If you are inclined to return a book you've read, then please start availing yourself of the LIBRARY and all of the various ebook services they have. My god, people love to steal and try to make it righteous.
Yep! I’ve made a rule for myself I can’t buy a book unless I have read it from the library and love it enough to reread….or I gave it 4+ stars AND love the cover. Saves me space and money too
Most libraries even let you make requests for books you want or even will get it from another library for you. Hell I'm sure someone has put a recording of the book in audio form on TH-cam. No need to steal seriously
And, even better, if you are given a book or buy one that you end up not being able to keep - donate or give away - if you want your money back, sell it on But especially do not buy a book if you can get it at the library and you haven’t already read it. Not just “if you know you’ll like it you can buy if but don’t be stupid enough to refund it”, no, do not buy books you haven’t already read and will want to keep. Period. Overconsumption is already bad enough, as well as weird behavior around sales and general disrespect to authors and their craft
I know, the trials are frivolous but the idea isnt to win, it's to scare publishers and booksellers into not selling diverse books anymore. The idea is to make diverse books too expensive to afford with the added cost of a frivolous lawsuit. SJM and authors at her level wont be affected, given the volume of their sales but more "niche" authors are now under risk to be dropped.
Absolutely, it's important for people to know that sjm isn't someone likely to be affected while maia kobabe obviously is. And that it will be about far more people than these authors.
But if we encourage the publishers to push through and defend diverse books, they can actually require their legal fees end up being paid by the people who filed the frivolous lawsuit, and damages. Meaning the publishers would then profit and be encouraged to be more diverse. That’s why it’s so important we encourage the publishers to fight this bs
@@KittyxKult Publishers are here to run a business. Chances are, they will take the path of least resistance and focus on publishing books, that dont risk to be struck with a frivolous suit.
@@moustik31 publishers run the business according to demand. If our voices of support are louder than the voices of book banners, they WILL cater to the audience
Publishers trying to keep up with TikTok trends is not only unsustainable, but also can also taint the integrity of the art. And by the time the author finishes writing a book the trend they're chasing can be over. Chasing fast trends is why so many dystopian and vampire books haven't been traditionally published.
If there's one thing I hate about online book culture is that one person will say something is problematic and half of book twitter will be falling over themselves to go harass an author without even having read the book themselves. Everyone chiming in to show how amazing and on the right side of things they are, performative bs. Maybe there are issues with these books, I dunno, I haven't read them which is why I shut up about giving opinions on the content of the books. Just wish more people would take this route of s-ing tfu if you don't know what you're talking about, (general) you don't have to have opinions about everything. This happens over and over and over again.
Honestly do they really believe they are hurting Amazon?! They will never lose money it is always the author who will end up hurting from people returning the ebook! 😒😒
I definitely think there’s a huge difference between returning a book because you didn’t like the product, versus “I’m reading for freeeeee” by returning each book after you read it. That’s what KU and the library are for.
"Jim Bozo the Clown" and "no, Goodreads, please don't do that" are tied for my favorite quotes from this video. In all seriousness, though, your coverage of these issues is nuanced yet pulls no punches-just really excellent!
That e-book returning hack reminds me of someone who goes to a restaurant, eats the entire plate of food, then decide they don’t like it and wants a refund.
Returning a book after reading the entire thing, just to “get back” at a corporation?! That’s straight stealing 😭 reminds me of the people on Tumblr who thought it was edgy and fun to steal from retail store fronts just because they could. Omfg
@@BoobiesNoobies As I said in another comment, would an option be for authors to switch off returns on books? Genuine question here, because I feel like that would solve a lot of the hassle.
@@thatpinkcosygirl I have no idea. 🤷♀️ I'd love to see some possible solutions and the benefits/costs of each! Right now, it just seems like an ongoing issue with no solution (yet).
@@BoobiesNoobies For sure, and I feel like there’s always going to be downsides to whatever solution is proposed. But, I do hope a solution is found soon.
The influence of TikTok and content creation can be downright terrifying. It feels like a spiral of an artist being forced to create art specifically to cater toward content creators, which is a minority of consumers. Most people are not content creators, but the industry is forcing a shift in focus to prioritize people who can ultimately manipulate the market and increase sales.
LIBRARIES LITERALLY HAVE EBOOKS AND YOU CAN REQUEST BOOKS there really is no excuse to exploit author's labor that way. Libraries spend soooo much money on digital lending licenses to allow you to borrow eBooks and we're happy to do it!
I live my life without TikTok and Twitter so I miss all the drama , but thank you so much for these CommuniTEA episodes, and it's more fun when you summarise them 😂❤❤
I worked as a book seller for 5 years and TikTok really changed how people buy books. The trending on TikTok table out sells everything. The company best sellers were books trending on TikTok (other than stuff like James Patterson). Also a lot of books that end up trending tend to have a lot of sex in them. Not everyone wants that. Not everyone wants to write that. To want to be authors it’s sending the message that you need 1) a big online following to start or 2) write erotica. It’s not a very hopeful outlook Also nothing wrong with reading erotica I just know that many people don’t want to read it (myself included) and it can be hard to find books that aren’t if that’s what a best seller bay is full of/ what’s being promoted.
