How's your reputation?

I usually avoid controversy on the web, but once in a while a discussion catches my interest and I follow along with the conversation. The latest controversy in the romance writing community is one of those discussions that I've watched, and it's made me laugh. This book might be worth a read for a few of the posters. *g* The whole thing reminds me of being back in school, where one group of people thinks so highly of themselves that they have to put another entire group of people down just for being who they are. Some people read erotic romances. Some read inspirationals. But a big portion of them read both, and everything in between. The discussion started because a reader felt slighted that she wasn't included. The author who chose not to include certain readers, IMO, should have been prepared for questions as to why she made that decision. Professionalism probably should have dictated that the author keep the dialog with the reader private rather than posting sections of the reader's email to a public forum and asking her peers to agree with her decision. The entire situation could have been avoided if said author had done the professional thing rather than the emotional thing. Her behavior could very well have alienated many current and potential readers, and the fact that her words made it sound like she didn't care about gaining new readership or keeping her fans happy may have alienated even more. She may not have meant the comments the way they sounded, but that's the way they'll come across to a large group of readers. Readers don't like to have their intelligence called into question because they choose to read books in a certain genre, just as authors who write in that genre are going to take offense to comments made about their intelligence--especially when the discussion wasn't about genres to begin with. We're all humans, so why can't we all just be authors as well? Diversity is a good thing. There are books out their for all sorts of reading tastes. Why try to make someone feel bad because their reading tastes differs from yours? Just as it was back in high school, a person's reputation is everything. Once you destroy it, it's almost impossible to get it back again. Why go looking for arguments? And if you don't want a group of people (say, erotic romance authors and readers) to defend themselves, don't start picking on them in the first place. That genre may not be for you, but that's okay. They like it. They may not like the genre you write in, but they don't drag it into every little bit of controversy in the romance community just because their personal beliefs differ from yours. The romance community--and the world--would be a much better place if everyone could just play nice for a little while.