Yesterday, a friend of mine wrote about meeting an author she'd long admired and how the response to her passionate enthusiasm was, essentially, dickish
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re: being a dickext_689292October 6 2011, 15:10:11 UTC
You know, there is a reason I don't go out of my way to meet authors or musicians or artists I adore... obviously something they wrote resonates with something in me, but I have met some people before who weren't enthusiastic about meeting their audiences (and I am the farthest from a gushing fan as you can probably get), and while it (thankfully) didn't taint the work I loved, it did make me hesitant about supporting their future works. No one wants to feel like they are paying good money to support a jerk.
The way I see it is that if you make a living off a public life, sometimes your "work" has you dealing with the public... just put of a nice face, answer a few questions and send the "customer" off happy... its called PR guys. Most of us I am sure just wanted to thank you for doing something that made us feel a little less alone, a little less like the odd duck, and uplifted us in some way.... seems kind of thankless that if you are at a venue designed to make you and your audience mingle together that you would snub the very people who are your meal ticket...
I must also admit though that I have also bumped into authors and other artisans that were perfectly charming...
Re: being a dicke_moon60October 7 2011, 01:57:53 UTC
I've been at a convention with someone who--while we sat at the same table signing--got the news that a dear friend had just died in particularly difficult circumstances. This is a totally professional and charming writer who has a reputation as friendly, kind, chatty with fans. But the writer was unable to go on, and had to leave the table abruptly. Did everyone in the room think the writer had been rude, maybe taken offense at something and stormed out? Or did they recognize that this was unusual behavior for this writer and assume instead that something dire had happened?
There are people who are snotty and rude every single time, and who do feel so superior to their fans that they don't care...and there are people who aren't, 99% of the time, but on the day that you're standing in line or in the audience, may be off form and yet unable to avoid the duty to be there. When you're on book tour and flights are late and you get to the city where the event is without time for any kind of break, you can't say "Can't we put off the event for an hour?" No: you show up on time. But you're hungry, tired, headachy. At your best? No. Trying to be, of course. But you may forget to smile and chat with everyone as you sign their book. You might just sign it, in a kind of blur.
I'd like to think that fans recognize writers are also human. That it's possible for anyone (including a writer/artist/musician) to have a bad day or a bad hour, to have other circumstances affecting their behavior, and not instantly attribute the worst motives to them. I'd like to think that if you really love someone's work, you'll cut them a little slack. Not if they're always rude, no. But if they're not as perfect as you imagine them...yes. I like meeting fans, chatting with them, finding mutual passions, from horses to swords to prairie restoration and more. I don't think I'm "better" or "more important" than my readers. But I'm not--can't be--everything to everyone all the time.
The way I see it is that if you make a living off a public life, sometimes your "work" has you dealing with the public... just put of a nice face, answer a few questions and send the "customer" off happy... its called PR guys. Most of us I am sure just wanted to thank you for doing something that made us feel a little less alone, a little less like the odd duck, and uplifted us in some way.... seems kind of thankless that if you are at a venue designed to make you and your audience mingle together that you would snub the very people who are your meal ticket...
I must also admit though that I have also bumped into authors and other artisans that were perfectly charming...
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There are people who are snotty and rude every single time, and who do feel so superior to their fans that they don't care...and there are people who aren't, 99% of the time, but on the day that you're standing in line or in the audience, may be off form and yet unable to avoid the duty to be there. When you're on book tour and flights are late and you get to the city where the event is without time for any kind of break, you can't say "Can't we put off the event for an hour?" No: you show up on time. But you're hungry, tired, headachy. At your best? No. Trying to be, of course. But you may forget to smile and chat with everyone as you sign their book. You might just sign it, in a kind of blur.
I'd like to think that fans recognize writers are also human. That it's possible for anyone (including a writer/artist/musician) to have a bad day or a bad hour, to have other circumstances affecting their behavior, and not instantly attribute the worst motives to them. I'd like to think that if you really love someone's work, you'll cut them a little slack. Not if they're always rude, no. But if they're not as perfect as you imagine them...yes. I like meeting fans, chatting with them, finding mutual passions, from horses to swords to prairie restoration and more. I don't think I'm "better" or "more important" than my readers. But I'm not--can't be--everything to everyone all the time.
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