Cait Corrain review bombing controversy

Last updated

In late 2023, aspiring fantasy author Cait Corrain created multiple fake accounts on Goodreads to review bomb other authors of color. Del Rey Books and agent Rebecca Podos canceled their contracts with Corrain.

Events

On December 5, 2023, author Xiran Jay Zhao posted on Twitter, "If you as a debut author are going to make a bunch of fake Goodreads accounts one-star-bombing fellow debuts you're threatened by can you at least not make it so obvious". [1] After Internet speculation on the author's identity, Xiran named the author as Cait Corrain and shared a Google Doc showing screenshots of low ratings from accounts allegedly owned by Corrain. [2]

Corrain issued an apology, saying that they had recently "suffered a complete psychological breakdown" after "fighting a losing battle against depression, alcoholism and substance abuse". [3] They entered an "intensive psychiatric care" facility on December 12, 2023. [4]

The fantasy novel Crown of Starlight was scheduled to be Cait Corrain's debut title, published in 2024 through Del Rey, a science fiction and fantasy imprint of Penguin Random House. [5] As of December 12, Corrain was no longer represented by agent Rebecca Podos. Del Rey and UK publisher Daphne Press also cancelled their contracts with Corrain. [5]

While Corrain initially described the negative reviews as left by a friend and provided screenshots of a conversation between herself and the friend, they later said that the friend had been "non-existent". [6] [7] Internet users also commented that the list of targeted authors included people of color. [8] [6]

The controversy was cited by industry professionals[ who? ] as an example of abuse issues on Goodreads. [9]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Naomi Novik</span> American author (born 1973)

Naomi Novik is an American author of speculative fiction. She is known for the Temeraire series (2006–2016), an alternate history of the Napoleonic Wars involving dragons, and her Scholomance fantasy series (2020–2022). Her standalone fantasy novels Uprooted (2015) and Spinning Silver (2018) were inspired by Polish folklore and the Rumpelstiltskin fairy tale respectively. Novik has won many awards for her work, including the Alex, Audie, British Fantasy, Locus, Mythopoeic and Nebula Awards.

Goodreads is an American social cataloging website and a subsidiary of Amazon that allows individuals to search its database of books, annotations, quotes, and reviews. Users can sign up and register books to generate library catalogs and reading lists. They can also create their own groups of book suggestions, surveys, polls, blogs, and discussions. The website's offices are located in San Francisco.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peter V. Brett</span> American writer

Peter V. Brett is an American fantasy novelist. He is the author of the Demon Cycle, whose first volume was published in the UK by HarperCollins's Voyager imprint in 2008 as The Painted Man and in the US by Del Rey Books as The Warded Man.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael J. Sullivan (author)</span> American novelist

Michael J. Sullivan is an American writer of epic fantasy and science fiction, best known for his debut series The Riyria Revelations, which has been translated into fourteen languages. In 2012 io9 named him one of the "Most Successful Self-Published Sci-Fi and Fantasy Authors". His books have been translated into French, German, Spanish, Czech, Dutch, Polish, Hungarian, Japanese, Georgian, Bulgarian, Russian, Portuguese, Italian and Turkish.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lana Del Rey</span> American singer and songwriter (born 1985)

Elizabeth Woolridge Grant, known professionally as Lana Del Rey, is an American singer and songwriter. Her music is noted for its cinematic quality and exploration of tragic romance, glamour, and melancholia, with frequent references to pop culture and 1950s–1970s Americana. Her vintage Hollywood glamour aesthetic is showcased in her music videos. She is the recipient of various accolades, including an MTV Video Music Award, three MTV Europe Music Awards, two Brit Awards, two Billboard Women in Music awards and a Satellite Award, in addition to nominations for eleven Grammy Awards and a Golden Globe Award. Variety honored her at their Hitmakers Awards for being "one of the most influential singer-songwriters of the 21st century". In 2023, Rolling Stone placed Del Rey on their list of the "200 Greatest Singers of All Time", while their sister publication Rolling Stone UK named her as "The Greatest American Songwriter of the 21st century".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Veronica Roth</span> American author (born 1988)

Veronica Anne Roth is an American novelist and short story writer, known for her bestselling Divergent trilogy which has sold more than 35 million copies worldwide.

<i>Throne of Glass</i> Young adult high fantasy novel series by Sarah J. Maas

Throne of Glass is a high fantasy young adult novel series by American author Sarah J. Maas, beginning with the entry of the same name, released on August 2, 2012. The story follows the journey of Celaena Sardothien, a teenage assassin in a corrupt kingdom with a tyrannical ruler, the King of Adarlan. As the tale progresses, Celaena forms unexpected bonds and uncovers a conspiracy amidst her adventures. The series concluded with the eighth book in October 2018.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marie Lu</span> Chinese-American author (born 1984)

Marie Lu is an American young adult science fiction and fantasy author. She is best known for the Legend series, novels set in a dystopian and militarized future, as well as the Young Elites series, the Warcross series, and Batman: Nightwalker in the DC Icons series.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rainbow Rowell</span> American writer

Rainbow Rowell is an American author known for young adult and adult contemporary novels. Her young adult novels Eleanor & Park (2012), Fangirl (2013), and Carry On (2015) have been subjects of critical acclaim.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">V. E. Schwab</span> American writer (born 1987)

Victoria Elizabeth Schwab is an American writer. She is known for the 2013 novel Vicious, the Shades of Magic series, and The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, which was nominated for the 2020 Locus Award for Best Fantasy Novel. She publishes children's and young adult fiction books under the name Victoria Schwab. She is the creator of the supernatural teen drama series First Kill, based on her short story of the same name originally published in the 2020 anthology Vampires Never Get Old: Tales With Fresh Bite.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leigh Bardugo</span> Israeli–American fantasy author (born 1975)

Leigh Bardugo is an American fantasy author. She is best known for her young adult Grishaverse novels, which include the Shadow and Bone trilogy and the Six of Crows and King of Scars duologies. She also received acclaim for her paranormal fantasy adult debut, Ninth House. The Shadow and Bone and Six of Crows series have been adapted into Shadow and Bone by Netflix, and Ninth House will be adapted by Amazon Studios; Bardugo is an executive producer on both works.

Amie Kaufman is an Australian author. She has authored New York Times bestselling and internationally bestselling science fiction and fantasy for young adults. She is known for the Starbound Trilogy and Unearthed, which she co-authored with Meagan Spooner; for her series The Illuminae Files, co-authored with Jay Kristoff; and for her solo series, Elementals. Her books have been published in over 35 countries.

<i>Age of Myth</i> 2016 book by Michael J. Sullivan

Age of Myth is a high fantasy novel written by Michael J. Sullivan. It was released on June 28, 2016, and is the first book in the Legends of the First Empire series. It was followed by Age of Swords on July 25, 2017.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sylvain Neuvel</span> Canadian science fiction writer

Sylvain Neuvel is a Canadian science fiction writer, linguist, and translator. He is author of the series The Themis Files and Take Them to the Stars.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">R. F. Kuang</span> American fantasy writer (born 1996)

Rebecca F. Kuang is an American fantasy novelist. Her first novel, The Poppy War, was released in 2018, followed by the sequels The Dragon Republic in 2019, and The Burning God in 2020. Kuang released a stand-alone novel, Babel, or the Necessity of Violence in 2022. Her latest release is Yellowface, a satirical novel which was published in 2023. Kuang holds an undergraduate degree in international economics with a minor in Asian Studies from Georgetown University and graduate degrees in Sinology from Magdalene College, Cambridge, and University College, Oxford, and is currently pursuing a PhD at Yale University.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jordan Ifueko</span> Nigerian American writer

Jordan Ifueko is a Nigerian American writer of fantasy and young adult fiction. She is best known for her novel Raybearer, which became a New York Times bestseller, and its sequel, Redemptor. Her third novel set in the world of Raybearer, The Maid and the Crocodile, was released August 2024. She also writes short stories, which have been published in Strange Horizons.

Xiran Jay Zhao is a Canadian author and social media creator. Their debut novel, Iron Widow, became a No. 1 New York Times Best Seller and won the 2021 BSFA Award for Best Book for Younger Readers. They won the 2024 Astounding Award for Best New Writer.

<i>Iron Widow</i> 2021 novel by Xiran Jay Zhao

Iron Widow is a 2021 young adult science fantasy novel by Canadian writer Xiran Jay Zhao. The novel is a mecha reimagining of the rise of China’s first and only female Emperor Wu Zetian set in the nation of Huaxia, a futuristic reinterpretation of Medieval China.

<i>The Love Hypothesis</i> 2021 romance novel by Ali Hazelwood

The Love Hypothesis is a romance novel by Ali Hazelwood, published September 14, 2021 by Berkley Books. Originally published online in 2018 as Head Over Feet, a Star Wars fan fiction work about the "Reylo" ship between Rey and Kylo Ren, the novel follows a Ph.D. candidate and a professor at Stanford University who pretend to be in a relationship.

Greek mythology retelling is a literary genre where stories from classic Greek mythology are placed in either a contemporary or futuristic setting. Stories from this genre aim to combine mythological themes like birth, death, and love with modern philosophies of feminism and empowerment.

References

  1. ↑ Murray, Conor (2023-12-13). "Author Cait Corrain Loses Book Deal For 'Review Bombing' On Goodreads—Here's Why It's A Longstanding Problem For The Platform". Forbes. Retrieved 2023-12-18.
  2. ↑ Zornosa, Laura (2023-12-13). "An Author Review Bombed Books on Goodreads. Then Her Debut Book Was Dropped". Time. Retrieved 2023-12-18.
  3. ↑ Creamer, Ella (December 13, 2023). "Publisher drops author for using fake accounts to 'review-bomb' peers". Guardian. Retrieved December 18, 2023.
  4. ↑ Gelt, Jessica (December 12, 2023). "Cait Corrain apologizes, checks into rehab after Goodreads 'review bombing' rival authors". LA Times. Retrieved December 18, 2023.
  5. 1 2 "Writer admits to 'review bombing' other authors' books, then has own novel cancelled". Associated Press. December 13, 2023. Retrieved December 13, 2023.
  6. 1 2 Yang, Angela (December 13, 2023). "A first-time author lost a book deal after they were accused of trying to sabotage reviews of other authors". NBC News. Retrieved December 13, 2023.
  7. ↑ Lowe, Lindsay (2023-12-15). "Cait Corrain, 'review bombing' and the controversy rollicking Goodreads, explained". www.today.com. Retrieved 2023-12-18.
  8. ↑ Haile, Nardos (2023-12-13). ""Review bombing" and lost book deals: The Goodreads scandal explained". Salon. Retrieved 2023-12-14.
  9. ↑ Alter, Alexandra (December 13, 2023). "She 'Review Bombed' Other Writers. Then Her Book Got Pulled". New York Times. Retrieved December 13, 2023.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.