Inverarity is not a Scottish village

It seems to me that "social media" has done more harm than good for writing. I mean, a lot of authors really capitalize on it, using their Twitter streams and Facebook pages to engage with fans and build a massive following. There are authors like John Scalzi and Charles Stross who build an intelligent and dedicated following on their blogs (honestly, I think Scalzi owes more to his blog than to his books for his preeminence in the sci-fi field), but it's important to note that they have been at it for a long time (Scalzi was blogging, and also writing professionally, before he was a published novelist), and they make their blog content interesting in itself, not just because you happen to be a fan of the author. Authors who just create Facebook pages and Twitter accounts because nowadays all the agents are saying you need a "platform" seem likely to do themselves a disservice.

( Why I don't Tweet and my Facebook page is boring. )

Holy crap.

Self-published author M. R. Mathias is not happy about being called a self-published author.

This guy is crazier than... a certain other crazy person infamous for his batshit meltdowns.

From the product description for Superhero, by M. R. Mathias:

This is a Short Story about the realities of modern heroism. There is alot of ironic comedy and a deep message about the state of man here.

With a name like the Valiant Defender and a huge logo that says V.D. across his chest, you can imagine how Marvin Smithers is recieved when he foils a crime and becomes a national media hero.

o...O