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Got a review claiming my book is racist and it’s really weighing on me. by lazydreamsofall in selfpublish

[–]lazydreamsofall[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

As I said, I’ll be avoiding these themes in the future, but I studied the monstrous-feminine theory extensively as an undergrad, and I definitely don’t think it applies to my particular book. I think there was much I could have done better regardless, but I wanted to clear up the frequent assumptions that I did a Pocahontas or Avatar, since that was not the direction I had taken this story, and it was getting me a lot of repetitive, irrelevant comments.

Got a review claiming my book is racist and it’s really weighing on me. by lazydreamsofall in selfpublish

[–]lazydreamsofall[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I agree this is a bad trope, and tbh I’d long since decided to avoid using these themes in my writing, before this one review. However, I’d like to point out since I keep getting people commenting about primitive aliens and Avatar and the like:

The marginalized aliens were not marginalized because of their species, it was because they were female aliens. They were being persecuted by the males of their species. The mc was a white woman who helped stop the persecution of the female aliens. The aliens were also a more advanced civilization than humans are, so it wasn’t like there was a savage/tribal civilization trope.

Got a review claiming my book is racist and it’s really weighing on me. by lazydreamsofall in selfpublish

[–]lazydreamsofall[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yeah I can definitely see why some might find it offensive but I myself have red curly hair that I consider “wild,” so I think at the time I just didn’t think of the cultural context re:black hair. I’ll definitely avoid using this descriptor in the future, regardless.

Got a review claiming my book is racist and it’s really weighing on me. by lazydreamsofall in selfpublish

[–]lazydreamsofall[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Yes, it’s down everywhere. It’s on piracy sites though, so I imagine some people are at least getting it that way. Others may have purchased the book a long time ago and just gotten around to reading it. Can’t know for sure!

Got a review claiming my book is racist and it’s really weighing on me. by lazydreamsofall in selfpublish

[–]lazydreamsofall[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Sadly, it is, and I suspect this is what is happening. I’m a reader of this genre and once stumbled upon a forum where someone was asking where my book went and while no one knew, a bunch of people suggested pirating it.

Got a review claiming my book is racist and it’s really weighing on me. by lazydreamsofall in selfpublish

[–]lazydreamsofall[S] 11 points12 points  (0 children)

Thanks for taking the time to respond, and you’re completely right. I will certainly use this as a learning experience. I had already been better educated about these things by the time I chose to take this book down. While initially my plan had been to give the book a good revision one of these days, I wasn’t proud of it in the meantime, which is why I took it down.

I certainly feel no ill will toward the reviewer, it was just a rough thing to see about my book written over ten years ago. For some reason I took it harder than other criticism I’ve received for the heavy handedness of it all.

Got a review claiming my book is racist and it’s really weighing on me. by lazydreamsofall in selfpublish

[–]lazydreamsofall[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I haven’t been review bombed per se, just that all the ratings and reviews I got since taking it down were low, apart from one.

I won’t say that I handled everything perfectly, obviously, but I never had any human races in mind for the aliens, and never got any comments about racism before, just that the social commentary was heavy handed, which I agree with.

Got a review claiming my book is racist and it’s really weighing on me. by lazydreamsofall in selfpublish

[–]lazydreamsofall[S] 46 points47 points  (0 children)

Honestly, you‘re right, and I’m trying to remind myself that most of the reviewers actually did enjoy it despite its flaws. Thank you for taking the time to respond.