How Review Bombing Can Tank a Book Before It's Published

[mainer]

Cecilia Rabess figured her debut novel, “Everything’s Fine,” would spark criticism: The story centers on a young Black woman working at Goldman Sachs who falls in love with a conservative white co-worker with bigoted views.

But she didn’t expect a backlash to strike six months before the book was published.

In January, after a Goodreads user who had received an advanced copy posted a plot summary that went viral on Twitter, the review site was flooded with negative comments and one-star reviews, with many calling the book anti-Black and racist. Some of the comments were left by users who said they had never read the book, but objected to its premise.

“It may look like a bunch of one-star reviews on Goodreads, but these are broader campaigns of harassment,” Rabess said. “People were very keen not just to attack the work, but to attack me as well.”

I wish Goodreads would tighten up its policies so that users can't give 1-star reviews to books they haven't read, or books that haven't even been WRITTEN. My next book hasn't gone out to reviewers yet, but some random reader in Europe has already given it a mediocre rating.


https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/26/books/goodreads-review-bombing.html?unlocked_article_code=u8CnhMxR7ziM-3VqlgXOQAfraRjxrQwIlENpEbiRr0G7hb30_mDP5jCX-AmWY4ai7Ck0xmpk4nikWLRJ-2MZ88Qcp9Wx5jZOC4wit4dhgTmjzdObGlLI7JMNEH1ReQWrkdGBCdhxqv9KoJyqYCxQX9gezutqQy7iIkROYBgHiPOYLLYf7EY_ZMzJz1i1sOEEw-3duOPs7aQ6rg8puZdAY3fXeL12M1Z9x9XGiEH2u_7Cy8EE07S3q0TqXxNWho4a6Bvb4QnnTlzgnNxeGHomblaOqidnBwgTAPtrcWSmlWp4YSawSE0gWfVpuij7z-GhHz9IU_Di1BzlC-ft2R-K0g&smid=url-share

[madaboutharry]

1. The late Anne Rice had nothing good to say about Goodreads.

She called people who wrote gratuitously negative reviews "Goodreads Bullies."