Tuesday, June 28, 2022

Bitcher Beware

 


Author Drama:  Idiocy or PR Campaign?

There are very, very few good reasons to raise a stink in public. When authors (or anyone in the public space) manufacture drama in order to get attention, they are proving themselves to have the emotional maturity of a toddler. It flies in the face of the governing principle of Don't Be a Dick. 9 times out of 10, the backlash earns curiosity clicks for an immediate gain but destroys any long-term benefits. If the plan is to be a career author (ie, more than one book) then showing your ass is the absolute worst strategy. 

When is it okay to get your open-mic gripe on? When issuing a public caution and you have the receipts to back it up. If you don't have the latter, don't engage in the former. Also, take a page from the School of Comedy, in which punching up is okay when you're calling out authority or using rhetoric to dismantle power structures. Don't punch down. That makes you a bully. 

What's an example of good drama? Fighting for your rights against a corporation or abusive business (E.g.: #DisneyMustPay or #AudibleGate). Again, you must have the receipts or you open yourself to legal problems around defamation. 

If you're defaming individuals on social media purely for the clicks or because your response to a perceived slight is a scorched-earth policy, congratulations, you're a cyberbully and subject to criminal prosecution.

In our litigious society, it's Bitcher Beware.