Authors Behaving Badly: When
Authors React Badly to Negative Reviews and Criticism!
Or: How NOT to Handle Bad Reviews!
When an author puts a book out into the world they must know it's not going to get completely positive feedback. All books, throughout history, from Hamlet to The Da Vinci Code, have people who love them and people who hate them. And most authors handle the negative reviews pretty well (even if they're crying inside).
However, some authors decide that they want to fight their critics. Some get personal. Some get downright nasty. Did someone say car crash?
I was originally going to post one article on this but so many authors have behaved badly that I thought I would make it a weekly feature! I bringz you all the drama every Thursday from authors who have been a little naughty.
Who Is She: Emily Giffin, author of best-selling novels such as 'Baby Proof' and 'Something Borrowed'.
She currently has 115,304 Facebook page likes and 26, 341 followers on Twitter. Which is a lot.
What She Responded Badly To: It wasn't just she who responded badly. Oh no. Some one-star reviews on Amazon caught the eye of her husband and her assistant and they decided to go in, all guns blazing, and denounce those reviews. Oh, and then Emily Giffin decided it would be a good idea to share it all with her Facebook followers and Twitter followers. That's 115,304 people on Facebook and 26,341 on Twitter. I bet you can guess what happened next.
What Made the Fur Fly: OK so here is the review on Amazon that started it all:
Not too bad right? I mean, it's not a positive reviewer but I can see nothing in there attacking the author personally. They have read the book and have issues with the text itself, not the author. However, the review caught the attention on Emily Giffin's husband, who responded thus:
*(screencap taken from as the original comment was deleted by Amazon)*
Someone then responded who had identified the comment as coming from an account associated with the author, Emily Giffin. Her husband then clarifies that it was him who posted the comment, not Emily herself:
There are then many comments attacking the reviewer and her opinions . While this is going on, Emily Giffin decides to post all about it on her Facebook page (did I mention she has 115, 304 fans on there that she's basically encouraging to hassle one reviewer?):
She continues to post about it and find it amusing, even though more and more comments are flooding into Amazon attacking the reviewer:
Then, later on her Facebook page, she states that, 'the whole thing began with some malicious comments about me--comments that seemed personal':
Perhaps later on malicious comments were posted that have since been deleted, but it certainly didn't begin that way. It was a genuine review by someone who didn't like the book, a reviewer who purchased her book, read it, and was disappointed. As to the second review she refers to, 'the girl who changed her 5 star review to a 1 star review' I have screencapped that review below:
So, this reviewer was inspired to change her review due to Emily Giffin's, and her husband's, conduct towards reviewers. Yet, that didn't stop Emily's assistant stepping in and posting a very aggravated comment on the updated review:
There are subsequent comments from her assistant defending her honour ). Emily Giffin again posts the exchange to her 115,340 fans on facebook to sink their teeth into:
Oh, and just so it's on the record, this was all posted to Emily's 26,341 followers on Twitter too:
Later, came an apology from Emily's husband through her Facebook page:
Now let's move on? I don't think it's going to be quite that easy Emily. I mean the internet is known for letting things disappear. Isn't it?
Then, her husband published his own apology on the second Amazon review:
Then, her husband published his own apology on the second Amazon review:
If Emily had no idea about the content of the exchange then why was she posting about it on Facebook and Twitter? If you go to Amazon and look at the one star reviews of her book, you will see how many people have recently been attacking the reviewers, which is clearly no coincidence. Really, she should've known better.
Oh and the second reviewer now claims to have been recieving abusive voicemails and phonecalls due to the fallout from this:
If that is true, then that is really appalling. The words 'spiralling out of all proportion' come to mind. However, Giffin didn't seem to take it too seriously, even saying to a concerned person on Facebook that the reviewer was enjoying the drama,
I wonder if, in the Giffin household, a certain husband's computer has been confiscated. Probably wise.
Oh and the second reviewer now claims to have been recieving abusive voicemails and phonecalls due to the fallout from this:
If that is true, then that is really appalling. The words 'spiralling out of all proportion' come to mind. However, Giffin didn't seem to take it too seriously, even saying to a concerned person on Facebook that the reviewer was enjoying the drama,
I wonder if, in the Giffin household, a certain husband's computer has been confiscated. Probably wise.
Who do you think was most in the wrong in this case? Reviewer 1, Reviewer 2 Emily Giffin, Husband or Assistant? All of them? Let me know!
The husband has now posted an apology under Corey's review. Too little to late is my opinon. I place the blame on the author honestly. She posted this on her FB page and on her twitter for her rabid fangirls to call the reviewers out. The husband was to blame also, but mainly the author.
Replyhttp://www.amazon.com/review/RD7J3JGI8EW5N/ref=cm_cd_pg_pg13?ie=UTF8&asin=0312554192&cdForum=Fx30GV06P3HNA68&cdPage=13&cdThread=Tx35WCU8TYWN3JT&store=books#wasThisHelpful
Cannot agree more and the author should apologize then BAN her hubby from computers and take a vacation sounds like he needs one. BADLY LOL
What I think? I think that Emily's husband if that's really who it was and not Emily taking cover because she caused a HUGE mountain out of a review that was in no way bashing. I think her books I have on my shelf I will stay clear of reviewing. I also think that Emily should not say thank you to her asst. does she need a defender or should she stand up for herself. Authors need to think not everyone is going like your book, bad reviews are good because they make people compare from good to bad then want to judge for themselves. I recently was bashed for not writing a quick enough review. Author sent me a book in July then wanted the review I explained I had 3 books ahead of them and the harassment and words via email were so hurtful. I say that Emily is condoning what her husband and asst. are doing and this will only cause no one to review her books being afraid of the backlash. Just like many reviewers have stopped reviewing self-published books because of the black list. Why must people get so angry. I see nothing wrong with the original review. I think Emily's family needs major anger management classes. I only hope Emily's husband doesn't backlash against me. LOL I'm a reviewer and I have written more than 1 review. My thoughts he sounds like the PSYCHO!!!! Thanks for the post
ReplyThis is surprising coming from such a well known author!! You would think she and her family would know that not everyone is going to like your work. And i find it hilarious that she is crying about being #2 on the NYT Bestsellers list when her books have been made into MOVIES! How many authors would kill for that?
