I joined a forum with peers that are of my age group. I figured I'd get to know them a little before I published my book and when it was ready, let them know about it. In a political year a lot of unkind words were being exchanged. I made a few "friends" with my posts, found those of like mind and those who were 180 degrees away from me.
The first book I shared with them was a true story and a tragedy - they felt sorry for me, but weren't interested in the book. Next book was light fantasy. Directly after I posted stuff about the fantasy, I started getting positive responses, and some bought it. Then came the b.s.. One of the people on the site whom I had befriended, unbeknownst to me was being attacked by a woman scorned. A romance had developed between my friend and a guy on the site, but this other woman thought the guy was hers. So the scorned woman, who had been banned from the site, was lurking in the back corner. She saw my post, bought my book. I am notified when someone buys it and when someone posts a review. Two minutes after the purchase there was a review saying the book sucked. (This was the second book I sold and I knew who bought the first one.) The banned person posted the review using the username part of my friend's email address - they had been friends. The banned person said she had wasted her money.
Now there's no reason for her to do that, because a person can download 20 percent of the book for free, to see if it's for them. I contacted my friend, learned of the war going on between her and this banned person. My friend told me that this banned person had also trashed the book that my friend's fiance had for sale on Amazon. I posted some of what the banned person said on the forum revealing the username, and then the banned person made further negative comments about my work above her review. In the meantime I received a 5 star review from someone else who purchased my book - yea!
It took me eleven days and four emails exchanges with Support through the publisher to get it straightened out. At my request they refunded the person's money and removed the review. It was resolved finally today. What a pain in the backside. How does a person avoid this kind of hassle and still sell their work through social media?
The first book I shared with them was a true story and a tragedy - they felt sorry for me, but weren't interested in the book. Next book was light fantasy. Directly after I posted stuff about the fantasy, I started getting positive responses, and some bought it. Then came the b.s.. One of the people on the site whom I had befriended, unbeknownst to me was being attacked by a woman scorned. A romance had developed between my friend and a guy on the site, but this other woman thought the guy was hers. So the scorned woman, who had been banned from the site, was lurking in the back corner. She saw my post, bought my book. I am notified when someone buys it and when someone posts a review. Two minutes after the purchase there was a review saying the book sucked. (This was the second book I sold and I knew who bought the first one.) The banned person posted the review using the username part of my friend's email address - they had been friends. The banned person said she had wasted her money.
Now there's no reason for her to do that, because a person can download 20 percent of the book for free, to see if it's for them. I contacted my friend, learned of the war going on between her and this banned person. My friend told me that this banned person had also trashed the book that my friend's fiance had for sale on Amazon. I posted some of what the banned person said on the forum revealing the username, and then the banned person made further negative comments about my work above her review. In the meantime I received a 5 star review from someone else who purchased my book - yea!
It took me eleven days and four emails exchanges with Support through the publisher to get it straightened out. At my request they refunded the person's money and removed the review. It was resolved finally today. What a pain in the backside. How does a person avoid this kind of hassle and still sell their work through social media?