NEWS: a new look for the book blog

Tolerably Smart news:

If you're reading this post from the RSS feed, check out Tolerably Smart for the new look. It's significantly different from the last 2-3 looks, which were simple background and color change. The new look is bland but it's smoother and easier on the eye. The web elements no longer disjoint, and the background no longer distract. I'm aiming for a minimalist web design.

Due to spam, comments on Tolerably Smart have been restricted to registered user, which virtually changes nothing because I receive all of my comments on Goodreads anyway.

Please support Tolerably Smart by reporting any writing mistake, broken link, design issue, and the likes. To report, leave a comment on Tolerably Smart, Goodreads, or Booklikes. I also made a blog button, which you can find on my (slightly) updated About page. Thank you again to Cassi of Galavanting Girl Books for the used bookstore photo to serve as the blog button's background.

Social networking news:

I opened an account on Booklikes. Had one for several weeks now. It's all right. Though I despise Goodreads's censorship, my main hangout will still be Goodreads and my reviews will still be posted on Goodreads and Tolerably Smart.

And here's why: Most of my friends are staying on Goodreads (think Facebook), and Goodreads's database remains the best in the world. I won't post my reviews on Booklikes, because posting it on Goodreads and this book blog is more than enough I can tolerate. Not to mention that the end of the day, regardless of how friendly Booklikes is (now), Booklikes is a social networking website in which the products are the users. Like all social networking websites, they will either shut down because lack of use or cash out because it ain't a charity. (Sometime they cash out and shut down like in the case of Dodgeball. Yikes.) I will stay with the devil I know, which is Goodreads. /rant

Moving on. I, Experiment BL626, am still active on Twitter. Didn't think I would be. If you have been wondering why I cease posting news on Tolerably Smart or why I rarely post them on Goodreads, it's because I tweet them now. It's easier, and I'm lazy.

That's the end of the news. Happy holidays. May everyone have no life so they can have time to read.

source

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NEWS: futuristic male underwear, 12 GoT House Sigils of Internet, BDSM-looking guy on cover, brokeback burgers

Links

The Male Underwear of the Future (NSFW) (12 April 2013)
Hehehehe.

12 Game of Thrones House Sigils for the Internet (29 March 2013)
Someone should do one for Goodreads

Book Covers: The Good, the Bad, and the WTF (15 March 2013)
Oh my. Look at the 3rd cover. WTF is right... Where can I buy the outfit? :p

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Picture of the Day

source

Me Want!

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NEWS: chicklits or classics, don't quit day job, top 10 self-publishing mistakes, of friends and judgement

Chicklits or Classics? It can be BOTH. (2013 February 7)

"On Monday, author Maureen Johnson challenged the Twitter hive-mind to chick lit-ify the classics."

Insightful and hilarious!

Don’t Quit Your Day Job – Traditional Publishing by the Numbers (2013 February 7)

"...it can take many authors a decade or more to graduate to becoming full-time writer."

Great analysis. On a related note...

The Top Ten Mistakes Writers Make When Self-Publishing a Book (2013 February 1)

"Writing for the wrong reason. The most common wrong reason to write a book is to make a lot of money. Statistically, you’re heading for disappointment."

Write for the love of it. Also, editing is important too, see reason #2. Respect your consumers.

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Quote of the Day

true friends don't judge each other. they judge other people.. together
— Fat Amy (@FaatAmy) February 4, 2013

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Picture of the Day

source: Lenore

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NEWS: LGBT YA recognize, criticism kinks, blogging and taxes, too many books (2&1/2men)

From Malindo Do's tumblr (2013 January 28)

"The Top 10 titles on the American Library Association’s 2013 Rainbow List, recognizing GLBT books for children and teens."

Woot. Woot. Recognize!

Five Criticisms You Won't Often See in My Reviews by Christina (2013 February 6)

"There are certain things I basically never notice that are bemoaned by other readers, and particular qualities I harp on constantly that might not bother others."

Very interesting read. I need to think about my own criticism kinks.

Tax Deductions and Blogging—What You Need to Know (2011 August 11)

"You may not be aware of this, but if you generate income from a blog, you may be able to take tax deductions for expenses related to your blog endeavors."

Something to think about in the future.

