when you can't stand your peers succeeding

Today we are talking about review bombing on Good Reads, a book review platform. A 2024 debut author was set to have a successful launch, but instead of letting things happen as they may Cait made fake accounts on Good Reads to add negative reviews to fellow 2024 debut authors, most of whom were authors of color. Let's talk about being so obvious in your sabotage there is a masterdoc with 31 pages of evidence.
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[@Amanda_Savage]

"Your mental health is not your fault but it is your responsibility" took me to church! 🙏🏼

[@lilymulligan8180]

I always say this!!! So much nuance gets lost in our confusion between fault/blame and responsibility.

[@evylynvega]

Similar to "mental health issues explain that, not excuse that".

[@Jhddtukbdd87542]

It’s so true though. I was depressed and an alcoholic, and I did insane things. That was years ago and I’ve made ammends for the shit I said/did. It’s my responsibility, no matter how shitty it feels. I hope this author reaches sobriety and finds herself again. Anyone can self sabotage, and they can also rebuild their life in a new amazing way!

[@saberguy91]

This is a line used in Last Podcast on the Left a lot. I thought she got it from there!

[@chickensalad3535]

That is extremely dependent on the situation and illness.

[@MikaylaKennedy]

It is only "internalized" racism when you belong to the group. It's just straight racism in this case.

[@lulucool45]

this

[@elsa_g]

Maybe she meant implicit/unconscious racism?

[@Joohorn]

Yeah I'm guessing Swell was trying to say unconscious

[@blumoo9938]

​@@elsa_gthat sounds likely! although, in the faked messages between Cait and "Lilly", Lilly saying that she targeted poc authors to make Cait seem racist on purpose, makes me think that maybe Cait was aware of who she was targeting while doing it, making it more conscious. although she could've just brought that up because of the conversation surrounding her about the authors being poc

[@lucylikesthebeatles52726]

Yeah I think a better term might be unconscious racism

[@FTZPLTC]

Yeeeeeah, kinda smelled a rat with that whole "Omg, you uprated all my books for me, I FEEL LITERALLY SICK" bit.

[@Rikrobat]

It’s wild how this person chose to fake a villain and yet still made herself the biggest victim in the scenario. Girl, if you’re going to create someone else to take the blame, use that chance to emphasize how much harm has been done to the other authors, but nope-she couldn’t put someone else above herself even while trying to escape responsibility.

[@FennecFool]

Right, I don't think that alone would immediately make someone super mad.

[@ealusaid]

Gilding the lily just a bit much.

[@tyf.5111]

For real, just listening to Amanda reading those messages I was not convinced. She was doing extra to alleviate herself from all blame and acted like she was SO APPALLED, like. Nah dude, she doth protest too much.

[@DeathMonkeyXL]

I was listening to it like “is this an excerpt from a book?”

[@MsAdlerHolmes]

And rarely are readers "choosing one book over another," because if a book sounds good to them, they're gonna read it one way or another. They will read it IN ADDITION to other books in the genre. That's why indie authors hype each other's books.

[@Hana9916]

A rising tide lifts all boats

[@Meimoons]

@@Hana9916oh I’ve never heard of that idiom. I like it!

[@jackiehuff7736]

Yes, this. It's weird to sabotage other authors. Even when you watch interviews, there is usually a section that asks what the author reads.

[@cailinanne]

_Mental health is not your fault, but it is your responsibility._ Say it again, Amanda!

[@saberguy91]

Straight from Marcus Parks himself!

[@chickensalad3535]

That's extremely dependent on the situation and illness.

[@felix_a_fiend]

@@chickensalad3535well sure. But in this case it was hardly even a symptom or byproduct. Alcoholism does not make anyone do a planned out racist attack on their friend’s careers.

[@FreakBellSeven]

I just can't stand that she had A TRADPUB DEAL WITH FULL MARKETING TO MAJOR BRANDS and decided it wasn't enough.

[@JH-yj7kk]

Insecurity is a cruel demon

[@whiteraven562]

and a special limited edition from a book crate too!

[@briredrose]

Someone said that they imagined that Cait acted out the Discord conversation with a sock puppet and I can’t stop thinking about it 😭💀

[@RenaDeles]

I mean that's actually the problem she didn't do that and if she had that would have at least cut the time stamp issue 😂 It takes 5 seconds to make a discord account please use any effort at all in your scams if you're going to be this petty

[@drumblebee]

IM SCREAMING

[@CatLady-9327]

​@@RenaDeles i think they meant a literal sock puppet, not a sock puppet account. Like, one of those things you put your hand in and pretend it can talk.

[@hoshi-15]

Someone said to me, "Kate should've thought about how someone has an entire excel spreadsheet of every Reylo post from Twitter and Tumblr" to prove Lily didn't exist. I wheezed when I heard that

[@GhostBirds]

the book drama this year has been insane... remember, we had an author fake their death for like TWO YEARS and come back, an author dedicating his dark romance book to a reviewer that he didnt like, ai book covers, an author advocating to punish ARC readers for not reviewing their book, the hockey romance thing, complaining about a 4 star review for a book that wasnt out yet (calling the reviewer a bitch!), copyrighting the sun, and SO much more. im excited (or scared) to see the drama in 2024!

[@zeviv7313]

Copyrighting the sun? lol I haven't heard about that one. What happened there?

[@cassidyburke9499]

the copyrighting the sun situation is so fucking surreal. i genuinely can't imagine the book drama in 2024.

[@camelliaharpdarkthrope6462]

@@zeviv7313 An author named Lauren M. Davis read a promo summary for an upcoming book which mentioned the mc has sun powers and dmed that book's author, Marvellous Michael Anson, trying to get them to change it because the first author also had a character who had powers from the sun. The second author of course ignored them, leading to the first author to make a whole thread "calling out" the second author. 🙄Almost everyone who saw the thread knew it was insane since stories about people having powers from the ever present orb of light in the sky have existed since antiquity. They continued doubling down and refused to apologize for days.

