Author who wrote bad book reviews for authors of color via fake accounts dropped by publisher
"Crown of Starlight" author Cait Corrain claimed she was in the middle of a mental breakdown when she spent months using fake accounts to target authors of color on Goodreads while giving her own novel positive reviews.
An author will no longer see her novel published in 2024 following the determination she was behind a phony Goodreads account that posted negative ratings for authors of color.
According to The Washington Post, “Crown of Starlight” author Cait Corrain left one-star reviews for fellow writers for months on the popular Amazon-owned review site while giving her own sci-fi fantasy novel excellent ratings.
The uproar from literary fans and fellow authors prompted Del Rey Books, an imprint of Penguin Random House, to declare on Monday that Corrain’s book will not be published next year.
“We are aware of the ongoing discussion around author Cait Corrain,” Del Ray Books wrote on X. “Crown of Starlight is no longer on our 2024 publishing schedule.”
The publisher’s decision to drop Corrain and “Crown of Starlight” caused her to lose other partnerships, including the most important one shared with her now-former literary agent, Rebecca Podos.
“I deeply appreciate the patience of those directly impacted by last week’s events as I worked through a difficult situation,” Podos said on X.
Goodreads described “Crown of Starlight” as “the first book in a snarky, queer, lushly romantic duology set in a galaxy of monstrous mortals, bloodthirsty gods, and love fierce enough to shatter the cosmos.”
The 560-page paperback, part of a two-book contract Corrain had signed with Del Rey, garnered positive early reviews and was set to be released on May 14, 2024.
However, all of that changed last week. Illumicrate, a book subscription service, announced that “Crown of Starlight” will no longer be included in its May 2024 package. Daphne Press, Corrain’s specialty press affiliate, also shared it will no longer publish “Crown of Starlight” or any other works on that agreement.
Corrain acknowledged what she did in a letter on X Tuesday, claiming her lies were motivated in part by her difficulties with depression and substance abuse.
“Let me be extremely clear: while I might not have been sober or of sound mind during this time, I accept responsibility for the pain and suffering I caused,” she wrote, claiming that the past few days consisted of “going through withdrawal as I sobered up enough to be brutally honest with you and myself.”
Books
She added, “I know some of you won’t forgive me, and I recognize that you’re not required to.”
However, the authors of color targeted by Corrain, including Molly X. Chang, Bethany Baptiste, K.M. Enright, Kamilah Cole and Frances White — who all have books coming out between January and August of next year — pointed out that her letter was not a proper apology to the debuting authors who suffered as a result of the negative reviews she gave them.
According to screenshots of the exchange posted by Baptiste, Corrain initially denied the allegations of review-bombing and writing favorable reviews for her book in a Slack channel for debut writers. She also claimed to have evidence that the review bombing was tied to her friend, “Lilly,” although she did not provide any contact information for the individual.
Corrain said on Tuesday that she was experiencing a mental breakdown when she “made up the world’s sloppiest chat” blaming a non-existent friend and sending phony apologies for the actions of said ‘friend’, only making things worse.
She wrote in her apology letter that she would attempt to contact each of the authors and seek extensive psychiatric care and rehabilitation in the aftermath of the review-bombing scandal.
Amazon paid an estimated $150 million for Goodreads in 2013. The review site allows anybody, not just those who have received advance copies, to leave ratings months before a book is released, subjecting writers to review-bombing operations. According to authors and critics, there is little moderation or remedy for reporting abuse on Amazon’s marketplace.
Even as Goodreads’ strength and impact in publishing has risen, review bombing — intentional harassment via bad reviews that have resulted in the cancellation of books and their authors — has been a long-standing concern for the platform, The Post reported.
“Goodreads takes the responsibility of maintaining the authenticity and integrity of ratings and protecting our community of readers and authors very seriously,” a spokesperson told The Post, adding that it removed` all of Corrain’s negative reviews. “We have clear reviews and community guidelines, and we remove reviews and/or accounts that violate these guidelines.”
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