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Picture of the Day

fuCking midTerms!! x_x

source: tumblr

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NEWS: killer cats, cutesy cats, cutesy ponies, 4 giveaways, love is fart

That Cuddly Kitty Is Deadlier Than You Think (2013 January 29)

"For all the adorable images of cats that play the piano, flush the toilet, mew melodiously and find their way back home over hundreds of miles, scientists have identified a shocking new truth: cats are far deadlier than anyone realized."

Shocking, indeed.

So how DO you get a cardigan on a pony? (2013 January 21)

"Shetland ponies and Fair Isle knitwear are beloved across the world, so why not combine the two? The result is two cosy-looking mares dressed in button-down Fair Isle jumpers to promote the Year of Natural Scotland." 

Cute!

Cats That Look Like Pin-Up Girls (24 Pics) (2013 January 8)

LMAO!

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Giveaway News

Follower Appreciation Mega Giveaway! Win a Kindle Fire!! - end on February 7, 2013.

$50 Amazon Giftcard - ends on February 14, 2013

'Blind Date With a Book' Valentine's Day Giveaway! - ends on February 18, 2013

One Year Blogoversary Bash! - ends on April 3, 2013

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Quote of the Day

Love is like a fart: If you have to force it, it's probably crap.
— Lena Beana (@Lena1xoxo) January 30, 2013

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NEWS: men and high heels, wtfkery shit in Florida, when to DNF, YA giveaway, fuck you reality

Why did men stop wearing high heels? (2013 January 24)

"'One of the best ways that status can be conveyed is through impracticality,' says Semmelhack, adding that the upper classes have always used impractical, uncomfortable and luxurious clothing to announce their privileged status." 

No kidding. Wow, makes you wonder that perhaps in a parallel universe, men are wearing high heels, and women are not.

WTFkery shit in Florida (2013 January 23)

"In Florida, there are violent people, naked people, poopers and masturbators — but rarely is one man the total package."

O.o

IMO: When To DNF (2013 January 29)

"The bottom line is, I read for fun and nothing else, so if I’m not enjoying the story even a little bit, even enough to mark it one star, I shouldn’t be reading it."

I couldn't agree more. Yet, DNFing is hard for me. I have this irrational need to finish a book when I start it. To lessen the suffering, I skim. Skimming is as close I'll ever get to consciously DNF a book.

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YA Giveaway News

Awesome JANUARY Giveaway! ends on February 1, 2013.

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 Picture of the Day

source: imgfav

Booyah, motherfucker!

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NEWS: sex in YA Romance, sex in literature, writing non-western fantasy, 2 giveaways, alien vs ignorance

# Sex Content in YA Romance from the M/M Romance Community's POV (2013 January 11)

"Interestingly, there is no corresponding lack of extreme and excessive violence. Do our authors think that brutal and gory violence is more acceptable than sex in young adult romances?"

Sex scenes in YA is a foregone issue for me. I'm more worried about whether the romance is abusive or not. Visit my GR thread to see the discussion. On a related note, link via Wave...

# A List of Published Fiction Containing Illegal Sexual Activities (2007 May 30)

"There are texts on here that are pillars of the literary canon, and there is shameless porn that comes wrapped in brown paper. There is material that condemns the illegal sex, material that celebrates it, and everything in between."

So if it's classified as literature, it's okay... O.o

# Writing Non-Western Fantasy for the Unqualified (2013 January 21)

"If I only wrote what I’m qualified to write, then all my stories would be about sheltered white girls in the suburbs."

I would love to read more Asian fantasy.

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Giveaway News

YA blog Sparkles and Lightning has two giveaways! A Very Merry Christmas which ends on ends January 29, 2013 open to all readers and New Year 2013 Giveaway which ends on ends February 5, 2013 for those readers who love YA.

Best of luck... not! I wanna win! Give me all your luck! >:D

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Picture of the Day

source: tumblr

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NEWS: 2012 literary drama recap, a selfless boy and nurse, YA freebie, book research unearth big breast mannequins

# 2012: The Year Everyone Lost Their Heads (2012 December 28)

"Grab some popcorn because this will be a long one."

No kidding.

