Saddam Hussein

Robert Stanek
« on: February 16, 2016, 04:51:04 PM »
Has anyone ever heard of this guy?  Robert Stanek is a self-published fantasy author whose entire business model is one giant bluff - rather than actually having fans, he just tricks people into buying his books by spreading the illusion that he's a very successful and popular author.  To this end, he's created hundreds of sockpuppet accounts on Amazon to give his own books endless five-star reviews while trashing his competitors with a flood of one-star reviews.  He's also re-published and marketed some of his books as being something new while changing nothing but the cover, made legal threats against websites that call him out while pretending to be a lawyer, and poorly Photoshopped a picture of himself with author Brian Jacques to make himself look more important.  That last instance is actually my personal favorite:



Some people on the Internet accused him of simply inserting himself into the picture when he wasn't there in real life, but it's actually a bit more subtle than that.  What he did was remove some of the trash that was in front of him on the table so it would look like he and Jacques were on a booksigning tour together, rather than him just being a guy who showed up and posed for a picture with Jacques.  Anyway, I can't recommend this website enough if you want to learn more about this fascinating man.  Imagine if Stanek spent this much time and effort on actually trying to improve as an author instead of this elaborate hoax.

Rama Set

Re: Robert Stanek
« Reply #1 on: February 16, 2016, 05:54:55 PM »
Have you read any of his books?

Saddam Hussein

Re: Robert Stanek
« Reply #2 on: February 17, 2016, 09:21:19 PM »
Only some of the excerpts on Amazon.  From what I've read, he's a pretty bad writer.  Not the worst ever or anything, but his prose is stilted and clunky, his stories are full of worn-out ideas, etc.  Generic fantasy, in other words.  Possibly even more generic than Morrowind.  Also, Robert Stanek shat directly into my soul.

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Offline Shane

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Re: Robert Stanek
« Reply #3 on: February 19, 2016, 08:41:30 AM »
Never heard of him, and he doesnt really seem relevant in the mainstream so who cares
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Offline Roundy

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Re: Robert Stanek
« Reply #4 on: February 19, 2016, 04:36:49 PM »
Saddam cares.
Dr. Frank is a physicist. He says it's impossible. So it's impossible.
My friends, please remember Tom said this the next time you fall into the trap of engaging him, and thank you. :)

Saddam Hussein

Re: Robert Stanek
« Reply #5 on: February 19, 2016, 08:34:59 PM »
Yes, I care.  It's a very interesting story.

Re: Robert Stanek
« Reply #6 on: February 24, 2016, 07:47:43 PM »
I like his schtick. I'm going to buy all his books.
You don't think I'm going to post here sober, do you?  ???

I have embraced my Benny Franko side. I'm sleazy.