You read about it all the time. Russia puts out masses of disinformation through fake accounts and bots.
But not until you run a website (or a cybersecurity firm) will you understand the scale. Then you see your inbox: 98% of the comments are from Russia. I was seeing 20+ comments every day, in Russian. Having to go in, delete them, block the addresses, knowing it would not stop the flow. Thank goodness for spam filters, which are now not only blocking them, but also most people trying to sell me something by telling me my website is subpar and really needs authoritative links to it, and guess what? They can help.
My personal favorite blog comment so far was this: “Great read! I appreciate the thorough analysis presented. The examples really helped to clarify complex concepts. Does anyone else have additional insights or experiences to share on this topic?”
The post they were referencing? It was my first one, which says simply “Welcome to my blog.” And, um, no, I don’t have any additional insights or experiences to share about that. Oh wait, on second thought, I think I do have something to say: Please go away.
So thank you, new spam filter, that’s one channel taken care of. The other challenging one is Facebook Messenger. Ninety-five percent of those messages start simply with “Hello”. What am I supposed to do with that? Is this a real reader, or someone trying to sell me something? (Answer from my experience so far: almost entirely the latter.) Or else they tell me they are fascinated by my intelligence and creativity and then ask me what my book is about, despite links to my website being prominently listed on my Facebook page. If these are marketers, they’re pretty bad ones. Come on folks, if you really want to sell me a service, at least do the minimum amount of research and ask something relevant about my work. I mean, I’m most likely not going to buy anyway, but I will vibe you some respect!
Another 4% of both channels are people gushing about how gorgeous I am and how much they’d love to talk to me more. (Pretty sure all those are real readers.)
And the last, most delightful 1% are people telling me how much they have enjoyed my book, or my blog article, or asking me interesting questions about either. These are the folks you live for. They don’t want to sell you something or be your best friend, they just want to express their appreciation for what you do.
But nice as those comments are (and feel free to keep them coming), I will tell you right now, the best thing you can do for any author is to leave an honest, heartfelt review on Amazon, Goodreads, Bookbub, Bingebooks, etc. Readers often don’t realise that it’s these reviews that determine how often your books get presented to new readers by retailers such as Amazon. It is these reviews authors will need if they decide to try and get an agent or a publisher. And it is these reviews that sell books. They don’t all have to be great reviews: my publisher informed me I need a clunker or two to prove my reviews are real, in fact. (Fortunately, I already have those.) Reviews just have to be genuine. And spoiler-free, I beg you.
So if you are a real reader and you did enjoy my books, or if you have some constructive criticism, I’m always happy to hear from you via most any channel (except coming to my house). But if you really want to find the way to any author’s heart, it’s through a review site.
Oh, except for you, Russian bots. Maybe just stick to trying to influence elections, eh?