Last night I had a reading at a bookstore in Bellingham, WA. I was doubtful that there would be much of a crowd, and had prepared myself accordingly. It was indeed a small reading, but the bigger challenge was dealing with the bookstore manager, who felt the need to get sort of simpering and patronizing about the teeny turn-out. I was confused by her behavior, with all the apologetic smiles and condolences. First of all, I’ve gone to reading events where no one showed up (despite TWO authors reading!), so thanks lady, but I’m fine. No really. I’m fine.

Why? Because I’m a blogger. And we have thick fucking skins. This reading may have been small, but there was no one calling me fat. There was no one calling my mom a dyke. There was no one giving graphic fictional details about how my husband is cheating on me — and why. There was no one telling me I was poorly dressed or had ugly toes. No one telling me that I didn’t have a right to be there, or that I should shut the fuck up. These are all things that I’ve been told over the years by readers of Electrolicious.

Prompted by Kathy Sierra’s terrifying experiences, there’s been a lot of buzz recently about female bloggers catching an undue amount of harassment and flack on the web. I’ve never been a male blogger, so I can’t really compare my experience … but I will say that compared to the attacks I’ve received via this website, going to a reading where only five people show up is a cake walk. There’s no need for a simpering bookstore manager to try to make me feel better.

Simply stated, no one in the publishing industry can hold a candle to the cruelty of bloggers. And while that’s sad and fucked up, it’s certainly been excellent practice for the realities of book promotion, which is hard, demoralizing work at times. But sad and demoralizing I can take — thanks to the toughening up I’ve had to do over the last 6.5 years of dealing with haters and trolls on the web.