# Smugglivus 2012: The Airing of Grievances (2013 January 3)

"In addition to BLOGGERS KILLING LITERATURE, apparently 2012 marked the demise of BOOKS, PERIOD because of the rise of the ebook."

Gotta love bibliobigots. And now for the happy news to balance out the drama.

# Boy Sends Letters & Money To Cat Rescue Every Year (2013 January 5)

"Within hours, City Kitties received more than $400 in donations, and they are still coming." 

What a selfless kid.

# As Nurse Lay Dying, Offering Herself as Instruction in Caring (2013 January 10)

"But Ms. Keochareon, 59, a 1993 graduate of Holyoke’s nursing program, was offering students something rare: an opportunity not only to examine her, but also to ask anything they wanted about her experience with cancer and dying."

What a bittersweet yet heartwarming story.

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YA Freebie

Stray by Andrea K. Höst = ya science fiction.

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Tweet of the Day

"I loved researching South Beach for my book. Interesting fact all the mannequins have double d breasts." 

- Kenya Wright

source: twitter

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NEWS: strong female characters, reviewing issues, read faster, yaoi freebie, mojito shoe

# “Why do you write strong female characters?” (2012 December 31)

"The heart of the question implies that if a male character is 'strong' that’s to be expected, because boys and men are strong. Normal. Default. Go about your business."

On the flip side, when I think of "strong male characters," I think of wish-fulfillment and Gary Stus.

# Online Book Reviews: Games People Play (2013 January 6)

"But I admit to extreme naiveté. I knew nothing of the rampant gaming of online book reviews or the bizarre culture of Amazon reviewing."

Yeah... I'm going to keep not reviewing on Amazon.

# Can I Learn to Read Faster? (2013 January 4)

"Another trick often associated with speed reading is skimming the text."

That's the trick I use. Not every word or chapter is golden.

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Yaoi Freebie

Not Yours, Am I? Volume 1 by Cinnamon Rub

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Picture of the Day

This is a shoe. One odd looking shoe. Click here for more info.

The Mojito Shoe

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NEWS: shut up, book blogging survey, LGBT Vietnam, YA giveaways, bad grammar kills

# just shut up. (2012 December 27)

"In short, [Disney's Beauty and the Beast] is a movie that says, 'If you love your abuser enough, they’ll stop being abusive. You just need to love them more. It’s your job to love them, to fix them, to change them.' Which is, of course, a terrible and dangerous and very pervasive lie."

There is one angle I have never thought about regarding Beauty and the Beast.

# The Cost and Value of Book Blogging + Survey (2013 January 2)

"The most common accusation is we're in it for free books. Hah! As if a $10 book could ever come close to compensating the amount of time it takes to read a book, write a review, and promote the post. That's in addition to doing blog tours, interviews, cover reveals, etc."

This is why I only stick to reviewing and a little news reporting on the side. Book blogging is hard work.

# Real Faces, Real People, Real Love in Vietnam (2013 January 7)

"Vietnam has historically been unwelcoming to same-sex relationships. But its Communist government is considering recognizing same-sex marriage — a move that would make it the first Asian country to do so, despite past human rights issues and a long-standing stigma."

There are more pictures here.

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YA Giveaways

The Book Fairy's Haven: Win a YA prize pack. ends on January 11

Sparkles and Lightning: Winter Wonderland Giveaway. ends on January 15

The Midnight Garden: January 2013 Prize Pack. ends on January 31

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Picture of the Day 

click to see full size | source: explosm.net

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NEWS: not really. it's about my morning

Go online. Read daily news. Check twitter. Incidentally see smutty picture.

*interest piqued* *click further*

See more smutty picture.

*click*

More smut.

*click* *click*

Smut there, smut here.

*waste entire morning*

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NEWS: giveaways bonanza, new layout, bad boys & bad sex

source: cheezburger.com

Giveaways Bonanza

Happy 2013! To celebrate, many blogs are hosting giveaways. Many blogs. Enter at Cuddlebuggery's and then scroll to the end of the post to enter 35 others. Enter Book Sake's and then click here for their hop event to enter 194 others. Finally, enter a big one at Book Haven Extraordinaire. (These are mostly YA-focused book blogs, btw.)

Protip: Have at least one account either on Google, Twitter, and Facebook. Twitter preferably because you can tweet about the giveaway and follow the reviewer — that's two entries there.