Yeah, "tik tok made me buy it" is usually erotica / dark romance / edgy YA romance. It's the books with the most toxic romance tropes, dub-con or non-con sex, most cliche characters a la 50 shades of Grey knock-off. If you want a romance where characters have 2 brain cells together instead of 300 pages of horny, avoid tik-tok recommendations like a plague. I used to hate romance because I thought all of it is such trash, but nope, there's actually some intelligent romance out there where the woman has a goal in life besides getting the guy and the guy has a personality beyond "tall, rich, mysterious".
I like sex scenes in books but not as direct written as it is in current published books. But now it is almost impossible to find sensual but not explit sex scenes. I love also romances without smut at all. And this is just impossioble to find
My personal rule of thumb is that it's totally fine to choose not to read a book based on outside opinion/criticism but I draw the line on passing judgment on the content of a book unless I've at least read it. I totally agree it's a personal choice and can see how others would feel ok taking the word of others in these cases.
Something about the "The Ones We Burn" situation feels a bit off to me. I swear it was one single person said mentioned the whole "reverse racism" storyline but only in a single tweet and didn't post any actual quotes from the book and then everybody immediately dogpiled as people on the internet do. Now if it is the case that yes, this book does have that shit, then fuck that book. But I swear I've seen multiple times where one person will say something with absolutely no evidence to back it up and the internet goes "oh? Okay! Sure!" So I'm going to wait and see once the book actually comes out what people who have, you know, actually read the book say. But I really get annoyed when people who don't read the book at all just go off and dogpile something just for clout. Again, if it really is the case that this does have a reverse racism plot, gross, disgusting, the dogpiling is well deserved. But I've yet to see actual evidence aside from one flippant tweet.
Have you read the book? Honestly curious because I’m currently reading it and either I live in a bubble (and because I’m white I don’t understand why it was labelled as reverse racism) or it really was just a BS tweet people bandwagoned because they’re brainless and can’t think for themselves.
I don't understand the logic that if you didn't like a book that you finished reading you deserve to get your money back. Do people not know anymore what it means to buy something? You give money, you get the thing, you keep the thing. You don't pay for a guarantee that you'll love the content of the book, you pay for the book itself, for a copy of the content, whatever that content may turn out to be. Honestly 🤦🏾♀️
The idea that it's "anti-capitalist" to not support the authors who provided a service that you wanted 🙄 if this hurt Amazon? Sure, yeah, power to you. But the only folks it hurts are other regular people who are also harmed by capitalist systems
So I just finished reading We All Fall Down and here's the thing - are there discussions to be had about how race and sexuality come into play in the story? yes. But the review that you quoted here also includes a lot of very damning pieces of "evidence" against the story that are factually incorrect and willfully misrepresent the book. (Spoilers ahead) Here are a few: - Jack doesn't throw David under the bus to protect her sister. Her sister has framed Turing (the 8-legged monster character, who is a black trans woman and David's twin) for the murders of the cops, and Turing is Jack's close friend. Jack lies to the cops, blaming David - a guy she doesn't know but has seen perform magic - for the murders to protect *Turing*...who is, again, a black trans woman being framed for murder. - The murders of the cops aren't racially motivated? They're part of Jack's sister's plan to get the (magical, oppressed) Old City to bring magic back and rise up against the (nonmagical, learning hospital) New City that's literally stealing Old City folk and performing experiments on them. It's not race related. That's just simply not related to her motivations for killing them. (And Belle frames Turing because Turing is a reclusive octopus person who lives in the river.) - The reviewer claims that David is framed as the villain and Jack is framed as the "capital H hero". This is completely false. It literally isn't true? David is the Hero of the story; that's literally his role. He is the Hero, Jesse is the Maiden. At no point in the story is he framed as the villain - he's a sympathetic character the entire book that is, again, literally, called the Hero. - Jack's actions (throwing a black man to the cops when she knew he didn't do it) are addressed on page by another character who says "So Belle Marley has killed those men. And her sister had covered it up by throwing David under the bus. Disgusting." Two things here: 1. the fact that this is acknowledged on page as something disgusting to do, but 2. the character is *assuming* Jack is protecting her sister - but WE know she's not; she's protecting Turing. This character doesn't know that Turing and Jack know each other. Later, when this character confronts Jack, she says "Don't you ever [...] ever, ever ask me for anything again." So like, again, the book isn't justifying what Jack did; it's pointing out how fucked it was and how ignorant she was in thinking he would be safe from her accusation just because he's New City. - I just feel that it's also worth noting that this book has trans rep, nonbinary rep, gender nonconforming rep, is anti-cop, and is sex-work positive. Framing this as a book *about* a white woman inflicting violence on a gay man is like saying 1001 Dalmatians is *about* a cis het couple antagonizing an elderly woman. Like....it's just a dishonest take imo. Anyway, all that to say, the book isn't perfect and it could have used a few more rounds with sensitivity readers for sure, but the Hero of the story is a gay Black man. The central love story is between him and a genderfluid Maiden; the other is between a butch lesbian and a trans woman. I just feel like the fact that the third highest negative review is from someone who is an ex-student of the author says a lot. Like we can call bullshit out, but we can be honest about it? Instead of framing things as what they're not? The book is like a very queer Seanan McGuire type weird urban fantasy and it's worth checking out.
