Write Your Ass Off: Another Facebook warning for authors.

I blogged about it today, another religious troll making the rounds, friending erotic romance authors. Yet another reason authors should be using Facebook pages and not profiles: http://writeyourassoff.blogspot.com/2013/11/another-reason-why-authors-should-use.html

Oh, goodie. I now have a cyberstalker.

So apparently I've "made" it since I've pissed off a couple of spammers. (EDIT: I've added a second message they've sent me.) What's even stupider? I HAD been planning on letting it die down now that we had notified our members. But now that I'm getting email threats, including (see below) a threat to burn down my house, law enforcement WILL be involved in this. (I will post updates.)

SECOND UPDATE: A third message was received and added below.

Long story short, I run the BDSM Bibliophreaks group on Facebook. Well, we had a couple of people, spammers, who after giving them chances to adhere to the promo rules on that group, and after getting multiple complaints about them, we banned them from the group. One of them had multiple personas on Facebook, and had even complained before being banned from our group that Facebook had been shutting down their multiple personas. (And they tried to join our group with their mulitple personas.)

They then started a group on Facebook called "BDSM Bibliofreaks." Notice the similar spelling? In their "about" section they listed "selective censorship" as the reason they started it. Uh, well, if you call banning spammers from our group censorship, whatever.

Then they spam-added several HUNDRED people from our group into their group. That's when me and the other admins started getting LOTS of WTF kinds of PMs from members asking what was going on.

And yes, you can go to the membership list of the copycat group and see if a person was "added" by someone, or if they requested membership on their own. The two people who were the biggest culprits were also (surprise) the people we'd received numerous complaints about.

Now, those who know me, know that I don't tolerate spammers in my groups. And since it was obvious who the two culprits were, I named them.

So this started yesterday. And tonight I received this email, which I will be filing a police report about. (To the person who sent it, you didn't help the case of the person you think you're trying to help.) Apparently they think using a TOR server will help them stay hidden. Uh, guess they didn't hear about the FBI taking down the guy who ran Silk Road.

Why am I posting this? Because I'm going to give the person the benefit of the doubt that it's just a misguided fan who wrote the letter. And if so, they can post on their social media outlets that their "fan" needs to knock it off because law enforcement is getting involved. This isn't a game. And the spammers who are guilty? It's obvious who they are. Simply troll through the member list and see all the people who were spam-added and the two names that crop up most often. Doesn't take a detective.

Return-Path: <mixmaster@foto.nl1.torservers.net>
Received: from foto.nl1.torservers.net (foto.nl1.torservers.net. [77.247.181.161])
        by mx.google.com with ESMTPS id x3si21551181wje.78.1969.12.31.16.00.00
        (version=TLSv1.2 cipher=ECDHE-RSA-RC4-SHA bits=128/128);
        Fri, 11 Oct 2013 16:32:20 -0700 (PDT)
Received-SPF: pass (google.com: best guess record for domain of mixmaster@foto.nl1.torservers.net designates 77.247.181.161 as permitted sender) client-ip=77.247.181.161;
Authentication-Results: mx.google.com;
       spf=pass (google.com: best guess record for domain of mixmaster@foto.nl1.torservers.net designates 77.247.181.161 as permitted sender) smtp.mail=mixmaster@foto.nl1.torservers.net
Received: by foto.nl1.torservers.net (Postfix, from userid 108)
 id 77598F7A48; Fri, 11 Oct 2013 19:32:16 -0400 (EDT)
From: Anonymous <anonymous@foto.nl1.torservers.net>
Comments: This message did not originate from the Sender address above.
 It was remailed automatically by anonymizing remailer software.
 Please report problems or inappropriate use to the
 remailer administrator at <abuse@foto.nl1.torservers.net>.
Subject: biblio group
Message-ID: <6838518165a961661ce93258763340fa@foto.nl1.torservers.net>
Date: Fri, 11 Oct 2013 19:32:16 -0400 (EDT)

Anonymous <anonymous@foto.nl1.torservers.net>
7:32 PM (12 minutes ago)

to me 
your childish war with the other group is growing old.
you have also been attacking other parties who aren't
even involved in what's going on.
i strongly suggest you apologize to the people you have
attacked, and you move on. you are now dealing with
people who can find many, many ways to entertain
you. you will grow tired of it long before we do, i promise.