[@ellenkarlsson9490]

I only know about the hockey harassment stuff. Can someone, please, summarize the rest for me, or point me in the direction of the tea spillage?

[@obara7366]

@@camelliaharpdarkthrope6462 Damn, Lauren better sue DC cuz Kal El/Clark and Koriand'r/Starfire copyrighted her 60 years in advance!

[@wolfwatch9731]

i've said this before but i'll say it again: cait corrain literally had everything going for her, while her peers were going to have to work their asses off to market their books. she had an illumicrate deal, a beautiful cover that would catch people's eyes in the bookstore, it was a space romantasy meaning no matter how bad her book is people will eat it up and give it 4 or 5 stars. she just had to sit back and watch the money print itself. i don't normally read space fantasy / never read romantasy, yet crown of starlight was on my want to read for over a year, meanwhile i'd never heard of the books she targeted before now. and now obviously her book may never get published and i wouldn't read it if it somehow did, yet 2 of the debuts she targeted are on my want to read. she literally ruined her own life for no goddamn reason, which is why this scandal has been living in my head since it happened.

[@nailinthefashion]

Insanity is way more common than we give it credit imo hahaha

[@cooliostarstache5474]

Mike Ehrmantraut speech

[@blumoo9938]

​@@cooliostarstache5474we had a good thing goin

[@stingray1irwin0]

@ville__ leave earth

[@lactobacillusprobiotic7029]

You forgot booktok being creepy and inappropriate with a motorcyclist who’s 16 years old.

[@theanonsisters]

so the apology starts the same way James Somerton's does - with a run down of how they're suffering. As Jessie Gender said this isn't the place for this, it's supposed to be about the victims.

[@JH-yj7kk]

Yeah I agree. I think sometimes an apology can include some explanation about your state or what your motivation was at the time of the offense. Sometimes, if it's well articulated, I think that can even be helpful for victims who might want an explanation. But it's tricky, and too often it falls into "but now you all hate me, so I'm kinda the real victim!" It's often best not to include it. Definitely never open with it.

[@SanaChama]

Watched Cindy cover this and what a sad, miserable topic. It's bad enough the many hoops authors have to jump through to get any traction what-so-ever just to GET a book deal of any value... For fellow authors to actively waste themselves away just to take others down, what a sad state. And of course the only real reason she was punished at all IMO is because she harmed her own publishing house. That's it. Had she picked rival publisher authors only, well... We may still be here, and everyone will hate her this week while they remember her name, but I'm pretty sure her book would still be published with gusto.

[@nailinthefashion]

Steven Crowder and Matt Rife have success despite their toxicity. Justin Roiland has done worse and will still get hired. As an aspiring author myself, I'm not upset at anyone having said success. The trade off of what they sacrificed to have it isn't worth it outside of their bubbles. Support the right people, stabilize them, help build the right careers y'all. You have the power to do the right thing, just like this video, your comments or purchases or shares or whatever all help balance the scales back in our (the collective good) favor

[@adrianghandtchi1562]

Hey hey watcher of her vid too. Yeah it’s just depressing

[@twistedlittlepuppy]

As an aspiring YA author who is also a Black woman, this story has irked me to no end. Over the years, there has been a much-needed push to publish more diverse books by more diverse authors. I grew up in a time (90's) where books RARELY featured BIPOC characters and, when they did, the book was written by a White author and the characters rang false. So the "We Need Diverse Books" movement was born, along with the "own voice" hashtag. Publishers and agents made a concentrated effort to publish BIPOC authors. Agents created pitch contests to scout out new BIPOC talent. However, more than a few White authors got it in their heads that the increased calls for diversity meant their books would have no chance of being published. Never mind the fact that books by/about BIPOC are still woefully underrepresented. I've had people legit tell me to my face that I would for sure be published because I'm Black and "publishers don't want to publish White people anymore." It reeks of "oh, you only got this job or got into this school because you're Black." There is no affirmative action in publishing, just a realization that children who are BIPOC/LGBTIA+/disabled/from underrepresented religions and cultures deserve to see themselves. For people like Cait Corrain to come over and yank the chair away from these debut marginalized authors when they JUST NOW got to the table is foul (especially the rumor that she targeted debut authors who got higher advances/better deals). We keep telling ya'll, it's not pie, everyone can get a piece, no one is taking anything away from you. Sadly, I don't see it getting better because the insecurity amongst us authors is real and racist misinformation runs rampant online.

[@noonehere8416]

Thanks for putting into words something I’ve tried to explain to my peers again and again!

[@oishikaray2767]

❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤

[@AlexTenThousand]

I appreciate the effort you put into picking the absolute worst possible frames to pause the video on.

[@averyeml]

Girls, don’t you hate it when your depression and/or anxiety kicks in and makes you go out of your way to create several fake accounts to systematically review bomb several authors and upvote yourself and then try to fake an entire Discord argument against a straw man? All while still being able to pull it together enough to write a novel and negotiate with major book publishers and do PR? Because god, I know my brain is capable of all that when I’m in the midst of my mental health episodes

[@Kyiecutie]

Ugh, yes. I really really hate when that happens.

[@moratolca]

her depression and/or anxiety is more productive and stable than my best mental health days

[@canadianturtle7240]

Can't believe your comment got 92 upvotes, that's just sad. Haters never succeed. Never have, never will

[@drumblebee]

just another tuesday, yknow? 💀

[@Tamaki742]

​@@canadianturtle7240 What are you on about?

[@antant6217]

I have cerebral palsy and internalized ableism and low self-esteem. I have a horrendous flaw where I get irrationally upset when I see other disabled people have more success than me and I get incredibly jealous and upset with myself because I'm always negatively comparing myseld to others. It's a very toxic way of thinking. It's entirely a "me problem", and it's something I need to overcome through therapy and introspection. You are absolutely right about your own mental health being your responsibility.

