Why Authors Shouldn’t Be Afraid of Goodreads

If you’ve even thought about becoming an author, then you’ve probably heard about all of the review sites out there. The one with the worst reputation is Goodreads. Infamous for author-on-author bullying, endless sock accounts, trolls, author-on-reviewer bullying, and more, most authors tend to steer clear of the book-centric social media site. The first “attempt” to stop the bullying was lead by the group known as Stop the Goodreads Bullies (or STGRB), and was focused on harassing authors and reviewers that left unfavorable reviews on the books written by the founders of the group. Personal information leaks, harassment, and other insane issues rose out of that “attempt” and ultimately lead to the fall of Goodreads’ reputation. Authors that aren’t mixed up in that drama avoid the site because they’re afraid of it. They’re afraid of their career ending before it begins.

I wanted to write this post to tell all of the authors and reviewers out there to come back to Goodreads. If we allow bullies like STGRB to take over the site and police how reviews are written and what reviews are okay to post, then they win. And it won’t stop there. The harassment and insanity will spill over directly to Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and other review platforms. We have just as much right to our opinion as they do, don’t we? There are always going to be bullies and their play at being a Gestapo is not going to stop it. We just have to attempt to be the bigger people here.

In close, I hope that you all will join me in being more active on Goodreads, sharing reviews, book statuses, and whatnot. We deserve a platform not only to connect with each other, but with our readers as well.