ReplyI'm surprised her husband made such an awful comment when she's such an established author. I personally haven't read any of her books, but I feel like her husband should've known better. And the author shouldn't have posted it to her facebook. I know the argument that it's her facebook and she should be honest, but at the same time when she's followed by so many people she should still watch what she says, otherwise this big fiasco is what happens.
ReplyI might be alone here, but my gut says it was not the husband who first posted, but he's taking the heat to help her out. Why would she be on his computer? There's only one computer in their house? I know it happens, but I don't know... It just doesn't pass the sniff test. He can insist all he wants. I just don't buy it. I don't believe she hasn't read Amazon reviews in years. Why is he trolling for bad reviews and trying to protect her honor if she's never on Amazon? I just can't see a MAN doing this sort of thing because of a short negative review that really wasn't all that bad compared to a lot of negative reviews. She has so many positive reviews and legions of fans. So this random person did not like the book that's obviously a huge hit already. She did not say anything about Emily, the writer/person, in the first post that required any sort of chivalrous or protective response from the husband. There were no personal attacks deleted regardless of what Emily and camp keep insisting to justify the questionable behavior. I think the author was having a human moment and thought it might be cute to zing the one-star reviewer who had only reviewed one book. Bad call. The reviewer called her out. All that said, I will still buy Emily's books. I'm a fan of the work. But this whole thing does change my opinion of the author.
ReplyI agree... If you look at all of her postings, she is ALWAYS quick to say "I never go on Amazon" or "there was a bad review, Or SO I HEARD!" hmm Me thinks thou doth protest too much...
Whatever the reviewer wrote (which in my opinion is actually a completely legitimate, non-personal review), all three (author, husband and assistant) made it worse just by drawing so much attention to it. If whoever-it-was had never commented, if the author hadn't put it all over Facebook, it would have just been a review that people most probably skipped over as it wasn't hugely in-depth.
ReplyFail x 3
There was absolutely nothing personal about the review that started this chaos...nothing. I don't read Emily Griffin books bc they don't appeal to me, but I certainly wouldn't read them now if I did. How childish. An author who's #2 on the NY Times Bestseller list should know better...as should her husband and her assistant. Unbelievable.
ReplyAgree 100% with this statement! Any curiosity I had about her books has just been wiped away due to sheer disgust.
What is going on with authors nowadays?!?
I think if you can't handle criticism then you shouldn't be writing. Bad reviews are going to happen. Just deal with. Emily could have stopped her hubby but she choose not to. She let it escalate to the point it did. In my opinion she made the situation worse by making fun of it on FB and Twitter. That was shameful.
ReplyWow. Haven't read Giffin in a long time, and am now in no rush to read her ever again.
ReplyBecause I know how important it is for authors to get reviews, I review books I read, as honestly as I can, unlike some who give EVERYTHING a 4 or 5 star review. On rare occasion I feel that a book only deserves 2 stars, or 1, and I will explain why *I* think so. It is NEVER about the author (except in a case like "avid reader," when I have been a longtime fan of the author and feel s/he has dropped the ball on that particular book).
Since I hope to have my own books up there some day, I am sure I too will be cringing under unfavorable reviews and gloating over good ones, but I hope to show more class when the day comes. ESPECIALLY after people told her that one reviewer was receiving nasty phone calls, Giffin, IMO, should have posted on her FaceBook page, more than once, that this was unacceptable, instead of this phony, "Now I'm taking the high road and not mentioning it ever again." Unprofessional, and unlikeable.
I can not even believe such a well known author would allow this to go on. She should have put a stop to it, immediately. She's sold so many books why should she, or her husband, or her assistant, even care if a few people didn't care for the book. Move on!
ReplySadly, one little honest negative review has hurt her more than anything else. I see nothing wrong with the review. The reviewer used the authors name only in stating what she wrote, not writing about who she is as an author. There was no personal attack. I think her idea of staying away from amazon reviews is a good idea. Too bad her family and assistant didn't agree with her. And too bad that she felt the need to "put fuel to the fire" by posting it to her facebook to get everyone in a rage. She has no one to blame but herself. You know, I expect this behavior from new authors, not someone who should be mature and confidant.
ReplyAnd I agree with others. I think Emily Griffin should have made a statement on her facebook saying that the phone calls and threats are not acceptable. No matter what the reviewer wrote. Instead, she's taking the cowards way out by trying to get people to sweep it under the rug instead of doing the right thing. Shameful.
wow, nice collecting of the evidence there! Very thorough.
ReplyNever heard of this author, am probably not in this genre's demographic anyway, but she and her "team" have basically made me and I'm sure others in the same boat now associate her name with "author who feels the need to sic her personal army on an Amazon reviewer who didn't like the book." Of which there seem to be more than a few right now.
Also, it's always the low list authors who pull this stuff. The better you sell, the more professional you behave.
@Charles Ranier:
"Also, it's always the low list authors who pull this stuff. The better you sell, the more professional you behave."
Ah, if only that were true. Emily Giffin has 6 NYT bestsellers, one of which was made into a feature film. Professionalism doesn't automatically come with sales. In fact, money and success reveal who you really are. If you're not professional, success will reveal that, as shown here.