[@aksez2u]

Very "human" problem. Don't feel terrible about it, just keep working on it!

[@DarwinRoger893]

Acknowledging it is the first step. As long as you fight your internalized ableism, you can always improve! Best of luck!

[@y2kmermaid64]

December was such a weird time for booktok/booktwitter because we had two authors actively targeting smaller POC authors. And both events happened in like the span of two weeks. The world never has enough art and they can claim being threatened by competition or whatever but at the end of the day it was racially motivated. (The other author was a Trumper who went after a POC author on twitter shouting "plagiarism!!1" because they both had Protags with Sun powers. And girlie got laughed off the internet for trying to claim ownership of the sun and her book just being terrible.)

[@g0reg0yle37]

Omg, i heard about all that. It was so stupid, i felt so bad for the author that she targeted!

[@shariahansari]

Which author?

[@Jenninka]

Is she related to the omega verse author that tried to go to war with Lindsay Ellis a bunch of other people? This has “Return the witch” energy

[@y2kmermaid64]

@@Jenninka lol that'd be an interesting plot twist but as far as I know, no

[@y2kmermaid64]

@@shariahansari Lauren. M. Davis? Never heard of her, but I think she ended up deleting her twitter because of backlash

[@willows6114]

The dialogue Cait wrote for the fake Discoid messages makes me concerned about the writing quality in the Crown of Starlight Lmao

[@princessjello]

Well you were right...

[@opo3628]

After reading a few extended excerpts from Crown of Starlight and listening to a book summary from somebody who *did* read the whole thing, I will say that I now feel that it's entirely possible for me to crap out a novel in three months and land a lucrative publishing deal.

[@averyeml]

I just love that Xiran got to be the bomb dropper (even though she had every plan to give her a second chance to just stop it). It’s always fun when a KZbinr I like makes a guest appearance in drama, like finding out Jenny Nicholson was poking at James Somerton being a plagiarist right before everything went down 😂

[@ann-gt4hh]

From the title I guessed what the video was, and I was right. I’m headed towards publishing, want to be an agent, and just. Everything about this person’s attitude is so rancid. Unfortunate she made all the wrong choices and lost a lot. I hope she can grow to be better and one day be able to find success *alongside* her peers. But it sounds like it’ll take many years before a publisher will pick her up again. “Mental health is not your fault, but it is your responsibility.” Incredibly well said, I am keeping this in my back pocket. As someone who’s struggled with a lot of brain things, I had to *work* to unlearn my bad habits and behaviors that served me while I wasn’t safe, but only hinder me now. I still do, honestly.

[@Oatmaster]

I love Xiran. I’ve been following them from their first KZbin video. Good on them for exposing the truth to the light. It just blows my mind. This person had a book deal, and yet even though they already made it that wasn’t good enough. They had to go out of their way to drag others down. Ruined their own chances, no one else did anything to her, she did it to herself.

[@RoseyPosiePie]

Just so you know, Xiran uses they/them pronouns!

[@Oatmaster]

@@RoseyPosiePie thank you, I edited my comment to fix that

[@Sleipnirseight]

I apologize if someone else has said this, I do not mean to be annoying, just helpful! Xiran is pronounced as "shih-rahn". In Chinese, xi makes a sh sound :) Also, this story/drama is WILD.

[@dustmite7558]

I don't think it's annoying to ask one of the main people whose evidence and input are used to make the content you are profiting off have their name pronounced correctly

[@oliviaw589]

@Sleipnirseight I'm Chinese and the "Shih" sound would be spelt as Shi. Xi is pronounced "See". I hope Swell sees this correction anyway tho tk for helping correct

[@mimilune2746]

​​@@oliviaw589so the pronunciation of her name is seerahn am I getting that right ?

[@stingray1irwin0]

@ville__ consider not being alive

[@bunji_beans]

@@mimilune2746 The "x" sound in Chinese is somewhere between "s" and "sh", so imo it sounds more like sheeran (like the singer lol). Also just a heads up Xiran uses they/them pronouns

[@Sleipnirseight]

It's a rare occasion when somebody accidentally serves themselves justice for their own heinous behavior. But boy is it sweet!

[@bear.b]

This was instant karma!

[@pande1461]

@ville__ Are you ever going to stop lying? Receipts or GTFO.

[@BizarreBrie]

The fact that there’s been two other booktwitter scandals that have happened since this is honestly insane to me.

[@tiachante]

An author sent me a physical copy of her book and I only posted my review to Goodreads and not IG so she wouldn’t see since I thought the book was terrible. Out of the blue I get a dm telling me that it’s her first bad review and she wants to know why I thought that and if I can change my review since English isn’t her first language (which I mean, you have an editor, that’s no excuse for poor grammar and misusing idioms but go off sis). It was sooooo uncomfortable!

[@mb2001]

Yikes…

[@Ask8613]

You should have added the screenshot to the review 😂

[@willows6114]

Oof, what did you tell her?

[@safegourd]

Hope you left her on read or something, that’s so inappropriate

[@acornabler4118]

This is crazy and I am currently going through a very similar situation with a (ex)friend and can almost guarantee that if she wasn’t held accountable and had big consequences Cait would have just continued with her behavior and only gotten worse.

[@waywardbookworm]

As a debut author, watching this all play out has been crazy. The ruined Illumicrate deal is probably a career ender because those subscription boxes only accept books that will take returns of the books that don’t sell. This is a huge loss for the author/publisher because those returns come with sizable fees.

[@localmenace3043]

There is literally _no good reason on the planet_ to be that brand of petty at Cait’s age. No reason on Earth. I’m depressed and I’ve had struggles with addiction, but that would be absolutely no excuse for doing what she did. Shame. Racism and envy rots your brain and your heart.

