Authors hit by bad reviews on Goodreads before review copies are even circulated

Authors are reportedly being hit by negative reviews on the book review site Goodreads before proof copies are even circulated, with the review site allegedly failing to remove reviews.

Crime writer Jo Furniss was one of several authors to share her recent experience of the Amazon-owned review site with The Bookseller: “A lot of authors share the soul-destroying experience of seeing their books trashed before they are even available to genuine readers,” she said. “Worse, like me, they feel they are given no protection by one of the biggest platforms in the industry. What is Goodreads doing to protect authors from online abuse?” 

In her comment piece for The Bookseller, Furniss wrote: “It is months until the publication of my next thriller, Guilt Trip (Bonnier Zaffre). The novel is not available anywhere yet. Not even advance review copies. So why does Guilt Trip already have a single two-star rating on Goodreads? 

“That was my thought process when I skimmed over the title recently while on Goodreads doing pre-publication admin. I’m not a masochist, I don’t usually linger over bad reviews. But an impossible mystery intrigues me, so I clicked.”

After responding to the anonymous reviewer’s low rating, Furniss explained they then complained about the comment – which prompted an email from Goodreads explaining that it advises authors to “refrain from confronting users who give their books a low rating”. Her comment was then removed. She added: “That was on the 8th May. I followed up on my report of their behaviour and got a reply saying Goodreads will investigate. I followed up again and got no reply. I have heard nothing since [though the review has been removed after The Bookseller contacted Goodreads].”

She explained that she “doesn’t care about one petty review”, and said that: “It’s no more than a gnat bite on the thick skin you need for this business.” Furniss said that she cares more that she “doesn’t get the same protection as the troll”, adding: “Their actions are a form of online abuse. When Goodreads fails to respond to reports of harassment from members against authors, they let the abuse continue.

“Also, book ratings do matter. Otherwise, why are we all here? One friend who writes crime for a digital imprint was advised by an editor to retire a long-running series because the average rating for the most recent instalment slipped below 4.2 stars. So every keyboard-licking troll who fires off a volley of one-star ratings for their own strange and probably sad reasons, has the power to affect a writer’s career.”

Long-time romance author Milly Johnson said: “I had a one-star rating for a book that hadn’t even been seen by my copy editor. When I raised it with Goodreads they wouldn’t interfere as they said the reviewer had a perfect right to predict if they’d enjoy it or not. I’m afraid at that point I washed my hands of them as a serious review site that should have some code of conduct. We all get bad reviews but at least we should expect any review to be fair.” 

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