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Hello and thank you so much! I’m so glad you asked this question because I have a lot of thoughts about this subject. I actually just went through some hoops to get my fics taken off Goodreads and here are the many reasons why.

First, because fic authors have no consent or control over their works being put up on the platform (other than when really cool people like you ask first - tysm for that). I choose to put my work on AO3, and to a lesser extent on FFN, because I know those are fan spaces and that my work will largely stay in fan spheres if it’s kept there. I’m pretty private about being a fic writer for many reasons both personal and professional, and my wizard porn being shared/linked on a much more mainstream book-centric platform really spooks me. Plus the idea of it being done without my input or consent bothers me on a fundamental level. I should be able to choose where I put my work up for consumption, examination and review.

Second, Goodreads is a platform for professionally published books, which means authors (agented or not, trad-pubbed or not) are choosing to share their work publicly and are on some level prepared for what it means to do so. Also, their work is edited and polished at both the developmental and line level by other professionals. And they’re getting paid for it! Which are all things that set professionally published work apart from fanfic, which is largely meant to be shared only in certain spaces, unedited (professionally – huge shout out to my betas!!) and prohibited from earning any money.

Which brings me to my third and perhaps most personal point, which is that the reviewers on Goodreads treat fic like it’s the same as the professionally published, edited and polished, paid-for content on the rest of Goodreads. Meaning the reviews can be harsh and insensitive. Dismissive and mean. Personal. The kind of thing that if a paid, professional author were complaining about I’d tell them, “That sucks, but isn’t it part of the bargain?” (And yes, I’m currently trying to get my OC professionally published and am girding myself for when/if that ever happens).

When I first discovered my Goodreads page and the reviews on it, I felt sick to my stomach and some of the things I read stayed with me for weeks. I never put myself out there for that. I never wanted that kind of exposure or censure for my work. And sure, people can and do make vitriolic comments on AO3 or FFN, but at least *I chose* to have my work there and have the power to delete and block them. Plus the immediacy of fic platforms and the fact that reviewers know their comments are going directly to the author acts as a sort of buffer. On Goodreads there is a distance that I think allows people to be much more cruel. Certain reviewers seem to build whole brands off it.

None of this is to say that all Goodreads reviews and reviewers are like this (I’m sure you are not, dear anon). There were many lovely reviews of my work on Goodreads – even if they weren’t four or five stars. I appreciated those constructive and kind folks, even if they were writing about how they didn’t like the story. And of course there were loving and thoughtful positive reviews that really warmed my heart. But the ones not in those categories were just awful and jarring – the kind of thing that made me want to stop writing and pull all my work off the internet. Because boy did I not sign up for that. And I know other fic authors feel the same. Not all – I’m sure there are those who love the exposure and there will of course be many in the ‘get a thicker skin’ brigade who will tell me to, well, do just that. But fortunately, I don’t have to and can request Goodreads to remove my work instead as per their T&Cs.

Finally, you (not you anon, just speaking universally here!) may say – 'But Goodreads allows fics to be added! They are considered books in their Librarian Manual!’ And my response to that would be, 'And why do you think that is?’ Is Goodreads some kind of benevolent reference resource that just wants to provide a platform for idea exchange over the written word? No! It’s a freaking subsidiary of Amazon. And I’d wager that fic earns Goodreads/Amazon millions of views, a ton of traffic and a shitload of money. So of course they’re going to declare that fics are books and happily let all and sundry upload them. Everyone profits off fanfic except for the authors, amirite? No but seriously, it’s doubly jarring to think that I’m putting money in Bezos’ pocket for something I legally can’t earn anything off of (and shouldn’t!), but I digress.

So, anyway. I’m begging everyone in my orbit to please not put my stuff on Goodreads. I’ll add this to my policies on AO3 and hope folks see this post. Thanks again to you anon, for asking the question. I really appreciate this chance to reply and you putting consent back in my hands.

xoxo ~ Scully

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