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I concur. The user provides feedback through the obvious interface they see, and the author blames the user. If it had started from a place of empathy, maybe it

I concur. The user provides feedback through the obvious interface they see, and the author blames the user. If it had started from a place of empathy, maybe it'd have the desired effect, but it doesn't for me. Maybe the author could have blamed the system, or raised the issue with Amazon, but starting off blaming the user sounds silly.

mintplant 7y ago
I'm not sure how the both of you can interpret the author's words the way you have. > Hey, I don’t know if whoever flagged the typos in my ebook thought they were helping, but please don’t do that. That just means there’s a quality warning on Amazon’s sale’s page. It’s super not helpful, particularly when the issue is vernacular English. > You have made my life way more difficult on Christmas Eve by setting this flag. I’m sure that wasn’t your intent, but...yeah, not great. > Again, my dear proofreader friends, please don’t blame yourselves. Amazon doesn’t exactly explain that your desire to be helpful is telling a computer that Book Is Bad, Pull Bad Book.
- amingilani 7y ago
  I understand different people have different perspectives but, to me, it still reads condescending towards the reader. As if the author were saying something along the lines of: I know you're trying to help, but don't do that. You're not being helpful because you don't know well enough. You didn't know better but you've ruined Christmas for me. That said, it's not you, it's Amazon. There are also these: > THAT WASN'T EVEN A TYPO, PERSON, YOU GOT CONFUSED ABOUT THE SPEAKER > I will, sadly and angstfully, cop to typos. I make them. I’ve made peace. But now I’m supposed to fix failures of this person’s reading comprehension and understanding of vernacular so that Amazon will take down the tag saying my book is low quality. During a sale.
  - mcphage 7y ago
    > As if the author were saying something along the lines of: I know you're trying to help, but don't do that. You're not being helpful because you don't know well enough. That isn’t what the author said, but that is an accurate assessment of the situation.
- serf 7y ago
  those quotes you mention, while generally hinting towards Amazon's broken system, directly address the reporting individual -- unless i'm to believe that someone internal to Amazon reported it. YOU made life difficult on Christmas Eve. Don't blame YOURSELF ...wasn't YOUR intent. So, unless I fall into the fantasy that the author is addressing an internal Amazon employee, it sounds as if those statements are being made towards the 'you' who reported the author. It's all being snarky towards Amazon's broken system, no doubt, but the author doesn't seem to mind sharing the blame with the perpetrator of the report itself..
  - bmn__ 7y ago
    That's a shifted goalpost argument. GGP talks about "blame", you downgrade this to "addressing". Certainly, the word "you" is used to address, but you would be mistaken in thinking that the word "you" alone implies blame. The rest of the quoted sentences clearly express the author deflecting the blame away from the person who made the reports on the book.

mintplant 7y ago

I'm not sure how the both of you can interpret the author's words the way you have. > Hey, I don’t know if whoever flagged the typos in my ebook thought they were helping, but please don’t do that. That just means there’s a quality warning on Amazon’s sale’s page. It’s super not helpful, particularly when the issue is vernacular English. > You have made my life way more difficult on Christmas Eve by setting this flag. I’m sure that wasn’t your intent, but...yeah, not great. > Again, my dear proofreader friends, please don’t blame yourselves. Amazon doesn’t exactly explain that your desire to be helpful is telling a computer that Book Is Bad, Pull Bad Book.

amingilani 7y ago
I understand different people have different perspectives but, to me, it still reads condescending towards the reader. As if the author were saying something along the lines of: I know you're trying to help, but don't do that. You're not being helpful because you don't know well enough. You didn't know better but you've ruined Christmas for me. That said, it's not you, it's Amazon. There are also these: > THAT WASN'T EVEN A TYPO, PERSON, YOU GOT CONFUSED ABOUT THE SPEAKER > I will, sadly and angstfully, cop to typos. I make them. I’ve made peace. But now I’m supposed to fix failures of this person’s reading comprehension and understanding of vernacular so that Amazon will take down the tag saying my book is low quality. During a sale.
- mcphage 7y ago
  > As if the author were saying something along the lines of: I know you're trying to help, but don't do that. You're not being helpful because you don't know well enough. That isn’t what the author said, but that is an accurate assessment of the situation.
serf 7y ago
those quotes you mention, while generally hinting towards Amazon's broken system, directly address the reporting individual -- unless i'm to believe that someone internal to Amazon reported it. YOU made life difficult on Christmas Eve. Don't blame YOURSELF ...wasn't YOUR intent. So, unless I fall into the fantasy that the author is addressing an internal Amazon employee, it sounds as if those statements are being made towards the 'you' who reported the author. It's all being snarky towards Amazon's broken system, no doubt, but the author doesn't seem to mind sharing the blame with the perpetrator of the report itself..
- bmn__ 7y ago
  That's a shifted goalpost argument. GGP talks about "blame", you downgrade this to "addressing". Certainly, the word "you" is used to address, but you would be mistaken in thinking that the word "you" alone implies blame. The rest of the quoted sentences clearly express the author deflecting the blame away from the person who made the reports on the book.