A white woman author has been caught posting one-star reviews of novels written by Black authors and others of color on Goodreads in an effort to boost her own sales. Cait Corrain, whose own book was set to be released, has had her work dropped by its publisher.
Corrain was discovered making fake accounts to criticize novels by authors of color, giving them one-star reviews while using the profiles to also share stellar five-star reviews for her book. According to Essence
, the pattern was detected by users and the authors, as the books all happened to be set for release at the same time as Corrain’s fantasy novel in early 2024. After being caught by another novelist who displayed evidence tracing back to Corrain in a Google document, the disgraced writer issued an apology that detailed her reasoning behind the racist incident to mental health issues.The Black novelists impacted, Bethany Baptiste and Kamilah Cole, were mentioned in the lengthy apology. Corrain explained how they “just happened” to be writers she attacked through her Goodreads profile. However, the writers were not empathetic toward Corrain’s excuses, noting that mental health struggles do not make one racist.
“Wrong time, wrong list. No, we
were exactly where we were supposed to be,” shared Baptiste. “I have PTSD, depression, & anxiety. I understand the wrong meds or dose can make your mind feel like it’s snapping in half. Meds don’t make you racist. Racism is in you. You hid it by lurking and plotting.”In the incident’s aftermath, Corrain’s publisher, Del Ray Books, an entity under Penguin Random House, has since dropped Corrain and her upcoming novel, Crown of Starlight, from its release schedule.
“We are aware of the ongoing discussion around author Cait Corrain,” shared the company. “CROWN OF STARLIGHT is no longer on our 2024 publishing schedule.