tymber dalton. that's not your real name though, is it?
yes, your real name is out there, and your address, but
that's not the point i'm getting at. have you ever read
facebook policies? you know, the ones you are so quick
to accuse others of breaking? did you know it's against
facebook policy to use an alias? sorry to say,legal name is
all that's permitted. guess what facebook will do if and
when they find out you're not using your real name?
what about the members of biblio? many of them being
authors, how many of them are using a made-up name
too?
i'd hate to see what will happen when facebook
starts to get reports that these people have fake names.
they will start closing accounts. oh and we will make sure
they know that YOU had the chance to prevent it.
and that will just be the beginning. how about a barrage
of one star reviews? blog entries all over the place? and
that's just what can happen online.
knock your crap off. apologize for your sins. maybe
even step down as the admin of biblio, because we can
all plainly see that you have no clue how to run a group.
oh and we already have all the names and addresses from
biblio saved, so hiding the group won't help.
you have 24 hours to make this right, or hell is going to break
loose, and it is not going to be pretty. i offer you this one
chance to set things right.

--

Second message they sent:

Delivered-To: tymberdalton@gmail.com

Fri, 11 Oct 2013 17:33:08 -0700 (PDT)
Return-Path: <mixmaster@foto.nl1.torservers.net>
Received: from foto.nl1.torservers.net (foto.nl1.torservers.net. [77.247.181.161])
by mx.google.com with ESMTPS id by8si21596532wjc.130.1969.12.31.16.00.00
(version=TLSv1.2 cipher=ECDHE-RSA-RC4-SHA bits=128/128);
Fri, 11 Oct 2013 17:33:08 -0700 (PDT)
Received-SPF: pass (google.com: best guess record for domain of mixmaster@foto.nl1.torservers.net designates 77.247.181.161 as permitted sender) client-ip=77.247.181.161;
Authentication-Results: mx.google.com;
spf=pass (google.com: best guess record for domain of mixmaster@foto.nl1.torservers.net designates 77.247.181.161 as permitted sender) smtp.mail=mixmaster@foto.nl1.torservers.net
Received: by foto.nl1.torservers.net (Postfix, from userid 108)
id 46956F7A1D; Fri, 11 Oct 2013 20:33:04 -0400 (EDT)
From: Anonymous <anonymous@foto.nl1.torservers.net>
Comments: This message did not originate from the Sender address above.
It was remailed automatically by anonymizing remailer software.
Please report problems or inappropriate use to the
remailer administrator at <abuse@foto.nl1.torservers.net>.
To: tymberdalton@gmail.com
Subject: no...
Message-ID: <d4da6ddff4a637b5923a10eff8e88354@foto.nl1.torservers.net>
Date: Fri, 11 Oct 2013 20:33:04 -0400 (EDT)

we didnt say pseudonyms are ILLEGAL. they ARE however
a violation of facebook policy. you are required to use
your REAL name. because you obviously are not taking
this matter seriously, i'm going to report one of your
friends as a fake/fictitious name, to show you what i mean.
law enforcement? because someone threatened to
report you to facebook in an argument over a bdsm
chat group? yeah, i'm sure they'll get RIGHT on that.
well, forward this to them too:
i hope nobody comes to the tampa area and sets any
homes on fire.
i ask you one more time. do you really want to
start something? NOBODY will win this, i promise
you that.

--

Third message received:

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               
Delivered-To: tymberdalton@gmail.com
Return-Path: <mixmaster@whattheflag.info>
Received: from whattheflag.info (v22011069179570699.yourvserver.net. [5.45.99.221])
        by mx.google.com with ESMTP id x42si42997837eea.314.1969.12.31.16.00.00;
        Fri, 11 Oct 2013 18:45:14 -0700 (PDT)
Received-SPF: neutral (google.com: 5.45.99.221 is neither permitted nor denied by best guess record for domain of mixmaster@whattheflag.info) client-ip=5.45.99.221;
Authentication-Results: mx.google.com;
       spf=neutral (google.com: 5.45.99.221 is neither permitted nor denied by best guess record for domain of mixmaster@whattheflag.info) smtp.mail=mixmaster@whattheflag.info
Received: by whattheflag.info (Postfix, from userid 106)
 id 9C8A11800BC; Sat, 12 Oct 2013 03:45:12 +0200 (CEST)
From: Dave U. Random <anonymous@anonymitaet-im-inter.net>
Comments: This message did not originate from the Sender address above.
 It was remailed automatically by anonymizing remailer software.
 Please report problems or inappropriate use to the
 remailer administrator at <abuse@anonymitaet-im-inter.net>.
To: tymberdalton@gmail.com
Subject: you know...
Message-ID: <355af6e557c7ad756742fca0b000db8d@anonymitaet-im-inter.net>
Date: Sat, 12 Oct 2013 03:45:12 +0200 (CEST)

you're not too bright are you?

people are threatening to burn down your house?

