Cait Corrain | Authors Behavíng Badly

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Akure Phenix
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Molly X Chang
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Kamilah Cole
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RM Virtues
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Danielle L Jensen
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[@ReadswithRachel]

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[@ShyyGaladriel]

Her convo with Lilly reads like that vine “I brought you myrrh.” “Thank you” “myrrh-DER!” “JUDAS! No!”

[@sucrecube]

Oh my god seeing the dialogue for this vine written out is actually the first time I've ever gotten the joke 😭

[@gabbythingss]

@@sucrecube the first time?? 😭

[@sucrecube]

@@gabbythingss yes.....😭 i didnt realize it was myrrh, i thought it was something made up called mur

[@gabbythingss]

@@sucrecube help 😭

[@deeehi3]

​@@sucrecubeI'm liking this comment out of pity

[@BandFairy]

I keep forgetting that Del Rey is the publisher, and I keep being like "oh my god, they're dragging Lana Del Rey into this now!?"

[@human9460]

😭😭😭

[@sewgeekdesigns9113]

Kmsl

[@theothermorgan]

Neither mental illness nor substance abuse issues makes a person concoct elaborate racist plots. She hasn't taken accountability at all.

[@angelaholmes8888]

Nope she hasn't

[@TiffWaffles]

That's one thing that really gets me. She could have spent the hours it would have taken for her to concoct that fake conversation and acknowledge what she did. Instead, she tried to pretend to be a victim and when that didn't work, she ran away.

[@worm1533]

I would say only some kind of mental illness or not being all there mentally would make someone concoct elaborate racist plots. It doesn't seem like something a mentally sound person would do.

[@Truffle85]

I agree. I hate when people pretend the alcohol/ambien/whatever made them racist. No, they were racist before, the substance just made it come out more.

[@Totally_Glitched]

​@@TiffWaffles I feel the same way. Because even if it WAS the result of a bad reaction to medication, why didn't they start trying to fix things the second they regained lucidity? Why didn't they apologize to the others, delete the accounts and the reviews, and take further action to make things right? Even with their bullshit excuse, they're still in the wrong. And make no mistake, the excuse was bullshit. That's not how psychotic breaks work. Yes, you can say and do some fucked up shit while you're out of your mind, but this was calculated and elaborate. Poorly executed, sure, but still planned out. Also the fact that none of their friends, fellow authors, or other people they interacted with noticed anything off about their behaviour? Like, are we to believe they were out of it enough to do all this, but still in control enough to keep it to themself? Again, bullshit.

[@LastGleaming8]

Molly X Chang tried to get her book published for a decade and was constantly denied because of her race and subject matter. But Cait thinks she deserved the money more? Yeah okay 🙄

[@krow5099]

That part

[@MissSeaShell]

The good news is, this whole ridiculous debacle has promoted her book even more! I'm only hearing about what happened right now from this video, and this is also the first I'm hearing about Molly X Chang and her book... But the cover is gorgeous and it sounds awesome! Gonna go see if I can preorder it now 😁

[@RavenKnight18]

@@MissSeaShell there's a automatic bonus if you preorder "to gaze upon wicked gods", you'll get a poster, color endpapers, foiled jacket, and a custom stamped case.

[@MissSeaShell]

@@RavenKnight18 yesssss I'm so excited!

[@sleepy.timaeus.arts.]

@@RavenKnight18 👁️ ooo

[@lilemoarts]

“(The POC authors I targeted) were on the Wrong Lists at the Wrong Time.” is such a double handed insult because they were NOT “On the WRONG list”, they were exactly where they were supposed to be: being recognized and promoted and uplifted, and she couldn’t even handle that.

[@ReadswithRachel]

This.

[@ndawn90]

1000% THIS!

[@AmbassadorKat]

Yes thank you this irritated me so much when she said that 🙄

[@teslashark]

As a Chinese writer who writes for the global English audience I kinda feel like Corrain dodged a bullet to not include truly no-name self pubs, that will be fun.

[@rochoa7408]

THIS!!! Oooh that pissed me off!

[@sh0eh0rn4]

Cait Corrain is like my alcoholic dad, who used to steal money from my wallet and then help me look for it.

[@ReadswithRachel]

My alcoholic dad would blame misplacing his own stuff on my friends rather than ones of his own he made up 😂 and then later on say it never happened 🤪

[@joebloe4734]

jfc

[@swhite5840]

Oof.

[@linglingspacewhales1977]

What’s up with these alcoholic dads stealing money from their kids? My alcoholic dad would steal my whole ass piggy bank and blame me for misplacing it 😂

[@angelaholmes8888]

I am so sorry that your father betrayed you like that sadly I know this very well my father would steal from the me and my brother and mother to feed his drug addiction

[@TheNumnutRandomness]

Cait accidentally implicating herself by shoehorning in "Lilly" saying, "BTW if this comes out, everyone will also think you're RACIST" is some peak Ace Attorney shit. Diabolical.

[@opo3628]

Indeed. We've all heard the term "Telling on themself" before -- but holy hell, Cait's fabricated Discord chat should be *the* go-to example of it.

[@Hawkatana]

Yeah, Fucking *Mack Aroni* was a less subtle culprit.

[@maximumbees]

it just shows that she knew exactly what she was doing lol

[@zeldicaus]

At least Ace Attorney characters need to be grilled and shown evidence first before pulling such a stunt…girlie wouldn’t even be a good villain for the tutorial case.