@Just Barker oh I don't disagree! There are definitely a lot of things that could have been more clear, both in the writing and the intent. I've just seen from many of the reviews/ratings that a lot of people aren't reading the book before giving it a 1 star review and for reasons that aren't necessarily even in the book or presented the way they think.
I mean she didn’t actually read the book herself at the time of the video, and so she presented an uninformed opinion based on the negative interpretation of another. That happens a lot in platforms like Goodreads.
@@Buddanutslol oh I know- just figured I'd offer my thoughts as someone who read the book for anyone who might be curious. It's understandable that she hasn't read all the books she shares news on!
The whole Virginia Beach foolishness has me so confused because why those two specific books? They didn’t even go after the most sexually explicit ACOTAR book! My only thought is that one of these crusty politicians’ kids were reading those two books and they freaked out and decided to have a crazy vendetta.
For real, I don’t see why these seem to have such a hard on for ACOMAF specifically. It’s not even that bad. And what’s with the age restrictions? Do they have age restrictions on adult books already? Because I’m pretty sure I bought plenty of romance novels when I was underage and no one said a thing.
Returning ebooks you've completely read is just a crap move. It's not "manipulative" to ask you to pay for something you've consumed the whole of. It IS manipulative, however, to take advantage of return policies in order to read everything on the author's dime. Authors aren't owed your money, your time, or your review, BUT, once you HAVE purchased the book AND finished it, they sure as hell are owed your money. For Pete's sake people, tone down the freaking entitlement!!!
Self published authors are speaking out about this refunding “trend” and I hope traditionally published authors are too. I haven’t experienced this yet and I REALLY don’t want to. If you want a free book, go to the library. Due to this trend, some authors owe Amazon via delivery fees. Delivery fees are about the file size and sometimes can be in the double digits depending on the book, and that’s absolutely ridiculous.
I'm not going to be able to keep writing and publishing thanks to readers refusing to pay for my time and hard work. I've seen people post on Twitter that books and art "should be free" and that anyone trying to make money from it is evil. I don't expect to make a ton (sure, would be nice, but unrealistic) but I do expect to get *something* for my efforts. Like, if you want to tell me my work is worthless, WHY are you so intent on getting your hands on it [for free]? I have a book coming out in November, and I think it's going to be my last one. (Unless there's a moment TikTokkers can grab and promote? Ugh.)
Hey, Jess! I'd love to hear your thoughts on The Ones We Burn in light of Rebecca's update. I fully agree with your premise that there are no rules saying people have to read anything, obviously, and we are allowed to put books on our "will not read" list for any reason we want. However, I will say that when the controversy began over The Ones We Burn, I spent a while looking into it, reading through a variety of early reviews with synopses, and I came out of that perusal feeling pretty confident that this was a situation of someone not fully understanding the book or seeing an issue where there wasn't one (though I get why!), and then everyone else dog-piling. I am at least confident enough in that opinion to read the book so I can ultimately decide for myself, whereas if I felt convinced in the other direction, I would also take it off my TBR. And while, again, I of course don't think that you need to read the book if you don't want to, I admit I was hoping you would have a different perspective on the controversy itself. So I'm simply wondering if Rebecca's update changed anything for you, or if you looked into it more and found anything different. If not, I completely respect that! I'm simply curious :)
I agree with you. I was quite surprised when I saw the controversy unfold, I followed Rebecca on social media for a while and was looking forward to her book. But there was a lot, I mean A LOT of outrage, calling her a racist, people saying they would never ever read a book written by her etc., but I couldn't find any examples from her writing of her being racist or anti-semitic, no one was being specific. A lot of it was just "source: dude trust me." Then finally I found a review someone posted that included 2 lines from TOWB where Ranka (white character) is bitter that Aramis (black character) is a priveleged princess and she had to grow up/live with no such privileges, and saying it was reverse racism and depicting a PoC character as an oppressor and honestly, I was confused by that assessment. I was like, "is that it? is this why everyone is so upset?" Maybe in the wider context of the passage that that line appears in racism is more clear, I don't know because the book isn't out yet of course, but based on that line alone I was really surprised by the ferocity of the outrage. And the blood libel accusation confused me even more because the argument seemed to be vaguely described blood magic = blood libel, an anti-semitic trope. I do think it was a case of dog piling, to some extent. I have a degree in English literature and I think if I wrote those arguments in an critical essay, I wouldn't get a very good grade.
@@heatherfeather8927 Yep, I agree. Other than that line, all it seemed to be was a general sense that having Black royalty (who sometimes behave like people in power generally do) and a white poor person was inherently a "reverse racism" storyline. Which I don't agree with. Even the book's description makes it clear that the Black royal siblings are protagonists. One of them is even the love interest, so... I honestly don't understand how so many people got convinced, at least based on the information available, that the book is racist. And the accusations of anti-Semitism are equally unfounded. It seems to be solely because there is a magic called "blood magic" but 1. the name is clearly not the same as blood libel, 2. the practice of blood magic in the book is apparently nothing like "blood libel," and 3. it doesn't sound like the white protagonist is Jewish-coded. So there is no reason whatsoever to connect the book's "blood magic" to "blood libel" and therefore being anti-Semitic. Blood magic as a general concept isn't remotely new to fantasy fiction, and in this case, seems to have nothing to do with anti-Semitic stereotypes.
