Rage Marketing

 Something that came up the other day in my interview with Mister D’Souza is Rage marketing.

We know what it is. Someone says something offensive, stupid, or unfunny in order to get clicks. Or they provoke online fights so they can get more eyeballs on their social media profile. BS like that.

You may have noticed, I don’t play those games. Why?

Eh. You know you what? Forget that.

I don’t like me when I’m angry. I literally get sick to my stomach. I’m told that it’s adrenaline dumping into the system due to having redhead genes. Something about overproduction of adrenaline in case of crisis? I don’t know, it’s a half-remembered piece of biological trivia.

But there’s been a lot of prayer and a lot of time invested in controlling my temper.

On bad days, I will crush you.

On good days, I will just unload on you; say something stupid, and I will educate you on why you’re wrong in intricate detail.

But these days, I can’t even be bothered with that.

Why? Because social media isn’t a real place. There are few if any real people, and I think I follow them.

This is my most recent angry moment. This tool’s “nativists” burned down Catholic churches, and advocated pogroms on Irish and Italians.

And I think I was pretty restrained.

But do I think this guy will go out and burn down a church and shoot up the fife and drum corps of a police department? No. Because this guy doesn’t exist. He’s not real. It’s X. Nothing is real. It’s not a real place. There are no real people. And if he did exist, he wouldn’t have the balls to do anything about it.

I’m sure that one of his 60,000 followers might get ideas, because crazy people are everywhere. But this pissant is just another coward who will quietly delete their posts afterwards, or pretend they never said it, hoping that no one will remember the post existed.

Sure, there are guys like Larry Correia who will participate in internet fights as spectator sport. But no one learns anything from them. They’re not debates. No one walks away any smarter. And those fights won’t get me to read his high fantasy series.1

And there are people who will start fights just to get attention— because they are small people who only get a sense of self worth out of getting eyeballs on their posts. These people start fights, then pretend to play the victim afterwards. They’re crybullies who pretend to be marketing books.

I’m of the opinion that my books should earn your attention by being fun. By being entertaining. I don’t believe in rage marketing.

Hell, if rage marketing WORKED, you’d think someone who touts himself as the “Rage-o-holic” would sell the most copies online.2 Instead, I think it’s Jon Van Stry.

So, short version: I don’t like being angry. I don’t think it’s healthy for me. And, while we’re at it, I don’t really think it works that well.

If I ever got “FU money,” no one will ever see me online ever again. I will delete my social media. And then, maybe, I’ll buy a small film studio, and make books into films… or I’ll just buy all the really cool guns and a mountaintop fortress to live in, and never come out again. Either way.

Anyway. I don’t like me when I’m angry. And if you make me angry, my solution is simple: I block you. It’s for my sanity, and your protection.

Buy my books

1

Yes, I hate his Son of the Black Sword novels. I read book one, and found it boring and forgettable.

2

Instead, his artist threw a public temper tantrum about how it didn’t sell enough books to make it worth his time. A tantrum that I heard about second and third hand, from multiple sources. And no, I don’t follow either the author or the artist.