Last week, news broke that debut author Cait Corrain was accused of creating fake Goodreads accounts that upvoted their science fiction “romantasy” book, Crown of Starlight, while downvoting similarly-themed books and several upcoming novels in their own debut cohort. The majority of those targeted with downvotes were authors of color. When confronted, Corrain claimed that a friend they’d picked up in Star Wars fandom was the one responsible, and dug a much deeper hole with apparently doctored and altogether unconvincing “proof” of chats with said “friend.” Those impacted originally tried to resolve matters privately, but upon Corrain’s continued deflections, events bubbled up from an author Slack chat and took off on social media.
The unfolding scandal gripped the publishing and online book world for days, especially as Corrain and their agent and publishing house went silent. (Read our Alyssa Shotwell’s in-depth look at the situation here.) Finally, on December 11th, 2023, decisive action was taken in an oft-waffling industry. Corrain’s agent Rebecca Podos announced the severing of their relationship on X (formerly Twitter), and Corrain’s book is no longer the May 2024 Illumicrate pick. Save for those who received advance ARCs, it now appears that no one will read Crown of Starlight anytime in the near future, as Del Rey tweeted that the book has been removed from their 2024 publishing schedule.
We are aware of the ongoing discussion around author Cait Corrain. CROWN OF STARLIGHT is no longer on our 2024 publishing schedule.
— Del Rey Books (@DelReyBooks) December 11, 2023
Authors and readers are a chatty lot online—it goes with the love of words—and the Corrain scandal and subsequent fallout generated plenty of commentary. Tweets investigating Corrain’s alleged actions and explaining the myriad twists and turns went viral on Twitter and reddit, and BookTok has seen many videos reacting to and furthering delving into the subject. Now, in the immediate aftermath of the decisions to cut ties with Corrain, we’re collecting reactions from authors and readers. Some of the folks featured here are primary players who were affected by the Goodreads review bombing controversy, and others offer personal insight as those invested in the community. In addition to highlighting the damage Corrain did despite having their book all but set up for success, there is also discussion about ongoing toxicity behind Goodreads maneuvering and the impact it has on author/reader/book culture.
Holy fuck
I want to reiterate once again that this COULD’VE BEEN RESOLVED PRIVATELY. That was what the victims initially wanted, an apology and a promise to not make more accounts. They never wanted it to blow up into THIS, but every backend channel of accountability failed them https://t.co/yNoE0PVoLW
— ?iran * PREORDER HEAVENLY TYRANT (@XiranJayZhao) December 11, 2023
The whole Cait Corrain situation is so sad. Publishing is a huge cake with nearly infinite slices. We are not in competition with each other.
We can all win
Unless you’re a weird insecure racist
?♀️ https://t.co/9zlpH2TDsu— S.A.Cosby (@blacklionking73) December 11, 2023
The Mary Sue did a phenomenal breakdown of the situation. Little did I know a ring-wing nut apparently sent his followers after me and sure enough, they’re 1-starring POISONS on GR. They were gonna be mad.
POISONS is about they crazy asses anyway.?https://t.co/TOTefmdqTK
— bethany baptiste (@StorySorcery) December 11, 2023
i just can’t get over this cait corrain stuff… imagine having it all. literally having it all. an agent, a book deal, an ILLUMICRATE DEAL?? good pre-pub reviews, a social media following… and then throwing it away for what, jealousy? racism? it’s inconceivable to me
— ethan is drafting?? (@ethannku) December 11, 2023
i can’t get over the passive voice in all of these statements (that are basically all the same). they do not identify Cait Corrain as a perpetrator or that there were victims. Daphne Press being the most forward with what is going on. but yeah, im a little angry. pic.twitter.com/G8yWQNMUp8
— ✨ nova ✨ (@novatjerneld) December 11, 2023
This Cait Corrain story is WILD. Letting your insecurity and racism make you fumble the bag that BAD is insane.