Protip #2:  Use the best computer with the fastest internet connection you have access to. Some of the blogs have a lot of bling-bling making the website slow to load.

Last but certainly not least, visit Kara's blog to win the Shift trilogy, a YA series by M.R. Merrick.

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New Layout!

Speaking of blogs that load slow, look at my new layout! Compared to my previous layout, it should be more readable, prettier and — most important of all — still load as fast if not faster. There are a few free services to test how fast your website load, but the one I googled yesterday, Pingdom Tools, was the most helpful.

Check out the footer, the bottom bar at the end of the webpage, to see what made the new layout possible. A big thank you to all those bloggers who blog about making your blog better.

Also, the About and Review Policy pages have been updated, and the tags have been re-organized. Now the tags have only reviews, news, x-stars, and genres with the latter being the stuffing.

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Bad Boys & Bad Sex

# American Library Association to Little Kids: Women Are Second Best (2012 January 30)

"For decades the American Library Association has had a dismal record of honoring female artists with its Caldecott medal, given each year to 'the most distinguished American picture book for children.' That record just got worse."

Old-reported news, yes but it's still current.

# When bad boys are just plain bad. (2012 December 17)

"But whereas the classic bad boy allows women to escape from patriarchal control, new bad boys – abusers – reinforce it."

Ms Foz Meadows being her BAMF-self again, rocking readers with her intelligent perspective of popular literature.

# Sex and Sexual Violence (2012 December 29)

"When so many sexual encounters in fiction are negative, violent, coerced, or frightening because that is seen as 'proper' narrative tension, it is doubly important to depict positive sexual encounters as part and parcel of an exciting tale."

I see the word "positive sexual encounters" and I immediately thought of the NA mm-romance Making Ends Meet. I should go re-read it.

# Why is there so much slut shaming in novels written by women? (2013 January 1)

"A woman’s worth in romance novels is often measured by their sexual behavior."

Oh, double standard. How you sabotage society.

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Picture of the Day, via Veela-Valoom.

Oh the Twi-shame, Rob Pattison.

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NEWS: big yaoi sale & books due date

Bargains

Big Yaoi Sale (21 December 2012, via Mary @ GR) "Starting December 26th and ending December 30th we will be offering one digital title each day for only 99¢!"

From Dreamspinner homepage (December 2012) "Everything in the store will be 25% off from Dec. 20-25. All series will be 20% Dec 26-31!"

Freebies

Glitches = YA sci-fi, short story
The Goddess Hunt = YA paranormal, novella
Measure of Devotion = mm fantasy, novel
Dex in Blue = mm contemporary, novel

Funny of the Day

via Miriam

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NEWS: widget, proper society x fight club, 12/21/2012

About my blog

*phew* Other users are having the same problem adding widgets on Blogger. I'm relieved it's not a me-thing but a genuine Blogger issue, i.e. it's their fault not mine.

Some funny shit

What are the chances that the day I changed my blog name from Book Club Fight Club to Jane Austen-inspired Tolerably Smart the next day I discover a video called Jane Austen's Fight Club. Thank you, TDR and Dangerous Footage.

Last but not least

It's December 21, 2012.

via JennyJen

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NEWS: I changed my blog's name

source: cheezburger

Hello, everyone. My book blog Book Club Fight Club is now known as Tolerably Smart. I changed my blog's name because I wasn't satisfied with it. For those who do not know, the name was taken from Jimmy Kimmel's skit with Oprah. It's funny, but it's Jimmy Kimmel's funny.

Tolerably Smart is not that original, but at least it's a funny I came up with on my own. The name was inspired from the Jane Austen's quote, "The person, be it gentleman or lady, who has not pleasure in a good novel, must be intolerably stupid," in her book Northanger Abbey. I have pleasure in a good novel so I must be Tolerably Smart. Get it?

*cricket chirp*

Anyway, the other changes are the absence of the comment platform Disqus and of the related post gadget by nRelate. The former I don't think I want anymore. It's rather inconvenient to manage something that is not on the Blogger website, and it's not as if Blogger's default comment platform is insufficient; Blogger's comment platform is sufficient. All I really wanted was for the comment box to extend to the width of the post's page, and I found the customization code to do that.

