A lot has been happening on GR recently, not the least of which a campaign being launched by the bullies to silence authors who speak up about the abuse on the site. And not surprisingly, the GR mods are playing along. But before we get into this, we have some news for you, some good, some not so good:
1. It appears as though our Twitter stalker (remember her – the one who stood in line to get concert tickets while she furiously sent us insane tweets one after the other? Yeah, her!) has finally gotten her just desserts. We were contacted by one of our sources who told us that she and her husband are being investigated by the police for crimes against an author (i.e. death threats, etc.):
It’s true, if you check her blog and , they’re completely gone. This isn’t the first time the bullies have physically threatened someone. Just take a look at our post Bully Threats and you’ll see a few there.
2. An author (and her husband) who was attacked last year, with whom we have had contact ever since, has just recently reported to us that someone has been consistenly hacking her Facebook and email accounts. She and her husband have the FBI looking into it:
And again, this isn’t the first time the bullies have tried to hack into accounts (this time succeeding). We’ve shown that they tried it on our hosting account in Bully Crime.
3. We were informed just recently that another author we know has had her books banned from Dear Author because she “associates with that site.” Apparently Jane Litte seems to think that authors who are affiliated with our site are too much of a danger to her reviewers. We died laughing when we heard that. She doesn’t realize that they are a danger to themselves because of the way they behave, like harassing and baiting authors for instance (click here and scroll down to view screenshots of this).
Give it up, Janey! Everyone knows about you and your reviewers. They can see right through you.
4. We were given a link by a site visitor to an article written by Tamara Ward about a Q&A session between authors and GR staff. Tamara’s post starts with this:
Hello, WG2E-land! Last week, Goodreads staff held office hours, an online session where both the Goodreads author marketing coordinator, Cynthia Shannon, and director, Patrick Brown, answered questions from writers. Writers could ask questions live or post them beforehand on the discussion thread.
I’ve tried to hit the highlights of the office hours in this post, but if you want to read the blow-by-blow, visit the group discussion on Goodreads at . Better yet, join the group at ! Though discussion on last week’s office hours has been frozen, perhaps, in the future, Goodreads staff will have another session.
If you scroll down a bit on the page, you will see that a few authors who know what’s really going on chimed in with their concerns:
If you read the Q&A session by clicking the links Tamara gives, you will notice how they conveniently avoid talking about the real problem that plagues GR, namely the GR bullies and their consistently vicious attacks on authors.
And this brings us to the point of our post. Look at the link Rick left to a Goodreads feedback discussion called . You’ll see some familiar names. This is just the beginning of what appears to be a growing campaign on GR to silence authors.
Once such author, , was silenced by the GR staff when the trolls began an attack on him and then reported to him the GR mods on trumped up charges:
Why was he reported and banned? Because he wrote blog posts (on his own blog!) speaking out about the GR/Amazon trolls:
Accused Of Spamming
The Trolls Arrive!
And the attack ensued:
And then:
And there you have it! GR does not allow authors freedom of speech. If they speak up about the abuse happening on the site, they are silenced.
For tomorrow’s post, GR Silences Authors, Part 2, we will be talking more about the GR feedback discussion mentioned above called .
Stay tuned!
« Unprofessional, Thy Name Is Goodreads GR Silences Authors, Part 2 »
I’d pay good money to see Patrick Brown and his merry band of sociopaths defending themselves in front of Judge Judy.
LMAO! That would be awesome!
It felt good to call Brown a criminal and know it would get to him.
But you were right, Rick. Patrick and the rest of the management at GR are allowing copyrighted material to be published on their site without the authors’ permission. In your case and in many other authors’ cases, they publish against the author’s express wish that their copyrighted material be removed. This is a criminal act. What these authors need to do is band together and file a class action lawsuit for copyright infringement. If they did, they would win.
I’d rather see him in front of a real judge not a gameshow. After all being on a gameshow is something Patrick is used to.
I received a GR “survey” today and was happy to tell them my low opinion of their pathetic, anti-writer site. They’ve done nothing less than create a stalking and trolling playground for sociopaths. It’s beyond me what the point of all this mass hatred of writers is. I don’t know if it is fueled by other authors, or just the usual conspiracy of dunces.
Anyway, it’s good to know you guys are here. I think the best way to influence Goodreads is to stop using their site completely. Those of us who do well with Amazon may want to see if we can influence things on that side of the great divide. Beyond that, I think GR is a lost cause.
10 words:
I don’t feel the least bit sorry for Amanda Welling.
Neither do we.
I’m amazed that these BBR’s don’t think their actions will catch up with them.
You get back what you give out.
Have you all seen this?
This author tried to defend a reviewer and that psychotic bitch Angela Horn labeled her BBA!
WTF?
That woman truly is paranoid. She’s seeing BBA everywhere, when all she has to do to spot one is look in the mirror.
