in october, smith wrote that local citizens were "very much excited" by the prospect of publication, but their excitement was not the sort that he had hoped for. the "palmyra freeman" called the prospective book "the greatest piece of superstition that has come to our knowledge." in september, abner cole began a weekly newspaper, the "palmyra reflector", and because he used grandin's press, cole had access to the unbound sheets and reprinted mocking excerpts until smith threatened legal action. many of the local citizens saw the book of mormon as blasphemous and not in line with orthodox christianity. because of this, many of them had tried to persuade grandin to stop the book's publication. unsuccessful, they agreed to boycott the book by not purchasing the printed copies.