Jennifer Lyon


Wednesday, May 12th, 2021
A Warning

Just a warning. It looks like the Goodreads Review Blackmailers are back. They target an author, emailing her that if she does not buy their review service, they will troll her with one-star reviews. They follow through. This has happened before and is happening again. I’m sure it’s  being done on other platforms too, this is just the one I heard about yesterday.

The author targeted is doing all she can, including contacting the FBI cyber crime unit and other law enforcement agencies. Because I heard about this in one of my private author groups, I’m not going to name her, but I just want you all to be aware of this blackmail.

And if you see this happening to your friends, please, lets do whatever we can to help them. We are a strong when we stand together, and we have to fight this blackmail bullshit.

I’m so furious. And so tired of evil trolls making hard-working, honest people miserable. But one thing I will never tire of is supporting my friends and authors.

10 comments to “A Warning”

  1. Marcy Barth
    May 12th, 2021 at 6:16 am · Link

    This is so wrong. There are so many trolls out there that I wish they (including Amazon) would realize this and fix it.



  2. B.E. Sanderson
    May 12th, 2021 at 6:40 am · Link

    I heard about that when one of my FB friends shared it on her page publicly. Hopefully, The folks at GR get it cleared up for her soon. And thank you for making this public, so readers will become educated that this stuff happens. When you see a bunch of bad ratings with no actual reviews and they all landed within a day or so AND none of the people have any kind of actual information abut themselves (no pic, no bio), they’re not people who’ve actually read the book.

    Personally, I hate this whole ‘rating instead of review’ thing. Anyone can slap down a one-star rating for any reason or no reason at all because they never have to explain themselves. It leaves the field open to blackmailers and people with a personal axe to grind.



  3. Silver James
    May 12th, 2021 at 9:36 am · Link

    What B.E. said. “Legitmate” 1 star reviews are ouch enough without the trolls and “cancel culture vultures” jumping in. I totally get someone not liking my book. I don’t write for everyone. (Of course the one who gave me a one star because she doesn’t read paranormal or shifters STILL makes me laugh. Not like it wasn’t spelled out right there in the description, babe.) Anyway, I digress. I wish there was something we could do proactively. Amazon is always so quick to jump in EXCEPT when it’s trolls and those gaming their system. Which sucks for all of us.

    Anyway, thanks for the heads up. Sad that we have to remain ever vigilant for this crap. 🤬



  4. Viki S.
    May 12th, 2021 at 3:11 pm · Link

    Wow! That sucks! I am so sick of all these evil creatures ruining everything. I sure hope Goodreads gets a hold on it.

    On a better note – I hope you’re having a good day and Maggie is keeping those lizards away 😊.



  5. Jennifer Lyon Apoadaca
    May 12th, 2021 at 4:37 pm · Link

    Marcy, it’s very frustrating! We all exhausted by it, I think.



  6. Jennifer Lyon Apodaca
    May 12th, 2021 at 4:50 pm · Link

    B.E., I really don’t know how responsive Goodreads is to this kind of thing. I’ve heard they aren’t always great at responding, but I could be wrong.

    As for the review problem–one of the issues is that they were meant as a reader platform, not for authors to “sell” their books, so that’s a conflict. Readers want to be able to organize their books and ratings their own way. And authors demands haven’t always been appreciated :-) Yet as an author, I fully get the author frustration. And, unfortunately, it does leave the platform (and others) open to these terrible trolls.

    It’s all super aggravating.



  7. Jennifer Lyon Apodaca
    May 12th, 2021 at 4:55 pm · Link

    Silver, I know the one star reviews are an issue, but out right blackmail is just outrageous. I hope the platform responds to this since she sent them screenshots of the actual demand emails. This isn’t about readers vs authors, it’s about blackmail and Goodreads needs to take this seriously.

    Amazon is so big now, they are chasing the horse already out of the barn. We’ll see what happens.

    Yeah, it’s very sad.



  8. Jennifer Lyon Apodaca
    May 12th, 2021 at 5:00 pm · Link

    Viki, I’m sick of it too. This has happened before too.

    Thanks it’s a good but hot day here. Hope you’re having a good day there.



  9. Corinne
    May 12th, 2021 at 8:57 pm · Link

    How do they even get away with this? Reviews are suppose to be unpaid for a reason! So they are not biased. Blackmail WTH! And you should total expose them! Post screenshots and let use share everywhere! This kind of thing is awful! Let us tag goodreads so it gets taken care of quickly when it happens.



  10. Jennifer Lyon Apodaca
    May 13th, 2021 at 5:10 pm · Link

    Corinne, Isn’t it crazy? I’ve seen this blackmail before and it infuriates me. I’m holding back because I found out in a private group, so I need to go back and see what she’s said publicly, then link it. I don’t personally know her, so I’m more cautious about making sure I don’t step in the way of how she wants to handle this. But I saw screenshots, and it’s real.

    I’m with you, NEVER pay for reviews. While asking for reviews is fine and I’ve done it, I don’t interfere. Sometimes I thank people for good reviews, but most of the time, I just stay out of it. Reviews are for the readers not us oh-so-needy authors :-)



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