Getting a book with the intention of reading the whole thing and then returning it is stealing. Nobody is forcing them to buy the book.. such entitlement and lack of personal accountability.
If the court case for obscenity goes forward I hope someone complains about the bible in return because that book has legitimately TERRIBLE things occur.
So excited for a long episode of Book Communitea!! I know they're exhausting, and I definitely don't want you to over-extend yourself with these, but Book Communitea is how I discovered your channel and they're some of my faves of your videos. :)
25:01 Reverse racism does not exist. Racism by definition is: prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism by an individual, community, or institution against a person or people on the basis of their membership of a particular racial or ethnic group, typically one that is a minority or marginalized. The racism that Jess is talking about i.e. black people can not be racist against white people due to the system (built by white people) has always been against them is Institutional Racism. For which the actual definition is: discrimination or unequal treatment on the basis of membership of a particular ethnic group (typically one that is a minority or marginalized), arising from systems, structures, or expectations that have become established within an institution or organization. These are two different types of racism. Anyone can be racist, regardless of their own race and ethno-cultural background. But on an institutional level, in America specifically, black people cannot be racist as they do not have the same power as white people do. Not excusing anything, just want to point out the difference! Also, that plot sounds a lot like Malorie Blackman's book Noughts and Crosses...
Yes, she needs to clarify that, because Black people are people and therefore perfectly capable of being racist. It's dangerous to suggest otherwise because I'm frequently seeing people saying this and then being racist. It causes further division.
I don’t think there’s anything wrong with returning books if you don’t vibe with the first like 100 pages but reading the whole thing and then returning it because you don’t like it is not okay
Even then though, authors are losing money... In some cases, authors are having to pay back Amazon. Maybe if Amazon changed its return policy to account for this?
As someone who has worked at Indie bookstores for the past 8 years I kindly disagree. You can't go to the movie theater and watch the first 40 minutes' walk out and get a refund. You chose to buy the book and read it. We aren't responsible for your enjoyment. We've also had many people come in who have read parts of the book and wanted to return it, but we can see the wear and tear in the book. A brand-new book vs a book that has been handled and read look different, we can't sell that as a new book to another customer.
The whole verba thing was a hot ass mess and what's strange to me is that these random "thirst trap creators" who are not a part of the book community coming out of nowhere talking about "we're going to save you" being cocky as hell had the audacity to just expect people to pay more for this than they do for any current audiobook platform with zero input from actual readers and that we would just be stupid enough to go along with it and not ask questions???? Like booktok would be so easily swayed just by a few deep voices and some dude with an axe? One of the guys involved I checked out his channel and he doesn't even say anything. Just words on the screen while he rubs his beard. Why would I pay for that???
This channel is literally the only way I'm able to muddle through cryptic comments I find on the internet about book drama. You're doing the Lord's work. Editing has been the kicker for me when it comes to what people are churning out. I have NEVER seen so many books where I find errors in fact and grammar. I used to never come across that, but now it's a regular experience.
Thank you as always for keeping this series going! TikTok isn't going anywhere but like... the idea that these people in publishing think they can use it to their advantage when, as you said, the stuff that goes viral is RANDOM, is wild. We already have ways to make "kingmakers" in publishing - Book Clubs, BOTM, those things still have sway. I can't imagine returning an ebook or audiobook like... just absorb the loss and move on! Do you ask for a refund at the movie theatre if you don't like the movie? Make it make sense!
the tiktok thing if a possibility is very very concerning esp from a divesity standpoint bc so many books that go viral on that clock app are by yt ppl
Re: We All Fall Down. So I have (admittedly, VERY limited) experience in publishing and I want to offer some food for thought. Rose has an agent, this agent read their story and thought it was good enough to be published and pursued it via "exclusive submission" which, iirc, means that it was explicitly sent to the editor. This is most likely because this editor worked on Rose's previous novel, What Big Teeth. Additionally, with something like this, it isn't about catching the problem and changing it in revisions. This is a huge plot point. Like massive. It's the whole premise of the book, everything hinges on it. It's not that they didn't catch it, it's that they *liked* it, *enjoyed* it. They didn't see a problem with it and thought that it was a fun and/or exciting plot point. People that see the book's content before it gets published are (to my knowledge, I could be missing some): Agent (if there is one, and in this case there is), intern/editorial assistant (not always and probably not in this situation), editor, copyeditor, proofreader, maybe people from marketing if they read an arc (not all books are read by the marketing team - at least that's what I've been told), authors and reviewers that get sent arcs, and technically the design team, but they aren't necessarily reading the content. Once a book is in the arc stage, major rewrites aren't common, and this would be a major rewrite. But it is noteworthy that seemingly none of the people with early access to it had any alarm bells or red flags going off. I think the biggest problem in this whole thing is that seemingly *from the start*, no one had an issue with it. The editor of this book, Trisha de Guzman, is from the Philippines, so this isn't about some white people not catching this. This is a person of color not seeing any problem with a Black man being framed for a murder, make of that what you will. I looked up Jennifer Azantian, the agent, and I cannot confirm what her race is. Does she look white? Yeah, but even people who look white can not be so. I am sure that there were definitely white people who read this book and therefore also saw no problem with it. I think this largely indicates the lack of Black representation in publishing, and how it is actively harmful to not have that representation in ALL areas of publishing. Sorry this is so long, I just had a lot of thoughts and feelings about this lol.
