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The discussion surrounding the controversy led Del Rey Books, an imprint of Penguin Random House, to announce on Monday that Corrain’s book will not be published next year.
“We are aware of the ongoing discussion about author Cait Corrain,” the publisher said written on X. “CROWN OF STARLIGHT is no longer on our 2024 edition schedule.”
The publisher’s decision to leave Corrain with the “Crown of Starlight” resulted in the loss of other partners he had in the works. Hours before the announcement, Corrain’s agent, Rebecca Podos, said she had also severed ties with her client.
“Cait and I will continue our partnership going forward,” Podos wrote to X. “I greatly appreciate the patience of those directly affected by the events of the past week while I work in a difficult situation.”
Corrain, who uses his and her pronouns, did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday morning. Corrain revealed his actions in a letter published in X earlier Tuesday, saying his lies were caused, in part, by his struggles with depression and drug use.
“Let me be very clear: although I may not be thinking or thinking clearly at this time, I accept responsibility for the pain and suffering I have caused,” he wrote in a letter posted after the split of the night, adding that he spent the last few things. days “leaving while I’m in my right mind is brutally honest with you and myself.” “I know some of you will never forgive me, and I know you don’t need to.”
But the people of color Corrain targeted noted that his book was not a proper apology to the beginning writers who suffered because of the negative reviews he gave them on his fake Goodreads accounts.
“I will wait for that apology,” written Bethany Baptiste, the first author of the forthcoming book, “The Poisons We Drink,” who was among the people who reviewed Corrain’s bombs.
Officials with Del Rey Books and Goodreads did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Even as Goodreads grows in power and influence in publishing, “review bombs” – disruptive events through negative reviews that lead to the cancellation of books and their authors, – is a long-standing issue. for the foundation.
Amazon bought Goodreads in 2013 for a reported $150 million with the hope that the website of book lovers and the data they have created about books will expand its mission of selling everything to everyone. But since Goodreads allows any user, not just those who have already received copies, to leave samples months before the books are released, authors have become the target of ad-bombs. According to journalists and critics, there is little use or a way to report trouble on Amazon’s platform. (Amazon founder Jeff Bezos owns the Washington Post. Interim CEO Patty Stonesifer sits on Amazon’s board.)
“Crown of Stars” is described by Goodreads as a “suamy, sci-fi reimagining of the story of Ariadne and Dionysus – the first book in a snarky, queer, lushly romantic duology set in a galaxy of monstrous men, bloodthirsty gods, and the love strong enough to break the universe.” The 560-page document, part of a two-book deal signed by Corrain and Del Rey, received early positive reviews and was scheduled to be published on May 14, 2024.
Journalists began noticing that an anonymous author had been writing one-star reviews on Goodreads for months about authors of color who had published their first book. Reviews for books by Baptiste and Molly X. Chang included translations of phrases like, “It’s so bad, I’m writing a review about it,” according to Gizmodo. Writers like Xiran Jay Zhao, author of “Iron widow“it was said last week that a first-time author reviewed the bombardment of other first-time authors through many Goodreads accounts but also presented their own books on the platform.
“If you’re a first-time author who’s going to make a bunch of fake Goodreads one-star-bomb first-person stories to threaten you, why don’t you make it clear by featuring your own book? on many different lists and those same stories,” Zhao written December 5 on X. Zhao later explained the situation on TikTok as #reviewbombgate.
A recently publicly available Google doc titled “Review bomb receipts” describes 31 pages of evidence that explains how the Goodreads articles in question are linked. They all share a common link: The stories list Corrain’s “Crown of Starlight” as one of their favorite releases.
Authors targeted by negative reviews include Baptiste, Chang, Kamilah Cole, KM Correct and Frances White. All of them have books between January and August of the next year.
When Corrain was asked about the review-bomb allegations in a Slack channel for beginning writers, picture of the chat Baptiste shares that Corrain emphatically stated, “I haven’t reviewed a bombshell on anyone. I haven’t reviewed my own book on fake news.” Corrain also stated that he had evidence of a bombshell review that was linked to a friend named “Lilly.” He provided screenshots of a chat that included “Lilly,” but he did not release them. to other writers how to contact the person, according to the story. Baptism.
Corrain admitted on Tuesday that he was in the middle of a mental breakdown when he “had the worst conversation in the world with an absent friend of the accused, and sent make a false apology for the actions of the so-called ‘friends,’ only what has been done. worse.”
The conversation caused a stir in recent days, and eventually Corrain was fired by his publicist and his agent. Baptiste questioned the silence from Podos, Corrain’s former deputy, last week.
“Getting rid of him doesn’t get rid of you,” Baptiste written.
Podos on Tuesday indicated that not speaking sooner “was short-sighted and opportunistic on my part.” “I sincerely apologize,” he said written on X, adding that the readers should support the authors who were affected by negative reviews.
Trouble continues for Corrain, as Illumicrate, a book sharing platform, said will no longer include “Crown of Starlight” as part of its May 2024 box. Daphne Press, the exclusive publishing arm that had a partnership with Corrain, said is investigating the allegations and “will determine how to move forward as all information becomes available.”
Corrain said in his book that he would reach out to each writer and check into a mental hospital and hospital after the review-bomb controversy.
“The only thing I can do moving forward is to try to live my life in a way that shows you that these are not empty words,” he wrote.
Caroline O’Donovan contributed to this report.