Dear O'Abby: What's going on?

 Dear O'Abby,

I saw some stuff online earlier this week about an author who was in trouble for something she'd done on Goodreads?  I never caught the author's name or got the full story about what they did wrong, so I'm wondering what that was all about.  

Do you know?

Kind regards,

Curious

Dear Curious,

Yes, there was a big blow up on social media earlier in the week when it was discovered that an author had set up a bunch of fake Goodreads accounts and used them to boost her own book.  But even worse, she used these accounts to also trash other people's books, authors she saw as her competition.

Don't do this.

I know there are a lot of books out there and only a finite number of readers, but being dishonest and actively sabotaging other authors is not the way to get seen. Other authors are not the enemy.  Other authors are your community and for the most part, they've got your back.  I've found that the writing community is very welcoming, extremely generous with their time, and very willing to share the things they've learned along the way.

Don't repay this by stabbing the people who helped you in the back.

This particular author has apologised, but to me it feels too late.  She only did it after she got caught.  And after she set up another fake account to try and blame the whole mess on an "acquaintance".  And sure, more people know her name now, but I don't think that's going to help her book or her writing career.

Writing isn't a competition and there isn't a winner.  I know it sometimes feels that way, especially with publishing houses often doing little to no publicity and leaving all the work of getting readers' attention to the author.  But this isn't the kind of attention you want.  Make sure people are talking about you and your book because it's a great story, well written, not because of your appalling online behaviour.

So that's what happened.  Make sure you learn from her mistake.

X O'Abby