[@RedAngelKira]

​@@zeldicausLiterally Larry Butz could hide a secret better even tho he unhelpfully blabbers on himself oops

[@mikankitsune0440]

Authors, there's a rule that this fellow author wishes to disclose: ✨️ *Do not burn bridges in communities that you'll need to cross someday.* ✨️ in otherwords, don't be Cait Corrain. Bigotry helps no one.

[@angelaholmes8888]

Preach you are totally right 💯

[@idongesitusen5764]

I’ll keep that in mind. Also,Don’t see your fellow authors as “competition” to be beasten like a popularity contest. We’re all in the same boat, trying to get published.

[@mikankitsune0440]

@@idongesitusen5764 Exactly

[@TiffWaffles]

You said everything I wanted to say perfectly.

[@vvitch-mist20]

I would love to have a crumb of attention Cait had, like there was no reason she had to throw everything away like that. I think all authors feel insecure about their work in one way or another, but I don't try to bring people down. I just keep my head down and pray it'll work out lol.

[@Doomscrollart]

One thing that makes me sad is that Diana Dworak is genuinely a talented illustrator, and this was her first big job with a major publisher.

[@reaperassasin11]

Hearing out of nowhere that Corrain 5-stared Lore Olympus was... eye-opening

[@Allenluvable]

@@reaperassasin11 Says it all, really. LO is probably one of the worst of the many Greek retellings and anyone who disagrees with me.... Is entitled to their own opinions, of course. (I just wanted to reference her reviews)

[@CL-lx2pm]

It frustrates me so much that Cait was frustrated by perceived preferential treatment of POC authors. POC authors aren't given preferential treatment, people are just celebrating them finally breaking through the discrimination that kept them out of the field. Overcoming discrimination in publishing is not being preferred over white authors, it's being able to be an author at all ffs. She really did have it all in the palm of her hands but still coveted the celebration other authors were getting for being there at all. Shameful.

[@LilRonGal]

there is so much complaining about “preferential” treatment and “free stuff” being given to BIPOC authors-but I bet if you asked her if she’d want to be a BIPOC person to get those “benefits” she’d say hell no.

[@TheNumnutRandomness]

All this talk of "preferential treatment* when most of her fellow debuts didn't even get a FRACTION of what she had for her own debut. The reason so many people hype certain books up is because THEY HAVE TO DO THEIR OWN PROMOTION. For all their talk of celebrating diversity, publishing is still predominately white. They will pull out all stops for their white authors while leaving their Authors of Color twisting in the wind. The entitlement is absolutely sickening.

[@blib4328]

Yes and this perceived problem some white authors have is not even rooted in reality. If you look at statistics white authors are still the most published group by a large margin.They search for excuses why their work is not picked up when the truth is a lot of it has to do with their writing, or their lack of connections and wealth. We don't like to say it out loud but better situated people have a higher chance of being published than their 'lower class' peers. That is true for both white peole and POC. And the group that has it hardest and is least likely to be published is poor POC.

[@pszczolka80]

As the saying goes, "when you're accustomed to privilege, equality seems like oppression". This is a textbook example of that.

[@georgespiggott5615]

And the publishing field is still very white in most genres. POC authors are just starting to break into fantasy, they're still very rarely found in sci-fi, horror, etc

[@corvo9100]

“Your worst sin is that you have destroyed and betrayed yourself for nothing.” ― Fyodor Dostoevsky, Crime and Punishment

[@charlie2.048]

Oh Se-young, Shahrazad, Horowitz... I wonder why "alcoholism" didn't make her make any fake accounts named "John Smith" or "Karen Jones." (rhetorical question)

[@leishathanthou9161]

JOHN SMITH AND KAREN JONES OMG 🤣🤣

[@SJ-dl6uc]

why did the "Karen Jones" combo make me so giddy. it's almost perfect.

[@KaelWrit]

as a recovering alcoholic, it's not a fckin excuse. Alcohol explains behavior like passing out or pissing your pants or slurring your speech, not crafting calculated racist sock puppet reviews. That honestly takes some focus and intent.

[@lutchien]

What a great point. Thanks for sharing this view.

[@TheGallantDrake]

Yeah being an alcoholic makes you do things like rant about being jealous, not carefully craft a review bomb campaign. That requires time and focus.

[@felixsfriendthatgavehimthe2108]

I struggle to make entire new accounts for things when I’m not concentrating, let alone making several..

[@shinyumbreon696]

This whole story is the epitome of "Well well well, if it isn't the consequences of my own actions"

[@Raven_Nivhaar]

Literally tho

[@fable23]

It's not just the racism, it's not just the insecurity, it's not even the naked meanness of it all; for me, it's the arrogance that really gets me. It drips off of every word. You can tell that this whole time they thought they were _so smart,_ like they genuinely fancied themselves a budding evil mastermind. Even after they got called out, you can just _tell_ they thought they were going to get away with it! It boggles the mind. It's like watching someone on Survivor give a confessional about how they are totally playing everyone and nobody is the wiser, followed immediately by confessionals from everyone else on the tribe talking about what a transparent, untrustworthy little weasel they are.

[@ReadswithRachel]

And the arrogance really came through IN the writing, but then afterwards it's like (this is my assumption) she realized her AO3 fic style was probably not going to translate into having a book reading audience that felt the same way, and she was like OH I actually don't think my own work is good anymore. AO3 fics are valid, and books are valid, but people tend to look for very different things in them and they don't automatically translate well into books. One being successful doesnt ensure success in the other arena.

