Doug's Library - Sour Grapes

I have written this brief page in an attempt to answer various kinds of critical email without further aggravation and annoyance to myself. This is not a throw-away effort. This is just my attempt to politely and (I hope) thoughtfully explain my position. I find this is more effective than just firing off a few angry/snide comments in response to the occasional abusive email. In general, this page is my response to the general sentiment expressed by a few readers of my page who disagree with a particular review (usually Eddings, Brooks, Weis and Hickman, Gibson, or perhaps Benford, to name a few). Allow me to offer you the following pieces of advice, in no particular order:

Accept the fact that everyone is entitled to an opinion about a particular author or book, even me. Just because someone disagrees with you does not make them pond scum. Imagine what a boring world it would be if we all agreed in our opinions about all authors and books!
If you're thinking about writing something insulting, like insinuating that I am "clueless", "ignorant" or sadly lacking in some important social/intellectual attribute, please take a moment to consider the following: Why? What exactly is your point?
If your goal is to get me to change my mind about the series/book/author, you shouldn't just say "You're wrong" in an insulting way. You should give me some kind of thoughtful reason, listing some of the positives I may have overlooked. Same is true if your goal is simply to present a counterpoint to my review in the mailbag. If you really care about it, be my guest. If you don't, then from my end, it looks like you're just spouting off for the sole purpose of venting anger at me. Hey, it's a free country, but don't expect me to show you a lot of respect in return. If I don't have any respect for your opinion, then I'm that much less likely to consider your favorite author in a positive light, in which case I ask again, what is the point of your message?
Understand the purpose of this page. It is not just for me to spout off about books (though I admit I enjoy doing that), but it is also for me to hear other opinions about books and get recommendations for other authors I have not yet read. I always publish every single (relevant) piece of email I get so that visitors to this page can at least see more opinions on books than just my own. I particularly appreciate comments that differ from my own opinions, just because it makes for more interesting reading in the mailbag.
Start your own reviews page. The world would be a Better Place (tm) if more people would put up Web sites like this one so we could all look at a variety of bodies of opinion on books. I love hearing about other peoples' approaches to reading and great books and so forth, and if you care enough about a particular author or what have you, there is a really easy way to publicize it. Post a review to rec.arts.sf.reviews. Set up your own Web site and tell some of the organizational sites (like those I have listed in my links page) about it. Let people see other opinions besides my own.
For more general advice on promoting authors you love to recalcitrant readers and reviewers, check out my comments on pages about Robert Jordan and Stephen Donaldson.

Oh, and one other thing, if you're upset about the political views I may have expressed here and there, stuff a sock in it. :)

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