[@Kadi_Fedoruk]

I think its very telling not only how you word an apology but also how you structure it. If you apologize first and then add the personal side , readers can decide for themselves if it holds any weight against what happened. If they start with the personal account, you can ascertain that they consider themselves the TRUE victim here, forcing you to keep that at the back of your mind while reading the rest. I was going to say James Somerton did this too, but realized I hadn't watched the apology video, I was just certain he did so-- and after watching the first minute, he did exactly what I suspected. It's absolutely fair to cite the impact to yourself and how your mental health/situation might have contributed to your actions, but that's not an apology. That's an excuse.

[@teamhero1336]

"it is not enough that i should succeed- others should fail"

[@TheSmileycece]

I love that you spoke about having a strong sense of self. It genuinely is paramount to maintaining a somewhat stable mind. Studying fine art made this so much easier for me to learn because we had constant group critique. People had to be honest and give input because their participation affected their grade. It's about critical thinking but also learning how to comment objectively and openly. It's a very good skill. I personally was one of the ones that didn't take things personally and I still did what I wanted if I didn't feel the input supported my ideas best. I did take on some things I didn't personally think of that would help me to be better artistically. People have different lived experience and can always provide diverse input. You need to be strong in having an opinion you know you can defend. Know yourself. Opinions are always able to change but it helps having a starting point. Like having principles you resonate with and abide by etc. Otherwise you're a floater waiting for somebody else to find your place for you. This can lead to great unhappiness because you may not feel alright but not even know why.

[@kelsey5093]

this is a big reason why i love tracking my books on Storygraph!!! my reviews can be brutally honest and i’m not afraid of the author contacting me on the platform lol

[@Mycozymnbooks]

The literal best! Their rating system is so much better too!

[@inotanzen]

love the fact you describe yourself as a “vibes reader” because i’ve said that exact thing about myself too! like i love watching and can appreciate reviewers who get really in-depth about what plot holes there were and if things make sense because i honestly don’t need a lot of that for a story as long as the vibes are good and the relationship is believable, so i like knowing ahead of time if what i’m getting into is going to be more mentally taxing than another option. i definitely have some authors that i consider my “favorites” that i know the general consensus does not agree with me and that’s OKAY. it’s insane to me that an author could see other books as competition in this ways because truly what reader ever thinks of books like that?? i’m not going to choose between two books and then never read the one that i rule out, it just gets thrown on the tbr! books are so so subjective, a book that someone absolutely fucking hates with their entire SOUL could be someone else’s favorite novel of all time, imagine ruining your carrer over basically thinking you can please everyone!

[@s1o]

Doing it, then making a whole conversation up where they call it psychopathic behaviour is sending me

[@s1o]

Like not recognising the irony is the *actual* psychopathic behaviour

[@opo3628]

Reads With Cindy said it best that Cait was having a dialogue with herself, beyond just for the sake of fabricating a discord conversation.

[@ZombieGravitation]

From Xiran’s TikTok explaining review bomb gate, Xiran got the other screenshots from an associate of Cait’s, who contacted them. Xiran didn’t specifically name which of Cait’s associates they were in contact with but that’s how they got the screenshots. Communication cut off after Xiran asked for not chat logs beyond this one conversation to prove whether or not lily was real. Honestly my favorite bit was Lily having a villain twist.

[@katburgess5926]

It just baffles me about how she kept going and going with the lies

[@MiruyaChan]

As they say: Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.

[@justanotherpiccplayer3511]

right ok, so I am a flute player and being a musician is already very competitive but flutes are even more so. One of my best friends at college is one of the best flute players I've ever come across, she was winning all the prizes and getting all the opportunities and I was getting none. I felt like absolute shit and jealous but like thats nothing to do with her? It's all a me problem and I am trying to put that energy into improving my playing and changing how I think. Like I understand how this author might be feeling but like thats a them problem and nothing to do with the other authors so dont go dragging them into it

[@horizonkyun7203]

omg music school can be so rough because you really do want to support your friends and even collaborate but you always feel like you need to prove yourself! i even get too nervous to collaborate sometimes which is so dumb 😭

[@tarakennedy2512]

You’re a good friend. I know it’s hard, but I’m sure deep down your friend knows your good intentions and loves and appreciates you and your support-from one artist to another, I’m sure she also has those days where she thinks her playing isn’t great, or has an off day. I bet your playing is great, too!

[@UltravioletNomad]

As an artist and hopeful eventual game designer, criticism and analytics are MAJORLY important. So while I wholly agree to not just doom scroll your reviews, you absolutely have to engage with your feedback. For game designers especially, because while movies and stories are just delivered by a third party service, in games the product itself is a service, and fixing the problems in your game are necessary (and addressing a persons specific problem directly might just turn over their review). So for a debut offer sites with consolidated reviews will likely contain great analytics to improve their future work. That makes review bombing all the more terrible, not only cause it might hurt current sales, but it disrupts the potential community that would have formed around your work for you to actually grow as a creator.

[@gaerekxenos]

Agreed. Feedback is super important. The issue is that some people are not ready or are unable to handle that. I should probably be a bit more specific and say 'constructive criticism' is extremely important since that is how people develop and reach greater heights. A negative review with context of why things are not great is a great way for an author to improve. A good review with no context of what works or doesn't is ironically nowhere near as useful aside from inflating someone's ego

[@user-kx5en8dg7u]

i think many people need a middle man to handle feedback, like a social media manager that just exclusively focuses on reviews. that way, constructive criticism can still be delivered, and creatives who arent good at engaging with criticism dont react in foolish ways or become discouraged

[@Sintanity]

I did hear about this because I follow Xiran on a bunch of platforms, but it's so baffling that this was done. Like. I just don't understand why. (I mean I do- but I don't.) What the actual fuck? The saddest part of it all was when Bethany said "Cait will bounce back from this, because they always do" which. Yeah, she probably will. I hope she at least learns from this. (What're the chances she'll only learn to be more sneaky? 😑)

[@tommyhetrick]

I literally thought "Letterboxd for books" right before you said it :P

[@fabdragon2071]

Xiran worked so hard on their audience! They do these amazing videos talking about how correct Chinese culture is depicted in film and gives great history of China. Then they went and wrote a historical fiction based off of their knowledge!

