Newsflash: Your Sh*t DOES Stink. How Internet Viruses Are Destroying Humanity.

Today I want to talk about rudeness...and entitlement. There seems to be some major viruses going around, among authors, readers, giveaway winners, publishers, and pretty much anyone who does their business from behind a computer monitor.

One is the "You can't see me, so I'm going to say what I want to" epidemic. There's also the "I want something for nothing" epidemic.

And it's ruining humanity, making humanity a rude, entitled, snotty mass of people.

Regarding the first epidemic, take care in what you say to people online. Would you say it to their face? Ask yourself that. I recently had a woman PM my FB author page. She claimed she'd won a book of mine in some Rafflecopter giveaway. It had ended five days ago and I had not yet heard from the host about who the winners were or what their emails addresses were. So I believed this chick, provided her the book, and apologized for the delay.

She signed off with, "I'm done with you now."

This is a classic case of Virus One and Virus Two, both.

P.S. Upon reaching the giveaway host, I discovered she hadn't even won my book!

More examples:
-Publisher emails me wanting a book edited. I'm already giving them a discount. I give an estimate that is the exact same darn fee I've been charging this organization for a year. Suddenly I'm too expensive and all the work goes to an editor is new, has no clue, but works for almost free. Nevertheless, this is an example of Virus 2. FYI, reading a book twice can take a while. When you take the hours it takes to read a book and look at how much we get paid, we don't even make minimum wage. *Dear publisher, there is a LAW about that!*

-Author provides a book for review. I give it a three-star rating on Goodreads. Those who follow me know that a review will be posted once it goes live on my blog. She sees the three-star and emails me, "I thought you liked it?"

I did, but it wasn't the best thing I've ever read...I had a quibble or two. But a three is not a bad thing from me.

Then, without even seeing the review, she demands I not post it at all.

That's Virus 1 and a mixture of another virus called "My shit don't stink."

Oh, and while I'm on the subject, I should talk about Virus 3: "The rub it other's faces" Epidemic.

You got a new car! That's fabulous!!! Good for you. 

You post 18 pictures of it on day one. Day two, you liked every single page on FB related to the make of that vehicle, the engine inside it, and then bombard your friends with reminders of what you drive. Day three: you talk about your woofer. Day 4: you cry because there's hail on it. Day 5: you debate window tint...

You never ever let anyone forget for 5 minutes that you have a new car.

You probably park it just far enough away that you don't have to worry about door dings, but just close enough that everyone can you see get in and out of it, and then stand there for 5 minutes for some imaginary reason to make sure everyone sees you. 

Another example of this is authors who brag constantly. They find subtle ways to mention their incredible, insta-book sales. And they knowingly relay this data constantly to other authors whom they know are struggling.

Yes, there is a third epidemic. 

What is the world coming to?

Before you send that email, before you post that FB status, before you hit that Enter key, ask yourself, "What the f*ck am I doing?"

OH--and dear publisher who claimed I was too expensive after I worked my butt off for you for a year, and dear Rafflecopter winner who didn't really win, and dear author who had a seizure over the three-star rating, and dear author who loves to remind me of your insta-sales, this is for you: