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  • #1

    Evidently Unfamiliar With Genre

    Hi, all. I'm gonna try to come back here more often because I miss you all, and because I'm trying to not be a recluse. I have not had "customers" for a number of years. But I kind of do now. Most of them are pretty awesome, but every now and then one stands out.

    I'm writing full time now. I do some design work on the side from time to time, but mostly, I'm writing.

    Got one-starred on Amazon for having too much "swearing, fistfights, shootings, and hanging out in saloons."

    I write westerns.
    Tags: None
  • #2
    Welcome back!

    ...And, yeah, some folks will troll you that way, no matter what you do. I'm sure somewhere out there, a restaurant has a review that reads like "The service was just too fast! The waiters were smiling too much! These prices are so low I'm suspicious! 1 star!"
    "For a musician, the SNES sound engine is like using Crayola Crayons. Nobuo Uematsu used Crayola Crayons to paint the Sistine Chapel." - Jeremy Jahns (re: "Dancing Mad")
    "The difference between an amateur and a master is that the master has failed way more times." - JoCat
    "Thinking is difficult, therefore let the herd pronounce judgment!" ~ Carl Jung
    "There's burning bridges, and then there's the lake just to fill it with gasoline." - Wiccy, reddit
    "Retail is a cruel master, and could very well be the most educational time of many people's lives, in its own twisted way." - me
    "Love keeps her in the air when she oughta fall down...tell you she's hurtin' 'fore she keens...makes her a home." - Capt. Malcolm Reynolds, "Serenity" (2005)
    Acts of Gord – Read it, Learn it, Love it!
    "Our psychic powers only work if the customer has a mind to read." - me

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    • #3
      Quoth RecoveringKinkoid View Post
      Got one-starred on Amazon for having too much "swearing, fistfights, shootings, and hanging out in saloons."

      I write westerns.
      What did they expect? A stroll through the meadow, picking dandelions...?
      Last edited by EricKei; 09-01-2015, 12:51 PM.
      When you start at zero, everything's progress.

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      • #4
        Thank you! Naw, I don't believe the person was a troll, I think she just honestly didn't like the book. That's okay, my ego is not such that I expect everyone will. And if the mild swearing in my books (Yes! I tone it down! The only time I sound like Deadwood is when I'm really talkng!) is going to be offensive, then I figure that review will stand as a warning to others that prefer their books squeaky clean. So it's all good.

        I just thought it was funny, given the genre.

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        • #5
          Yet another reason I've been reading reviews less and less. Yes I know, it is possible to sort through the valid and stupid reviews, but I don't have the patience for it. Ever been on allrecipes? The reviews are psychotic. "I love this recipe, here's what I changed! *wall of text*" So... You're not reviewing the recipe are you??

          I wish there was a way to turn off reviews on my local library's online system. I want to start reading a book completely neutral, not biased by reviews.
          Replace anger management with stupidity management.

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          • #6
            Quoth MoonCat View Post
            What did they expect? A stroll through the meadow, picking dandelions...?
            Gay cowboys eating pudding. #obscuresouthparkreferences
            Knowledge is power. Power corrupts. Study hard. Be evil.

            "I never said I wasn't a horrible person."--Me, almost daily

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            • #7
              It's like the people who complained about the wire work in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon because many of them had never seen a wuxia movie before. But I expect most people would understand how Westerns tend to be...

              My friend is a popular, much-awarded BDSM erotica/romance author. She gets reviews that her books are too 'violent'- mainly, she figures, from people who read 50 Shades and think that's how BDSM actually works. But she practices it herself, so her books are actually accurate (and I've read some, they do make me cringe but I have zero interest in that lifestyle so that's my own preference).
              https://www.facebook.com/authorpatriciacorrell/

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              • #8
                Well, on the upside, there's an awful lot of people for whom 50 Shades was the only book they read like that. So the way I look at it, it serves as a warning for similar readers that they might not like the book.

                I would honestly prefer someone who is going to be predisposed to dislike my book to just pass on it. I guess it's the same with your friend, someone disliking violence isn't going to like her books, so it's best for them to know up front that is what they are getting.

                Although I have to wonder at someone buying BDSM erotica (or a western) and then being offended at a little roughness.

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                • #9
                  Quoth notalwaysright View Post
                  Ever been on allrecipes? The reviews are psychotic. "I love this recipe, here's what I changed! *wall of text*" So... You're not reviewing the recipe are you??
                  I've seen this on Food Network recipes, too.

                  Someone will give a recipe 5 stars, and then talk about all the things that they changed. Which isn't the recipe.
                  Skilled programmers aren't cheap. Cheap programmers aren't skilled.

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                  • #10
                    A cousin of mine writes epic fantasy, as listed on Amazon, in the book description, the genre, author's notes, and other reviews. So, he got one starred because the book was an "Epic Fantasy and I don't like those."

                    His response was basically, "I'm sorry you failed to read everything that stated this book is, indeed, an epic fantasy. If you'll look, it's listed as such by genre, by book description, and even by other reviewers. Please review those before purchasing a book."
                    If I make no sense, I apologize. I'm constantly interrupted by an actual toddler.

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                    • #11
                      I remember when I saw the film Lust, Caution in a theater, and there were a couple of blue-hairs tutting throughout the fairly explicit sex scenes, and I was thinking, "Ladies...did not the presence of the word "Lust" in the title nor the NC-17 rating on the poster let you know what you were in for?"

                      Also funny when people storm out of a movie because there are subtitles, and go to the ticket counter in a rage because they "Didn't pay to read no movie!" All it takes is thirty seconds' worth of Googling to find out if the movie you're going to see is in another language, and will require subtitles if you want to understand what the characters are saying.

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                      • #12
                        Oh, when we saw Pan's Labyrinth there was a man in the front row...with two small children. Now maybe they spoke Spanish and didn't need the subtitles, but...it's not a kid movie. He finally seemed to realize this after the Capitan broke a bottle and rammed it into a guy's face, and took his kids out.

                        (and the sex scenes in Lust, Caution took up maybe 10 minutes of an almost-three-hour movie. I never saw what the big deal was. I've seen similar things in other movies. That movie was heartbreaking though, Tony Leung is amazing)
                        https://www.facebook.com/authorpatriciacorrell/

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                        • #13
                          Yeah, but some people (especially old women) get into a tizzy when it comes to even moderately explicit sex in movies, which is why sex scenes in mainstream Hollywood movies have become virtually extinct in the "every movie must be PG-13" era.

                          And Lust, Caution is a superb movie, all sex aside. Shame it was so little-seen due to the rating and subtitles.

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                          • #14
                            I was having a leisurely lunch by myself at the Hog island Oyster Company restaurant in San Francisco. A couple came in, were seated, & given menus. They looked at the menus and became horrified. After a few exclamations, they suddenly decamped.

                            It hadn't occurred to them that the Hog Island Oyster Company would specialize in...guess what?

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                            • #15
                              Quoth mjr View Post
                              I've seen this on Food Network recipes, too.

                              Someone will give a recipe 5 stars, and then talk about all the things that they changed. Which isn't the recipe.
                              I read a site for reviews of sewing patterns, and there's a ton of reviews like that. "I changed the top and the skirt, and I didn't use the directions." Well that's not very helpful when the review template specifically asks how good the directions were! If you change one thing, fine. If you made your own pattern and want to explain how to do it, also fine. But "I made this. It's pretty." isn't a helpful review of anything.

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