Does it even exist? Holly Black and Justine Larbalestier say no.
Question: Is the term 'YA Mafia' another name for the 'YA Clique' that people occasionally complain about? Or is there going to be a Secret Rumble between these two exceedingly nefarious organizations?
(via Gwenda, who has smart things to say on the topic.)
Right, just like there wasn't a HP fanfic mafia that Holly Black was involved in. Oh wait....
Posted by: collsers | 03 March 2011 at 10:52 AM
This whole thing is so weird to me. I mean, I'm a small blogger--on good days I get maybe 30-40 hits. But I've had a few authors comment or e-mail me (Elizabeth Wein was one, which was super cool because I love her books to bits and pieces) and even on one which wasn't a super positive review it was to THANK me for reviewing it! I suppose that what's being described on both sides is possible, but I've seen zero indication of it.
When I'm doing a short review, I feel free to simply say, "I didn't really like this book." Because I read about 300 books a year and I just don't have time to put my thoughts on all of them into cohesive, well-thought-out and balanced reviews. Also, I'm not going to like all of them. It's just about impossible. When I'm doing a longer review, I do try to be balanced about what I liked and didn't, but I also have to be honest. Overall, I think that Robin McKinley's mantra is helpful: "This book didn't work for me is fine. This book was terrible because I didn't like it isn't."
Okay, lengthy comment is done.
Posted by: Maureen E | 03 March 2011 at 11:52 AM
I think there will always be writing, on both sides, that someone doesn't like and some of those someones will be jerks about it. I've seen authors be jerks to bloggers. I've seen authors be jerks to authors. I've seen bloggers be jerks to authors and bloggers be jerks to bloggers. It doesn't mean that all authors or bloggers are jerks, just that they exist.
I'm not saying anyone speaking on it is being a jerk, just that jerks are part of life and we shouldn't be anymore surprised to find them on the internet than we are to find them in life.
Posted by: sassymonkey | 03 March 2011 at 12:29 PM
YA Mafia = YA authors who harass people over negative reviews.
YA Clique = blurb each other, tour together, guest blog each other etc etc.
Posted by: Emily | 03 March 2011 at 12:59 PM
I obviously read the wrong blogs. I've never heard of that! Although, truthfully, that might be because i read everything on my reader. How funny...
Posted by: Patti | 03 March 2011 at 03:44 PM
"Right, just like there wasn't a HP fanfic mafia that Holly Black was involved in. Oh wait...."
That was *exactly* my first thought, collsers.
Posted by: Jennifer in GA | 03 March 2011 at 11:17 PM