I recently read some news of online backlash for an inclusion of a character in the to-be-published novel "Taipei Story" by R.F. Kuang. It caught my attention because of how quickly the discussions tended to get out of control.
So I was wandering, when there's online backlash, and more in the case of an unpublished novel, what do publishers and authors usually do? Do they respond when the outcry is still strong? Or do they wait until the novel is published to address the matter? Or is not responding the easiest or best option?
On a related note to discuss: are there past notorious book backlashes you remember? And how did the author/publisher respond to it?
Backlash details: link
by Lord_Adalberth