Does Goodreads Have a Troll Problem?

Interesting blog from Nicholas C. Rossis on Goodreads’ trolls. I think that yes, trolls sadly do seem to visit Goodreads with more frequency than other sites. I have heard of authors being targeted with one-star reviews by groups of trolls, which are very difficult to get taken off their ratings afterwards. I’m still on Goodreads and about 3 or 4 years ago was targeted by a group of trolls who all left one-star reviews for ‘No Sex Please, I’m Menopausal!’ even though some said they hadn’t even read it. I asked for them to be taken off, but … no luck. However, since then thankfully I have been troll-free.

Nicholas C. Rossis

I’ve heard from several authors who have stopped using Goodreads over the years. As Camestros Felapton reports, they may have a point, as Goodreads seems to suffer from a chronic troll problem. Matters reached crisis proportions way back in 2012. But recently, it looks like things have got worse.

Author Patrick S Tomlinson is currently being targetted by a sustained cyberstalking attack on Goodreads. Multiple fake accounts are leaving insulting reviews of a book of his that has not yet been published (not even as an ARC).

The fake accounts have been quite blatantly using fake names and identities, including a fake account pretending to be Otis Chandler, one of the founders of Goodreads:

@otown Hello Mr. Chandler. It may interest you to know criminal cyberstalkers have stolen your identity as part of a fake review bombing campaign against my next book, which is still in editing. They're…

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Re-Post Authors Reviewing Authors (It’s a Minefield) #WritingCommunity #AmWriting #AmReading

This is so true to life. I once read a book that I can only class as terrible, and I mean … terrible! I didn’t say I liked it to the author and I didn’t leave a review, but I did try to give constructive criticism instead. Not sure it was well received though. Turning the tables, some authors have declined to leave a review of one or two books I have written, and that’s fine by me. Others have left 5 star reviews of the same book, so it just goes to show that you cannot please everybody.

Rosie Amber

Authors reviewing authors

(it’s a minefield…) Guest post by Terry Tyler

The scenario: you’re a self-published/indie press published writer who tweets, blogs and is a generally active member of the online writer community. You like to read and review the work of writer friends, if in a genre that appeals. One of these friends (who I will call Friendly Writer and refer to as ‘he’, for convenience), asks you to review his new book, via an ARC. The blurb piques your interest; you say yes. You start to read, with enthusiasm—but there’s a problem. Several of them. The dialogue is unrealistic, the characters are one-dimensional, or tired stereotypes. Maybe the plot is unconvincing, or it’s a bit slow/long-winded/badly researched. If it was a random book by a stranger, you’d abandon it.

If you’ve been active in the online writer community for a while, this might be a situation you’ve…

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Working with livestock keeps your reflexes sharp.

Thanks Jim for the laugh on a wet Sunday morning. Are you sure it was the dwarf though (ha ha)?

Jim Webster

At one time I used to buy a few calves. I’d get them from all over the place purchasing them off people I knew. I’d also buy them in Ulverston Auction Mart. The ‘calf ring’ was in a separate building and the buyers would stand round the ring and bid for the calf as the owner walked it into the ring. There wasn’t a lot of room because you’ve got a circular ring in a long narrow building. At one point you could have three or four rows of people watching the calves sold, but because people had to walk through that area as well, you could perhaps get three rows. People liked to stand there because you could get a good look at the calf as it walked into the ring.

Anyway I was standing there one day, I was in the ‘third’ row. There was the row hogging…

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Sally’s Cafe and Bookstore – Christmas Book Fair – Recent #Reviews – #Romance Jacquie Biggar, #Stories Mary Smith, #Thriller Stevie Turner

Thanks to Sally Cronin at Smorgasbord. As well as Jacquie Biggar and Mary Smith’s books, Sally has given a big shout out for my new thriller novella ‘Examining Kitchen Cupboards’.

Smorgasbord Blog Magazine

Since the middle of November I have featured all the authors in the Cafe and Bookstore with a recent review and since we have a few days left, I will now share more up to date reviews that have been posted.

USA Today Bestselling author Jacquie Biggar provides an abundance of romance in her Christmas themed Mistletoe Inn 

About Mistletoe Inn

Fall in love this holiday season!

A grieving man finds the greatest gift is love in this heartwarming holiday romance.

Molly McCarty is in need of a new beginning after a disastrous divorce. When the opportunity to invest in a bed and breakfast appears online in Christmas, Michigan she’s intrigued.
A snow storm derails her travels and leaves her at the mercy of a grim stranger- who turns out to be her new partner!
Noah Kincaid loses his parents in a tragic fire that leaves him scarred inside and…

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Sally’s Cafe and Bookstore – Christmas Book Fair – Reviews and a selection of FREE books by Sally Cronin

Sally Cronin is very generously offering her books for free. Check out her post and you’ll find out how to go about getting one for your TBR.