[@RoseyPosiePie]

Just to let you know, Xiran uses they/them pronouns!

[@fabdragon2071]

@@RoseyPosiePie thank you for letting me know! Updated!

[@bunji_beans]

What's awesome and hilarious is that Xiran was already an author and only created a youtube account to talk about how bad the live action mulan movie was. That review was so popular, they decided to roll with it and continued expanding their social media presence!

[@bunji_beans]

And now I need to go rewatch their mulan review again xD

[@existential-axolotl]

I watched Reads with Rachel review Cait’s book yesterday. It’s truly a miracle she got the deal she got, with that book. Baffling, honestly.

[@opo3628]

Yeah, seriously, the book is absolutely awful. It reads like a 14-year-old's first attempt at writing a novel. Cait must have had some godlike connections in the industry to have gotten her those publishing and promotional deals (that she later flushed down the toilet).

[@arjc5714]

I’ve followed Xiran on Tumblr for years and when they just dropped this into our laps (after months of predominantly French Revolution posting) it was a bit of a shock.

[@garbagemancer8592]

This is the first video I have ever watched that actually stopped me in the middle of my work to just... sit and think about what exactly was going on- holy shit.

[@felisazure1820]

As a writer myself, I think the best thing to do as a creator is to bolster up the works of your peers that you do like and to ignore the works that you don't. Something making you jealous because of it's success? Don't interact with it and cause beef for no reason, just do your own thing, maybe vent to a friend but that's that. So sad minority writers have to walk on eggshells because people do crap like this. I also agree with what you said about Goodreads. Sometimes I look at the ratings, but it all depends on what exactly the reviews are critiquing (if it looks to be in good faith or not, or if what they disliked is something I'd like) and the premise of a book will always trump that for me. If it sounds really interesting I want to give it a chance, regardless of rating.

[@gaerekxenos]

Agreed. Best to show support for the other creatives rather than try to drag them down. It's one of the issues I have with the younger generation when it comes to creative works, since the older generation when I was in school would talk about how supportive the arts community was toward one another despite all being competitors. And it was the same with the schools themselves where the students would support one another generally (with a few very awkward and odd exceptions), which is very ironic because the arts campus was more chill and supportive than the sciences where they are meant to be working together and supporting each other -- except the sciences were all going around distrusting each other and undermining each others efforts and the entire being cutthroat instead Unfortunately, the wider internet community for the arts did not pick up those aspects and practices. So we have a number of people who do go around undermining others, and the overall community gets divided instead. Which is honestly terrible, since we get all sorts of people who push their ideologies and teachings when it comes to art and try to bury other people's works in the process for clout. Each method has its pros and cons, and there are no definitive "right answers" most of the time (if not all of the time)

[@felisazure1820]

@@gaerekxenos YES THANK YOU! I see this in the writing community where everyone is trying to push their own style of writing as if there's only "one right way" and if you don't use said "one right way" your story is going to be terrible and everyone is going to hate it. I despise that this attitude has become so normalized instead of people just casually trying to learn from each other and respecting everyone's craft. As a fan of indie animation, I am also constantly seeing fans argue which show is better and I'm like "you guys know you can just like multiple pieces of media, right?'. Anyways you voiced my thoughts well.

[@celbesus3654]

I appreciate you helping to bring this topic to light. I think that this is a great example of how people should be greater than the sum of their emotions. Letting emotions control actions tends to lead to negative results, as shown in this case and in many others. I've been struggling with this as well, although in a far less damaging way, thankfully.

[@vvitch-mist20]

I'm a budding author myself and it really hurts to hear someone like her would do this. If I had half the luck she'd have I would be so grateful lol. I hope publishers and agents rethink about the kind of authors they promote.

[@kneecapthief2787]

This is such a funny coincidence of an upload time considering the drama going on with that other author that claims to own characters with sun powers

[@surly_mel]

I mean... At times in my life I really, really could have used a good therapist, but I never tried to actively sabotage others' careers and be racist while doing it.

[@felix_a_fiend]

Aside from never being taught to not be racist, she was clearly never taught to be happy for others’ success. I know it can be hard, but I’ve learned that being happy for others rather than jealous tends to lead you to success as well.

[@kidneybeannnnn]

I received an ARC for “To Gaze Upon Wicked Gods” and was absolutely torn when I found out that Molly X. Chang’s book was review bombed. I had received an ARC of “Crown of Starlight” too, and I was so excited to read it. It’s a shame that Cait did so many awful things. I’m glad she was finally caught.

[@sofiasofia-em]

Can you still read it? Like, I need to know what the book was about. I can't help but wonder, if it was even any good, all this for a mediocre book, would feel just add a whole new level of messed up.

[@kidneybeannnnn]

@@sofiasofia-em I still have access to it. I’ve been debating over reading it for a while now since these events came to light. If I get the chance, maybe I can post a review video or something for those who are curious…

[@opo3628]

@@sofiasofia-em - The book is terrible. Don't waste your time.

[@chocomelo454]

​@@sofiasofia-emreads with Rachel has a review on crown of starlight

[@Spring_Forward_Fall_Back]

"I'm destroying my mental health deliberately and it's all for YOU!!" JFC.

[@kayladavidson2518]

insane. thank you for sharing, would never have known without this channel and i will be sure to support some of the other debut authors!! that discord conversation reads like SUCH a faked exchange, similar to the people who write “hey bro” “hey sis!” type dialogue in some stories that have clearly never seen siblings interact lmao

[@TheGreatChrisB]

I'm sueing Swell on January 1st for false advertising for asking to be sued and then fighting back because she doesn't want to be sued.

[@intersexcryptid]

I knew what this was even just from the title. Book/author drama is some of the most ridiculous.

