Dear Authors: Stay Off Goodreads, It's Not For You
Out of all the reasons I’ve had to pull on my ranty panties over the years, this is by far the most ridiculous reason.
Picture this: A debut author writes an essay collection that’s picked up by a Big 5 publisher. The book has all the makings of a bestseller, so the publisher throws a lot of marketing dollars behind it. The book appears on hype lists all over the internet and the week it’s published, you can’t read anything book news without seeing it. And all the reviews indicate it’s well-earned every bit of hype it’s received.
Sounds pretty much perfect, right? In a nutshell, that’s what happened to Lauren Hough’s Leaving Isn’t the Hardest Thing.
When I heard about the book, I was SO excited. I recommended it to both of my libraries, which is something I do even when I end up buying a book. I was excitedly waiting for it to arrive when I saw the author bullying reviewers because they gave 4 stars instead of 5. Seriously?? Four stars is excellent! Many authors dream of getting 4-star reviews.
All book bloggers are different, though I personally tend to post only positive reviews of books because I’d much rather give my time and attention to books I want to encourage people to read instead of harping on about why someone shouldn’t read a particular book. I receive no joy from not loving a book. If I took the time to read it, it means I did so with the highest hope that I would love it. Every time I pick up a book, I hope to be able to give it five stars, though that doesn’t always happen. And as a soon-to-be author myself, I have no desire to tear an author down arbitrarily. All of my favorite books have been written by authors and I long to join their ranks. I want authors to thrive.
My propensity to only publish positive reviews isn’t to imply I’m dishonest or don’t have negative opinions. The ranty panties posts are where I talk about publishers giving out book deals like birdseed at a wedding to unrepentant racists, authors being ableist by insisting that listening to audiobooks isn’t “really reading,” and where I discuss issues in the book blogging world. This, unfortunately, includes book bloggers being harassed, stalked, and otherwise treated poorly by authors over their reviews.
I remember being flabbergasted in 2014 when author Kathleen Hale stalked a book blogger and Goodreads reviewer who didn’t enjoy her book. As if the stalking itself wasn’t bad enough, Hale bragged about her stalking online, thinking her actions justified given the reviewer’s negative opinion of her work. The implication is that the reader owed Hale a positive review at all costs, even if that’s incongruent with the reviewer’s actual opinion of the work.
Thinking this was surely an isolated incident, I happily continued book blogging––then it started happening to me. I received angry emails from authors wanting to know why I wouldn’t review their books (when if they’d bothered to read my review policy, they’d know I don’t read political thrillers, for instance) and emails from authors demanding to know why I gave one of their books two stars and another four stars on Goodreads without bothering to explain my reasoning in a written review. Again, the implication being that I owed them an explanation for my singular subjective opinion. Each time it happens, I feel the author is bullying me into changing my review. Each time, I calmly explain that’s not a discussion I intend to have and I wish them well. My review remains. The only thing that changes is my resolve to never come within a mile of their books ever again.
Though I’ve fortunately never had an author with 66,000 followers put me on blast, I understand how the reviewers of Leaving Isn’t the Hardest Thing felt when author Lauren Hough berated them online for their Goodreads reviews. Most beguiling of all is that Hough was upset over four-star reviews when Goodreads only allows up to five stars. The written review attached to the four-star rating explained that the reader felt it was really more like four-and-a-half stars, though Goodreads doesn’t allow partial star ratings. The fact that the reviewer chose to round down rather than up incensed Hough to the point that she bullied the reviewers on Twitter, siccing her tens of thousands of followers after them.
It’s not easy being the author of a memoir, such that Leaving Isn’t the Hardest Thing is, with stories laden with trigger warnings and trauma. A review of the book feels like a review of the author’s life. Nonetheless, however beautifully a book is written, however, many Big 5 publishers fought to acquire it, and however many tens of thousands of marketing dollars went into ensuring its bestseller status, none of that entitles a book to perfect ratings. And none of that gives authors permission to bully reviewers.
As a book blogger and writer of deeply personal essays myself, what I wish authors understood is that Goodreads is not for authors––it’s for readers. Reviews are for readers to engage with the work, not so authors can find performance reviews or readers to vent their frustrations upon. The few weeks after a book is published, especially a deeply personal one, are challenging. Those frustrated rants about reviews, should authors choose to read them, are for an author’s therapist and group text––not for reviewers.
