THE LOVELY KARINA give us food for thought!

Think Before You Tweet!
The internet is a wonderful, wonderful thing. After all, it's the reason so many of us are now published!
It also gives us a direct link to potential readers, enabling us to interact and gain interest in our work. And of course, we can promote our books from the comfort of our own living room J Blogs, websites, social networking sites – they are all part and parcel of being an author these days. At the click of a mouse we have immediate contact with the people who are buying our new releases.
But with these powers comes great responsibility…
We are less than two weeks into the New Year and already there have been some spectacular spats in the on-line readers/writers' community. Over on Goodreads there have been vitriolic rants from authors against reviewers who have given less than favourable opinions on their work. Unfortunately, the war of words seems to quickly descend into personal attacks and, as so often happens these days, news has spread to Twitter and Facebook. The professionally outraged on both sides of the community have banded together with their pitchforks at hand, ready to charge at those who, in the heat of the moment, didn't stop to think before they hit enter.
As an author I appreciate how devastating it would be to see your precious work torn apart on a review site when you've put your heart and soul into it. I'm also aware there are internet Trolls lurking, who seem to get a kick out of being nasty to people for no particular reason. Case in point would be one of my CPs who received a one star review of her debut novel before it had been released!
But we have to expect honest reviews too and take criticism on the chin. Not everyone is going to like what we write and we can't expect them to. What we can, and should, expect is professionalism from both authors and reviewers in these situations. By stepping over the line to venture into personal insults only damages the reputations of those involved.
Of course, I haven't been on either end of an argument like this and it's easy for me to wag a finger and say 'Don't do it!' But I hope with the fall-out we have seen recently, it will make us all think before we hit send on a potentially damaging comment. With my own baby, Daring to Love, now out there, I am bracing myself for whatever people have to say about it. In any event, I'm sure I will have my ever-supportive CPs to haul me back from the brink of professional suicide if I ever feel the urge!


AND oh we will!

Karina Buchanan Daring to Love is out now from Breathless Press