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It’s difficult not to be snarky when writers are weird.
You all know (probably) that I’ve shifted my business model yet again to do more freelance writing. It fits in with my schedule and the demands that having two toddlers put on my soul/body/mind.
So I think, “Hey, I’ll go network with some writers, I’m sure they’re a creative, friendly bunch!”
Woah.
I’m in the Absolute Write forum, having a blast, it’s fantastic. But, like many boards that are highly specialized, if you step out of line you get dinged. It wasn’t me that stepped out of line, but wow, they tore some folks up in there!
My issue was when I saw that an author was willing to share his book on self publishing with the AW group free. I just purchased and am wading through the tome of information that is The Well Fed Self Publisher, but I figure having a secondary book can’t hurt. So, thinking I’m being a champ, I not only request the book but offer mine in exchange – trying to be a nice person and give something of value in return.
Big mistake.
First off, this book is crap. I mean it’s a 96 page .pdf and the text is four inches by six inches in the middle of every page, so no easy way to read it. But it is nothing more than page after page of worthless ideas. I mean worthless. I’d print some but I’m sure he’d snark all over me saying I reprinted his work without permission…
Then I get an email back (since I didn’t email the .pdf directly and sent it through e-junkie because I track things) saying “I don’t intend to pay for this I want it free like I sent yours free.” Wow, way to make assumptions instead of asking questions, you hack! It was the free link. I didn’t think to spell it out because I said I would exchange it for free. I emailed back with a quick apology, reassuring him it was free and saying that I wasn’t sure why there was a misunderstanding but here it is.
So he emails back again to let me know in BOLD what his misunderstanding was with the boilerplate text that goes out automatically with the link for the book. Wow.
Thanks for giving me a crap book that’s worthless AND wasting five minutes of my life. He made out way better on his end than I did. He got a real book with real tips and helpful suggestions. I got something that after glancing at once I’ll never look at again, because it’s worthless.
Between that guy and the potential for attack, I’m a little scared of Absolute Write. Maybe I’m not a real enough writer to hang with the big dogs. I certainly know that all the writers there aren’t rude, and all the books aren’t drivel…but wow. Two bad experiences in a row, I think, would make anyone a little gun shy.
Maybe I’m spoiled that all the people I talk to regularly online have the same play nice mentality that I do most of the time. I mean, we’re polite, say please and thank you, the usual humane things people do for one another. Am I just lucky that I found all the people with social skills online?
What has your experience been? Have you found pockets of not-so-nice people online? Do you think it was just individuals or certain niches that are plagued with lack of online social skills?