[@fable23]

@@ReadswithRachel when someone can't resist giving a third act twist to their fake conversation with a sockpuppet, you know they are truly high on their own supply.

[@nicheinterests]

ah yes, Russell hantz on redemption island

[@alyssiakirkhart]

When I saw "chunk of change" in that tweet, I knew we were in for a distasteful ride.

[@Nothereforit174]

The racism was enough for me. I don’t care how it’s done. Lying in plain sight is done in front of you all constantly, she just got caught. Makes no difference to me. It’s racism and it’s perpetuating oppression

[@Uberpanzermensch]

I am absolutely losing it at the statement at 36:00. We all know the stereotype, "I'm not racist, I have a black friend!" Never in my life have I heard, "I'm not racist, I harassed a white person too!"

[@zoeb3573]

Equality, I guess???

[@joemama-zm4de]

i mean... it's something new, i guess? LOL

[@DarlingHunter]

As someone who writes fanfiction and done some chatfic; the Cait and Lilly convo was VERY Chatfic like in structure. It had that sort or "move the plot" sort of writing that is fine in fanfic but makes it VERY obvious that they're lying.

[@NatalieBusby]

Yes! Whenever I hint at something serious I want to talk in text, people deflect, put me on silence, beating around the bush Even cait “acting” was so movie like and lack of fluidity and realism I can look at my angry messages and notice a clear difference in effectiveness in getting my point across

[@xiaothings2917]

i think cait being a fanfic writer REALLY explains some of her behavior and actions. i say this as a fanfic writer myself; some fanfic writers are obsessed with stats and comments (checking out their ao3 stats, obsessively checking if they got a comment 0.1 seconds after uploading a fic, checking other fics' stats, etc.) and every time they get a not so nice comment, they are on twitter, tumblr or subreddits complaining about mean reviewers. and that behavior, while a little childish, is understandable in fanfiction because you are writing for free and nobody asked to be criticized, but when you go to publishing a book traditionally, you can't behave like a fanfic writer and wanting people to only comment "omg this was sooo good" on good reads, that's just not a healthy way to see your worth as a writer. i think this fandom mentality really shows with cait, and that's why i'm also sure she would've ruined her career anyway, just because of how she perceives stats.

[@farawayfaerie8829]

I fully agree. Obsessing over comments and stats inevitably becomes very toxic (especially being in groups where other fanfic writers make it feel normal so it just reinforces obsessive behavior) and sucks the enjoyment out of writing and it’s not good for one’s own mental health.

[@haski002]

Fr fr, every time I get that kudos email is like a straight shot of dopamine, and a comment? Makes my day. But book reviews are not that. Fanfic is free & written for fun, while a book is a product that is sold. If a neighbour gives you a free cake you say thank you & eat it happily, even if it's only a mediocre cake. But if you order a cake at a bakery & it's mediocre you leave a review that reflects that at the bakery. Idk why this is so hard to grasp for some people.

[@saint-theo]

as someone who has similarly been in fandom spaces for over a decade i agree! she still had that fanwriter mentality of "no flames, no unsolicited concrit" and failed to adjust to the fact that the publishing world is a whole different ballgame

[@EdgePatrol]

As a fanfic writer, I agree. The whole time during this video, I was getting fandom drama flashbacks.

[@bookworm209]

And part of the reason fanfiction is like that is because you often don't have any other way to get feedback. If she went trad pub, I'm assuming that she had access to beta readers. At the very least, she had an agent and an editor who liked her story enough to publish it, meaning they had to give her some positive feedback.

[@damascus9876]

That “whoever liked this book must be on dr*gs comment” is especially weird and gross after her blaming medication, mental health, and alcohol for her shite behavior.

[@ReadswithRachel]

HI PLEASE READ! Couple things: 1) youtube is penalizing me right now and they demonetize my videos if i title them "authors behaving badly" and even putting "cait corrain" in the title demonetized the video so thats why the title is written how it is. I had to upload this 8 times before if was monetized and they're being ridiculous about titles. 2) I previously pronounced Molly X Chang's name "Chang" like "fang" but changed the way I pronounce the name to model the way i saw in her twitter profile, where it says "Chang like lung". If this is still the incorrect pronunciation, I am so sorry, and please let me know so that moving forward I can correctly pronounce it when I review her book.

[@rootfish2671]

It's crazy, recently I got a 24 hour ban from commenting KZbin because I made fun of a comedienne on a video, and was accused of cyberbullying.

[@erikdaniels0n]

It’s giving when people have to write things like “g3en0cid3” or “le$bian” on Tik Tok

[@ajlorentz]

I’ve literally been waiting for this video from you. I just binged the entire ABB playlist

[@criminallie]

in my experience (as a chinese american person) every person/family has a different way they pronounce their romanized name. sometimes it’s the linguistically correct way because they immigrated after the shuttering of ellis/angel island(s), while others (like my family) utilize the “incorrect” and americanized pronunciation because we/our relatives were forced to. so ultimately just take what molly says to be the pronunciation of her name as her name 🎉

[@katrinascarlet5637]

Why would "Authors behaving badly" get you demonitized? I'm so confused

[@angelaholmes8888]

Cait truly ruined her career before it actually started i don't feel bad for her

[@SFF180]

Poster girl for FAFO.

[@vcutler4735]

The Cait story is so fascinating because she had objectively "made it" but couldnt be happy in her success and thus had to try to knock others down. Truly rotting from the inside and her own worst enemy.