[@meowlo-the-mood-reader]

the fact that this has broken booktube containment is blowing my mind a bit. was not expecting you to cover it lol

[@kaialexander6806]

One of the more minor frustrating parts of it is how Meredith (Cait's friend) weaponised her albinism in a subtweet about Bethany when it was clearly not a malicious tweet and was not aimed at Meredith. I'm not American so I don't know if the term "albino snake" is one that maybe should be reconsidered in regards to it being ableist, but if it is, all Meredith did was make it harder to have discussion. If she does feel like that phrase is ableist, there's a better way of going about it than subtweeting someone. Like, girl, you can DM someone or you can wait until after this issue is resolved. And as a physically disabled person, I understand how grating the latter can sound. Anytime you go outside, you're just reminded of how much no one even remembers you exist because so much misses the bare minimum of accessibility. I get how annoying it is and how angry it makes you, and how that anger builds up over time. But what Meredith did just did a disservice to other disabled people. If it is a discussion to have, it's harder to now have it, and also, her weaponising her disability like that now makes it harder for other disabled people to call anything else out. Because she's setting a precedent of calling out ableism to distract from racism, and normally, I'm very much of the side that it is not on a marginalised individual to be on their best behaviour all the time because they need to represent the whole community. But weaponising disability to get out of being rightfully labelled racist is different to a disabled person telling someone to piss off, you know? It's so frustrating when people do this kinda thing. Like your being a part of a marginalised community is not a get-out-of-jail-free card for all bigotry, and trying to use it as such makes a community that should be safe for all members feel unwelcoming to those to whom the bigotry was aimed at. Intersectionality exists as a fight for rights for all of us, not so you can wave away bigotry.

[@chocomelo454]

Im American and white which apparently Meredith also is, and yeah that term is not used in reference to albinism. We use albino the same way it was used in that sentence. To describe something. And according yo Bethany people have always used that phrase during her life to refer to a backstabber who is racist.

[@kajamatousek247]

calling someone an albino snake to imply a traitor is the same thing when someone says "afro engineering" to imply a shoddy/second rate job. Like yes, you can say its "an old expression" but that doesnt suddenly mean its not harmful in its implications

[@eiozza]

I saw the thumbnail, and I immediately knew what this was about.

[@ThoughtCouture]

This whole situation is shocking and such a mess. As a writer myself, I can understand feelings of inadequacy, insecurity, and imposter syndrome--but that is MY problem to work through and not project onto other innocent writers just doing their best with their own work. The publishing industry is tough, yes, but I really believe there is room at the table for every writer and every story; it's a shame Cait couldn't see that.

[@Starburst514]

Okay I saw another video about this but they didn't mention that Cait's book was ADULT fantasy while most others were YA fantasy...like girl those are two DIFFERENT DEMOGRAPHICS Like yeah a lot of adults read YA that's fine but people who read adult fantasy are going into your book looking for something different than YA, like she would have gotten her own different audience???

[@Leelior]

Just watched Cindy's vid on this and guessed it would be about the same thing based only on the title of this video, (as it is for me right now: "when you can't stand your peers succeeding").

[@brewwin]

im so glad you're covering this story it is just insane. depression doesnt make you racist

[@2natrix]

Love how I immediately knew what this was about lmao

[@Cofcos]

...The secret to happiness is finding joy and inspiration in other peoples success...

[@Happytravellerkimmy]

Yes, Good reads is not for authors. I just use it to track books I'm reading and sometimes I have opinions. I don't want authors to read my opinions but I like having conversations with other readers.

[@marianav6213]

She would blame a "Reylo friend" it's generally known in the Star Wars Fandom that's the Reylo shippers are...intense. (Also its the pairing of Kylo Ren and Rey)

[@katherinealvarez9216]

Yeah, this story got my attention for a hot minute because a debut author destroyed her career before it even started, and her debut was metaphorically strewn with roses, because of racism and pettiness. Like, she did that. And then she tried to throw a whole sub fandom under the bus, and then tried to say that it was all about her mental health and addiction problems? Taking no responsibility, whatsoever. Well, she paid for it.

[@Angryoyster]

Tried to watch this as a podcast at work, but there are so many names and details. I gotta ignore my responsibilities and pay attention. I deleted tiktok and try to ignore booktok now. I felt a lot of popular books from booktok got stale, me PERSONALLY I don’t enjoy books that has the main character be a social media star of some description. And at least on my algorithm that was the only thing pushed. I personally love goodreads, I never review books as my thoughts are “good like it” or “idk wasn’t my favourite but you might like it”. I do however enjoy looking at the tags people use as it can quickly help me tell if I will enjoy a book or if there is something that will turn me off. Some audiobooks are 11 hours long, I’m dyslexic so it will probably take me double that time to read. I don’t wasn’t to waste 22 hours of my reading time on something I wont enjoy. Books to me are like art, something I may like someone else may HATE. And that’s okay, it’s not a crime to dislike something and it’s not a crime to express that dislike. As long as you remember and respect that while you might really enjoy reading about alien s3x someone else might not. And you can both live together peacefully.

[@pastelpixelp]

MENTAL HEALTH IS NOT YOUR FAULT BUT IT IS YOUR RESPONSIBILITY!!! YES THIS

[@graeson3317]

I genuinely just use Goodreads to see what my friends are up to. I mean I have a friend who just reviews books she like with just "Five Stars: AHHHHHHHHHHH" and I trust that more than a well written five star review

[@tarakennedy2512]

This is genuinely funny. Like “Oh someone rated my book that’s nice,” and then you just read “AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH” I would cry laughing

[@designereyebags]

me reading the title out of context: is this about nicki minaj

[@lovesplus3879]

😮 but also, I get that.

[@KittyScythe]

I think a lot of her obsession with comments and reviews have to do with the fact that she was a Fanfic writer. It's pretty common for Fic Writers to engage with and read comments...which doesn't translate over to publishing world.

