Put on Your Listening Ears!

Hi Everybody,
Hope you’re enjoying your week! Breezing thru with an observations about people and their listening skills.

Okay, I’ve said this before. I understand how frustrating it can be to be a newbie and have to navigate your way through the murky waters known as “publishing.” But you’ll never get there if you don’t learn to listen and follow directions.

Case-in-point: Someone contacted me via my book review website and asked if I would publish their book. I replied that I’m NOT a publisher, I just manage a book review website. I told them that if they wished, I could PUBLISH THEIR BOOK COVER, along with a short description of the book and a link to the order page…all free of charge.

Instead of a “Hey, cool, thanks!” or “You’re the best!”, I received a rambling email describing how difficult it is to see the font on my website, and how a “thing” keeps following them everywhere on the site, blocking them from reading the reviews.

Then the writer asked again, “Do you think you can publish my book?”, after which she launched into the plot, the premise behind the plot, and why I really ought to consider publishing it. She ended by writing that if I decided I didn’t want to publish it, could I furnish the names of some publishers that might want to publish it.

In other words, not only was she continuing to refer to me as a publisher when I told her I wasn’t, she was giving me a homework assignment: to find a publisher for her book.

Now, those who know me know how I feel about doing other people’s work. If you don’t, read this old post: Do Your Own D*mn Work!

But I digress. The most important question is, Weren’t you listening, lady? I’m NOT a publisher!

On the one hand, I was glad to learn about the problems with the review site, especially the “thing” — the floating share button that follows you around like a puppy. I’ve fixed it before, but each time the theme is updated, the settings go back to default; the font fades out again, and the share button begins to levitate.

Anyway, I fixed them again after I read her email, but I can’t fix the rest. I’M NOT A PUBLISHER! Why is that so difficult to understand? And why is listening — or in this case, putting on one’s thinking cap — so hard to do?

Think about it; if this writer can’t read, understand and “follow” a simple sentence from me stating that I’m NOT a publisher, will she be able to follow the more complex instructions of a real publisher?

Well, that’s my rant for the day. If it helps you to put on your listening ears (and your thinking cap), then I’ve done my job.

Best wishes,
Rita Lorraine