[@VickiWeavil]

As an author (under a pen name) with 14 trad. published books and more under contract, I avoid Goodreads like the plague. As you have said so many times, reviews are for READERS. Authors who obsess over reviews and ratings are just harming their own mental health. Other authors are NOT competition. Write more, obsess less.

[@tarakennedy2512]

“Write more, obsess less.” I love that.

[@TheSlurpy11]

The biggest takeaway I have from many years of writing, studying writing, and working in writing, is that fellow writers are not your competition. Publishing and reading is an industry that is not competitive, because it is a consumerist hobby. Literally the more books, the more people read. People never read one book in isolation - they find a genre or a niche they like and read around. Tearing down others is insane behaviour. I've never seen somebody self-sabotage quite so effectively and I hope Corrain gets help to work through her issues.

[@mxngos7493]

Exactly! Plus if you find authors who write in similar genres to you and foster good relationships you can promote their books to your readers and vice versa so everyone gets more business. It truly should be a collaborative environment filled with positivity and support.

[@VeWatchesVideos]

I think there was a similar case in the Omegaverse corner of writing (Lindsay Ellis did two videos on that one). Author Addison Cain sued Zoey Ellis for having a trilogy using similar tropes as hers and made her life hell. And even though Cain's publisher eventually helped her commit perjury, legal documents show they initially did try to talk her out of it and pointed out the above principle to her. But like Corrain, she pressed ahead in trying to hurt others.

[@erinlee5936]

​@@mxngos7493 Cross promotion between authors. It helps everyone, especially society and culture, in the long run, TBH. Every other industry is slowly catching up to it.

[@alyssiakirkhart]

Sage advice to all writers. We support each other. We learn from each other. We do not tear each other down -- ever. Writing is art and there is room for everyone.

[@CL-lx2pm]

Seriously, did people just forget the brilliance brought about by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett teaming up? Similarly skilled authors in similar genres make magic when they work together. Competing makes no sense.

[@britnicox3929]

That discord convo with “Lily” is so wild to me - it’s like watching someone do their mental gymnastics to justify their shitty behavior in real time but written out instead of inside their heads. A psychologist would have a field day parsing that

[@dareisayit]

Cait saw Molly X Chang’s advance and marketing budget and strove to make real life Yellowface fanfiction.

[@heathersmith8549]

I was unaware that depression and alcoholism made people racist 2023 was an interesting year in books. We started the year with an author coming back from the dead and ended with an author committed professional unaliving.

[@moustik31]

It was a WILD ride! 😳

[@fsantos4199]

Wait who was the author who came back from the dead?

[@heathersmith8549]

@@fsantos4199 she was a romance author named Susan Meachen. It happened January 2023

[@joebloe4734]

So I started taking antidepressants in December, and they have reduced my depressive symptoms a hell of a lot. Those symptoms, however, never included racism. What a world!

[@charlesintune]

The drama of 2023! Fascinating book stuff

[@dulcimerthefairy4793]

I’m an author - two books trad published and just signed a two-book deal for more - and this is INSANE. I can’t believe it. We aren’t rivals, we are colleagues. This is bizarre.

[@yasperbasper]

Just an fyi Xiran's name is Chinese, so it would be pronounced She-ran, not Zee-ran :)

[@ReadswithRachel]

Thank you!

[@ilikecookies9796]

Now I'm imagining Xiran as She-ra.

[@katgreer6113]

What language would it be pronounced Zee-ran?

[@Vinedance]

Also, Chinese has two "sh" sounds. "Shi" is pronounced like the sound in "ship" but "xi" is pronounced at the front of the mouth with teeth and tongue tip, as if you were trying to say "sheet" with your tongue in position to say "seat." The press kit section of their author site has a recording you can listen to as a guide. @@ReadswithRachel

[@SJ-dl6uc]

​@@Vinedancedood! I'm learning tonal langs and working on Mandarin rn. you nailed the difference between "shi" and "xi" and i finally have a word to use as a mnemonic. ty 0/

[@sparkymularkey6970]

If someone like this can write a book, I really don't know what's stopping ANY of us.

[@jgasparmiswiredke]

As someone who's self-published and still wants to get traditionally published, it's confidence. You'll be surprised how much confidence can stop us from doing stuff

[@UnlimitedPocky123]

THAT'S WHAT I'M SAYING

[@churchoftheholyduck3339]

Racism for those of us who aren’t white, and money for all of us regardless of race. Cait is a trust fund baby and spent years sitting on her ass unemployed so she would finish this book

[@lizabethhampton4537]

These videos are GREAT for when you feel inadequate.

[@leishathanthou9161]

Yes, to the authors and other bookish people out there, HOLD YOUR HEAD HIGH knowing you will likely be much better than cait corrain in terms of craft AND morals

[@asterlavender5751]

I am the person who made most of the affected Goodreads lisr=ts (2024 trans releases, adult queer romance 2024, etc). Those lists are a way for me to keep track of new releases and organise them in categories. Since anyone with a reader account can add any book to any list it was also a way for me to trust people to add books i had missed or i hadn't heard about. I noticed the Cait Corrain phenomenon months ago as her books were upvoted by accounts that voted only for her books but those accounts looked semi-legit so i believed they were friends of the author who wanted to uplift her. then everything came out and i knew immediately who the author was before they were even named

[@robynvillanueva9115]

Those Discord screenshots were giving Willem Dafoe doing his Green Goblin mirror convo

[@ReadswithRachel]

Oh my god you’re RIGHT

[@charlesintune]

Dead. Deceased at this comment 🤣

[@hospitable_ghost]

Fascinating how she blamed it on a "mental break" but she was somehow coherent and coordinated enough to make and operate a bunch of sock puppet accounts.

