And of course the reviewers are worst of all, for failing to point out that a book must on no account be bought or read. The complaint about money being ill-spent seems a little unfair. Many people imagine that authors have an easy life, collecting royalty cheques and basking in praise. But there are thorns in every bouquet of roses an author gets, and personal attacks and jealous resentments. The more we're attacked, however, the more scar tissue we grow, until finally nothing really hurts any more.
Nothing kills off talent so efficiently as too much praise.