"i hope nobody comes to the tampa area and sets any
homes on fire. "

good luck with arguing that in a court of law.

seriously. remove yourself as group admin, and this all ends.

Promopalooza time.

I see a lot of promo on Facebook, including people who don't pay attention to a group's rules when they join and post promo that violates the rules. We have this problem a lot in the Erotic Romance group. Ironically, very few people break the rules in the BDSM Bibliophreaks group. Hmmm.

So I created three promo-specific groups authors, bloggers, and reviewers can feel free to promo in. Please note the specificity of each group (it's easy, it's right in the name):

BDSM Books Promopalooza
GLBTQ Books Promopalooza
Menage Books Promopalooza

Enjoy!

Come join fellow BDSM Bibliophreaks!

I just realized I didn't put this up here on the blog. LOL

We've got a new Facebook group for readers and authors of BDSM fiction and non-fiction. It's a closed group, so only members can see the posts.

http://www.facebook.com/groups/BDSMBibliophreaks/

Promo is allowed, but please read the rules in the Files section before you do.

Also, please do NOT directly add your friends to the group. Send them the link, or feel free to post the link anywhere you want, but we don't want people added to the group without them being asked. (The Facebook "invite" feature actually adds them to the group, so it sucks.)

MAJOR "don't" for Facebook users.

And this mini-rant is inspired by yet another asshat who sent me a friends request on Facebook, and then proceeded to post a link to THEIR site on MY wall, and having the balls to also ask me to tell "all my friends" about it.

ONE MORE TIME...

IT IS NOT OKAY FOR YOU TO POST LINKS TO YOUR SITES ON SOMEONE ELSE'S WALL WITHOUT ASKING THEM FIRST! It makes you a spammer and an asshat.

/rant off.

Simple Facebook Etiquette

You know, I didn't think I'd really have to post a helpful hint like this, but it just happened to me.

If you don't like what someone posts on their Facebook (or other social media wall), then DON'T COMMENT on it. If you do comment, don't do what the asshat on my wall just did and tell me to "pipe down" after insulting one of my friends. Disagreeing is one thing, being disrespectful and calling people "annoying" when they challenge your small-minded beliefs is just begging for a verbal smack-down.

Wow. That was this person's one-way ticket to me unfriending and blocking their ass.

Dear Facebook...

Dear Facebook,

Once upon a time, I was a member of MySpace. It was nice, I liked it, but it got too gimmicky. Too many bells and whistles, too much A/V content. I just wanted an easy way to connect with people, in a simple interface, with no extra bells and whistles. That's why I liked Facebook.

Now, it's like you're trying to become like MySpace (and considering that site now sucks, I'm not sure that's a good idea...), and you're using Twitter-like crap on my feed page that I DO. NOT. LIKE. (I have a Twitter account. If I want to use Twitter, I use Twitter.)

Fortunately for me, Google+ seems more interested in the user as the customer and keeping us happy so we stay there and USE IT. Yes, I know they feed me ads, which is how they make money, but they seem to give a crap about my user experience.

So guess what my priority will be from now on? Yes, Google+. Oh, I'll still keep and use my Facebook account. I still have a MySpace account. But I don't actually use it anymore. And I'm sure as more of my friends and family migrate over to Google+, my usage of Facebook will decrease until you're as obsolete as MySpace.

Thanks a lot, and have a nice day.

Thanks, Facebook...NOT!

Well, the newest round of fuckups improvements Facebook applied for no good reason whatsoever has totally screwed up my feeds AND is apparently interfering with my TweetDeck posts to my pages. Which makes my life MORE complicated, not less.

If anyone wants me on Google+ (which I'll apparently be using more) it's tymberdalton AT gmail DOT com

New Update List.

In an attempt to combat spam and fake sign-ups, I've switched my newsletter update list over to Yahoogroups. This is an update list only, not a discussion list, so you won't get much mail. Thanks!

Click to join TymberDalton_updates

Updates: 4/6/2011

"The Reluctant Dom" is now available in print on Amazon.com. This new print version also contains the related novella, "Domme by Default" (first time it's appeared in print).

http://www.amazon.com/Reluctant-Dom-Special-Tymber-Dalton/dp/1936356120/

Also, I'm running a contest on my Facebook page. Head on over, like the page and leave a comment in the contest thread. I'll pick a winner tomorrow (Friday, 4/8) for a signed print copy of "Good Will Ghost Hunting: Demon Seed (Book 1)."

http://facebook.com/tymberdalton

How NOT to use Facebook if you're a writer.