[@aster1749]

Girl, I was able to understand your Brazilian Portuguese and I speak Spanish. You were able to communicate with two degrees of separation. I applaud you

[@philosophyknits1969]

“You know you are privileged when equally feels like oppression.” This entire story blew me away. I just found your channel so I can’t wait to watch more!

[@maximumbees]

there is something so unbelievably funny about "actually no.... im NOT sorry 😈"

[@hospitable_ghost]

Also: she's an author, but it didn't occur to her to change her writer's voice/manner of speech and typing when she was faking those messages? It literally just reads like her talking to herself.

[@beastghostt]

What's crazy is how avoidable this self-destruction was. She could have just...not done this. I don't know how else to put it.

[@nixxdra]

Ikr she could have just only made sock puppet reviews for her own book and not dragged other people into it and she might’ve been able to get away with that

[@FeralWolf-Hunting]

I would OBSESS over a limited series about a group of authors who begin killing each other off/faking their own deaths/destroying their own careers in order to get the #1 spot on a book list, win the year's top award, or have their book featured on famous coffee tables across the nation. I will watch it on repeat and recommend it to everyone I know. Thank you in advance to whomever writes it. I love it, already.

[@beeaggro2593]

American Fiction scratches the itch, just a little bit.

[@milkteamachine]

If she’d just boosted her own book she probably would’ve gotten away with it. Her desire to drag down others is what screwed her over.

[@goosiesmoosies]

Why the fuck are publishers and agents telling authors to treat their books and audiences like people browsing amazon for the best rated toilet plunger? My lord

[@13Amazons]

Well, if nothing else, I've gotta thank Cait for giving me the giant neon sign to go to therapy for the first time and work on that generational self hatred and insecurities.

[@CSRaeburn]

Have I already watched three videos essays about this? Yes. Do I already know exactly what's going to be said and covered? Yes. Will I watch this anyway? Yes.

[@talynhastime9343]

I still can’t believe how much of a bag she had and how badly she fumbled it. Like this was an opportunity on a silver platter and she BLEW IT.

[@mintyxx1]

I got an ARC directly from an author once and I had to DNF the book because of a trigger. ( did manage to get pretty far in though.) She hadn't mentioned it as a TW, and honestly it was an odd enough one that I wasn't mad at the author for it. In the review, I very thoughtfully and carefully worded what happened. I was giving it a three stars, and made it quite clear that I think many people should still check it out because of XYZ awesome reason. The author requested I take it down because she only wanted 4 or 5 star reviews. In fact, she had read the review within 30 minutes of it being posted. I was so appalled that I did take it down. She was purposely trying to get her Goodreads score to be high.... I was just shocked. I still am.

[@easilydistractedauthor]

My petty ass would have changed it to one star and attached the screenshotted convo. 🤷‍♀ Or, more realistically, told everyone in my reader friend group about it so we could all boycott them together. Authors policing ratings and reviews in any way always gives me the ick.

[@TheRonnieaj]

God I hate authors who do that. My only request when I send ARCs is that you review. 1-star, 5-star, I don’t care. I don’t even have access to my Goodreads account. 😂 I gave it to my husband, told him to change the password, and deleted the app. Why more authors don’t do this, I don’t know.

[@lizabethhampton4537]

@@TheRonnieaj What a good strategy tbh.

[@TheGallantDrake]

Should have left it up. That author is out of line.

[@sopranoshelley]

While not cool of the author to do that, I also don't think that was 3 star worthy? If it's a pretty unusual trigger it's not the author's fault for not having a trigger warning and not their fault you couldn't finish the book. I just wouldn't have reviewed it if I couldn't properly review it due to not finishing it.

[@TheSlurpy11]

Also as a biker girlie I am frothing at the mouth to read Hana Lee's Road to Ruin so I'm glad this drama came about if only to put the good books and good authors in the spotlight

[@ReadswithRachel]

I am SO READY for that book

[@darrowofyomama]

i just checked it out and damn am i shaking in excitement

[@lizabethhampton4537]

when I tell you I shoved it on my want to read shelf so fast

[@aster1749]

To prove Rachel’s point about how reviews and stuff are not the whole way people chose books. I don’t have the same taste as Rachel, she has rated books five stars that I genuinely did not like. I don’t really take most of my book recs from her rating I just like her personality and her voice. 😅

[@ReadswithRachel]

Valid. Just glad you’re here ❤

[@lrae9519]

Stalking your goodreads rating is showing your fanfic origins.

[@zoeb3573]

Checking for comments notifications on your email inbox every day... not good for the soul

[@lackules]

I understand why you titled it like this but seeing Cáit Corráin in my notifications had me on the floor, I don't know why it's so funny on its own, maybe it's because of the racism involved in this situation, maybe I'm going crazy

[@captainbaekho]

i wanna point out that many people have been praising reylos for coming up with receipts and good, but let's not forget that the louder part of that fandom, a lot from that unhinged one mentioned by cait, were and still are extremely racist towards john boyega and his character in SW finn.

[@ReadswithRachel]

Oh trust me you will not see me letting them live that down ever. I still yell about reylo author emily duncan doing that.

