When aspiring authors attack

Some writing friends of mine recently alerted me to an aspiring author attacking a published author on Twitter. An author was accused of being a fraud because he was doing a three week tour that only went to major areas. When I read the Twitter feed my jaw nearly hit the floor with the one question…Why?
What would possess an aspiring author to do such a thing? I thought by now most people who want to break into publishing know the following tings about the industry:

1. It's a small, small world.
2. Agents/editors may check up on your online presence, and they want someone professional.

So many authors put themselves out in social media and respond to fans when they have no obligation to. They answer questions, support bloggers and give fan insights into their life as a writer (and sometimes their personal life too).

Social media is a great way for people to network, gain valuable industry insight and knowledge and create an online presence that shows agents and editors that you are serious about this journey. Ranting tweets against people in the industry is a good way to burn bridges and expose yourself as someone who is unprofessional. For more on Twitter ettique, check out this post from Angela James.

I'm not going to get into the ins and outs of the argument, but I will say that the published author handled himself like a true professional with logical responses. He impressed me so much I'm going to buy one of his books.