Should Authors Insult Customers

File this under the category “The things authors do that make me shake my head in wonder.”

There’s an author who also sells publishing services. Rather than identify him or her, let’s call him RedShirt.

RedShirt puts out a brochure listing his services. It’s an expensive piece, with color pictures of the books he’s worked on, and a detailed description of what he does. He comes across as very positive, very informative, and very supportive.

He also lists things that he won’t do and it boils down to two things. He won’t plagiarize, and he won’t work with Christians.

Not only won’t he work with Christians, RedShirt’s very emphatic about it. He devotes a paragraph to explaining that he thinks Christians are misguided in thinking that they can pray away “poverty, sexuality, race, or gender.”

(Pauses, takes a sip of coffee.)

This disturbs me. Not that RedShirt believes this. It’s a free country. Helping someone publish a book is a creative undertaking, and he shouldn’t work with people whose values he doesn’t share. I wouldn’t cite anti-discrimination laws to force him to accept work from a Christian group, any more than I would force a bakery to design a cake for a same-sex couple’s wedding.

No, RedShirt’s statement bothers me for two reasons. First, he demonstrated an inability to write clearly. The sentence about praying away “poverty, sexuality, race, or gender” is confusing. How do you pray away a race or gender? Why would you?

Second, RedShirt deliberately goes out of his way, in his promotional material, to attack a group of people who might still want to buy his services. Christians write children’s books that don’t mention God. They write memoirs without intending to proselytize.

Does this mean he shouldn’t mention this? Of course not, but he could have phrased it in a way that doesn’t intend to hurt. He could have written, “I’m not comfortable with religious material.” If he knew book packagers who deal in this area, he could offer to give the customer a reference.

It’s all in using the right words.

There’s another reason why this statement – even if it doesn’t apply to me – would make me reluctant to use RedShirt’s services. It’s the vehemence of RedShirt’s objections to religious content. It stands out sharply against the positive tone of the rest of the brochure. How easy will RedShirt be to work with? Would anything I say or do trip RedShirt into objecting?

So I’m not saying you shouldn’t talk about subjects that matter to you. That may be your jam to do so. I’m just saying you should think about the effect your words may have and decide if they’re really worth saying.