[@captainbaekho]

@@ReadswithRachel thank you!!!! because other people coming to this "drama" without context for all parts are praising reylos a lot lmao

[@zinkheroofyoutube8004]

To be fair, most Reylos are just people who are pretty chill It is just that one really loud part of the fandom

[@LoveLeighReading]

​@ReadswithRachel I recognized the name Emily Duncan, but needed to google her to remember her book. A screenshot of your "authors behaving badly" video of her is the second photo that comes up for her 😅

[@misskate3815]

Yeah, the Reylo fandom helped run Stitch off of multiple social media platforms, as well as stalking them and spreading libel. This was part of a long pattern of leading backlash against people in fandom who speak out against racism. Tbh, I don’t care if their fandom gets a bad reputation. They should have called out their friends more when they were harassing actors and fellow fans. If people start associating Reylo with cringe, it’s a well deserved title. They made the Star Wars fandom as bad as Stereks made the Teen Wolf fandom, which isn’t surprising, given how many of them migrated that way. Should have been less chill and more actively anti-racist.

[@victorialindblad6673]

The fact that she went with villain lily is.. mind-blowing

[@vadalia3860]

I think she had to because Lily wasn't real. If she were real, everyone would expect Cait to ask her to come forward to admit what she did in order to clear Cait's name, which a good friend would do. But villain!Lily allows Cait to claim she's to blame while having an excuse for why Lily will never be able to come forward to admit it.

[@blueranyk4198]

thank you so much for featuring the artists who made the covers! i've been a fan of corey brickley for a while, their illustrations are all fantastic! i think if there's any good at all to be had from this whole situation, it lies in supporting the affected authors and these artists

[@atherisGAY]

This whole awful situation hopefully leads to positive exposure of this artists works, because the art is stunning. Let's hope they get many great commissions. 🙏

[@MariaRodriguez-dx6sm]

Cait is one of those people that never left high school

[@angelaholmes8888]

Yes exactly 💯

[@AntheanCeilliers]

The best part of this entire dumpster fire is the Reylo fandom coming out with YEARS of receipts showing that "Lily" was fake. Don't fuck with the Reylos lol

[@neoncapricorn]

Social media has destroyed our sense of social responsibility.

[@MC-yt1uv]

What is insane is that it would be very easy to game the system and give fake reviews to boost up your own book. I even imagine this happens a lot. All you have to do is avoid making fake accounts that target a specific group of people for bad reviews while positively reviewing your own books. Not only does this expose Cait's racism but it also exposes the fact that she is bad a scheming.

[@beeaggro2593]

Not just that. You could game it with the bad reviews too. You just would have to skip adding five stars to your book and spread it out to say, various random things that have nothing to do with you. You could basically play easy sock puppet theatre and the system basically lets you

[@buffyshellmouthcollection]

As a Bipoc author I appreciate your bluntness and calling out authors who are toxic to the book community. Love the videos Rachel. Keep em coming🙌🏾🙌🏾🙌🏾

[@ReadswithRachel]

Thank you so much!

[@buffyshellmouthcollection]

@@ReadswithRachel you're very welcome☺️

[@bruna6161]

it's so crazy to me to see you learning brazilian portuguese, i always forget there are english speakers that learn our language, it makes me really, really happy! hope you have a good time here

[@bruna6161]

by the way, picnic is piquenique (pi-keh-nee-keh, but depending on where you go, the accent might sound more like pee-kee-nee-kee)

[@ReadswithRachel]

I’m so glad! I’m working hard on it. I’ve also added in watching a tv show (my friend recommended Hilda Furacao) so I can get used to hearing it more. The writing portion I’m pretty good at but my hearing-to-understand portion needs work.

[@Mad13366]

Seeing her reading in portuguese was a surprise i wasnt expcting, but one that made my day happier.

[@wirhannah]

I've been waiting for this video since I first heard about this drama. As an author whose agent has my manuscript on submission I am in complete disbelief that she had the dream debut experience and chucked it all away to do a racism. Absolutely wild.

[@angelaholmes8888]

Yeah it's pretty wild

[@TheRonnieaj]

Me and my author friends CANNOT stop talking about this (and the copyright-the-sky woman). Good luck with your submission!! That process is…a process. 😂

[@wirhannah]

@@TheRonnieaj Thank you 😊 yes, it certainly is! Incidentally the friend who alerted me to this story isn't a fellow author but even she knew what Cait had lost through her ridiculous behaviour.

[@sweetstacks3631]

I wish I had this much energy to just function in my daily life

[@MoragOctober]

Before the "villain Lilly" thing, when "Lilly" was a friend trying to help, even Cait's fake reaction to it indicates there are issues there. If Lilly had been real, that's a shitty way to react to what they did. You can be upset/angry with someone without immediately jumping to attacking them and accusing them of betrayal. If that's how Cait treats real people in their life then that alone says a lot. They come across as someone who struggles to regulate their own emotions and turns it outwards to blast others. Combined with the racism, no wonder it blew up in their face. I hope they do some work on themselves and learn from all this. EDIT: watching further into the video, Cait mentions already being in therapy. In which case I hope they engage more with therapy and work harder because damn

[@rainydayjules]

Even my MOM had heard about this from some newspaper article about Goodreads one star binging and asked me what the deal was, when you said we’d all heard about it you MEANT THAT

[@asteridshydrangea-jt2hf]

