Predictably, the self-styled masters of SF fandom have learned nothing from the last time they gave my fans a reason to mobilize.
Here, a butthurt CHORF attempts to DISQUALIFY! Souldancer’s Dragon Award win by citing Amazon review numbers as evidence that the winner of a populist award isn’t popular.
Tip for lazy bloggers: if you really want to pick a fight with an author who’s also a publisher, do your homework before waving Amazon numbers around.
Here are some publicly available Amazon figures that the lazy CHORF overlooked:
I’ll see your eight reviews and raise you a spot on Amazon’s top 100. It’s no wonder why the CHORF resorted to the indirect and less reliable benchmark of reviews instead of citing Amazon Kindle Store rank, a direct measure of how many copies were actually moved.
So much for the latest crybully attack on the integrity of the Dragons and my readers. But wait for it–I’m not done yet.
What have we here? On its way to the top 100, Souldancer passed Best Novel Hugo winner The Fifth Season.
Question: if SD is unpopular, and therefore the Dragons are fraudulent; what does that say about 5S and the Hugos?
That concludes my demolition of the CHORFs’ risible “The Dragon Awards don’t really represent the real fans!” canard.
The original post does raise one valid point. Book reviews are important for several reasons. Honest reviews help readers make informed book buying choices, and Amazon actively promotes books with 50 or more reviews. I’ve made it a point of principle to review every book I read.
Closer to the point, dear readers, the CHORFs have compounded their error of insulting you. Apparently the message you sent them loud and clear at Dragon Con didn’t penetrate their epistemic closure bubble. Let’s give them another lesson.
You can leave a review of Souldancer, the book you chose as this year’s best horror novel, here.
If you’re feeling a bit intimidated by the thought of writing a review, just remember that it’s not a term paper. I know you’re busy, but typing one or two sentences expressing your honest opinion of a book only takes a couple of minutes and pays big dividends for other readers and authors.
Since I know how many people got their hands on both books during the Nethereal BOOK BOMB! and the Souldancer giveaway, I’m confident that both titles will soon reach 50 Amazon reviews. Thanks again to my marvelous readers for helping me to keep bringing them fun, exciting stories!
UPDATE: As of this writing, Souldancer reviews are up 50%. Special thanks to Ben, D.J., Scotty, and Jeff for leaving such helpful and insightful feedback. This is why reviews are so vital. They help readers decide what to buy, and they help authors refine our writing.
I know that many of you who acquired Souldancer during the giveaway are still reading–and burning through it with gusto, if my KENP numbers bear any weight. When you’ve finished SD, before moving on to your next literary adventure, please take a few minutes to share your honest opinions on Amazon. We’ll all be thankful for it.
If you haven’t bought the award-nominated and winning books in the Soul Cycle, you can correct that oversight at the following link.
I don't know why anyone's surprised that a self published book won Best Horror Novel. These days, the traditional publishing houses won't touch any horror authors, unless they're related by blood to Stephen King. So it's only natural that the best works of horror fiction will be published through Amazon now.
Indie horror is pretty much the only place to find the good stuff these days. Books aren't any different.
You guys nailed it. The Big 5's literary pretensions have run away with them to the point that they grudgingly publish SFF because they have to, and they're downright allergic to horror.
Which reminds me, the CHORFs also forgot about the time I was in the top 30 horror authors worldwide. The only Stephen King book that outsold me that day was Misery 🙂
I voted for both with my wallet. I must say that I am very pleased that I voted so, because I now own quality products that I am working my way through. Thank you for sharing these stories.
You are more than welcome. I remain your loyal servant.
They are adult children. Nothing more. I've not been very vocal about the Hugos or the incestuous idiots who protect it, mostly because I've been reading and writing and trying to carve out a living. But you get to a point where the lies and character attacks and projections get too much. You start to wonder what goes on these people's heads. Their vindictiveness warps the mind.
I find myself angry at them and I have always been a "live and let live" kind of a guy. Thanks a lot, you rocket sockets! You succeeded in making me grumpy and not even my kids can do that. I'm renowned for my awesome patience.
Word to the wise, CHORFs. It's not the easily excitable guys whose anger you should worry about. It's the patient, reserved guys quietly sipping their drinks and reading Heinlein novels until they decide they've had enough of the loudmouths making a scene, take you out in the parking lot, and bust out your teeth.
I must be crazy. When I graduated High School, I promised myself I would never go back to that living hell. I would get as far away as I could.
But these people just can't move on. They can't stop with the cliques, the gossiping, the shunning, the bullying, the envy, and the outright nastiness. They can't grow up.
And yet, despite being children, they can't enjoy fun books where fun things happen.
It's like they kept all the crappy parts of childhood and shed all the good ones.
What a nightmare.
Despite my previous reply to Woelf, the fact is that the people you and he describe are now irrelevant. The industry and Fandom organs they've usurped over the last few decades are already dead, because as you both pointed out, people with the maturity of toddlers can't run organizations.
Oh, they're loud. But the MSM outlets that amplify them are dead, too.
Let them gnash their teeth in the rubble of Rome while we build Christendom.
This comment has been removed by the author.
I find myself too joyful at the triumph of the Dragon awards to have any hate towards the CHORFs, et al. Why should I spend vitriol (which will damage me, and not really hurt them), when I could eagerly anticipate getting The Secret Kings or The Vindication of Man when they come out?
That's a healthy attitude. They're too clownish to hate. It's more fun to laugh at and profit from them 🙂
P.S. I'm diligently chiseling away at the stone block that has SK hidden inside it.
Yeah, the puppy wars are over, and the puppies won. The victory didn't come from conquest, but by just having more fun than the other guys. Now the other side will claim the Dragon's are as "prestigious" (they keep using that word, I don't think it means what they think it means) as the Hugo's, but we don't care. We are enjoying ourselves while they just keep virtue signalling each other. Living well is indeed the best revenge.
This crap about the Dragon Awards is just an instant replay of the Assterisks from last year's Hugos.
The point of Sad Puppies from the begining was to expose the true nature of WorldCon and the people who vote for the Hugos. Stick a shovel in the dirt, turn it over and watch them wiggle.
Job done, there they are, wiggling. Kinda nasty, but now we know why the grass was wilting, right?
Right. They can't help themselves.
There will be more Dragon Awards to come, and it will be good. Now people will know where to find good books that don't virtue-signal about politics.
Larry Correia's #1 rule about being a professional writer is the first word professional: getting paid. It matters not what awards you win, or accolade you received, getting paid should be your first priority.