Divas of the Dark: Midnight just got a whole lot darker!

Tuesday, June 19, 2007

TMI?

Lately, blogland has become a place for smear campaigns and dirty laundry. Not only are books ripped apart (ala Mrs. Giggles), but now bloggers are going after publishers and authors. Company information is shared. Untruths are spouted as gospel. Political leanings are aired (and hotly debated). Sensitive personal information is disbursed in the most disrespectful manner.

It’s all so ugly.

And yet, the minute someone posts a hot topic--like Jaid Black’s marriage to a prisoner--hits soar to the stratosphere. Commenters say over and over it’s TMI, they don’t want to know someone has a drug habit or is married to a man in prison, and yet they come back to read more. Blogs have become the romance reader’s gossip mags (National Enquirer). This week, romance’s Britney/Lindsay/Paris is Jaid Black.

Next week...who knows?

Ironically, being trashed has its benefits. Sales are generated from these horrific displays. This puts authors in a strange and uncomfortable position. Much like the love-hate relationship between stars and paparazzi in the world of Hollyweird, authors are finding themselves in a love-hate relationship with snark blogs.

So, I ask, do you read snark blogs? And if you do, what do you feel about what you’re seeing? If you don’t like it, are you willing to speak with your mouse? The bottom line is a blog is only as good as its traffic.

Tawny

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Labels: Tawny Taylor

19 Comments:

Karen Erickson said...: To be honest I don't really read them unless someone tells me about the latest scandal. I had no idea the Jaid Black thing was out there until someone sent me a link. Personally I try to avoid it cos it gets so depressing and this business is hard enough. I can beat myself up thank you very much! LOL; June 19, 2007 at 9:56 AM
Emma Petersen said...: I have to admit I read them. Not on a daily basis but often enough.

Which is really strange because I have not a single inclination to read the mags about stars. :(

The whole Jaid Black thing really made me sad. I thought it was cruel and unnecessary. Who Jaid Black is married to is none of my business? It doesn't make me think any differently of her work so how is her marital status relevant?

Le sigh. You kinda have to worry about some bloggers motivations? I know why paparazzi do what they do but what about bloggers? Why do they do what they do?

Great post Tawny!; June 19, 2007 at 12:56 PM
Jennah said...: I don't read them. Never have. Actually, I don't really even know where they are. Jaid Black is an awesome woman who has overcome so much. It's none of my business who she's married to. I don't have room in my life for snark.; June 19, 2007 at 1:47 PM
Lyric James said...: I'm like Karen...I don't read them unless someone tells me about it or sends me a link. I had no idea about Jaid Black until I just read your blog. To me...it's just like stars - people love to read about them no matter how good or ugly it is. The uglier it is..the more people are going to read it...the more people are going to up your blog hits (buy your mag). Why do we as a society revel in it...who knows, but we do and it's sad really. What someone does in their personal life is no one's business at all.

Great post today!; June 19, 2007 at 2:49 PM
Anonymous said...: I love your post and have been feeling the same way for a while. It annoys me also that it's verbotin to point out very popular blogs, like Smart Bitches, as contributing to the sinking to the gutter. I wish publishers wouldn't answer some of these things publicly. I had no idea about Jaid's personal life until I got a company email about it. I know the need to defend must be strong, but sometimes you really have to bite the bullet and let it go, or sue for libel. As a former writer for Triskelion, there have been about 1,000 times I had to literally bite my tongue and log off.
Last year it was a purported near fisticuffs episode with eXtasy. As I started to sub to Samhain, it was the whole who hates whom at EC. Someone actually posted that Angie James hates someone else. The nerve! Really, the nerve! Who's business is it to do that? There are certain bloggers, sort of disguised as reviewers or wannabe editors, who have actually made a name for themselves dishing dirt. The Joan Rivers of romance publishing, but down in the trenches with epublishing, because it's easier to get the good stuff.

I say screw them all. F-off snarky reviewers, bloggers, writers, readers, publishers, high-and-mighty wanna be editors, know-it-alls. It's a freaking waste of time. Anyone who's that clever should be able to find something better to do with their time, like work for a charity, deliver food or good cheer to an elderly person. I blogged about this recently myself, but with a different twist. My topic for Sunday.; June 19, 2007 at 3:04 PM
Natasha Moore said...: I'm another who never read them unless I'm sent a link, and then only if it's something/someone I'm interested in. I honestly don't have the time for this nastiness.

