Name Smearing

[Mikayla]

I don't see anything wrong with offering private support as long as she's a close friend, you feel strongly, and you know for a fact this would never be repeated or even used against you.

Otherwise, I agree that staying out of it is best.

[Surianne]

Stay out of it.  I'm an author, and yeah...author fights are nothing you want to get involved in.  I've been shocked at the lack of professionalism I've seen expressed by people who should know better.

Published, yes.  Professional...I don't know.  I believe they both published independently, but I don't think I can say more than that.

From what I've seen, professional, even lauded, authors can get into some pretty nasty fights.

Indeed!

[CaffeineKatie]

I've seen tales of this kind of behavior in the past--where anything less than a glowing review can unleash fan attacks, author slams, etc.  I agree with previous posters--private support to your friend and public silence--but I wonder if a note to the moderator of the board, along the lines of "Are you aware of this?" might be appropriate, too?  Or maybe the board likes the conflict to generate traffic?  Ah well....

[LifeOnPluto]

Another vote for staying out of it, and sending Author 1 a private message of support.

If Author 2 and/or her fans are actually threatening Author 1, then Author 1 should notify the authorities.

[JeanFromBNA]

The professional advice that I've received is that you are going to eventually get a negative review (I'm not an author; I have a business).  The best way to respond to a legitimate negative review is to try to contact the person who posted it, and follow up with response with a conciliatory tone and offer another chance:  "I'm sorry that the product didn't work for you.  We would like to give you a new product with enhanced features.  Please contact us."  If the reviewer escalates, then ignore it.  If the negative review is unsubstantiated, then ignore it.  Those looking at online reviews with the purpose of purchasing have discovered how to filter out nonsense. 

I'm not sure how that would work with a book review, but my takeaway from this is that Everybody will eventually get a negative review.  If you can't deal with it positively, then ignore it. 

[CrochetFanatic]

The professional advice that I've received is that you are going to eventually get a negative review (I'm not an author; I have a business).  The best way to respond to a legitimate negative review is to try to contact the person who posted it, and follow up with response with a conciliatory tone and offer another chance:  "I'm sorry that the product didn't work for you.  We would like to give you a new product with enhanced features.  Please contact us."  If the reviewer escalates, then ignore it.  If the negative review is unsubstantiated, then ignore it.  Those looking at online reviews with the purpose of purchasing have discovered how to filter out nonsense. 

I'm not sure how that would work with a book review, but my takeaway from this is that Everybody will eventually get a negative review.  If you can't deal with it positively, then ignore it.

That's the way I feel about it myself.  I think what really rubbed me the wrong way was that, instead of responding privately to the review, Author2 chose to post a nasty rebuttal that filled the whole screen and then some.  She was within her rights to do so, but that doesn't make it right in my opinion. 

But yeah, I've taken a giant step back from this. 

[MariaE]

The professional advice that I've received is that you are going to eventually get a negative review (I'm not an author; I have a business).  The best way to respond to a legitimate negative review is to try to contact the person who posted it, and follow up with response with a conciliatory tone and offer another chance:  "I'm sorry that the product didn't work for you.  We would like to give you a new product with enhanced features.  Please contact us."  If the reviewer escalates, then ignore it.  If the negative review is unsubstantiated, then ignore it.  Those looking at online reviews with the purpose of purchasing have discovered how to filter out nonsense. 

I'm not sure how that would work with a book review, but my takeaway from this is that Everybody will eventually get a negative review.  If you can't deal with it positively, then ignore it.

Both on Goodreads and Amazon authors are encouraged very strongly - in fact, on GR even told - not to do this. Get a bad review? Ignore, ignore, ignore.