Wednesday Griping
Aug
23
2006

So I started off the day pretty well. My kids were mostly well behaved and my husband looked handsome and smelled good as he headed off to work. He called me a few minutes later with an idea he had about a title connundrum I’m experiencing and it was really good and cascaded into something I’d already been thinking on.

And then. Okay, I’m trying to be circumspect. Because this is a public blog and all but honestly, I get so frustrated by some things.

Firstly, a bookseller for any RWA approved conference who won’t order books from an RWA approved publisher but who wants me to bring them myself and then take 40% from me? After treating me like crap? Oh, I don’t think so. For the record, if I’m going to an RWA conference of any kind I don’t think it’s too much to ask that the bookseller be willing to order books from RWA approved publishers. Especially when I know for a fact that two of my readers went into the very bookstore chain and ordered copies of A Touch of Fae from them and it arrived. They have to use Ingrams or Baker and Taylor but they do for other titles too. So uh, thanks but no thanks. This only further deteriorates my opinion on this particular bookseller.

Edited to add – Have you ever read Kafka? Or watched the old Newhart show? You know, there’s one rational person watching insanity and she tries to be rational and use a rational worldview but the system keeps on applying rules that are just insane? Okay, so this day keeps on getting worse and more Kafkaesque. When someone applies a rule and you say, “oh, but that doesn’t apply because your facts are totally incorrect” and then they repeat the same incorrect info and shrug – that shit drives me up a wall. Why? Why do people repeat the same damned thing over and over when it’s wrong? And then instead of just saying, “yes, it’s wrong but I can’t help you” which at least would be honest, they just say it again, like somehow that makes it correct.

Secondly, is it too much to ask that employees for a business actually do their jobs? Even just like, oh forty percent of the time? If you say, think answering emails is above your station in life, could you please answer your voicemail as a compromise? Because if you aren’t at your desk all the time, one has to leave a message. But if you don’t answer your phone, reply to your email or deal with repeated emails, it’s sort of impossible for me to get my problem taken care of. Do you see my connundrum? Good, so glad we could have this little chat.

One comment to “Wednesday Griping”

  1. Shelli Stevens
    September 1st, 2006 at 2:11 am · Link

    Hey hon, is this with my conference? I’m mega involved and I’d be pissy to hear of an author getting treated bad. Feel free to come to me with problems! Sorry, cause that just sucks!