I was talking to Laurie (of Laurie is Reading) about blogging and prompts and the like, she kindly shared a couple of prompts with me. They’re really interesting, so I hope you enjoy these posts!
Bookish Etiquette
Prompts: On social media, there’s a lot of bookish discourse going around. Selling ARCs (Advanced reader copies), taggin authors and publishers in reviews, only posting positive reviews… We’ve seen it all. Do you think there’s something such as bookish etiquette? Why or why not? What do you think, regardless of there being bookish etiquette, are do’s and don’ts as readers and/or reviewers? Do you agree on all the discourse or do you stay far away from all the drama?
I do think there’s bookish etiquette when dealing with arcs, reviews, etc. And it’s hard to know when you might ‘slip up’ – a mistake on social media can be blown up beyond what someone is prepared for, though I do think it’s fine to (gently) point something out if someone has done something that could be ‘wrong’, and if it does turn out to be an honest mistake, there’s nothing wrong with giving that person space to learn and grow.
I do think the discourse sometimes overtakes the original intention. I also think there can sometimes be a bit of a knee-jerk need to react on social media, and people – not just in the bookish community but in other areas too! – jump very quick to ‘call out’ a perceived wrong, as if fearing that if they don’t immediately condemn something, with or without the full information, their ‘wrongs’ might also be discovered. Sometimes these people are hiding things they know full well are wrong, other times I think it’s motivated by a fear of making a mistake or having done something without realising it was ‘against bookish etiquette’. There’s also a tendency to immediately start announcing they will unfollow everyone who still follows (insert some sort of description here), but often you’ll find names and/or context is missing, you haven’t seen some part of the discussion, are out of the loop because of not being on social media constantly or not knowing the ‘right’ people.
That said, I do think there are dos and don’ts in the bookish world, especially if you’re reviewing. It’s not a good idea to tag an author into a review – some authors might explicitly say they welcome being tagged in positive reviews, but if they haven’t said anything, it’s just best not to. There’s nothing we can offer in a review for a finished book, and authors have plenty of people to give them feedback (hopefully) prior to publication.
Selling arcs is a no-no – I wish there were more things we could do with them, and there does need (imho) to be more clarity around what to do with arcs (can we donate to a charity shop???), but some folks take a book they’ve received for free, that isn’t the finalised product, that might not be completely formatted, and sell it like a collector’s item. To me, this is a huge breach! Arcs aren’t for ‘public’ consumption, and the more it happens the more publishers are going to restrict arcs – especially physical ones – even more. There’s also issues around arcs being pirated, and unfortunately when a handful of reviewers engage in this behaviour, it has negative impacts across the reviewing landscapes.
I’m not a fan of only positive reviews, either, and if an author requests I – or one of my DHR team – only posted a review if it was positive, I’m not going to review the book at all! I try to be fair, but once the book is out there you can’t control people’s opinions or responses to it. What authors can do is remain away from these spaces and focus their energies elsewhere, likely the next book. I also don’t think it’s a good idea to demand arcs within a certain timeframe or expect all reviewers an arc is provided to to review them – yes, that’s the intention, but the fact is, reviewers are very much people too, who have own our lives, and more often than not, are doing this for free.
That said – paid reviews seem to be a little more common now. I think there are certain places where it makes sense – websites that host arcs are providing a service beyond reviewing, for example, and authors might choose to pay for a blog tour, but I’m not a fan of paying for actual reviews. I think if it’s clear it’s an ad, instead of a review, that makes sense! But in which case I would expect it to be more factual than opinion based, and be more about promoting the book than an actual review, as well as being clearly labelled as an ad instead of a review. But I don’t think writers should ever feel pressured to pay for reviews themselves, and should also feel comfortable distributing digital arcs instead of paying directly for physicals.
Re the larger discourse – honestly, I tend to stay away. I might amplify people I agree with or who have put into words how I feel about the subject, but sometimes I’d rather sit back and get a full grasp of what’s happening, or listen to those more knowledgeable about it, or simply just not want to add to the noise.
And what about you? Do you think there are bookish etiquette dos and don’ts? Things you’ve seen you tend to agree with? Let me know.
Unwrapping Words 