reading. One of those, The Texicans, a novel about life in the wide open spaces of Texas during the 1840s, caught the eye of one reader and she decided to comment.Now I love comments, and I try to answer all of them, but sometimes they do surprise me. This is one of those cases.

The comment I'm showing below was made by a writer/poet, someone I've never heard of but will not forget anytime soon. In this day of writers largely having to market themselves if they want to sell what they produce, this is a wonderful example of how NOT to do it:
I think Texas is the most horrid, hideous place on earth. Texas is despised worldwide for it's racism, it's sickening love for the death penalty, it's violence and all the morons and braggarts who live there. If there were any justice at all, a huge hangman's noose would drop from the sky and choke the life out of this evil state. Florida is just as bad. I hope a giant hurricane blows it off the planet. Thinking people should have nothing to do with another Texas Braggart Book.
The irony associated with this comment from California is that the author of The Texicans is herself a Californian, not another "Texas Braggart."

Wow.

11 comments:

  1. Okay Sam, I can't believe that someone would say that. It goes to show that she is not southern because we southerners would not be so rude. I love how people say that the south loves the death penalty and we are racist. Have they ever heard of reverse racism? And by the way, I am from Florida and proud of it. Wonder if she ever thinks that some states would love it if an earthquake would come and let California float off into the pacific? Not that I am wishing for that to happen:)

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  2. I loved your response, "When did you escape from the asylum?" LOL You said it, Sam.

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  3. Sounds like she missed out on an important lesson, the one that goes: If you don't have anything nice to say, then don't say anything at all.

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  4. The writer/poet's comment made me sad -- for her.

    Nina Vida

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  5. She mixed up its with it's.

    This makes me want to move to Texas now.

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  6. What did Texas ever do to her? Steal her boyfriend?

    Has she ever heard of nuanced thinking? It is possible to oppose the death penalty, for example, without being so immoderate about Texas.

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  7. I do love a good put-someone/something-in-its-place attempt that reveals the ranter's own myriad shortcomings. Very entertaining. :)

    I'm very much looking forward to The Texicans. And someday I will get to Texas. My daughter's traveling through right now.

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  8. She's clearly a loon -- and one with a lot of time on her hands. Poor thing.

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  9. I'm not going to comment on this woman, gang, because y'all have said it well. I don't have anything to offer without sounding as bad as she sounded.

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  10. And she can't even spell.. What kind of writer is she?

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  11. Apparently, she's a very angry, self-deluded, hypocritical one, SmartOne.

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