ETA: I also really appreciate you pointing out - which I hadn't seen before in so many words in other coverage - how the underlying prejudice feeds into the insecurity of people like this because, as they dehumanize and devalue POC, they consider them (subconscious or conscious, since I'm guessing she heard someone go 'this looks really bad' from her own team and threw the comment into lily's mouth to milk it for pity the way she milked the first exposure to pretend she was one of the victims) even LESS deserving of the resources and validation they so crave. Really appreciate hearing you lay it all out like this. Was so dispiriting and ugly but your pieces at the end about industry and goodreads monitoring made so much sense and made a lot of pieces fall into place. I’ve always felt like authors should avoid reviews. I’ve seen people argue they need to learn how to ~take criticism but the goal is to find an editor(s) who understands what you’re going for and can help you make the best version. Someone who doesn’t like guacamole is not the best taste tester, and that may be what you run across. Hell, some negative reviews have been well composed enough to tell me I might like it, bcs I can see where our tastes differ

[@Kiwisan8]

Boo KZbin, commenting for the algorithm. KZbin may not like this series but I really appreciate the work you put in!

[@matcha.cinnamon]

the 😭😭 text messages😭😭 with herself😭😭 the whole situation is wild but the text part always gets me cus then she admits adds a plot twist & then admits to being a racist too?!?! im glad she got dropped by all her publishers cus this is crazy

[@ardeaalike]

Me senti tão feliz com seu português 🧡 representada e abraçada. A internet permite a burrice dos autores transcender a barreira linguística 😂

[@ReadswithRachel]

Obrigada por estar aqui 🥹 truly love that we get to discuss across languages and continents 😂

[@dkstamberose]

The affected debuts all sound really cool, can I just say the title “to gaze upon wicked gods” sounds so bad ass 😭😭 im so excited

[@kraziiXIII]

Not gonna lie but I definitely saw the title and my brain was like "reviewbombgate" as "review womb gate" and I was deeply confused and kinda scared lmao.

[@partyontheobjective]

Seems like Cait studied at MsScribe university of sockpuppetry.

[@charlesintune]

👏👏😅😅 need to rewatch that video

[@SailorSaturn1994]

being racist and feeling threatened by people of color is so on-brand for a reylo tbh. I remember how racist reylos were to john boyega because his character threatened reylo and also how he was friends with daisy ridley while daisy was just co-workers with adam driver. they said some really nasty shit over the years

[@SkwithOv]

as a white person who wants to write a book - i'm GLAD people of color are getting more opportunities now, because they have been denied these opportunities for so long and have a harder time with things like that in general i'm fine working a little harder to try to get my writing out there because systemically people who are white have had and still have an easier time overall, and it's about time that other people get the same opportunities if i was a publisher or whatever, i'd love to represent diverse writers and prioritize publishing writers who may not have as many chances with other publishers because of systemic issues like racism, i think that's great when there's so many incredible authors who have been denied the opportunities they deserve just because of racism/bigotry of course give anyone a CHANCE, but assuming their works were exactly equally great, i probably would prioritize someone who is less likely to have as many chances to get published. it's not a quota, it's just caring about changing how the system harms certain groups of people i don't understand why some people (in those clips you showed around 47:00) think that's bad, besides the fact that it might be ever so slightly harder for them to find the right publisher "oh no people who historically have had less opportunities are getting better chances now, this is directly harming me" like.... no, you still have more chances than people of color historically have had, it's just that you're not as likely to be prioritized for being white anymore...

[@SkwithOv]

it's not about pushing white people down for being white, it's about raising people of color up to be given opportunities that were previously only/mainly given to white people and if a white person is being racist, they SHOULD be excluded from opportunities because their actions are causing harm - that's not because they're white, that's because they're racist

[@SkwithOv]

publishing is not a competition BUT it's kind of like, if i want to compete against the best people in a sport, i can't do that if entire groups of people are excluded from trying to enter the competition at all

[@booksaremysociallife]

Her having a whole dialogue with herself is so wild!

[@robinmitchells]

An ABB episode about Cait Corrain that’s over an hour long? Sign me up! Thanks Rachel!

[@emmettjoyce3100]

one good thing that came out of this was discovering corey brickley, because i absolutely fell in love with their art!

[@bro.that.is.adorable.2633]

I can’t imagine living the writer’s DREAM and getting traditionally published only to voluntarily throw it away

[@narrrayu]

i still can't believe she went through all the trouble to fake a discord conversation to shift blame but managed to screw up the timestamps so badly that it made it glaringly obvious they were fake 🙃

[@connbarry1656]

That fake argument that Cait has with “Lily” reminds of that episode of Fawlty Towers where Basil has to cook a meal for a guest but the chef has gone home, so Basil has a loud shouting match with himself in the kitchen rather than just admit that he has no staff.

[@writheagainsoon]

I'm at my grandma's house, and I have this playing on my phone. I had it paused, and she walked by, looked at my phone, and said "she has the prettiest eyes". I think you have a new fan 😅

[@violetception]

watching all of the drama play out in real time was nuts. yellowface may have been satirical, but the thought processes and actions taken by both june, the protagonist of yf, and corrain in trying to fabricate excuses when they were caught are scarily comparable.

[@Venjamin]

I don't understand how writers like this - or any other (like that Nova's Playlist author) haven't figured out that rising tides lifts all ships. If someone likes a book similar to yours, they are more likely to read yours! Readers can read more than one book.

[@brandonberger3916]

This series is just a master class in why authors should not use social media. If I ever get published I'll have plenty of notes in what not to do.

