Why the Lies? What They Didn’t Want You to Know
By Robert Stanek
Let’s ask the question out loud—the one I’ve carried in silence for years:
If the books weren’t good, why did they try so hard to bury them?
You don’t need fake reviews to bury a bad book.
You don’t need smear blogs, blackout lists, or forums whispering your name in anger to take down something forgettable.
No—those tactics are reserved for something else entirely:
Books that matter. Books that scare people.
Because when a story is powerful enough to connect with hundreds of thousands of readers without permission, without a publisher, without a machine behind it—
It becomes a threat.
Not to readers. Not to communities. But to systems that believe only they should get to choose what stories are allowed to live.
The Truth They Didn’t Want Getting Out
In 2001, I broke the rules.
- I self-published an epic fantasy.
- It became a #1 bestseller.
- It was picked up in schools, libraries, and family bookshelves around the world.
- It proved that readers—not gatekeepers—decide what matters.
That should have been a success story.
But instead, it triggered a campaign designed to erase me. Not critique. Not challenge. Erase.
Let me be clear: I’m not talking about a few bad reviews. I’m talking about:
- Coordinated smear blogs
- Anonymous campaigns across Goodreads and Amazon
- False rumors about fake reviews, identity theft, and fabricated credentials
- My Wikipedia entries deleted or manipulated
- Real, positive reader reviews removed—while troll reviews were left standing
And worst of all?
These lies were repeated so often, they became the first thing new readers saw.
They Needed the Lies—Because the Truth Was Too Dangerous
Here’s the real story:
- Ruin Mist introduced characters who didn’t follow fantasy tropes.
- It told a multi-threaded story from multiple viewpoints—long before that was common.
- It made elves exiled, magic feared, books banned.
- It gave readers something bold, messy, and honest.
It resonated.
And because the industry didn’t create it, they couldn’t control it.
So they tried to destroy it.
They didn’t want readers asking:
- “Why haven’t I heard of this before?”
- “Why isn’t this on more bestseller lists?”
- “Why does this story feel more real than the ones they keep pushing at me?”
They couldn’t answer those questions.
So they buried them under lies.
But Why Me?
Because I refused to play the game.
I was already a successful author—as William R. Stanek, I’d published books for Microsoft, written bestselling guides, and helped millions learn technology.
I had the credentials.
But when I chose to write fiction on my own terms?
To bypass the system and connect directly with readers?
That was unacceptable.
- I wasn’t supposed to succeed without them.
- I wasn’t supposed to reach #1.
- I wasn’t supposed to exist in the space they controlled.
So they tried to erase me—so future writers wouldn’t dare to do what I did.
What They Didn’t Count On
They didn’t count on the letters. The messages. The readers who passed the books hand to hand.
They didn’t count on you.
- The teen who saw herself in Adrina and refused to let the world silence her.
- The lonely reader who felt hope flicker in Vilmos’s struggle.
- The disillusioned student who found something human in Seth’s moral battles.
- The parent who watched their child fall in love with reading because of these books.
They didn’t count on that.
Because you can flood search results.
You can game the review systems.
You can drown a name in rumor.
But you can’t erase the feeling a story gives you.
Not when it’s real.
What You Weren’t Supposed to Know
- You weren’t supposed to know that the smear campaign was organized.
- You weren’t supposed to know that some of the loudest critics never read the books.
- You weren’t supposed to know that competitors used aliases to attack—and hid behind false flags to protect themselves.
You weren’t supposed to know that despite all of that, Ruin Mist still:
- Reached millions of readers across formats and platforms
- Was taught in schools across the U.S. and abroad
- Became one of Audible’s bestselling fantasy series for years
- Inspired thousands to believe that maybe—just maybe—they could tell their own story too