With my book coming out this fall, of course my brain turned to the concept of reviews. If you publish a book, traditionally or otherwise, you are going to get reviews. Some may be awesome, some…not so much. And you know what? That’s okay. Nobody’s writing is going to be everybody’s cup of tea. I fully expect to get some negative reviews.
However, sometimes I wonder if it’s better to not leave a review at all than to leave a negative one. Obviously, there are reasons to drop a bad review, such as plagiarism, blatant AI use, or an egregious amount of grammar errors. But if you just didn’t like the story or writing style? I would advise leaving it alone.
Review bombing, however, is NEVER okay. It even cost one author her agent and contract.
For those not in the know, review bombing is when a person leaves a series of bad reviews, sometimes making multiple accounts to do so. Unfortunately, Goodreads has a bit of a problem with this practice, though I understand it has gotten a better. This is why I would advise writers to not take bad reviews to heart. There’s always going to be a couple of jerks out there. Don’t let them get you down.
And for the love of all that’s good and holy, don’t be like Cait Corrain. This story made the news a couple of years back, and for good reason. It serves as a cautionary tale for any who might be inclined to try a stunt like that.
The concise version is that Ms. Corrain had a debut novel coming out, and instead of just being happy and proud of herself that she managed to land an agent and a traditional publishing deal, she went on Goodreads, made a bunch of fake accounts, and gave horrible, negative reviews for other debut authors. Worse, the people she targeted were overwhelmingly BIPOC. Malicious negative reviews are bad enough. Intentionally targeting specific demographics? Yeah, that’s about as dirty pool as it gets.
She got busted in pretty short order. Then she made an ‘apology’ which to my eyes was half hearted and self-serving. She blamed just about everything except herself. Here is a list of the fallout from the debacle:
Her agent dropped her.
Her publishers (US and UK) dropped her.
Others who partnered with her for book releases dropped her and cut ties.
Her book has not released. This incident happened back in 2024, so about a year and a half ago. I searched around, and have seen no evidence of her book being published in any format.
More than likely, Ms. Corrain has tanked ANY possibility that she will ever be traditionally published. With that kind of behavior, no agent in his or her right mind will touch her, and even smaller publishers would think twice about offering a contract. At this point, her only option would be to self-publish. However, with the self-inflicted damage to her reputation, I have a hard time seeing that ever happening. It’s a shame, too. Her book looked really interesting, and the cover art was gorgeous.
So, aspiring authors, here’s a few takeaways from this.
-Your digital footprint matters more than you think. Once you put something online, it’s there forever, no matter how you try to erase it. Yes, agents and publishers WILL look you up. Bad online behavior can break you.
-Review bombing will never have positive consequences. Authors should build each other up, not tear each other down.
-The publishing world is a lot smaller than you might think. Agents and publishers do talk to each other, and it’s really hard to get out from under a bad reputation. Keep your online presence positive.
With love, your quirky, foul-mouthed delight of an author,
Hilary