[@nooooooraq4479]

I recently interviewed Kamilah Cole about SO LET THEM BURN and she is literally the sweetest person and I’m reading through my arc copy and the concept is so sick and love it so far so I love that Rachel made a point to shout out those impacted by this because these debuts need support more than ever!!

[@pauieeepau]

I already had So Let Them Burn on my GR tbr before the drama broke. What a cool cover and concept. Your comment just makes me want to read it more :D

[@crystalbutterfly2758]

the transition to the sponsorship was SMOOTH

[@eduardaarrais]

As a translator, i loved hearing you reading Portuguese 😊 I sometimes have clients that attempt to read or speak to thank me for my work, and its always so cute.

[@ReadswithRachel]

Thank you!

[@aname4399]

as a certified haver of Mental Issues, i try not to ever be like "well my x never made ME y" but with this its just so blatantly obvious this can't be chalked up to just random episodes. I've had some pure absolute noid moments-- weeks of unmedicated unmanaged out of pocket behavior where i am deeply detached from reality and i have said and done some really hurtful things but not once have i ever run such a long-term thought-out plot. sure, i may get impulses or entertain a wild fantasy about doing something machiavellian, but the amount of time and effort it takes to do that in the depths of a Bad Time is just not conducive to actually getting it done. addiction + mental illness don't create new biases; they act on existing ones. the impulse control may have been gone but she did what she did and kept it a secret because of the racism + jealousy. if she really had a sudden dark patch she wouldve deleted those reviews + accounts asap the moment she realized she had done something in that state of mind because i know i sure as hell dont trust manic me as far as i can throw him and most people who struggle w similar issues are the same.

[@swhite5840]

Great comment. Agree.

[@cozy_goth]

I’d followed Cait for years and years on Twitter, from way before Reylo and their book, and unfortunately they’ve always been on the dramatic side. Without getting into too much detail, their posts were always very up and down so when they started writing this book and appeared to be successful, I really thought that they had finally found their footing. When I saw the tweet Cait put out about being a victim of review bombing and then the first subtweet about the situation from Xiran, I immediately knew who the tweets were about. Definitely not going to be reading their book now, yikes.

[@Trish0978]

What's funny is, for example, I'm a pretty voracious reader (on the low end, I read over 130 books last year) and I do not actively use GR at all. If I go on the site, it might be to grab the cover photo for my reading journal OR because I'm feeling a type of way about a book I just read and I want to see if literally anyone else did too. The latter happens less than 10% of the time. This concept that GR is the end all be all metric for the reception of a book or how it's being received doesn't make sense to me at all lol

[@FourPawsandaBook]

Unrelated, but that was the smoothest transition into the sponsorship. Okay now back to the video

[@thxwanderer]

She should've just put the pen down and played Hades. 😂

[@ishathakor]

ive genuinely also seen like. 1 star reviews. and then gone omg this sounds like something i would love and picked up the book

[@asterya6913]

Thank you specifically for putting Caint racism front and center. I saw so many kinda downplaying it by insisting on her jealousy and insecurity. But like you said, the three cannot be separated. She believed (consciously or not. She seem to have some awareness but clearly doesn't want to admit it to even herself) that she didn't just deserve better. But was ENTITLED to having better then everyone she saw as beneath her, aka any nonwhite person. Her very jealous (also dramatic by what I've heard) and insecure temperament coupled with her arrogance just made her unable to reign it in and hide it well. I'm glad she got caught and feel 0 positive feeling towards her. (I was more surprised she was actually holded accountable and faced real consequences. Sad I know. Also the people out here already saying she deserve forgiveness and a second chance. Yikes. Sorry but I'm looking at them very VERY suspiciously.) But I'm glad that racism and privileges in the publishing industry got a spotlight because of her. I put the POC authors affected in my TBR and took screenshots just so I can propose them to people I know.

[@mrbubbies_]

the part that always does me in is when she fabricated a discord conversation of her cussing a fake person out, like imagine doing THAT and then getting put on blast for it, i would never show my face in public again 😭😭

[@Travelling_with_my_dog]

If I'm ever lucky enough to be published, I will not only block Goodreads, I'd also like to go on a year-long camping trip, far far away from any internet access.

[@hyenaedits3460]

Legitimately the smoothest ad read transition I've seen in a while. No matter how many times I hear this story I'm still baffled by how thoroughly Cait ruined her own career and reputation.

[@Kappinna]

More about the drama reaching brazil: it got so bad that it was being televisioned on the news program of our subway trains. I remember seeing it once and immediately having the most violent reaction one could have in a train LMAO

[@MarcelleLeiturasPreguicosas]

the art for the Illumicrate edition is so beautiful, the artist shared some of their drawings and this is the part that saddens me the most, cait didn't deserve beautiful art

[@perryjones7771]

The thing that gets me is that she had a MOVIE DEAL!!!! And she threw it all away in a matter of a week. That movie deal would have given her a fan base these smut readers nowadays enjoy anything. She had an up and coming authors dream handed to her on a silver platter.

[@nancyjay790]

Okay, so back when Daniel Green reacted to the scandal breaking down (his video came out on KZbin on December 11th, 2023), I said I was looking forward to the Reads With Rachel Authors Behaving Badly video. Green liked my comment (sempai noticed me😺) and there are currently 366 likes, so I imagine all of them are watching now. You're a star, Rachel! Edit to add: I am sure someone would (and may have) suggested during Green's video that a Reads With Rachel Authors Behaving Badly episode would appear. I just stated the obvious.