Okay, so l heard it previously when Holly Black's new book came out that people were discussing the return of the book to a bookstore. Never in my 30 years of life have l ever thought that returning a book was an option. Even when l've received the same two books from different loved ones at Christmas. Naive, l know, but that's besides the point. Now it's escalated to eBooks and Audiobooks?! That people have taken the time to fully read?! The audacity of some people! I'm sick and tired of the copious amounts of "the world owes me", entitled shits that are seeming to grow in numbers each and every day.
The company that owns Yt that starts with a “G” allows you to read several chapters of a book for free. I always go there first before I commit to purchasing a book.
Oh, I didn’t know that. I feel like the last time I previewed a book, it was reference books and scientific journals. Which really didn’t give you enough info. Libby gives me a decent preview from “Read Sample”.
As far the tiktok book acquisition, someone on tiktok in the industry said that’s not happening and the person who tweeted this is in marketing and has no influence or control over acquisitions. And that this whole thing isn’t really the big deal that this has made it seem like it is. Which I think is probably true. Other than new acquisitions that wouldn’t have happened if not for the popularity (Olivie Blake, Travis baldtree). But I think that is a bonus, not a this-or-that kind of situation. with verba, I saw someone else brought up that audible had tried a subscription like this for the romance genre and it didn’t last very long. So one of the questions was how would this work if a company as large as audible/Amazon couldn’t make it work? Like what are you doing differently? I’m an accountant and I have lots of questions just from what I’ve heard lmao. Cash flow is king, especially with salaried employees. More so even than projected revenues. And what kind of selection would you have to start? $20/mo is a lot when some people could go through your entire catalog in a couple of weeks. If they don’t have incentive to keep subscribing your cash flows are screwed. 👀
i signed up for bookish box and after two months I never recieved it AND they charged me again. i messaged them and they were like "oh yea thats our shipping policy you pay for two months before you get your first box" and REFUSED to refund me. They only offered to cancel future subscription fees but I had to wait for the box even though it hadnt even been shipped🤣 GHETTO
Am I the only person who keeps thinking of an old school video rental store with the porn room whenever Virginia Beach suing Barnes & Noble comes up? The ebook read and return thing is such garbage to me. I feel bad for the indie authors it's affecting. I've seen people recommending that Amazon needs to enforce a policy where after you reach a certain percentage of the book read that you can't return it. The person who says the author isn't owed anything is the exact entitled type of attitude that has people asking artists to create things for free.
That's exactly what I thought of 😅 But do they not know about ebooks? Or AO3/Wattpad/Tumblr? If teens wanna read erotica or anything else they can get their hands on it without stepping foot in a B&N 😂
@@sdrawkcabemdaer5 Very true! Plus I feel like a lot of them are internet savvy enough to get around whatever preventative measures their parents have taken with the internet to read it online if they really wanted to. Besides, kids used to sneak into that curtained off portion of the video stores too. Just made it more irresistible to some. It feels like this whole thing is really naive.
I'm not on TikTok so a lot of book discourse tends to pass me by unless I see it on YT or Twitter, so wow did I not know a lot of this lol. Suddenly very, very glad I didn't shell out for that Bookish Box Diviners set I saw months ago...
I have a theory that if an author is published, they are required to blurb and say positive things about books published by the same company. Now I have to check if those authors are published by the same publisher as The Ones We Burn. And I also wonder if they even actually READ the book or if they just did what my little brother used to do with my Book It reading log… copy what I logged and listen to me talk about it just enough to say how much he loved the book so it would look like he read it.
Idk if "required" but they will be "highly encouraged" if they share an agent, an editor, a publishing imprint or are from the same "debut group" (debuted same year in the same genre). They also write fake positive reviews on Goodreads and retweet adverts about those books. Check Chloe Gong's Goodreads profile, everything 5-star rated. Coincidence? No LOL. No wonder she got caught for blurbing one of the "problematic" books, she mass produces those 5-star reviews and blurbs.
Alright, so this is why I'm glad to have Kindle Unlimited from the overlord because yes, sometimes you're wanting to "test the waters" with an author before outright buying a title. This mostly applies to Adult books (particularly Romance, and even more particularly (sorry Jess) Monster Romance XD), but seriously, I've bought some ebooks and then regretted it due to feeling 'meh' about the book. Still, it wasn't a huge financial detriment, the ebook didn't need to be returned since the overlord ISN'T A LIBRARY (except for KU). Reading the whole book and returning it is just horrifying.
I will say on the topic of the Ones We Burn, from what I know, the racism stems from the fact one of the characters is a witch, so I'm curious as to where the "reverse racism" came from. But I have yet to read the book, so who can say for certain.