As for the gadget, it's a work in progress. For some reason, Blogger doesn't seem to allow me to add page elements from external source. I might have to use another alternative and directly tweak the template code; I already found a few, but they're not as good as the gadget from nRelate.

In other news, I finished four reviews, and I will post them this month. If you have time, visit this beautiful book blog, Bookworm Dreams. I just discovered it literally a few minutes ago.

Have a happy winter holiday!

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NEWS: affection, church, taipei, nobeast, & disney

Historic news

# Bosom Buddies: A Photo History of Male Affection (29 July 2012) "These photos showcase an evolution in the way men relate to one another — and the way in which certain forms and expressions of male intimacy have disappeared over the last century."

How sweet. I wish this was acceptable and more common in today's society.

# 13th Century Church Gets New Life as a Bookstore (17 August 2012) "This Dominican church in Maastrich Netherlands was built in 1294, but when Napoleon pushed the order out in the 18th century, the church fell into disuse."

I always thought bookstores were holy places. Now I'm glad to see a literal example. How heavenly.

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NSFW/WTFkery news

#  This Taipei Food Stand Sells Penis Pancakes (October 2012)

Um... O_o

# The art of NoBeast (16 June 2007) "a rare gay take on the unique Japanese tentacle rape fetish"

I would read those books... And anyway, Karen at Goodreads read stranger.

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Pretty Pictures

# New Celebrity Disney Photos by Annie Leibovitz (3 March 2011)

My favorite is "Scarlett Johansson as Cinderella."

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NEWS: Light at the End of the Drama Llama's Butthole

Drama Llamas Update

• The STGRB Shitstorm continues and unfortunately it looks like the evil site is there to remain. Thankfully, the reading community by now knows how full of shit the site is and attention is now refocusing back to what is important: books.
• The CB Clusterfuck looks like it's over. Author has been banned from GR and his attempt to breed more drama llamas at his blog sputtered and failed.
• Over in the MM-Romance community, there was the Rise of the Rogue Therapist. And that drama llama fell meteorically quick.
• The Steampunk Scandal zoomed by.
• Racism alive in the 21st Century? And in the reading community? Foyt Fuckup proves that.
• The ChickLitGirls FlimFlam is no more. The website has shut down. via Jane @ DearAuthor

A new month now. Still a few stampede of the drama llamas here and there but things are calming down. Yay.

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 Gay News

# Olympics or Gay p0rn (semi-NSFW) (1 August 2012) "It's hard to tell sometimes."

No kidding. *wipes drool*

# The 21 Openly Gay Athletes of the 2012 Olympics (24 July 2012) "Out of more than 12,000 athletes, 21 are openly gay. Get to know them."

Awesome! I only wish there were more.

# Message Against Chick-Fil-A (30 July 2012) "Why? Well, because I believe in equality for all people, that’s why. But also, personally, from the bottom of my heart: because you are my friend, and I don’t willingly support people who harm you for just being you"

Hear. Hear.

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Book News 

# GoodReads vs LibraryThing part One (31 July 2012) and part Two (7 August 2012) "The two most popular book cataloguing/social networking sites seem to be Goodreads and LibraryThing. So which one should you use? What are the benefits/drawbacks of each?"

GR, of course. It's free unlike LT where you have to pay to catalog more than 200 books. Rather spend money on books than on a book-cataloguing website.

#  The Future of Electronic Paper Looks Bleak (6 August 2012) "E Ink screens have improved very little over the past 5 years."

I am reconsidering my thought on buying an eInk reader in the future.

# Get Jonathan Wood’s No Hero and New Sequel Yesterday’s Hero For Free! (1 August 2012)

Freebies! Haven't heard of this urban fantasy series.

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GoodReads Gossip

# Review Guidelines & Updated Author Guidelines (6 August 2012) "Please keep in mind that 99.96% of all reviews are never flagged for any reason. Of those that are flagged, each is carefully examined by a member of our team. And remember, we never delete or filter reviews for negativity alone."

Hmmm. I think GR can do more. I prefer they don't hide reviews at all. 

# New button for shelving books (30 July 2012) "The improvements go deeper than appearances, however. The underlying code for this button is structured better than the old one, which will help us improve site performance."

