Now that I have poured out my heart and soul into writing and producing Not of My Making, Bullying, Scapegoating and Misconduct I needed to get the word out that my book is available. Following advice gleaned from books and the internet I submitted my book for review and was pleased to receive outstanding reviews from Midwest Book Reviews, TCM Reviews and Lightword Reviews. I even received an unsolicited review from Joanne Carnevale of A Reader and Writer Reviews. I was ecstatic. I was surely going to succeed and sell all the books I printed. But just as I was riding the wave of my success an individual who hasn’t read my book posted a comment to Midwest’s review of my book challenging their credibility and implying either I or Pluck Press paid for the review. Neither of which is true.
Now why would someone out of the hundreds of books Midwest reviews pick on the review of my book to disparage? Why not go directly to the reviewers profile page and challenge her directly? Were they somehow connected to the antagonists I wrote about in Not of My Making? I checked their profiles. One person had his or her name as Ghost, another just an initial and last name. They provided so little information about themselves that it has not been possible to find out anything more about them.
I was uncertain how to handle it. I wondered what kind of impact if any it would have on book sales. I decided to explain Midwest Book Reviews policies and inform Ghost and the others that I had not paid and will never pay to have my book reviewed. They always had a come back. I found myself talking about the credibility of Midwest Book Reviews and a reviewer who I never met instead of about bullying in churches.
I didn’t want to be arguing about the veracity of book reviews. The publishing industry established its customs and procedures long before I came along. I have to use them to my best advantage to accomplish my own goal. I want to share my story and make people aware of adult bullying in churches. I love church and want to help make it a safe place for all.
Read my book and judge for yourself. I invite you to participate in the discussion about bullying in schools, work and churches. Have you ever been bullied? Have you bullied someone? Did you watch someone get bullied? If so, did you intervene or did you do nothing? Why did you do what you did? How can we decrease bullying and help others find a place within the communities to which we belong?