I’ve had a lot of people ask what happened at last night’s event. I’m a pretty private person, but since this happened in a public space, I feel like I should address this. Plus, I don’t want to have to keep repeating the story. 1/

During my final virtual tour event last night, we were subject to a pretty heinous zoom bombing. Trolls were filling the chat with disgusting comments, as well as sending me sexual and threatening private messages. 2/

It was very difficult to focus, but Scott and I tried to continue our conversation. But then the trolls started to play audio filled with hate speech and sexual content. They also started sharing explicit and offensive drawings. 3/

It was a really upsetting way to end my very first book tour. As someone who would be pretty happy being a hermit author, it will probably be a while before I feel comfortable doing events again. 4/

In my other life, I’m a college instructor, and I’ve been holding all my class on Zoom since March, so here’s some tips for bookstores to make sure that your authors and attendees are in a safe environment: 5/

-Don’t put the zoom link up online. Have people register for the event and then email them the link. Yes, this may cut down your attendance, but it’s worth it to keep your attendees safe and secure. 6/

-Require a password. Again, this should not be public. Only those who register should have access.

-Enable the waiting room so that participants are admitted individually by the host.

-Mute participants upon entry, and do no allow them to unmute themselves.
7/

-Disable private chats.

-Disable screen sharing.

-Set up co-hosts that also have control over the meeting room and can help you moderate chat and remove any trolls immediately.

-Be present and moderate. Moderate, moderate, moderate. So much moderation.
8/

That’s it from me today. Again, I’m sorry to those in attendance last night. My anxiety is pretty high right now, but once it’s under control, I’ll try to set up an AMA on Twitter so I can answer the questions I was unable to get to.
Wishing you all a happy Friday.
/end