All I can say to those people is - Get a life!!; June 19, 2007 at 3:10 PM
Unknown said...: I honestly say I can do without snark and never read it unless someone links me. I just have no desire to air someone else's business or bring someone down. In this day and age, we need to be lifting people up instead. JMO

Great post btw!; June 19, 2007 at 3:18 PM
Antonia Pearce said...: I have no idea where most of these blogs are, with the exception of three, which I avoid.

I didn't know about Jaid Black, don't care. I don't know the context in which that info came out, but I'm sure it wouldn't have been news if she were not a VIP. Jealousy is a powerful motivator.

Most of the blogs I see are very professional.; June 19, 2007 at 3:51 PM
Tawny Taylor said...: Honestly, I managed to ignore all this crap for a while, but it's become SO nasty recently, I simply can't ignore it anymore. The attacks on Triskelion, author Carol Lynne and her editor, Ellora's Cave, Jaid...Could it get worse? I expect it will.; June 19, 2007 at 3:56 PM
Shelli Stevens said...: You know, I have them on my blog roll, but I always forget to visit. But I do confess to visiting when someone gives me the link to a controversial post. I don't 'wait for it happen' though. And I generally don't join in or comment.

I do agree with the TMI part. There are some things I'd rather not have known.; June 19, 2007 at 4:08 PM
Anonymous said...: I don't think I've ever read more than a few paragraphs of a 'snark blog'. It all seems like pre-teen drama to me and I just don't have time for that.; June 19, 2007 at 5:43 PM
Unknown said...: yikes. I haven't read it. when I stand in the checkout line I pass over the look-who-has-cellulite mags for the ones about decorating.

I don't even know the cheese with Trisk. that is how under a rock I am right now...; June 19, 2007 at 7:39 PM
Unknown said...: Thisis a great post and I agree with Tawny 100%. The nastiness is just getting out of hand. The thing is, whe you go to those blogs, it's really just the same people over and over, complaining.

I like Giggles so much more since she removed the commments part.; June 19, 2007 at 10:57 PM
Ericka Scott said...: What's really sad is that I know so very little about EC (other than they are an established publisher and a popular one). But, someone who isn't even in our little world sent me the link about Jaid Black. . .

Sad, and I agree, TMI. Plus. . .who knows how much or how little of it was taken out of context, etc.; June 20, 2007 at 8:39 AM
Rhonda Helms said...: Wow, this is a great topic. There's been a ton of snarkiness out in the blogosphere lately...I do read them since I'm totally nosy, but I'm trying to stay out of them. LOL

ps - you're tagged! visit my blog for details: http://rhondastapleton.authorsabode.com; June 20, 2007 at 9:17 AM
Anonymous said...: I agree, Tawny. Most of us are out here trying to support and encourage each other while all this nastiness goes on ... it's the old 'tear down someone else to make yourself feel better' thing, and I won't do it. I don't read blogs period unless someone I trust sends me a link, and if it leads to something snarky, I tell the sender I'm not interested in reading gossip. If Jaid is happy, who the heck are the rest of us to pick her life apart? I say the gossips would be a lot more successful in their own lives if they'd direct all that attention and energy into building something rather than tearing something/someone down.; June 20, 2007 at 12:06 PM
Ava Rose Johnson said...: I stopped visiting these blogs a while ago because of the TMI as well as the childish personalities of the bloggers.
Some of what I've read at these blogs have turned my stomach, one in particular.
What makes it so sad is that very few people speak up against them and I'm not one of them. It's the fear that they'll turn on you.; June 20, 2007 at 2:57 PM
Jax Cassidy said...: Nope. I don't waste my time reading these trash blogs with smear campaigns. I would much rather read about my friends writing careers and keep up with their life. There's enough negativity in the world and I'd rather be closed off from it. Funny thing happened. My co-author sent a mass request for review of our multi-author anthology and Mrs. Giggles declined reviewing because I had told her that she hadn't gotten her facts right some time ago. Well, you know what, I didn't care. I'd rather get real reviews from those that counts and that's the readers...so, unfortunately dirty laundry is always going to be aired but I've decided that I'd much rather focus on my own life. :); June 20, 2007 at 9:46 PM
Jaynie said...: Erika Scott wrote: "But, someone who isn't even in our little world sent me the link about Jaid Black. . .
Sad, and I agree, TMI. Plus. . .who knows how much or how little of it was taken out of context, etc."

Hey Erika - I did the original interview with Tina (Jaid) and I can tell you I printed it exactly as she wrote it and approved it before it was posted.

Jaynie - (who used to have a snark blog, but is pretty much as fed up with it as you guys seem to be so I'm trying to behave now *g*); June 22, 2007 at 6:33 AM