[@zenith5844]

I use review platforms for books and movies for the triggering content as well. In ao3, I can filter out SA or body horror, I can’t do that with traditional media. Those pieces deserve to exist, but I’m not always in the place to engage with them and since you can’t filter books, I go to reviews to get a better understanding of walking into

[@witchingbrew3]

I work within the library system and even this became a hot topic for us.

[@studio_kayotic6937]

Just missed the whole 'i hold a Copyrighr to Sun powers' drama this week. lol

[@marid2891]

I honestly thought there was a shadow of a bold man behind Amanda.. it took me about 30 seconds to realize that’s her chair 😂😂😂

[@samantha9644]

I just read my books and mind my business so I didn't even know there's book/author drama too! and on Goodreads no less!? That's my safe place 😭

[@tmntaddict]

I didn't at all read the title as "when you can't stand while peeing."

[@saberguy91]

I heard a Marcus Parks line in there. Are you a LPOTL fan? “Mental health is not your fault, but it is your responsibility” I use this shit all the time

[@voyagerone6861]

Yeeeah most of this just flew over my head. People are stupid.

[@winterburden]

Thanks for this swell video Swell!

[@bib4eto656]

Yup, reviews are not for authors! Reads with Rachel, a channel I watch a lot, keeps reiterating that, but every time there's drama with some author getting triggered about someone not liking their book, or even authors coming and threatening her on her own video reviews of their book because she didn't like it. Like, it's her right to have an opinion about literature... Right? RIGHT???

[@taesu8]

I try to watch this several times, stopping because of so many drama and toxicity mentioned. But I will do my best and finish watching it since you are telling me what is going on.

[@hqstan6952]

As soon as I heard "book drama", I knew

[@henriquejambu]

14:26 so funny to me that cait randomly decided to laugh while chastising her friend 😂

[@obara7366]

I have never heard of this, but it sounds like a literal nightmare that I would have because I hadn't privately vented my jealousy to my counselor that wee, and I would wake up and be thankful that while I'm human and can be petty, I have a brain and a heart. What the fuck, I REALLY can't believe this happened, but life is stranger than fiction.

[@kneau]

3:07 I think Amanda forgot to add some "bait" in the video title -- had I known the subject involved _this specific author,_ I would have been here six hours ago. Sincerely. I already ignored this video twice today, making all sorts of bad assumptions as to what the topic is. Maybe it's just me, but to me, Xiran Jay Zhao is a big deal & I'm immensely interested in content focused on her; mostly because her successful book tour has meant less activity on her channel. My gosh.

[@operation_turtle]

its so interesting because so many authors fail to realize how well readers self-regulate and also organize as a fandom/hobby.

[@Jhddtukbdd87542]

Once upon a time, I self sabotaged my life much like this person. After years of shame, personal growth, and doing the hard psychological work every day my life is so different. I acknowledged my fault in things and my responsibility to not harm others. Had to beat into my dumb brain that my plights are not an excuse for my behavior. Slowly I built a new life that I love. A sober life with smile lines and a puppy and people I care for. The author you talked about can turn things around. It’ll take time and therapy. It’s never too late to start over. She will have to confront her biases at some point and do some work learning more about what it means to be anti-racist. Been there, done that, it’s uncomfy and it’s should be uncomfy. Growth isn’t all sunshine and rainbows. It’s pruning the bad parts off.

[@mattjohnson380]

Goodreads is a weird space. At some point I got comments about how harsh a reviewer I was and I realized that my literal reading of the star system was not how other people used it. Like a 3 says "I liked it", to me that is a solid level of rating and a lot of books I considered worth reading got 3 stars from me. But apparently a lot of people consider 3 to be mediocre. It just feels kind of pointless as a system at this point.

[@Posidilia]

Reviews are so useless for other readers sometimes like I'll be looking for a dark smutty romance and the description will describe that and the author will note a warning of how violent the story is and then a review will be "1 star, I didn't like how violent it was" I just pay attention to reviews that mention if the book has a lot of typos, pacing, or other general issues that could have been noticed by an editor.

[@felisazure1820]

Ugh yeah. I'm a fan of horror and the "too violent" complaint is so common in some genres for some reason? Some people just don't know how to read descriptions before reading and buying, so I feel your pain there.

[@luisrizo8813]

Today's installment of 'don't monetize your hobbies'.

[@aangranaa5352]

Amanda I don’t wanna sound parasocial but I’ve seen you work so hard and I’ve seen your channel grow so much and I’m very very proud of you. Okay, byee

[@GamingtheOtter]

I have a problem when my peers constantly smack it in your face and you are going through a bad period. It's like are you doing this to make me feel worse? Congrats on the success you made but no need to brag to make me feel worse friend.

[@_marimopeace]