Smorgasbord Blog Magazine

I know that your TBR piles are in danger of collapsing with all the books that you have bought over the year but, if you would like to add a few more to the list waiting to be read then I would like to offer you one a selection of my eBooks for FREE.

Would I love some more reviews, of course, but there are no strings attached with these books, if you can drop me a line to let me know you have enjoyed at some point then I am more than happy.

Here is the selection of my Kindle (mobi) and Epub for other devices … all you have to do is email me on sally.cronin@moyhill.com and let me know which book and which version you need.

You can check the books out and their recent reviews: My books and reviews 2019/2020

And I of course…

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15 Blogging Tips For Beginners

Some useful blogging tips here from Boy With a Hat…

boy with a hat

Blogging isn’t hard, and once you get the hang of it, it can certainly be a treat. But when you first create a blog, it can be challenging to publish  new posts consistently.

Maybe you are all excited about your blog. But if you don’t channel that energy into creating posts and interacting with readers and other bloggers, your effort may come to nothing.

Your blog could then end up like one of those forgotten construction projects — a house beautifully envisioned but which, due to the mismanagement of resources, has been abandoned to the whims of the weather.

Don’t get me wrong – WordPress.com offers us one of the easiest ways to create a blog. But after that, after your blog has a name and a theme and the Hello World page greets your eyes, it’s up to you to choose topics, create posts, and find your pace.

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Knees, Please

This gallery contains 34 photos.

Originally posted on lifelessons – a blog by Judy Dykstra-Brown:
Think of all the things you wouldn’t be able to do if you didn’t have knees!…

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The 2019 Christmas Charity Appeal – Help Me Raise £250 For Battersea Dogs & Cats Home By Leaving Me Links To Your Blogs and Books

Help Hugh raise money for Battersea Dogs & Cats Home by leaving a link to your blog/Amazon author page.

Hugh's Views & News  

The Christmas tree is up, but something is missing. There are no gifts under it, and I need your help to put that right.

For this year’s Christmas charity appeal, I’m asking you to help me raise some money for Battersea Dogs and Cats Home.

Since 1860, Battersea has been there for every dog and cat that finds themselves homeless. From the moment they welcomed their first stray dog, they have been placing animals at the centre of everything they do. 

More than three million animals later, they’re still working hard to achieve the vision that every dog and cat should live in a home where they are treated with love, care and respect.

They believe that every dog and cat deserves the best. That’s why Battersea Dogs and Cats home have always helped every dog and cat in need. 

Click here to visit the Battersea Dogs and Cats…

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#TuesdayBookBlog Review for Examining Kitchen Cupboards by Stevie Turner @StevieTurner6

Thanks to Anita Dawes and Jaye Marie for this great 5 star review of my new suspense novella ‘Examining Kitchen Cupboards’.

anita dawes and jaye marie

Jill Hayes discovers that not all is as it seems in her new post as a college examinations administrator. When she turns whistle-blower and tries to report her findings to the authorities, she is horrified to discover that some people will stop at nothing to ensure her silence.

Our Review

Starting a new job is always fraught with tension, you worry whether you will be liked, and more importantly, are you able to convince them of your competence?

Jill Hayes is met with total disdain from her new superior, so when she questions something that doesn’t seem right, she is met with hostility on many levels.

If you discover something is wrong, could you be a whistle-blower, or would you hope that someone else would do it instead?

This story has it all, corruption and greed, and an interesting cast of fascinating and true to life characters. Although Examining Kitchen…

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Sally’s Cafe and Bookstore – Christmas Book Fair – #Romance P.C. Zick, #Fantasy Jim Webster, #Thriller Stevie Turner, #Poetry Balroop Singh

Thanks to Sally Cronin at Smorgasbord for the shout-out for my new thriller ‘Examining Kitchen Cupboards’.

Smorgasbord Blog Magazine

Welcome to this year’s Christmas book fair where I will be sharing the books of all the authors on the shelves of the Cafe and Bookstore with their most recent review in the last six months. I will be selecting authors at random so that there is something for everyone in the post.

The first author with a wonderful selection of romantic novels that would make excellent gifts is P.C.Zick. With new fabulous covers and the final book in the series with recent reviews. Love on Holiday – (Book 7 – Rivals in Love)

About the book

The couple who started the whole Crandall clan face a crossroads as their fortieth wedding anniversary approaches. As their six children plan a surprise party, the couple struggle to stay together through the holidays.

Nolan and Sofia Crandall have remained in love and together for forty years despite their differences. He’s Irish…

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