This week’s about Bookish Etiquette. Let’s talk bookish is a weekly thing where bloggers write posts talking about the topic of the week. It was created by Rukky over at Eternity Books and it is where bloggers write posts talking about the topic of the week. Since April of 2022, Aria over at Book Nook Bits has been hosting Let’s Talk Bookish.
There’s always a lot of bookish discourse ongoing on social media. People talk about selling ARCs (Advanced Reader Copies), tagging 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 are some dos and don’ts as readers and/or reviewers? Do you agree with all the discourse, or do you stay far away from all the drama?
Do you think there’s something such as “bookish etiquette”? Why or why not?
Honestly, I only read about it in posts on this tag for the first time and started to realise it was actually true.
What do I mean by this?
I think that basic human decency is worth a lot. Not only IRL, but also online. We mostly don’t know the person on the other side of the screen. Ofc, let’s not forget about common sense here. As in treat others like you want to be treated. And if you haven’t thought about that, just be friendly towards someone else.
How we act around each other DOES affect others. After all, we all just want to enjoy a hobby we like.
Another thing I personally struggled a lot and still do, but it is fine to DNF a book, if it’s not for you, or just to put it on a list of books you’d never read. Someone else might love it, or vice versa, both are absolutely fine.
Everyone is legit to their opinion, there’s no need for everyone to agree on everything. That’d make it boring anyway.
What do you think are some do’s and don’ts as readers and/or reviewers?
DO’s
- Respect goes both ways. Towards readers, reviewers but also authors.
- Don’t sell or share ARCs when you receive them. They’re only yours to keep. Selling them is a total no-go.
- As for reviewers, and I didn’t know that for long, I’d say don’t tag them, if you don’t like their book. But at the same time be honest and stay kind doing so. They put lots of work into it, so they deserve it.
- Regarding reviews, I’d also say use spoiler tags and trigger warnings. I’ve been working on these myself, how to do them the best way. But I do see them as important. Not only, if the book or medium might be a sequel, but also when going into detail on its content.
DON’Ts
- Don’t rate books you haven’t read. If you DNF’d it, let it be. I personally think it’s only fair to be rated with your thoughts, once you finish reading it. It’s especially a point I’m working towards myself.
- If you don’t like a book, it’s fine to give a review about it but never tag the author on it.
Do you agree with all the discourse, or do you stay far away from all the drama?
Honestly, I manage to stay away from the drama. Don’t use Twitter/X and overall hardly any socials but Discord. And I’m overall in two Blogging related servers where the people are pretty mature, thankfully.
It was something else back when I was younger and within the website/ blogging scene was way more going on. But I’m glad that’s over.