In case you didn’t know, during my 3 day hiatus a couple of weeks back, I updated my comment policy.  I know most people don’t check this tab regularly (and in all honesty, why should they?), so whenever I change the guidelines I’ll be posting them here on my main page.  Here they are:

“Everything on my blog is my own opinion, except for comments made by others (which are theirs).  I try to be a fair and light-handed moderator, but any spamming or trolling will be deleted without a moment’s hesitation.  Here are some general guidelines to read before you comment:

1.  Feel free to debate with me or any other commenters.  However, your comment will be deleted if the debate degenerates into personal attacks, bigotry and/or racism, sexism, etc.

2.  No swearing in the comments!  I try to keep my blog as family friendly as possible, as it is a YA blog.

3.  Don’t say anything in the comments you wouldn’t say in front of the person you respect most in real life.

4.  Stay on topic.

5.  No one is perfect, but do try to use proper grammar and check your spelling.  I am constantly amazed by the superior quality of commenting on my blog and I would like to keep things this way.

Any violations of these policies can result in deleted comments, temporary suspensions or a permanent commenting ban.  The degree of violation is what determines your punishment.  Minor infractions = chastisement, edited or deleted comments.  Major infractions = suspensions or bans.”

Lately I’ve received some one-liner comments in which a person says “Great article I totally agree!” and gives a link to their site.  This is not acceptable.  It is shameless self-promotion and in the future I will be calling people out on it.  In the past, I simply deleted the whole comment, but from now on I will be deleting the link to your page (in your comment and profile) and adding in one of my own editing comments.  Don’t you appreciate the special treatment?  Not everyone takes time to embarrass trolls personally.

Despite this slightly annoying one-liner trend, as I state in my actual policy, I am constantly amazed at the quality of comments I receive.  For the most part, they are well thought out and bring up some very good points on both articles and book reviews.  The excellent grammar and spelling are also very much appreciated, since everyone here knows that those are two of my biggest pet peeves.

I really do appreciate the thought and time people put into comments.  Thanks guys.  You’re awesome.

A note on tomorrow: On Saturday it is my birthday.  My birthday is the only day out of any given year I will ever stray away from my book discussion/reviewing mandate.  The article tomorrow has a bit of bad language and is on a topic I feel very strongly about.  This isn’t going to be your typical Mad Reviewer-style rant; it’s sort of a throwback to an article I wrote a few years ago on the same topic, which caused the proverbial crap to hit the fan.  If you get offended easily, I would advise you to not check in on Saturday.  Trust me, it’s for the best.