Goodreads is far from perfect. Often the complaint, as is Hough’s in this case, is that readers are allowed to review a book they haven’t read. After her bullying came to light, book bloggers banded together in solidarity to tank their star rating on Goodreads, most of whom did so without having read the book and with no intention to read it. In the book blogging world, this is a common form of activism. Goodreads users did the same thing to Kathleen Hale and to Sherman Alexie after his sexual assault allegations were revealed, among others. Book bloggers have small followings individually and may feel they lack the agency to retaliate against injustices in the writing world, so banding together to artificially lower Goodreads reviews is one of the few meaningful acts of retribution they have. Whether the book contains problematic elements or the author is an oppressor, book reviewers feel the least they can do is warn other readers away from the book.
This is one of the many reasons authors gain nothing from reading their own reviews. By the time a book appears on Goodreads it’s either already out or will be out in the very near future. It’s unlikely the author is going to want to rewrite the book based on what reviewers say, nor is the publisher likely to go for that. Furthermore, by the time reviewers have gotten hold of the book, the author has received feedback on the manuscript from dozens of people––including their fellow writer friends, their agent, their editor(s), beta readers, and blurbers. It’s not a secret what people think of the book, so there’s no practical reason to seek out reviews, especially negative ones.
The writing life is rife with insecurity, imposter syndrome, and navigating rejection. Writing is a career that it’s notoriously difficult to make a sustainable living at without supplementing the writing with teaching, speaking, or other work. There’s no denying that writers have a hell of a time with their mental health (I know––I take an anxiety pill every day), so there’s no point in courting mental angst by reading one’s own reviews.
There’s also nothing to be gained from ranting about those negative reviews (or in Hough’s case, perceived negative reviews since four stars is arguably positive) on social media. At best, the author might attract some short-lived pity sales and at worst they ward off prospective readers because readers worry anything less than complete and utter adoration will get them shouted down on the internet.
It’s an act of bravery to write about one’s life and put it out into the world for public consumption, but what I need authors to understand is that once that manuscript is out in the world, it’s no longer yours. An author’s story is theirs and their life is yours, but their art is now in the hands of readers. Anything an author is unable or unwilling to potentially be criticized about should not appear in their book. Bravery is not only in writing about one’s life––it’s being able to accept that one’s story will always be most meaningful to the person who lived it. If others connect with the book, it’s a privilege, not a right.
I can’t help thinking of how many authors have responded (or not responded) more appropriately in the face of so much worse than a four-star review. I think of aspiring authors who had their books turned down by racist editors and authors who have received homophobic reviews of their books. I think of authors who chose to read their own reviews, perhaps against their better judgment and did not take out the frustration on the reviewers themselves. I think about the authors who are not allowed to make problematic stoned tweets then weaponize their marginalized identities to avoid the consequences of their actions. I think about the marginalized authors who are not granted the grace of having a bad day, or even a bad moment. I think about the authors who don’t have the luxury of complaining about a four or four-and-a-half star review because their publishing houses didn’t decide to put the marketing dollars behind their book that would guarantee its bestseller status.
I also think about the power dynamics at play. Reviewers on Goodreads are posting their reviews on the platform alone or perhaps on their blogs, which, if they’re anything like mine, get a couple of thousand views a month, tops. It’s unlikely that Goodreads reviewers are publishing reviews in major newspapers and trade magazines. Nearly all of us are lay people––casual readers who read and review books as a hobby. An author with tens of thousands of followers and dedicated fans punching down on individual reviewers is a confusing and unnecessary abuse of power.
And I can’t think of the power dynamics at work without thinking of how many book bloggers have stopped blogging or reviewing at all over the years because bad behaving authors have frightened them out of it. Is the book world stronger with the loss of these voices? I don’t think so, because often the reviewers bullied out of blogging are themselves marginalized and champion the work of marginalized authors. It may only take one author behaving badly to scare them off, but how many other books and authors aren’t being uplifted because that platform is no longer active?
Over the past seven years, I’ve been book blogging, I’ve worked to build a dedicated readership and I’m grateful for the time and attention my readers give Off the Beaten Shelf. I owe it to my readers to be honest. They visit Off the Beaten Shelf for my opinions and it doesn’t behoove me to lie to them. Book bloggers provide free marketing to authors and are overall a vital part of the publishing ecosystem. Like any ecosystem, occasionally something gets eaten. What one creature finds to be a sustaining meal will be turned away by another. That doesn’t mean the ecosystem needs to be burned down. It means we all––authors, publishers, bloggers, and readers––have to learn how to cohabitate within it.
And that means I’m going to keep calling out authors who behave badly and make the ecosystem unsafe for book bloggers. These ranty panties aren’t going anywhere.
Lauren has since done a lot of dirty deleting, though screenshots of her bullying are still circulating on social media. I hope her publisher, publicist, friends, or someone has been able to get through to her and explain that cannibalizing your readership is not the move. My goal here is not to discourage anyone from writing, but rather to encourage authors not to do ignorant shit that harms themselves and others in this industry.
