Goodreads Troll Society

The following post is dedicated to every author, published or yet-to-be-published, ever bashed and bullied by the Goodreads Troll Society.

Sad news today.  An aspiring author has decided to halt publication of her book because the Goodreads Troll Society has struck again. (Yes, written here as a single entity comprised of multiple individuals.)  Even though this group has NOT read the book, they decided to get their most recent jollies by flaming a first-time author before the book was even published. While bashing an author prior to publication is not unusual for this group, bashing an author to the point where the author has halted publication of their book is unusual.  I've not heard of an author halting publication as a result of GTS bullying.

"Meh", you say. "Internet trolls are a fact of life. Get over it."

"That may be," I reply. "But since when do we, the reading public, have to tolerate it to the degree that we are now going to be deprived of what could be an excellent story – and all because of the insane rants of a select group of idiots?" (Note:  Idiot as used in this post is a bona fide classification of one with an IQ of 0-20.)

This is not the first time the GTS (Goodreads Troll Society) has struck. Unfortunately, until the Goodreads site changes its Terms of Service (See Section 2, paragraphs 1 and 2), the GTS will be allowed to continue spewing their written crap.

Free speech is an absolute guarantee in the United States.  While one cannot yell "fire" in a crowded theater, one can spew whatever sewage one wishes on the internet regardless of the consequences.  As proof, I refer you, dear reader, to multiple cases of suicide directly attributed to the actions of internet bullies.  The instance of an author pulling publication of a book may not be suicide in the literal sense, but the author has basically killed a story it probably took her the better part of a year to write. 

And make no mistake, a story is as much a part of an author as an arm, leg, hand...or heart.

So, if the Goodreads admins will not stop the GTS, what can be done about this group? 

It's simple, really. 

First, learn about internet trolls and what makes them tick.  Here are a couple of good articles to get you started:

http://kotaku.com/5893237/how-to-win-the-war-on-internet-trolls

http://www.theguardian.com/science/head-quarters/2013/aug/12/psychology-trolling-online-abuse

John Suler, PhD, has written an outstanding article dealing with the Online Disinhibition Effect, i.e. the psychology of the internet troll.

Second, consider using their crap against them and to your advantage.  Yes, I said use trolls to your advantage.  No, I promise I haven't lost my mind.

We all know that internet trolls have an IQ somewhere in the negative numbers, possibly even as high as 20, but not much higher than that.  This being the case, taking anything the GTS says seriously should be viewed as a joke.  It goes back to the adage, "Consider the source."  The GTS hasn't got enough brain power between all of them to light a match, never mind being able to comment intelligently on anything they review.  You know this.  I know this. But these idiots seem to think they can control public opinion.

And they can – IF WE allow THEM to do so.  Let me say that again:  The GTS can control our opinions and influence our actions IF WE ALLOW THEM TO DO SO.

Therefore, we don't allow their opinions to influence our opinions or actions in any way. In fact, IMO, the GTS condemnation should be looked upon as a badge of honor, a rite of passage.  Once an author has been  bashed by these trolls, one has paid another toll on the road to literary success.  Further, authors should consider using a GTS bashing to their advantage in marketing their books.  This accomplishes two things:

1.  It gives the troll the attention the poor, unfortunate idiot craves, and

2.  Gives the author some free publicity. 

Think about it.  Being told "no, you shouldn't" and "no, you can't" are two of the most perfect psychological hooks out there.  Tell someone "no" and what's the first thing they want to do, need to do? Yep, you guessed it.  Marketing is 9/10^ths psychology, right? Well then...

Look, GTS is probably comprised of, at best, hundreds of individuals, but I would hazard not more than 500 at most. (Please, gods and goddesses, tell me there aren't more idiots than that on the site.)  There are literally millions of readers out there. 

To the readers, I say this – ignore the GTS or, even better, take their written sewage as an inducement to buy the book.  After all, do you really want an idiot telling you what to read? And since members of GTS probably can't read, are they even qualified to post a review in the first place?

To the yet-to-be-published authors, I say this – Please don't deprive the reading public of a chance to read the result of your hard work based on the drivel of idiots.  Let us judge for ourselves the quality of your writing and the story you tell.

To the published authors who have been bashed by the GTS, I say this – Use their sewage against them. Wearing a GTS bashing as a badge of honor says to your readers that you are the bigger, better person.  As a  reader, I look at a GTS bashing as an incentive to buy the bashed book and support the bashed author.  Note the psychology of "no" above. 

If power is what GTS wants, then power it will get – but not the kind it was counting on. (insert evil laughter)

Support those authors bashed by the Goodreads Troll Society – if for no other reason than to piss off the Goodreads trolls.