— Black Women Told You (@the_mod_woman) December 11, 2023
I have never seen anyone annhilate their own career so thoroughly as Cait Corrain. Props to the BIPOC authors (esp Xiran and Bethany) for pulling out the receipts and doing the emotional labor to make sure justice was served. https://t.co/2yRMth78bC
— Reera 유리라⁷ ?? (@reeraboo) December 11, 2023
The whole thing with Cait Corrain is a perfect example of 1) how shitty Goodreads is and how we shouldn’t ever put too much value into it & 2) how white authors’ racism and jealousy over BIPOC authors will always prevail, even when those authors have good things lined up for them
— Shelly Romero (@_smromero) December 7, 2023
#CaitCorrain will be an author’s cautionary tale for the ages. Whatever possessed her to make secret jealous review bombs (which wouldn’t have helped her book anyway) prob would have passed if she just… logged off. Went for a walk. Got a therapist. #WritingCommmunity
— Tamika Kuno (@kuno_12) December 11, 2023
In the wake of Cait Corrain’s book being cancelled, it’d be great to see some more candidness from publishing about the ongoing problems with review bombing and fake reviews and the genuine reader fear about leaving honest reviews.
— E. J. Dawson (@ejdawsonauthor) December 11, 2023
All Cait Corrain had to do was mind her own business, support her peers, and have some modicum of integrity. Then her debut (which was well-received by advanced readers) would still have been released. ?♀️ https://t.co/RUYhsekrsp
— janine granda is grateful ✨ (@beingjanine) December 11, 2023
They should obviously give Cait Corrain’s spot in publishing to me. I won’t forge spam bad reviews of my fellow debut authors. Hell, I barely even know what Goodreads is
— Carlos Alonzo Morales (@CarlosAlonzoM) December 11, 2023
The whole situation with Cait Corrain is exactly why you should never play dirty on this internet. You never know who has copious amounts of time to do digging and figure you out. Now look! What could’ve been the start of a long and promising career destroyed.
— Katie Ka-Boom (@E_PenEbus_Unum) December 11, 2023
Hello! Got a ton of new followers in the past week, and I wanted to thank all of you, and everyone else who reached out, for the gracious outpouring of support.
While I have been reluctant to comment on what happened directly I do want to use this moment to point out that (1/4) pic.twitter.com/WeEWvT34GO
— Koren/K. M. Enright (@KM_Enright) December 11, 2023
not just me,not just the authors affected in this latest scandal, but BIPOC and queer authors across the board. Our stories deserve the chance to reach their audiences, and I, for one, am looking forward to the many fantastic debuts 2024 has to bring. (3/4)
— Koren/K. M. Enright (@KM_Enright) December 11, 2023
(4/4)@StorySorcery @wordsiren @mollyxchang @Frances_Writes
— Koren/K. M. Enright (@KM_Enright) December 11, 2023
In discussing Corrain, what should emerge above all else is supporting the authors who were impacted on Goodreads and in some cases, subject to harassment and undue accusations as the situation went viral over the weekend.
The coordinated release of statements of Cait Corrain’s former agent, Illumicrate, and publisher??
They got on Zoom for hours and planned that shit out.
Shoutout to all of them for taking decisive action.
Now, let’s see that energy go to supporting the authors affected. pic.twitter.com/KB9OOIwkLg
— Keshav Kant (@MxKantEven) December 11, 2023
The debut authors targeted by the fake Goodreads accounts were: Bethany Baptiste (The Poisons We Drink), Kamilah Cole (So Let Them Burn), Molly X. Chang (To Gaze Upon Wicked Gods), Frances White (Voyage of the Damned), and K.M. Enright (Mistress of Lies); additionally, Thea Guanzon’s The Hurricane Wars and indie author R.M. Virtues‘s Greek mythological retellings were downvoted. Preorders and orders are a beautiful thing, my friends. Let’s get clicking.
(image: John Ray Ebora/Pexels/@E_PenEbus_Unum on X)
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Kaila Hale-Stern
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