I think Angela has reached the meltdown stage. Like all these authors who are so loudly opposed to BBAs, she originally hoped that her stance would attract more readers. When this doesn’t work, they become progressively more aggressive and unhinged until they stop making sense altogether and just scream dementedly in public. Just look at Ann Somerville.
That’s true. Looney has kind of disappeared from the scene. She’s apparently chilled out some. Not that we would complain.
Very interesting about Amanda Welling. I’m sure Anne Rice is getting a chuckle from this.
Also very interesting about Jane Litte.
“So, apparently Jane Litte seems to think that authors who are affiliated with our site are too much of a danger to her reviewers.”
Oh, that’s RICH. That viper carries a machine gun under her pencil skirt and tells everyone to watch out for people with water pistols.
Did you see this old, old thread about an earlier botched attempt to marginalize authors?
It really looks like Goodreads has no idea how to control spam without triggering mayhem.
Yeah, I remember when they started doing that. It irritated the shit out me when I was in the middle of PMs with people. I have a lot of author friends on GR and I found it really offensive that GR was treating them like that.
I knew I would HAVE to write a comment if I ever came to this site and today is my day. I had joined GoodReads awhile back but have since deleted my account. Now why am I here? I kept being accused of being different people on STGRB most recently someone named Louise. Sorry Louise :/ and the reason for them to bash me goes like this… I was invited by an author I had never heard of to write a chapter in a book of 50 chapters all written by victims of domestic violence called Fifty Shades of Abuse. She saw a post I did on a DV site on FB and found me that way. I checked into EVERYTHING to make sure it was legit as she was claiming any proceeds are going to DV charities. I spent 6 months in a battered women’s shelter and knew that these charities depend on donations. I was DELIGHTED & PROUD to write a chapter. Imagine my shock when the book was put on GoodReads and they opened up their “reviews” on it. It is described as a “RAWLY written not edited” book yet these women were all over for grammar and whatever they could find. With just a mention to them about how I agree with the way she did the book as it keeps the stories real and not cut and edited, it is in the writers own words…I was pounced on and that was almost a month ago. Now they found me on Twitter and Amazon, I would delete my account but you have to write to them to have it deleted and I just dont feel like it is secure to do that, I think they have someone working there too. I have been away from my abuser a long time now but these women give him a run for the money. Now they haved joined with a woman who wanted her chapter taken OUT of the book claiming she was abused by the main author because she wanted help for DV situation and the police were called because of a high concern for a child being in danger. I want to help with any kind of investigation or if you need screenshots of the horrible things written to me and about me I have them too. The UK authors name is Eve Thomas and they have had issues with her before this book ever came along. The “reviews” on her book are NOT about the book at ALL.. it is all about being vindictive and discrediting her in ALL capacities. I think this has gone on long enough and would like to help in anyway I can. I told them I would never join you because it would be redundant because I am so used to them getting away with it. Now I am just SICK of them getting away with it and I want to be one of the ones who stops the goodreads bullies for good!
Tammie, I’m so sorry about what you have gone through. I too am a survivor of domestic violence. Even after 20 plus years, the psychological abuse never goes away. It can be pushed back, boxed up and buried, but the moment something reminds you or brings back those horrid sensations/feelings in the pit of your stomac, it starts eating you alive once again. I too have had my reputation smeared with vicious labeling of my books. The massages are very clear, we hate you, whore, worthless, stupid, skank… Oh the list goes on. This is what I see when I read these hateful Non-reviews. They are meant to hurt. I can shrug off a lot. After being beaten more times than I care to mention, after all the times I’ve been spit on or called every derogatory thing in the dictionary of vulgarity, I have the backbone and thick skin to withstand a lot. But sometimes, just sometimes, they can catch you on an off day and…..well you know the feelings Tammie, and you know how hard it is to shake them off. The sad thing is, anyone of the attackers who read this will most likely laugh and pat themselves on the back for breaking through my defenses even if it’s only a moment. I wish you the best Tammie, and don’t let the bad in.
Thank You but I am fine. They got nothing on my ex. Hes a pro at verbal & emotional abuse. But I am a SURVIVOR and I get up brush myself off and I don’t take crap from anyone but Thanks for the reply. Going to try to stay off of here as they are watching even posted this very comment on Twitter yesterday so I am just ignoring…because Bullies HATE to be ignored
Tammie I am so glad you are doing well. Don’t let anyone control who or where you want to follow or comment. I just returned to GR thanks to some persuasive readers and group members. They are the ones I missed and the reason I write. I sent out my friend requests and the responses have been very positive. Which just shows that people know who is legit and who isn’t. I even got a new fan! Thank you again STGRB, knowing I had your support helped me ignore the negative influences and move on with my dignity in tact. Tammie if you are still on GR, please know I will support you and be a true friend.
You’re welcome, Emma!