always love whenever swell reviews/rants crossover w the book-ish world!* also know that amanda usually means well when it comes to mispronunciations too ^^; for non-EA folks pls know that Xiran's name is said _"shi-ran"_ and that they're awesome!! ^-^ here's a list of the BIPOC folks who were impacted by cait-the-racist-snake's review bombs + evil behavior: ✨ Thea Guanzon ✨ _The Hurricane Wars_ Katrina Kwan _Knives, Seasoning, and a Dash of Love_ Akure Phénix _The Empire Wars_ Danielle L. Jensen _A Fate Inked in Blood_ Hana Lee _Road to Ruin_ Kamilah Cole _So Let Them Burn_ Frances White _Voyage of the Damned_ 💞 Bethany Baptiste 💞 _The Poisons We Drink_ Molly X. Chang _To Gaze Upon Wicked Gods_ K. M. Enright _Mistress of Lies_ R. M. Virtues _Drag Me Up_ highlighting Thea Guanzon as she's cait's ex-long-time-reylo-fandom-friend who was backstabbed by cait after asking for a glowing endorsement and got a cruel 2 star smear review in return. also highlighting Bethany Baptiste as she deserves all the flowers ever. 😤 am SO glad that amanda opened this video covering Bethany's early twts in comparison to other coverage but it should still not go unknown that Bethany was treated abysmally by racist bandwagoners when cait's equally racist ex-bestie meredith used her 'albino snake in a henhouse' analogy to scapegoat her. my blood still boils when i think abt the shameful and frankly evil actions of meredith + becca who are a whole employment lawyer/literary professional respectfully (i'm aware that meredith gave an apology Bethany accepted but have yet to hear abt becca podos following up on her promise to privately reach out to all the marginalized authors whom she diminished and disrespected--including Bethany whose harassment was ignored--by letting her client cait run away from the private professional accusations the first 2 times. absolutely embarassing.) i'm getting so mad again as i think abt all the cruelty Bethany was dealt while grieving...ugh. to prevent this rant-y comment from getting more rant-y i will follow swell's example and send all the good vibes to all the impacted authors instead! wishing all the abundance for Bethany Baptiste who is simply the _~moment~_ as well. 🙌 will be buying The Poisons We Drink most expeditiously upon its release as a BIPOC women who grew up in both the south and DC who loves to see some magical messiness 💅✨ *also for more book-ish context to 26:01; Xiran did say where they got the texts from! prob just didn't make sense from a reader POV--authors who debut in the same year/share publishing networks tend to form groups for pro/social recourse. the msgs were from a channel in their shared Slack group where Cait uploaded the doctored Slack chat from her persona to prove to the other authors that 'she was innocent' of their requests for accountability. i believe it was a diff one from the disabled authors channel where the racist scapegoating from meredith mooring occurred where she falsely accused Bethany Baptiste of being ableist in order to defend cait? (iirc from the 62-long-twt thread from Bethany at least--def recommend it's a v telling read!) ty always to amanda for giving her 2 cents and to anyone who actually perceived this comment under the fold as i'm surprised by how long it is too! hopefully sharing these debut title names wherever possible can help these BIPOC debuts who deserve it *edited* bc it's frances not francis + accurations is not a word LOL whoops OTL

[@_marimopeace]

@@perseypoppins ...Bethany released a 62 twt long thread with timestamps and receipts that showed that 1.) she wrote that first tweet in reference to cait 2.) she wrote it prior to meredith supporting cait in the debut Slack channels AKA Bethany had no clue who meredith was and was not aiming her words at her 3.) meredith *OWNED UP* to the fact that she completely jumped the gun and made numerous assumptions abt Bethany's behavior + character publicly and privately--confirmly that she falsely accused her. the ableist allegations were used as a smokescreen to throw harassment towards Bethany while she was dealing with the crushing feeling that is being a BIPOC whose professional concerns were being unheard compared to the yt perpetrator AKA cait who was being actively defended by her agent + peers in response to the circle of debuts being review-bombed. _in addition to_ having to defend her own name by bandwagoners who made no attempt to critically think through "oh this author is shading someone review-bombing others and _NOT_ trying to target someone for being disabled". considering the nature of parasocial reader-author relations I can't speak _for_ Bethany on her stance towards ableism but as an observer of her communal actions, it's p clear to me--a disabled WOC--that she's an amazing person who goes out of her way to energetically uplift marginalized individuals. I applaud her patience to talk things out with meredith in three gigantic circular conversations publicly/publicly/privately when she initially refused to understand Bethany's words as a slight against cait rather than her. it was wrong of her to continue to stand her ground, and wicked of her to do it continue to bring in other public parties who had nothing to do w the situation, and blindly believe cait while others were being harmed. I don't know meredith more/less than I "know" Bethany hence why evil was used to describe her abhorrent behavior rather than her person. she's not evil in general (and esp not evil FOR being disabled that's just wrong); but her misinterpreting Bethany's words and then publicly demanding for ppl to know "that hey, a Black woman attacked me for no reason other than being disabled", all her ex-bestie was gaslighting their fellow authors in another Slack channel a click away, was evil behavior. // keep in mind this response is all specifically about meredith's actions towards Bethany and doesn't touch on the feelings of other disabled debut authors who felt that meredith completely misrepresented their community's stance towards Bethany as a person. when your peers call you out and claim your behavior as 'gross' and 'snakey'... 🙃 evil seems like an appopros word to describe the wrong/foul/vile/atrocious/insert-all-the-synonyms context behind the Slack texts and twts. // meredith mooring's final words on ableist accusations on Bethany Baptiste's name: "Bethany and I have discussed the situation privately. She has stated she had no intention of insulting anyone’s disability and I 100% believe her. *I COMPLETELY CONDEMN any harassment or accusations of ableism directed towards her."* my final words bc i'm now really sad that Bethany continues to be denied her flowers by folks and is still being called ableist 💔: believe Black women. hear them out when they say they've been falsely accused. Bethany brought the (v detailed!!) receipts home bc Black women are held to higher standards by the zeitgeist and are continually unheard, if not only remembered as the villain instead. my heart bleeds for her.

[@BlankPageEmperor1334]

I said this on With Cindy's video, but there's no version of this story where Corrain isn't getting her just desserts with this outcome. Better an author this toxic gets exposed before her involvement in writing and publishing metastasizes. I don't think mourning the lost talent or skill or stories or what-have-you is relevant. The POC authors she was attacking have plenty of those things, and we actually need their voices. TL;DR problem author solves herself; no problem.

[@sybilq2509]

I feel like I just watched this video yesterday, except it was crochet instead of books. human conflict like this just seems universal

[@ShesAaRebel]

What's really crazy about this, is that the way I use Good Reads, is by looking at suggested books, or other books on people's lists that a title I liked is also on. What this author did here was such a shot in her own foot.

[@thegayathrikable]

I'm not that into books but I'm so wildly invested in this after seeing withcindy and Xian' s coverage about this. If you're gonna be a villain be at least good at it. I just can't believe how poorly she executed it all 😂