The Goodreads Policy: My Thoughts

By now, I'm guessing nearly everyone in the book world, whether reader, reviewer, or author, has heard of Goodreads' change in policy.

Goodreads has always stated that reviews should be about the book instead of the author, so nothing new there. What is new, however, is that reader "shelves" (think "tags") must also be about the book instead of the author.

While I do understand the point of the powers that be (they are a business, after all - an Amazon business), I can't think of a single literature class I had that didn't at some point also discuss the author. Edgar Allan Poe? Sylvia Plath? Leo Tolstoy? The argument could be made that to understand the writing, one has to understand the writer.

What's also new is that according to reports, 21 readers/reviewers had shelves and reviews deleted without warning, meaning there was no opportunity to change shelf names or review content before the deletion occurred.

I'm not one for jumping into the fray, but this fray is hard to miss.

It goes without saying that a great deal of anger was generated by the way the whole situation was handled. On the surface, one might wonder what the big deal is in having some reviews or shelves deleted, but if one has taken the time to browse Goodreads, one has the answer.

Goodreads readers have taken the review to a new level. Some of the reviews I've read have been better than the actual book. The level of detail, the time spent, the gifs and memes....Goodreads reviews are an art form. It would be disheartening as a reviewer, to say the least (more like heartbreaking), to discover one (or more) deleted with no warning. Imagine dozens.

Is there misuse or abuse of the review system on Goodreads? Certainly, given that there's misuse or abuse of nearly every system on some level or another. Are there authors who've behaved badly, yelling at reviewers for giving them less-than-stellar reviews? I've no doubt there are (and please stop doing that, y'all - once you publish it, it's no longer yours, and what does arguing with reviewers get you? Nothing good - why would anyone else take the chance?).

But it's sad to me that the small (it surely must be tiny) minority have brought us to this. I've read countless posts from readers saying they'll no longer read or review "indie" books, and the same number of posts from those authors saying they're now afraid of Goodreads. That's sad.

I love Goodreads. I'll stay here as long as they'll let me. But I hope some sort of balance can be found, one that enables all sides to move forward as a book-loving community free to discuss books without fear of either deletion or abuse.

In order for any organization to be successful (therapist hat on now), there has to be trust. Readers, reviewers, and authors have to trust each other, but also, we have to trust the system, the format, the powers that be. Everyone wants to be validated. Everyone wants to matter. Without that, a community can't succeed.