Miss Manners would like to have a word with me...
this is about the post below, the "prize" of a book I'll never read. Etiquette usually says to just accept it and keep your mouth shut and stuff it in the closet and regift it. But that's not me. So:
the first letter:
Hello
I see that I have won something. However, it seems to be a book. While I am not averse to reading YA books as a genre, after reading the blurb and the synopsis of the story I know this is completely not something I would read.
I'm a bit disappointed I didn't win something useful, but I'm glad to help promote the site since the site is itself useful. Please feel free to choose another winner for the book.
Thank you
the reply:
And you wouldn't be able to pass this book on to someone as a gift for Christmas?
Note: it took me about 5.8 seconds to pull out the "say what?" mallet.
my next response:
So, you're asking me if I would foist a book, which I personally would not read on a bet, onto someone who trusts that I'll give them a good present? Seriously? Not only that, but the SEQUEL to another book neither I nor any potential recipient will have read?
Think about that for a moment.
Seriously.
Four prizes having to do with what the site is about--writing, the craft, the tools, the work, the life. And one book, which isn't even a book about writing, which I can always use. Instead, it's someone else's work of fiction. That's like giving away four typewriters and a used pencil.
I will say it again: it's more of a prize having the website bookmarked in my browser so I can use it, refer to it, think about it, and in some cases expand upon it, than getting the second book in a series that I have no interest in and don't even come close to skirting the target market for.
Someone else may want it; by all means, I'm sure there are many who would love a copy. Please make someone else's day with it; you will do us both a great service.
*****
So, dear readers... what do you do when someone really wants to give you something and won't take no for an answer? I know Miss Manners would say "smile and accept it and then stick it in the closet" but dammit I'm tired of doing that. I don't even do that for my own peeps anymore. Why make excuses to total strangers? It's not even her freaking book!
One of the first things I learned after getting my first few books out was that not everyone will want to read them. I have given or offered them to people who have said, point blank, no thanks. Side note: I met a LOT of resistance after the WOTF book came out, people saying they didn't want to put money in Scientology coffers. Even after I explained to them that the publishing wing and the church thing are two separate corporations, I understood the hesitation. Then I told them where they could get used copies so that all their money went to the reseller. Hey, it worked.
That's OKAY. It's not for you, you're not the market for this book, thank you for being honest with me. It's the people (and I could name a few) who begged for one, got it, and still three years later say "haven't read it yet" even though they've got a character named after them in it who actually isn't a bad guy, that really tick me off. I'd rather the book go to someone who will want it and enjoy it than someone who feels they have to take it just to be polite and get rid of it at the first opportunity, like feeding brussel sprouts to the dog under the table. You know what you get when you do that?
A FARTY DOG.
Think about that, won't you?
This has been a public service announcement.
the first letter:
Hello
I see that I have won something. However, it seems to be a book. While I am not averse to reading YA books as a genre, after reading the blurb and the synopsis of the story I know this is completely not something I would read.
I'm a bit disappointed I didn't win something useful, but I'm glad to help promote the site since the site is itself useful. Please feel free to choose another winner for the book.
Thank you
the reply:
And you wouldn't be able to pass this book on to someone as a gift for Christmas?
Note: it took me about 5.8 seconds to pull out the "say what?" mallet.
my next response:
So, you're asking me if I would foist a book, which I personally would not read on a bet, onto someone who trusts that I'll give them a good present? Seriously? Not only that, but the SEQUEL to another book neither I nor any potential recipient will have read?
Think about that for a moment.
Seriously.
Four prizes having to do with what the site is about--writing, the craft, the tools, the work, the life. And one book, which isn't even a book about writing, which I can always use. Instead, it's someone else's work of fiction. That's like giving away four typewriters and a used pencil.
I will say it again: it's more of a prize having the website bookmarked in my browser so I can use it, refer to it, think about it, and in some cases expand upon it, than getting the second book in a series that I have no interest in and don't even come close to skirting the target market for.
Someone else may want it; by all means, I'm sure there are many who would love a copy. Please make someone else's day with it; you will do us both a great service.
*****
So, dear readers... what do you do when someone really wants to give you something and won't take no for an answer? I know Miss Manners would say "smile and accept it and then stick it in the closet" but dammit I'm tired of doing that. I don't even do that for my own peeps anymore. Why make excuses to total strangers? It's not even her freaking book!
One of the first things I learned after getting my first few books out was that not everyone will want to read them. I have given or offered them to people who have said, point blank, no thanks. Side note: I met a LOT of resistance after the WOTF book came out, people saying they didn't want to put money in Scientology coffers. Even after I explained to them that the publishing wing and the church thing are two separate corporations, I understood the hesitation. Then I told them where they could get used copies so that all their money went to the reseller. Hey, it worked.
That's OKAY. It's not for you, you're not the market for this book, thank you for being honest with me. It's the people (and I could name a few) who begged for one, got it, and still three years later say "haven't read it yet" even though they've got a character named after them in it who actually isn't a bad guy, that really tick me off. I'd rather the book go to someone who will want it and enjoy it than someone who feels they have to take it just to be polite and get rid of it at the first opportunity, like feeding brussel sprouts to the dog under the table. You know what you get when you do that?
A FARTY DOG.
Think about that, won't you?
This has been a public service announcement.