Bad Review Public Service Announcement from Neil Gaiman

Today an Amazon.com review thread turned into a Guardian article as novelist Candace Sams confronted critics of her novel, “Electra Galaxy’s Mr. Interstellar Feller” in an Amazon review thread.

The posts have since been deleted, but both Making Light and Dear Author have covered the online controversy–a stream of comments about editors, Amazon reviewers, and the FBI. This year authors Alain de Botton and Alice Hoffman both engaged with critics over bad reviews as well.

Finally, novelist Neil Gaiman (pictured, via) posted about the controversy, adding a clear-headed bit of wisdom: “And yes, it’s a horrible car crash, and I post it here not because it’s funny in an Oh God Make It Stop kind of way, but because, if any of you are ever tempted to respond to bad reviews or internet trolls etc, it’s a salutary reminder of why some things are better written in anger and deleted in the morning.” (Via Mike Cane)

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