(Publishing)sound like the last SJM book. 1 big moment at the end of the book. That’s just purely ridiculous. Authors shouldn’t have to be pressured to make “vial content”. Write a good book. And content creators….. will help make it go viral.
Same. As someone who makes content on Tiktok for my debut novel,it can be really stressful being pressurr to make content all the time about it on top of the fact that I have to write it
I didn't realize people were reading in full and returning. I get that sometimes the preview isn't long enough to judge. I've returned a few after I realized it wasn't for me. But that was at 10%!! I didn't read the entire thing. If I finish a book and hated it, I just leave a review about it.
The majority of books I've seen and read because of BookTok I have disliked. The videos promoting books make them sound amazing when they have been trash. The Love Hypothesis was promoted so much on there and it's not good. There are so many books I love that have never been on TikTok. Also how are you supposed to promote literary fiction or non fiction on Tiktok. It's a terrible idea to acquire books from what will do well on TikTok. Also Willow Winters who was on the Verba project is not a good person so I'm happy this project won't be going ahead. Regarding subscription boxes, when you're paying money for a product it should be perfect.
Had to pause the video to FULLY AGREE with your assessment on the tiktok thing. It's definitely companies just trying to cut spending on marketing by having influencers do it for free (or for ARCs) on tiktok
I’m curious if you’ve already spoken about the “Where the Crawdads Sing” controversy. It’s wild to me that it’s been on wax for years about the author’s link to a murder as well as her and husband’s paternalistic attitudes towards Africans and that tptb really thought that it could go undiscovered during a whole movie press run.
I bought an ebook that I actually ended up DNF but I would never dream of returning it. I just deleted and moved on. So many "hacks" are hurtful to someone.
Can I just say....the twinkle of mischief in your eyes when you're recommending we all go watch your dramatic reading of ACOMAF..... absolutely warranted! that video was hilarious!
It’s become a popular trend to hate on the bookish box. It’s true they’re behind. Currently, June boxes are beginning to go out-so they’re not months behind. A lot of their sets are preorder that were months ahead of when they were going to be produced and sent out. They do printing and edging from China which contributes to a lot of the delays. Kevin Norman has had personal issues with the owner of BB after he made a comment on one of BB’s employees picture where she was in her room-apparently the comment could have been taken another way👀👀👀. The owner came out in defense of her employee and Kevin and the owner had some public and private exchanges. He’s gunning for BB. It’s not that this company is perfect, but I dislike the current trend of just trashing to trash. Their products can be hit or miss. And they are sending out a replacement book for the four horsemen set. They have addressed their quality control issues and have made some in house changes, so maybe we will see some improvements. I’ve been subscribed for over a year and no, I haven’t always loved all the products or books, but I’m also a subscriber to illumicrate, fairyloot, broken binding, and arcane society. Their products can be hit or miss, they can be late, they can have flaws and shipping damage as well. The best thing about this is Kevin Norman attacking over representation and book choices, whitewashing, etc, but it’s been crickets in regards to Illumicrates book choice. Be critical, but it should apply to them all. I say this because he’s always promoting fairyloot and illumicrate in his comments.
I’ve been subscribed to them for a long time and more often than not the books are months late. I think the hate is unwarranted but im not going to pretend they’re good at time management
Steam over here like "hey you can't return a game if you played if for more than two hours" (and sometimea specific situations when a game just keeps lagging or something you can submit a return claim, that they have to approve the return to)
People really will do anything to just not pay for content huh... I think that if someone has read an entire book and fully understands the context of the problematic aspects then comes out to warn people what the book contains and then people decide not to read it based on that, it's totally fine and really the way it should be. What has bothered me in the past is people taking like one paragraph completely out of context and trying to stir something up on social media doing so
For me I will not and will never comment on a book that I haven't read. In an age where clout, cancelling, and controversy can be monetized it eventually leads to bad faith interpretations of people's hours of effort and dedication put into something they really care about. I always aim to get the full context of a story before I say anything about it. I also never trust people who say this book has problematic characters because like... Fictional characters can do bad things and it doesn't mean the author condones those actions??? The Poppy War literally features a protagonist who commits genocide, should we cancel that book next? While we're there why not throw Lolita into the fire as well? Ironically enough RF Kuang actually gave a speech at Oxford about how she hates this kind of taking quotes out of context behavior too and how she feels that this kind of moral policing is inhibiting good art from being made (you can watch the speech on TH-cam). I also hate the fact that people are taking joy in Rebecca Mix going offline, like wow good job guys you harassed a woman so much that she had to take a break for her mental health. It's an extremely stressful situation to be in especially for a debut writer and I hope she recovers well from it
I agree. I also don’t think the authors would feel comfortable putting this out there if they were intentionally being racist. Like people cancel over everything.
Theft is theft no matter what you call. You are paying someone for a service … writing the book for you to read…. If the shoe was on the other foot I am sure they would feel outraged that people were doing it to them. Like stealing from a big corporation cause they can handle it. Yes they handle it by increasing prices, cutting work force or benefits to cover the losses. In the end stealing no matter what it is hurts everyone.
