Readers & Writers Unite

I absolutely love the book community.

After all, it’s filled with people who enjoy reading just as much as I do—if not, more!

But the interesting thing about the book community is that it isn’t only filled with readers.

In fact, there are a ton of writers and authors who count themselves as part of the book community. After all, a lot of authors are also readers…even if not all readers are writers. 

Social Media & The Rise of Toxicity

You would think that authors and readers would get along well as fellow book lovers—and plenty of them do.

As an author myself, I have plenty of friends who read, write, or both.

So, why am I writing this article? What’s the problem? 

In my personal opinion, the problem is that social media and the fact that readers and writers have direct access to each other has contributed greatly to a lot of toxicity within the book community.

But before I tackle all the negatives, I want to point out that there are plenty of positive ways in which social media has impacted the book community, so let’s start with a few of those!

The Pros of Social Media

Thanks to social media, it’s easier than ever for authors to have a successful book launch.

Whether it’s raising enough money to publish their books, creating a launch team to publicize the release of their books, or having the opportunity to market their stories to hundreds, thousands, or even millions of people, social media has opened doors for authors that were completely barred shut in the past.

And for Readers, it’s easier than ever to find good books to read. 

There are tons of blogs, pages, and posts that are dedicated to book reviews. So whether you’re a fan of westerns, ya fantasy, sci-fi, or any other genre or sub-genre, there’s someone out there reviewing the books that you would love to read.

If you’re looking for some book recommendations, here are a few reviewer websites to check out:

https://oldfashionedbooklove.wordpress.com/

https://ltellis.com

https://fruitfulreader.com/

https://www.musingsofasassybookishmama.com

The Social in Social Media

Thanks to social media, there’s also a great community aspect.

On Instagram the book community called Bookstagram, on Threads it’s called BookThreads, on TikTok it’s called BookTok, and on YouTube it’s usually referred to as BookTube.

These corners of social media allow readers to discuss their favorite books with each other, and discover new ones to add to their TBR list (to be read list).

And because writers and authors usually read a lot as well, they often share the same spaces on social media as readers.

Which of course means that it’s easier than ever for authors to communicate directly with their readers, or for readers to send a message to their favorite (or least favorite) authors. 

And that can open up the door to some negative discourse…

The Cons of Social Media

Some authors will receive messages from people who have only terrible things to say about their books, while some readers will find angry authors ranting about the poor but honest review that they left on GoodReads or Amazon.

I constantly see authors and readers arguing about whether or not it’s okay to leave a bad review—even if it’s an honest one (click here to read my article on writers vs reviewers), or how books should be talked about online.

Social media is filled with posts saying “readers, don’t do this!” or “authors, don’t do that!” to the point where many readers and authors alike are too scared to share even the smallest of thoughts and opinions for fear of being attacked by those who don’t agree with them.

So, how do we fix the toxicity within the book community?

How do we make it a fun, engaging place for fellow book lovers to interact and enjoy?

Change The Community

#1 Be intentional about how you conduct yourself on social media.

(In other words, think twice, post once.)

#2 If there’s no positivity in your corner of the internet, become that positive influence.

That doesn’t mean you have to post nice things on every negative post you see, but make sure that when you post something, your goal is to lift people up—not tear them down.

#3 Don’t engage with the negativity.

It can be tempting to comment and argue when you see a post featuring a book opinion that you disagree with, or even to make a negative post yourself (they usually get a lot of likes and responses after all).

But feeding the problem will only help it grow bigger than it already is. So instead of waging war against the members of the book community who we disagree with, let’s focus on the one thing that we can all agree on:

Books are pretty cool.

Reclaim The Book Community

So let’s continue to have fun conversations discussing our favorite books, or shouting out our favorite authors and reviewers.

Join launch teams, make videos, write reviews, and whatever else you’d like to do as a part of the writing community—not because you feel you have to, but because you want to.

Let’s make it so that we, the positive side of the book community, far outnumber the negative side.

Because at the end of the day, reading books is way more fun than arguing about them.

Before You Go…

Can you think of any other ways to fix the growing divide between readers and writers?

Let me know down in the comments!

Read last week’s article here!