Lately, there's been a pretty aggravating trend of writers not using Facebook the way it was intended (as a pretty good social networking site) but as...well...

A $2 whore.

This trend seems to be predominant amongst newbie and self-published writers, although it's not exclusively limited to writers. I've seen plenty of self-help gurus and others doing the same thing.

Lately, I've been SWAMPED with "friend" requests. The problem is, now I'm seeing a lot of these aren't "friend" requests, but people who have scoured friend lists of other Facebook users and decided to add me too. Which poses a problem for me, because while I don't really want to be "friends" with people whose book/product I have no interest in buying, I also don't want to not friend someone who is a genuine reader of MY work.

Also lately, another annoying (downright RUDE) trend has occurred: people who I accept their friend request proceeding to post what is tantamount to an advertisement on MY Facebook wall about their book/product/blog/whatever.

Eh, no. That's the fastest way for me to unfriend and block you (as well as delete the post you put up on my wall).

That's the equivalent of me walking up to your house and slapping a big-assed advertisement on the wall without asking you first, then saying hi, howya doing? and walking away. Would that piss you off?

It should. And I'm not alone.

So being the helpful thing that I am, I decided I was long overdue to post a helpful blog entry about how NOT to use Facebook. I wish this was stuff I knew when I first joined Facebook, because it would have saved me a lot of grief now.

Also, keep in mind that fellow writers are NOT really your target audience, bunky. So going through and prevuing other people's friend lists to friend people isn't helping you. We're too busy pimping our own books to buy yours usually. Especially if you're pimping something like a children's book and I'm an EROTICA writer.

Duh.

In fact, I just weeded down my friends list, removing people who obviously had "friended" me to up their friend count, not because they were interested in my works. (For example, a ultra-conservative religious right-wing politico probably isn't interested in my Pagan, liberal, GLBT-friendly beliefs and writings.) And yes, I'm guilty of not checking out people's profiles before I accept their friend requests because until recently, I didn't realize this was a problem. Which put me in the position of not knowing if someone is friending me because they're a reader, or because they want to sell me something. And I don't want to risk alienating a reader, but I don't want your fricking spam either.

1) Don't be a whore. Facebook isn't about getting as many friends as you can because--wake-up call--unless Facebook has changed something recently, you are limited to the number of "friends" you can have. Instead, you should...

2) Use a fan page. When posting Facebook links, post THAT link. Keep all your book/product-related posts there to drive people genuinely interested in that to your fan page. Share the fan page link on your profile on a frequent basis if you've already accumulated a large number of "friends" who might or might not be your target audience.

3) Have a private Facebook page ONLY for family/friends and keep it PG to G-rated. I've had friends who've had to unfriend me because they worried my book cover images weren't appropriate for some of their friends/family. I couldn't even friend my own son because I'd set my profile to 18-and over only. For my private profile, I ONLY accept friend requests from relatives/friends I actually know.

4) Don't post just stuff selling your book. Post funnies, quotes, stuff going on. Link your blog to your Facebook fan page so it also posts there.

5) Ditch the apps. Seriously. It's a HUGE complaint I hear from others. Save the apps for your private page. I personally block ALL new apps regardless of who they come from as soon as I see them because they clog my feed. It's also not professional.

6) Do NOT post a link/picture/video to your own stuff on someone else's page without asking them first. That's RUDE. When someone does that to me, I immediately remove the post, unfriend the person, and block them from future contact. I'm not alone there either. Not the best way to make sales, eh?

7) Groups are a pain in the butt IMO. NEVER add someone to your group without permission. PERIOD. If you have a group, especially if it's languishing, try using a fan page instead. Go easy on the event invites and messages. Try to use a separate opt-out newsletter and drive people toward that instead.

8) Don't send me a private message asking me for money or to donate to your project or whatever. I'll delete it and unfriend you. (I had a guy looking for financing for his film project hit me up this morning, which finally drove me over the edge to write this post.)

9) If you have interests you like to post a LOT about, consider a fan page for those and keep your book fan page specific to that so you don't bore the crap out of your readers. Or if you write erotica and non-erotica, set up a fan page for the book/series/pen name/whatever. Nothing says you can't cross-promote as needed, but people reading children's books might not be interested in your erotica. This does not conflict with tip #4, but you need moderation when posting about non-book stuff.

10) Try to stay away from controversy. Yes, it's your page and I'm not saying don't be true to yourself, but remember you're marketing. Try to avoid politics/religion when pimping your books. (I don't always succeed here myself, but I try.)


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad