#PublishingReinvented 294 Troll Madness at Goodreads
I have seen a lot of reports over the years about heavy handed reviews at GoodReads and I’ve avoided it for that reason.
But now the trolls are going the extra mile with extra trolling points for taking the troll kingdom above and beyond, because:
Authors are receiving negative Goodreads reviews before proof copies are circulated, with Goodreads allegedly failing to remove such reviews.
Jo Furniss, crime writer, shared her experience:
Her upcoming thriller Guilt Trip received a two-star rating despite no copies being available, not even ARCs.
When she responded to the anonymous reviewer, Goodreads removed her comment and warned against confronting reviewers.
Goodreads claimed to be "investigating" after she reported the review but provided no further update.
After The Bookseller (UK publishing trade magazine) contacted Goodreads, the review was finally removed.
Furniss stated the issue isn't about one review, but the lack of protection for authors, while trolls remain unchecked—calling it a form of online abuse.
She notes that ratings do impact careers: a fellow crime author was advised to retire a series when its average dropped below 4.2 stars.
Milly Johnson, romance author, shared a similar experience on the Bookseller:
Received a one-star rating before her book had even been copy-edited.
Goodreads defended the reviewer's right to "predict" enjoyment.
Johnson now disregards Goodreads as a serious review platform due to lack of a fair code of conduct.
And there were more reports like those. So, now is the time (not) to upload details of your forthcoming book.
Perhaps AI predicted the quality of the above books and it can do the same for yours! Might save you the trouble of actually writing it!
Don’t say you weren’t warned!
This is the book marketing Substack you have been waiting, waiting, waiting for.
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The refusal to address erroneous reviews is particularly distressing when a book doesn't have that many reviews to offset the mistakes. Amazon refused to investigate a 1 rating I received that included a very positive review. It was clear the reviewer didn't understand the ratings, but Amazon left it as is. No recourse.
Something similar happened to me when I published my first book. Except the trolls there followed me to Amazon and posted hateful, and falsely negative reviews on Amazon as well. I protested, and when my protests fell on deaf ears, I terminated my involvement with Goodreads. I believe the goodreads trolls cost me many sales.