Hey Joy, just wanted to get your opinion on a bit of drama I saw over on Twitter - if someone (an author) is verbally abusive towards someone else (an editor) through DMs, is the second person within their right to share the conversation and warn others about the first person? Does it make a difference when the warning is given in a professional context (e.g., editors beware)? Are there established rules for publishers and editors when it comes to receiving this sort of abuse? Thnx, much love
Is this about the editor who got death and suicide threats from the neo-nazi incel and then Rayne Hall complained about how the editor “violated” their “confidential“ text messages? Cause if so, fuck that guy. And I lost so much respect for Hall too tbh.
Like this wasn’t an instance of some innocent person being shamed or mocked for something harmless, the dude literally told her to kill herself because she said she wouldn’t read his work for free or read it ahead of her paying clients. He mocked her other clients, and then when she told him to stop he literally descended into obscenities and threats.
And also, the term “confidential” is an inflammatory and misleading one cause it makes it seem like she violated some sacred trust between editors and clients, when in actuality we are not doctors or priests, and confidentiality is not a thing we are obligated to give you unless contracts are being signed. We can give you our discretion and our trust, but if you’re out there showing your entire ass and threatening people, we are in no way obligated to stay silent about it. (And also: he was not her client, he was some random dude who came uninvited into her private messages and started making demands on her time and attention.)
And editors and publishers talk. We let each other know when someone is a possible threat or obnoxious to deal with. The only reason I never put the author of Crucifix Nail Nipples on blast was because my old publishing house made me sign a non-disclosure about it and I was a silly twenty-something-year-old who didn’t know any better and just desperately wanted to keep my first professional job. I get why they did it, they wanted to avoid drama, but the woman essentially broke the law with what she did to me, and I was allowed no recourse against it.
And let’s be real here, what he did was a crime.
Sending someone a death threat is very serious and against the law, yet somehow she’s in the wrong for sharing the images wherein her life and livelihood are threatened by a mediocre white man who thinks his privilege will protect him? I think the fuck not.
Editors beware: Axl Barnesmakes dangerous threats towards women online when they refuse to give him what he wants. His twitter was also removed (temporarily) for violating Twitter Media Policy. Avoid at all costs.