Anything that speaketh "improve site performance" is a magical, magnificent thing.

# Why Are So Many Things Broken? (31 July 2012) "We do have a lot on our to-do list, but unfortunately we can't do them all simultaneously. I know that can be frustrating, but I do promise to post updates as I have them."

I sure hope those updates take place in this lifetime, most preferably by the end of this year.

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Picture of the Day

RPG Lady Armor. source

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NEWS: Of Silencing, Stalking, Deceiving, and Forgiving.

source: GoodReads

# Something is very wrong with us, and it’s not bad reviews

posted on 17 July 2012

It’s so much worse than that. Something is very wrong with us, and by “us” I mean the online community of (largely) women authors and readers. What is wrong is the “outing,” threatening, shaming, and silencing of readers who are perceived to be too critical of or hostile to authors. And for those in this online community who believe that this is not their concern or their harm, I would ask them to think again.

The conversation is still going strong.The following emoticon pretty much sum up the feelings of everyone (including me) there:

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# What It's Like To Be Stalked
posted on 17 July 2012

This week, shortly after writing a status update about feeling stalked, I received a call. A woman said, "We can find you, bitch" and then hung up.

The Site That Must Not Be Linked escalate the already heinous situation.

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# Should bloggers charge for reviews?
posted on 16 July 2012

The bloggers that are charging writers $95 for favourable reviews have contacted me to tell me that my comments are unethical and illegal.

Those people aren't book bloggers, they're marketers in the disguise of bloggers. I appreciate the author following up on her post by explaining the difference.

# Cash-for-reviews: thanks, we don't want them
posted on 18 July 2012

Websites, if you are charging writers for reviews, you are not a book blog, you are a marketing site. Please call yourself that, because to do otherwise muddies the waters, confuses readers and gives book bloggers a bad reputation.

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# Direct from GR: Author Apologized for His Jerky Attitude
posted on 18 June 2012

He was very upfront and apologetic about what happened and seems to be sincere.

Kira, the reviewer who the author offended and ignited a shitstorm, agrees to bury the hatchet (17 July 2012).

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Want more book-related news? Then visit these book blogs: Dear Author, Stumbling Across Chaos, YA Highway.

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NEWS: Happy Friday the 13th, Full of Lows and Highs today

source: tumblr

# The Drama Llama Rides Again
posted on 11 July 2012

More dramas on GoodReads! Urban Fantasy author Jess Haines summarized it best.

...a Goodreads librarian (someone with greater moderating powers than the average Goodreads member) who went over a list of Steampunk titles and deleted a huge number of them. Doing that means the remaining titles show up higher on the ranking when one searches for “steampunk” in the Goodreads search engine. I’ve heard it said that the remaining titles were mostly by her author friends, so methinks there could have been something dastardly going on behind the scenes.

I missed this drama, but I'm glad it was quickly resolved. Such abuse of GR-Librarian power is intolerable.

Secondly, I would like to take a moment to express my disgust with a website that is collecting and posting the personal information (names, photographs, where they work, screenshots of their twitter feed, etc) of book reviewers who left negative reviews on Goodreads...God forbid anyone should have an opinion and—good heavens!—express it publicly!

There have been many reviewers and authors blogging their stance against the website-that-must-not-be-linked. While I love a good rant — and there have been a many good rants — I believe laughter is the best medicine for dealing with this drama llama. Here is my top three Fucking Hilarious blog-responses against the website-that-must-not-be-linked.

• Kat Kennedy’s Autobiography (Blogging Mistress of Snark)
• A Modest Proposal (Carolyn Jewel, Romance Author, "One of that Damned Mob Of Scribbling Women")
• Responding to Negative Reviews: Do's and Don'ts, Illustrated. (AnimeJune the Dazzling Blogger) 

And finally, the honorable mention:

• Stock Photo of the Day — Search: Angry Grandma (Meljean Brook, Romance Author, Silly Stock Photo Lady)

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# Writing Series: The Cliffhanger Dilemma
posted on 6 July 2012

When it comes to series, people seem to either love or hate cliffhangers...But most series, especially those following a central character throughout, seem to have one of two endings: cliffhangers, which leave you hanging at the height of the climax, and “soft” cliffhangers*, which in my mind aren’t really cliffhangers so much as they are hooks for the following book.

