September 2015

Long Overdue Thanks to Victoria Strauss for Her Now Infamous "Haters Gonna Hate" Post

Below and Above We See Victoria Battle Her "Troll"

(sent 9/26/15 to Victoria Strauss)

Dear Victoria,

We can't thank you enough for your Hater's Gonna Hate post that depicted Absolute Write as the faultless victim of immoral haters. It genuinely served to inflame the so-called haters into more hate because you dared not admit even a single instance of wrong on the part of your friends at Absolute Write. Neither would you fault the owners, Melodi Sherman and Lisa Spangenberg, for obvious acts of encouraging and participating in the unfair defamation of writers, presses, and other organizations. Could it all have something to do with the fact that AW is the number one source for promoting your fantasy novels? You must have at least several hundred posts on there with your signature block hawking your books, no? Perhaps even thousands of posts (6,667 as of this date), each one a free banner advert for your latest book with a link to more. It's no wonder you routinely jump into the most popular threads where a bloody good drubbing is taking place.

But these facts only serve to underscore our gratitude for the post. We've received more support and readership as a result of your post ranking high on google when "Absolute Write" is searched . Writers who didn't know there was even an issue now routinely add "reviews" and "bewares" and "complaints" to their search string for purposes of learning more. Apparently, many are not willing to suspend disbelief that literally dozens of boards, blogs and websites complaining bitterly about the mods and owner trolls of AW are all the work of a single lying person. They will not take you at your word that you possess the absolute right information on the matter of AW's record of nonstop cyberbullying and acts of libel, a record you claim does not even exist.

According to many, this absolute right defense argument of yours only serves to make you appear like a hypocrite. Are you even aware? You've convinced other writer organizations and websites that you are legitimately telling the truth about Absolute Write when you deny the ongoing abuses. But that is going to change, and is changing even now. Our hope is that you will continue to defend the horrible people on this board who have germinated into their own peculiar club of villains. You are like the bribed mayor of a city who looks good to the public but who deals behind the scenes with criminals and charlatans.

By the way, when are you going to call Absolute Write on Writer Beware for advertising banners leading to scam contests? Have you not been reading the news? http://writeabsolutereviews.blogspot.com/2015/08/absolute-write-beware-advertising.html ____ And this isn't the only one. AW has run scam rotating ads off and on for eight years at least. We never saw you note that on Writer Beware. Why not? Your support of their bullying and scam advertising just becomes more telling by the year.

Thank you again, Victoria. Please feel free to spread this email and post it on your board.

Best Wishes,

The Victims of Absolute Write Who Are Fighting Back

Important Informational Posts

- http://writeabsolutereviews.blogspot.com/2015/08/absolute-write-web-traffic-plummets.html
- http://writeabsolutereviews.blogspot.com/2015/08/absolute-write-down-and-out.html
- http://writeabsolutereviews.blogspot.com/2015/06/insightful-reviews-of-ipredators-on.html

Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)

Private messages sent to the owner and other disagreements with the owner may be publicly posted and everyone invited to trash them. They play favorites ridiculously, and also get way too overinvolved, shutting down threads etc. for nothing. All this mess, while constantly telling everyone else that the number one rule is "Respect Your Fellow Writer!"

- Sitejabber Reviews

The Absolute Write Water Cooler is active enough, but has more than their fair share of condescending know-it-alls. If you’ve ever been there for any length of time, it’s like being back in high school. I didn’t like high school the first time around.

- Ripley King

That Absolute Write thread is bewildering. What in God's name is wrong with these people? And where do they find the time for all that arguing?

- Lexireveliian Blog

I realize being banned from AW is the norm, but for the following message. Wow! That crowd has gone totally nuts.

- Where Writers Meet

Look at this quite simply. You have a freewheeling chat board packed with anonymous and amateur posters, as well as poorly credentialed moderators and holier-than-thou owners. Now, add to that a hostile cultural tone feeding on ignorance and prepared to compete with itself, and what do you have?

