Over the course of the last three months (January – March 2024), I published 86 book reviews on this website which I’d previously posted on the “Goodreads” website from 2016–2023. This accounts for the majority of the book reviews written by me during that time.
I joined “Goodreads” in June 2016, after I’d published the first German-language edition of my book “The Vegan Tourist: Wien” (published on April 17, 2016), and an updated, 2nd edition of the English-language version of “The Vegan Tourist: Vienna” (published on May 2, 2016). I self-published both books through Amazon’s (now defunct) Create Space and (still existing) Kindle Direct Publishing programs, and was researching options to promote those books. “Goodreads” had been in existence for almost ten years by then, and when I joined the site, I quickly realised that it wasn’t so much a useful resource for writers, as more of a fun site for readers. That’s actually how the site promotes itself, as “the world’s largest site for readers and book recommendations. Our mission is to help readers discover books they love and get more out of reading.”
As a reader, I find the site useful, and enjoy participating in the site’s annual “reading contests.” Readers set their own goals in regard to how many books they plan to read each year, then track their progress over the course of the year. Since 2016, I have set wildly different reading goals for myself in different years: from 10 books in 2016 (I read 11 books) to 50 books in 2017, when I failed miserably – I only managed to read 14 books that year. But I also occasionally increased my goals, most notably in 2023, when I set a moderate goal, and kept upping it to 25 books. I ended up reading 54 books that year. It’s easy, it’s fun, and I’m amazed at the variety of books I’ve read over the years. I’ll continue to read and rate books on the “Goodreads” platform in the future.
But I won’t publish any more reviews on that site, as the site is also used by spammers and criminals who intimidate and threaten readers and writers, and the “Goodreads” moderators can’t keep up with them. Why would I want to publish book reviews on “Goodreads,” if it leads to threats and abuse being hurled at me in the form of “comments?”
I became a target in 2023 when I participated in a conversation of self-publishing writers who were discussing the pros and cons of paying for book reviews (to be posted on the “Goodreads” platform and on “Amazon”). I argued against it. I don’t think that readers care about the opinions of other “readers” (real or fake) when they decide whether to buy a book, or not.
I know that the number of ratings, comments, and reviews associated with a certain book affects algorithms, and therefore visibility on those platforms – which is why they are banned by those sites. I would never pay for reviews. There are better options for self-promoting one’s books.
I argued against the solicitation of reviews from readers and other self-publishing writers – and was bombarded with abuse by spammers, and – it must be said clearly – criminals. First, there was the threat of copyright theft:
“WE GOT A COPY OF YOUR BOOK AND YOUR PERSONAL DETAILS. TOMORROW WE ARE GOING TO UPLOAD IT ON PIRATE WEBSITES AND TRADE YOUR PERSONAL DETAILS WITH MARKETERS, FRAUDSTERS AND SCAMMERS. WE DON’T LIVE IN YOUR COUNTRY SO YOUR LAWS CAN’T TOUCH US. TO STOP US, EITHER BUY OUR REVIEW OFFERS WITHIN THE NEXT 24 HOURS AND PAY US SOME MONEY, OR LEAVE THIS SITE WITHIN THAT TIME FRAME?”
I considered this extortion attempt an empty threat, as my books were stolen and uploaded to illegal sites soon after I published them. Also, I stopped selling my “Vegan Tourist”-books several years ago. These books are guide books for vegetarian restaurants in Vienna, and they had become outdated: too many restaurants were no longer in business, and many stayed in business only for a few months after they opened. It was impossible to keep up with the ever-changing vegan restaurant scene in Vienna. In 2019, I made the decision not to publish any further updates to my books, and stopped selling them on Amazon. (You can find a list of vegetarian restaurants in Vienna here.)
I also received numerous Emails from spammers who subsequently tried to sell me their “services” (reviews in exchange for payment), as I provide a link to my website in my “Goodreads” profile, and I provide an Email address on this website, so I can be contacted by whoever wishes to do so. I reported all of them to the administrators of “Google,” as all those spammers used Gmail for their Email accounts. I asked “Google” to delete those Gmail-accounts, and they seem to have done that, as I am no longer being bombarded with similar “offers.”
In conversation with other writers on the “Goodreads” website, I did suggest that the site’s moderators should notify law enforcement agencies that writers were being threatened and extorted on the “Goodreads” website, and also mentioned that I considered filing a complaint with the FBI. This is what happened next:
“I KNOW WHERE YOU LIVE BITCH. WILL DISTRIBUTE YOUR ADDRESS TO THIEVES AND CRIMINALS IF YOU DON’T LEAVE GR BY TOMORROW – SO ENTIRE HAUNOLD FAMILY GETS ROBBED AND CHOPPED. YOU ARE USING THIS SITE WITHOUT PAYING ME SO YOU DESERVE NO LESS. CALL THE FBI CIA AND FTC WHOEVER THE FUCK YOUR ASSHOLE HUSBAND ANTON CAN AFFORD AND LET ME SEE WHAT THE FUCK THEY CAN DO TO ME BITCH? I KNOW SOME VERY NICE FRIENDS IN VIENNA WHO CAN HELP.”
I’m not married, and my best guess is that these criminals were threatening another female writer whose husband’s name is Anton. But my last name is Haunold, and I do live in Vienna.
At this point, I did file a complaint about the extortion attempt, threats to break into my home, and threats to cause bodily harm to me and my family with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, as “Goodreads” is a company which is registered in the US.
I don’t expect that the FBI will actually investigate, but I do think that it is important to report threats like this to law enforcement agencies, if only to create a paper trail and to alert law enforcement agencies to the various ciminal activities on social media sites. Large social media sites – and I do consider “Goodreads” to be a specialized social media site – should be monitored and regulated by authorities in a much stricter fashion than they currently are being regulated.
Paper trails are important to prove that criminals are active on such sites. The “Goodreads” moderators did remove the fake accounts used to make those threats against me, and removed the threats. They continue to remove fake accounts whenever I alert them to suspicious acitivity, which I continue to do. But I don’t think that “Goodreads” and “Amazon,” which owns “Goodreads,” provide enough resources to keep the site safe for readers and writers.
I still participate in writers’ discussions on the “Goodreads” site, and I still argue against the solicitation of reviews – and will continue to do so, regardless of how many threats are made against me. But going forward, I will only publish book reviews on my own website where I have full control over user accounts, and can moderate comments before they are published. (The site is currently “closed” – I don’t allow registration for user accounts, and therefore commenting on articles published by me is also not possible. Write me an Email, if you wish.)