The whole point of doing author interviews is to attract readers (or so I thought) and not to repel them.
In the interview, one of the questions she was asked was what "p*ssed" her off the most.
Her response astounded me and I thought "Wow! Just wow!"
The interview was with a new author by the name of Ashley Galvin who is writing a series of fantasy novels. The first one has been published by Spectacle Publishing Media Group.
I like to read interviews with authors and this one interested me because it was really different, which I wasn't sure was a good or bad thing. What was different about it was the questions,
like
"IF YOU WERE STUCK ON A DESERT ISLAND WITH ONE PERSON, WHO WOULD IT BE?"
and
"WHAT WOULD YOU SAY IF YOU HAD THE CHANCE TO SPEAK TO WORLD LEADERS?"
I thought those were strange questions to ask and totally unrelated to being a writer but I was enjoying reading it all the same.
But there was a worse question than those which was
"WHAT PISSES YOU OFF MOST?"
And just as an aside, I have no idea why the questions were written in all caps. I've copied and pasted them straight from the interview.
If I was asked that question in an interview, I think I'd decline to answer or maybe even ask why they wanted to know, because it seems so negative.
This author, however, was quick to answer.
During the interview, she mentioned reader reviews 3 times.
The first time she said
"I think the greatest compliment any reader can give me is to buy my novels, read them then leave a short honest review."
The second time she said
"I think the best marketing is having honest reviews by readers on sites like Amazon and Goodreads."
The third time she said
"People who buy books but never leave reviews."
And that was her answer to what p*sses her off most.
So there it was.
Ashley Galvin hates readers who don't leave reviews.
I began to think about it and I wondered, did she want readers to leave a whole string of bad reviews of her book? I didn't think so.
What she really wants is readers to read her book and then go online and gush about how great it is. It reminded me of a princess wanting everyone to tell her how pretty she is.
So in her own words, if someone buys her book and tells their friends they liked it, she's angry.
If they buy her book and really enjoy it, she's angry.
She wants written reviews damn it! And those readers better write them. Or else!
I was astounded when I read her answer to the question.
How can any author state publicly (or anywhere) that their readers "p*ss" them off?
But this is exactly what the author was saying.
"WHAT PISSES YOU OFF MOST? People who buy books but never leave reviews."
I have always believed that readers were under no obligation whatsoever to write a review of every book they read, but obviously Ashley Galvin thinks that they are because she not only says it p*sses her off when they don't, but it p*sses her off "the most."
The interview was only short, but by the time I'd finished reading it, one thing I knew for sure was that I never wanted to buy one of Ashley Galvin's novels because I'd be tempted to write a really bad review just out of spite.
But at least if I did, she'd be happy, because she didn't say she wanted good reviews, just honest reviews.
Well, here's an honest review of Ashley Galvin's interview.
Writers NEED readers so it's not good practise to repel them by saying that they p*ss you off if they buy your book but don't write a review about it.
Just wow.
If you want to read it for yourself, you can read the entire interview here.
:)
