Drowning in a shitstorm

You have to laugh. If you look up "shitstorm" in the dictionary I rather suspect you might find a reference to my post on the pitfalls of receiving free books printed in black and white.

When I cross-posted this little op-ed at MetaxuCafe I naively expected that it would attract little, if any, attention. Last time I looked (and I've stopped looking, because it's stressing me out and god knows that's the last thing I need given I'm trying to recover from pneumonia!) there were around 20 comments, and very few of them complimentary. Indeed, it seems some of the more established litbloggers took great offence at my post, which is kind of ironic given it wasn't even aimed at them. Sheesh, I don't even read the more established litbloggers; I prefer hanging out with my regular readers and commentersl!

Anyway, the insults have been coming thick and fast (I've been labelled a nit-wit, an idiot and a slattern, to name just a few, and been told I have a promising career in tax-auditing, which made me laugh, considering I am completely dyslexic when it comes to numbers!), and I suspect the hate mail will soon follow.

Unfortunately, many people completely missed my point, which may largely be due to the fact that I didn't make it clear enough (I'm on Anthrax medication, remember!) or because some have refused to see it as anything other than a personal attack on their integrity (which it was never meant to be). Either way, it got people talking about an issue that's not really been discussed openly before, so I suspect I should be grateful for that.

If there's a lesson to be learnt out of this (and here I plant my tongue firmly in my cheek), it is this: if you really want to drive an overwhelming amount of traffic to your site (I expect my bandwidth limit will soon be exceeded, if it hasn't already) just post something that will rile an established big-name litblogger or two. That'll do the trick! ;)

In the meantime, I'll be returning to the much safer and friendlier haven of just writing about books and (non-controversial) bookish things in the hope that it will continue to inspire and encourage others to share their love of books and bookish things too. I hope you'll continue to enjoy Reading Matters in the spirit in which it is intended, which is to celebrate reading and literature, no more, no less.