The Guardian reports that the Vampire Chronicles author has signed a petition asking Amazon to do away with anonymous reviews to protect mainly self-published authors from “bullies.”

The petition states that there is “an incredible amount of bullying and harassment of some…self publishing authors” and that “the reason this bullying and harassment is able to take place is because of the allowance of anonymity on Amazon.”

On her Facebook page, Rice wrote:

Anonymity on Amazon, in book reviewing, and in the Amazon Discussion Forums has been much abused by anti-author bullies who maliciously attack writers with a venom that can be stunning. Some of these bullies are organized, and gang up on authors apparently for fun. I’d love to see the system cleared of these unconscionable abusers.

And she told The Guardian that:

I think the anti-author gangster bully culture is made up of individuals who desperately want a place at the table in the world of books and readers…I hope Amazon and other book websites do eventually clean them out. They certainly don’t serve the true book buyers and readers of this world. And they are gratuitously destructive towards the creative community. They are like termites in a beautiful wooden building, there for what they can get for themselves, quite oblivious to the building’s purpose or beauty

I dislike gratuitously mean-spirited comments or reviews as much as the next person, but harsh, unfair criticism is part of writing. It has ever been so, and anybody who wants to be a writer needs to be ready to deal with it. Period.

But let me say a bit more. The petition is also poorly worded, and Rice’s statements in its favor do it more harm than good.

One problem is its vagueness.  What constitutes “harassment,” “bullying,” and making “life miserable” for writers in a review? No examples or explanations are given, and Rice’s own interaction with “bullies” (linked in The Guardian piece) seems rather tame–at least in the excerpts provided. If an anonymous Amazon reviewer threatened a writer with violence, that’s a matter for the police, not a petition. So, are we talking about meanness here–of which people have differing definitions, especially regarding criticism–or multiple negative reviews by a single reviewer intended to harm sales? Both? Something else?

Another problem is that it makes self-published writers seem even more entitled than they already (rightly or wrongly) have the reputation of being. Rice’s comment here that “anti-author” Amazon reviewers “are like termites in a beautiful wooden building” is a tad overcooked. No doubt, some works add to the “beautiful wooden building” of literature, but others are merely rotten planks.

Listen, if you are unable to get a publisher for your book, and you want to give self-publishing a go, Amazon is a great option and one that offers a higher chance of mainstream success (though still relatively low) than printing your own book at a vanity press. But if you can’t handle negative reviews or the possibility that folks may (fairly or unfairly) mock your book, publish it anonymously. Don’t complain about “anti-author..termites.”