Answer: the Absolute Write Water Cooler.

- Jane Friedman

People outside this mess just don't understand what the real victims of this website are talking about. It's like driving down the highway to work one morning and seeing that someone has overnight built a billboard on the highway with your face and name, and beside it are images of a bunch of other people you've never seen and don't know calling you a loser and a fraud and a crook and an idiot and whatever other insult they can think of. You can't get the billboard taken down because a new law prevents anyone from having to take responsibility for it even if they know the whole thing is a lie ..., and you can't sue the people on it because you've found out they are all fake, and every day you have to answer for these insults and hope that sane people will see this kangaroo trial by billboard for what it is and also hope you will not be fired from your job as a result.

- Poster on W.A.R. Blog

The owner and her sock puppets and assorted gang not only shred people all day for amusement and publicity (as someone pointed out, the mediocre writers get publicity for their poorly written books each time they post) and monetary gain (substantial revenue from advertisements), the site itself purports to offer good advice to writers when in fact it does no such thing. Advice is amateurish and quite often just plain wrong.

- Publisher W.

How people like Melodi can sleep at night is beyond me. As far as I am concerned, she is nothing but a criminal. But you know, that's just my educated opinion.

- Carroll Bryant

All writers should definitely stay away from this site. There are several moderators on this site who will start a fight with you and then kick you out for responding back. In addition, the advice that one receives on the forums is pedestrian and the kind of advice that any beginning writer would give...are you kidding me with this?

- Complaints and Review Board

Correct me if I am wrong, but my book blog should be about books and what I want to include. If you do not see what you want to see, that doesn't make me fake. Then came the next disturbing element of this unfolding drama. So we've been certified as fake. The forum moderator HapiSofi bashed the book club in more than one thread. She was applauded for her 'detective' work.

- UK Quality Reads BC

I’ve lost count of the number of “gang bangs” I’ve witnessed and it keeps getting worse. So many good writers have been banned or alienated there’s hardly anyone left worth reading, bad and misleading advice abounds and trolls seem to use it as a gathering place to discuss their next campaign. The site owner believes herself accountable to no one, so the mods range around the site like a gang of outlaws in Dodge City picking fights with anyone they don’t like the look of. I must admit it is a fascinating study in groupthink but hardly a congenial atmosphere for serious discussion.

- Lexireveliian Blog

IMPORTANT : "ADVICE" CIRCULATING ABSOLUTE WRITE COOLER FORUMS IS PROVIDED BY RANK AMATEURS, ANONYMOUS CREATURES, AND PUBLICATION BOTTOM-LISTERS, AS WELL AS VARIOUS FRAUDULENT IDENTITIES PRETENDING TO BE AN EDITOR FROM A MAJOR PUBLISHING HOUSE. THE AW FORUM OWNERS, MELODI SHERMAN AND LISA SPANGENBERG, HAVE NEVER WRITTEN FICTION, NOR HAVE THEY EVER EDITED FICTION IN ANY PROFESSIONAL OR ORGANIZATIONAL CAPACITY. DO YOUR RESEARCH CAREFULLY AND DO NOT TAKE AT FACE VALUE ANYTHING YOU "LEARN" ON AW CONCERNING THE MARKET OR ANY ASPECT OF FICTION WRITING.

The mission of W.A.R. is to expose the incompetents and bullies of Absolute Write for who they really are and to provide a verifiable record for anyone to examine; and to gather information and colleagues necessary to engage in legal proceedings against the owner and her cronies engaged in acts of libel against writers and legitimate businesses.

In the days before "Macallister Stone" (aka Melodi Sherman) took over, Absolute Write was useful and more fair. However, that time has passed. They have become a lynch mob who daily engage in smear tactics of the worst kind against people who just don't deserve it.

The time has come to fight back and make it as difficult as possible for the bullies to win. Let's take the fight to them.

- WAR Admin