If these were reviews, they would be deleted even though they validly influence my buying decisions.Īnd in case you’re thinking that this will stop authors from being bullied, you’re wrong. The commenters point out that the author was using the book to stalk a girl he was obsessed with. My post would not be allowed on Goodreads because it discussed an author’s behavior, but it is entirely relevant to whether you or I might want to read Anne Rice’s novels.Īnd if that doesn’t convince you, consider some of the comments left on this page on Goodreads. In fact, let me give you an example of the shenanigans that an author can now pull outside of Goodreads.īack in April I wrote a post about Anne Rice siccing her fans on a reviewer. This new policy gives abusive authors carte blanche to be jerks elsewhere (twitter, FB, email, blogs), but it removes one of the better ways that reviewers can share knowledge about authors behaving badly. It won’t have the least effect on authors behaving badly, but it will make it harder for reviewers to tell everyone about the abusive behavior. This policy is so one-sided as to be actively hostile to the reader/reviewers that used to be the very reason that Goodreads existed. I have crossed some sections out because they are a little over the top. Update: I’ve realized that some parts of this post were written in the heat of the moment and are a tad hyperbolic.
The reviews and bookshelves with titles like “Authors Behaving Badly” will be deleted without warning or notice, which IMO as a moderator of Mobileread Forums (since December 2007) is in and of itself unprofessional. And often it’s relevant to understand an author’s background and how it influenced the story or the setting.) If it’s an autobiography, then clearly you might end up talking about their lives. If you have questions about why a review was removed, send an email to (And to answer the obvious question: of course, it’s appropriate to talk about an author within the context of a review as it relates to the book. We will also delete shelves and lists of books on Goodreads that are focused on author behavior. Starting today, we will now delete these entirely from the site. Once removed, these reviews would remain on the member’s profile.
We have had a policy of removing reviews that were created primarily to talk about author behavior from the community book page. In addition to a few token gestures in support of an anti-bullying policy, this Amazon-owned online community has announced that they will now delete bookshelves and reviews that focus on author behavior: Goodreads announced a new content policy on Friday.
Goodreads has long been struggling to decide between the opposing needs of reader/reviewers and of authors, and today the latter group has finally won out.
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