You nailed it! Also, adding to the Verba aftermath... SEVERAL booktokers have had their accounts permanently banned in the last few days - all of whom have been very vocal about the Verba situation, specifically as it relates to Willow W. and Dana I. Coincidence? 😒 I will give some cred to Thoren Bradley. He is the only one from the Verba team who has attempted to engage, answer questions, apologize, and LEARN. I've been told by several Booktokers that Chance's wife has been on the attack. Meanwhile, WW issued a "statement" with seemingly false receipts (screenshots of a DM she tried to pass off as her own, when really it was between two other people). The whole thing is a mess but what really irks me is creators losing their accounts because an author's fans didn't like what they had to say... Whew! At this point, I'd just like to see us move past Verba, especially since as far as I know, it's over and done with. 🤷♀️
Just to address a related issue to the Bookish Box: I've never bought one of their subscription boxes, but I *DID* buy a shirt from their shop (the Bookish Shop) and it took FOREVER to get here. Like multiple months. I was trying to give them the benefit of the doubt that it was pandemic shipping and everyone was having issues, but it was ridiculous. It also got lost and they had to ship a second one because it returned to the warehouse and they like...didn't think to inform me until I had noticed and emailed. I'm not surprised to hear they had issues. It's unfortunate because that shirt is super comfy and I wear it a lot, but they're a mess.
re: racist books, i honestly think the publishers know exactly what they're doing but they publish and promote them bc outrage marketing. any publicity is good publicity
I agree it should not become a habit to return ebooks and audio books you don’t like. I hardly every do it. You choose someone, don’t like it, your stuck with it. But I am also thankful for return policies too. I read the latest Sara Janet Mass book. I hated it. Everything. I had to get the audiobook because it was too long and by the end I was skimming with my eyes. I returned the audiobook because it was trash. But that’s the only one I’ve returned in like 3 years. Makes sense to me have the option available but not abuse the system.
I've never seen a social media being as powerful as TT. Never entered a bookstore with tables full of Bookstagram recs/TH-camrs recs. Everything changed after Booktok, undeniably. And I concur, this is not necessarily the best thing. Or better, it is, for the business, it is not for authors and book lovers. Thanks for bringing this to our attention, it gave me even more to think about
The pace of traditional publishing is so glacial that hopping on viral trends would be a waste of time. Indie authors are killing it on tiktok because they can move fast, but trad has no hope of replicating that kind of success outside of books people are already obsessed with. And if it were that easy to consistently create tiktok-able moments, marketing would be a piece of cake, and we all know it's not. Even the hottest of garbage has those kind of moments. Most books do, because authors want to write unforgettable lines and thought provoking scenes. What I'm saying is that those moments already exist. And they have nothing to do with tiktok. There is no rhyme or reason to what goes viral on tiktok. None whatsoever. And it's disappointing when the publishing folks try to diminish that creative drive by slicing a whole vision into tiktok-worthy snippets. Not just because it means they're really not paying attention to what's already there, but because readers will diminish it next. They'll be calling authors out for chasing trends and popular tropes when their business likely depends on them doing so, both in terms of what is marketable according to the publishing industry as a whole, and what other readers are responding to. Because the kind of readers who complain about such things operate on a level where nuance doesn't exist. Kind of like when fans cry because their favourite obscure band went too commercial, and it's more important to them that they felt special within their tiny fandom than that the band be financially successful. Following what's marketable just makes good business sense, and artists are allowed to eat. But no matter how well it works for some people, trying to market through tiktok really is just throwing spaghetti at a wall and hoping some of it sticks. Encouraging authors to write with tiktok moments in mind is the fastest way for an author to lose their voice and their integrity. I had no idea I had so many thoughts on this subject. Also, Amazon is not a library. When you buy an ebook, you're buying the experience. Enjoyment is not guaranteed; that's just part of the gamble. But the sample is there to help you decide if the gamble is worth it. Read the sample. And if your intention is to read the entire book, return it for a refund, then go through the whole series doing the same thing, like a pig high on truffles, your entitlement has reached unforetold limits and you belong in jail. You are the poop on Thanos' giant shoe. And there endeth the longest piece of writing I've done all day. Not like I have a deadline or anything.
Awesome video as always, but I’m gonna take issue with the phrase “good year of our lord 2022” at this point in the calendar. Starting a petition to change it to “Mediocre year of our lord 2022!” 😂
As a booktok content creator it really grinds my gears when they focus on that one part of a book. I have several bookish series going on on my page and I try to focus on the book as a whole. Especially when it’s a really good indie book.
Hahaha, when I got my copy of the last book in Ken Liu's series, I was so mad they made the spine different! It's especially odd considering it only came out about 6 months after the 3rd, what happened??? Also disgusted over the ebook returns thing. You do owe creators for the labor they put into making their stuff if you choose to consume it, no matter how you end up feeling about the work. I understand there are issues with accessibility for a lot of folks, but I'd bet the folks making the especially bad-faith arguments are not necessarily the ones dealing with those issues... 👀 At the end of the day, though, it'd actually be less harmful to pirate stuff than to abuse the return system and end up *costing* the author money.