Yech. Cliffhangers suck.

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# What I learned in Japan about EPUB 3, Rakuten, Kobo, Kodansha, and Japanese e-publishing in general
posted on 9 July 2012

Question: What about writers? Are they thinking of ebooks?

Noma-san: Some are against, but gradually this will change. We are trying to do simultaneous paper, ebook, so get contract from author for both is way to go.

Question: Can Japanese culture be exported with ebooks?

Noma-san: "Already with manga, in Taiwan we have distribution company going to mainland China eventually, Japanese flavor needs to be added to Kobo in order to go global"

Mikitani: "I was amazed at how much manga was in FNAC in Paris, but in suburban stores, there's no shelfspace. So, selling ebooks online, where there is infinite shelfspace enables that possibility. This is great opportunity to export Japanese literature."

This is the most important part to me because I love ebooks and I love manga. Alas, the two loves hardly intersect in the publishing industry. I hope this will change soon. And by soon I mean this year.

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# Updating Trashy Romance Novels to Match ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’
posted on 6 July 2012

50 Shades of Grey is the iPhone of mainstream erotic literature — it changed the game, and now all the other not-entirely-explicit romance novels have to compete or die.

Luckily, Shades fans aren’t exactly the most attentive readers, so you can just find-and-replace with some BDSM terms, slick up the cover, and you’re good.

Holy Mother of All Tentacle Aliens! What madness is this? You have to see the pictures to believe it!

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# Conference Decorum: Where ARC Thou?
posted on 5 July 2012

Other ideas floating around in the larger discussion include some sort of tickets-for-ARCs arrangement, or scanning badges of attendees who have received an ARC. “I think a lot of this could be solved with easy solutions,” says Jensen. “But it requires work, and changes in mindset.” Most importantly, she stresses, “I don’t want anyone to be left out.”

This is a follow up on the ARC-Gate drama llama. I'm glad to see there is a resolution on the horizon.

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# Personal News

Thank you Karen for sending me a physical ARC! I give you love. Yes, I'll be reviewing The Dirty Streets of Heaven, an angel & demon Urban Fantasy. Hurrah!

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Want more book-related news? Then visit these book blogs: Dear Author, Stumbling Across Chaos, YA Highway.

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NEWS: Two Dramas and an Instant Love

# Author Say to Reviewers: Get Right With God
posted on 9 July 2012

Another author went on a tirade this week.

Note: it's the last news piece. I agree, the review is tame. More importantly, it doesn't attack the author. The book contains a subject of sensitive nature — a school shooting — so I believe the author should have expected there will be a few readers who will find it distasteful.

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# KILL MY ARC
posted on 9 July 2012

Now, I know the physical ARCs don't belong to me, but the intellectual content does...I don't want my ARC to go to a small used bookstore [or] a struggling public library [or] a deserving teenager—even one who is underprivileged

I don't think the author understand the difference between intellectual content and physical ARCs. One is copyright infringement and the other is ownership right, respectively. (I'm 90% sure I'm using these terms right).

I see the author is posting (ranting) from a place of emotion, a place where she doesn't want any reader to see how bad the non-final version of the story is, that she want readers to see her best work possible. I'm guessing if she had her way, there wouldn't be an ARC, both physical or digital, of her book to begin with. She should have taken the issue to her publisher instead of venting it out to reviewers.

I agree with her opinion that ARC are poor quality of the book — they're ARC after all, but I disagree with her opinion (demand) to tell reviewers what to do with ARCs.

On another point, AFAIK publishers want reviewers to pass on physical ARCs. This is the first time I'm hearing I'm this No-No rule. Mixed message, much?

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source: tumblr

# Please Make YA Romance Realistic
posted on 21 June 2012

While I get that teen hormones are raging and the devastation of a breakup of a two week old “romance” is a common occurrence in the real world, I feel like in many YA books it’s taken to the extreme and it kind of drives me bat shit crazy.

I share the same complain. YA is flooded with instant love. Whatever happen to getting to know people? I don't believe in love at first sight; I believe in lust at first sight. Hormones, people. Hormones.

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