A new commenter with the username of “Yo” just commented on half a dozen different posts.  Since Yo seems intent on kicking the wasps’ nest, I think it’s easier to begin buzzing all in one place, instead of on those scattered posts.

In the comments to Chasing the White Rabbit, Yo says:

Not bad, good title, not sure why it made it on this site, lots of jealous people exist in the world I guess.

Ah, yes.  The only reason we would have an opinion other than yours is jealousy, obviously! Although why we wouldn’t concentrate on truly successful covers instead of ones that are, at best, marginal is left unexplained.

In the comments to The End The Book: The Disappearance, Yo says:

Good cover image fitting for the plot of the story, only children or the illiterate who don’t read judge a book solely on it’s cover…

Actually, illiterate people are the ones who think that “judging a cover” and “judging a book by its cover” are the same thing. Illiterate people also don’t realize that I’ve written a full page answering that oft-repeated, never justified “don’t judge a book by its cover” cliche.  (Illiterate people also don’t understand how commas are supposed to work.)

In the comments to Saving Gideon: Growing Years: The Angel Chronicles, Yo replies to a comment asking whether it’s really appropriate to show angels dressed in Roman armor, giving the persecution of the early church by Rome:

Actually many a Roman Solider converted…the reason why Constantine made it the official religion…it’s best you critique the cover, not the history as your obviously are illiterate when it comes to basic history…

Actually actually, Constantine was Emperor almost three hundred years after the death of Jesus — three centuries which were largely characterized by brutal oppression of Christians by Rome.  Please enlighten us as to how a span that long is something to be entirely ignored in your “basic history.” (Of note: Now we are encouraged to critique the cover, whereas earlier it was tantamount to “judging a book by its cover”?  Whatever stick lies at hand, I suppose…)

In the comments to Without Any Warning, Yo says:

Many Best Sellers have had very little for cover, ever hear of Catch 22 by Heller, I got it right next to my computer and all the cover says is Catch 22 in red and the background all white…you guys really really need to bone up on your book selling history….

So you’re saying that minimalist is automatically good? Or that the cover to Without Any Warning is the equal to that of Catch-22 (please note the correct title, complete with hyphen)? Or that the criticism leveled at this cover was solely because of its simplicity?  (The answer to all three is No, by the way, in case you’re confused.)

In the comments to the page “Copyright Concerns?,” Yo says:

“I am an Amazon and Smashwords affiliate”

but how do you find time to do this site if your making money being a affiliate? It doesn’t make sense,,unless your a lowball player and this site is a Catharsis for you not making much money…i get it…

There’s so much stupid here. Do you, Yo, know what an “affiliate” is? It means that my links from this site to Amazon and Smashwords are monetized; if someone clicks through and buys the book in question, I get a referral fee. This site is not something separate from and conflicting with being an affiliate, it’s how I am an affiliate. Your attempt to get off a half-assed insult only showcases your ignorance.

I think Yo left some other comments, but really, I already feel like I’m swatting a fly with a Buick.

On the other hand, it’s someone who believes that knowing the author personally is the only way to appreciate the quality of the book (or its cover). In other words, a moron. Details here.

Freshly published today, an anthology I co-edited: Shared Nightmares!

Twelve authors— including New York Times bestseller Larry Correia, #1 Amazon bestseller Michaelbrent Collings, Prometheus Award winner Sarah Hoyt, Campbell Award nominee Max Gladstone, and Hugo nominee Howard Tayler—take you to the dark side of the dream world, where phantasms and fears become frighteningly real.

And here’s the big news for LBC readers: I’ll give you a copy FREE.

FREE, folks! FREE!!1!

Email me at nshumate at gmail dot com, and I’ll give you the coupon code to download the ebook free from Smashwords.

“But Nathan, what’s the catch?”

Only this: By taking this free copy, you commit to posting a review of it somewhere — on Facebook or Amazon or Smashwords or Goodreads or your blog or a forum or whatever — within the next six weeks.  Note that I’m not requiring you to post a good review of it (though I’m expecting it, because I think it’s an awesome anthology), just an honest one.

And if you’re not up for deadlined reading, you can still buy yourself a copy, in print at Amazon, or ebook at Amazon or Smashwords.

That’s the name of a new tumblr blog I created over the weekend on a whim, featuring those items on Ebay which the sellers frankly admit they can’t identify but will sell anyway.  It’s going to show up on the update feed on the right soon, but you can check it out in the meantime.