Extortion...

According to some article I came across, after finding out Goodreads is finally taking dodgy reviewers extorting authors for money otherwise they'll publish shit reviews, there's been a "pandemic" of scams, and I don't feel so sorry for some people. Like I do for the genuinely ignorant, but if you believe a reviewer has "dirt" on you for information and money, you're not the smartest egg. Now, if you're an absolute nobody author, who's actually going to have literal dirt on you? Unless you've been out there being a jerk, or you have a guilty conscience, nobody would really know you to dish dirt. They're essentially using Goodreads as another means of mass communication like they would with any phishing scam, one in every ten thousand emails that takes the bait is worth the perseverance. They're pretending to be from reputable publishers too. Most sensible authors would see the scam for what it is.

So, how does the industry feel now they've killed the gatekeepers and opened the door to opportunistic fuckwits like this? You gamed the system to your own advantage and made publishing seem more obtainable, played on an excessive amount of ignorance, and now real fraudsters are pretending to be you and scamming more people off the back of your money-grubbing. I don't feel sorry for any publishers being implicated in this scam by way of fraudulent emails. I feel like the mess I'm seeing is on a distant island and I'm on my ship, alone and unaffected, unwilling to really help or get involved. I could offer the ignorant more assistance but I don't want to because I'm sick of helping people right now. I tried to work with other authors and give props, there's only one person I feel bad I kind of stopped communicating with despite them checking in on my welfare during the bushfires on the other side of the country, because when you don't know where someone is in relation to a disaster, you just know they're from X country, you'll be like, ummmm, you okay? Which is nice. But I guess that person also wanted someone to gossip to, and I can see now finding out what actually went down will be basically impossible if people aren't willing to be upfront.