I'm so sad about we all fall down. I try and avoid reviews with books before I read them and was literally going to buy it today but i figured I'd watch this first. That is truly tragic
I can definitely attest to the issues with bookish box. Their FBAA set shipped months later. The diviners shipped months late and was missing one of the books because they claim the carrier damaged one of the big shipping containers. Still haven’t gotten an update on when we can expect that missing book. Just a mess overall.
I will say, it came out after the video went up, but Rebecca Mix did finally come out on Twitter with a statement re: her book, just in case anyone wants to read her statement.
The return thing is also happening in the idie game scene. Steam, a game publishing site, had a return policy that let you return a game within two hours and get a refund. Well some idie games were under two hours long. One such idie game fell under that two hour long and had been featured on several let's players. Well people were playing it and returning it. Causing the idie dev to lose not only money but the overall score of the game was badly affected. When the idie dav spoke about it and asked people not to return it once finished a whole bunch of people started attacking this dev. Review bombing the game and said the same thing about 'not owning the dev anything for something they ultimately didn't like'. This caused both dev to quit the industry for a while and for Steam to change the return policy. It's still happening even now, despite the changes.
OMG The Bookish Box is a hot mess!!! I used to get boxes from them and they just steadily went downhill as they got more popular. I got the FBAA box from them and it took FOREVER and I really thought when I ordered that we would also be sent book 4 when it came out but I guess not (I could be misremembering). I've ordered a couple special boxes from them and there have been shipping delays EVERYTIME. Plus they'll sell you on one thing like sprayed edges or special foiling and then MONTHS LATER they email and say "Oh sorry we can't do that bc [insert BS excuse that should have been vetted before you sold these shits] now you'll get this thing that's totally not what we said we'd ship you when you gave us your money" I'm actually happy to see people talking out about them. For a while I thought I was the only person who was frustrated by them.
Walmart in Canada does not allow return on books just because you can read it and not break the spine making it appear unread. This return of ebooks is just ridiculous
returning a book after you've read it argument is so stupid! you don't go to the cinema watch a whole movie and then ask for a refound cause you didn't like it, you don't go to a restaurant, eat the whole plate and then ask for the money back cause it wasn't good 🤨 amazon needs to make some kind of meassure where once the person has read idk 30% of the book they can't return it or smt
I know it's been a minute, but the Virginia obscenity cased was tossed out and the judge declared the obscenity laws unconstitutional. I first thought it might be a lawsuit intended to get that result, it's a pretty obvious violation of the First Amendment.
![Book CommuniTEA: Ana Mardoll & Book Twitter [CC]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/Zry3xot0CcU/mqdefault.jpg)
![Book CommuniTEA: Ana Mardoll & Book Twitter [CC]](/img/tr.png)
![Book CommuniTEA: BFFR--Be F*ckin For Real, The Shenanigans Are Outta Hand [CC]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/N0wOOPav6oo/mqdefault.jpg)
Demanding a refund on an ebook you've already finished is like demanding a refund on a t-shirt you've worn for three days.
Or like when you go to the cinema you have about 30 minutes to leave and get a refund. You can’t ask for your money back after the movie is over.
To me it feels like eating the whole meal at a restaurant then demanding a refund. Like no, clearly it wasn't as bad as you say if you finished it.
@@Kayla_P99 I was just gonna say that
I work retail. People do this every day.
I don’t know why these people don’t just use a library. Like they think they’re having a big brain moment.
If you are inclined to return a book you've read, then please start availing yourself of the LIBRARY and all of the various ebook services they have. My god, people love to steal and try to make it righteous.
Yep! I’ve made a rule for myself I can’t buy a book unless I have read it from the library and love it enough to reread….or I gave it 4+ stars AND love the cover. Saves me space and money too
Yeah this is why I go to the library to get my books
Most libraries even let you make requests for books you want or even will get it from another library for you. Hell I'm sure someone has put a recording of the book in audio form on TH-cam. No need to steal seriously
And, even better, if you are given a book or buy one that you end up not being able to keep
- donate or give away
- if you want your money back, sell it on
But especially do not buy a book if you can get it at the library and you haven’t already read it.
Not just “if you know you’ll like it you can buy if but don’t be stupid enough to refund it”, no, do not buy books you haven’t already read and will want to keep. Period. Overconsumption is already bad enough, as well as weird behavior around sales and general disrespect to authors and their craft
I know, the trials are frivolous but the idea isnt to win, it's to scare publishers and booksellers into not selling diverse books anymore. The idea is to make diverse books too expensive to afford with the added cost of a frivolous lawsuit.
SJM and authors at her level wont be affected, given the volume of their sales but more "niche" authors are now under risk to be dropped.
Absolutely, it's important for people to know that sjm isn't someone likely to be affected while maia kobabe obviously is. And that it will be about far more people than these authors.
But if we encourage the publishers to push through and defend diverse books, they can actually require their legal fees end up being paid by the people who filed the frivolous lawsuit, and damages. Meaning the publishers would then profit and be encouraged to be more diverse. That’s why it’s so important we encourage the publishers to fight this bs
@@KittyxKult Publishers are here to run a business. Chances are, they will take the path of least resistance and focus on publishing books, that dont risk to be struck with a frivolous suit.
@@moustik31 publishers run the business according to demand. If our voices of support are louder than the voices of book banners, they WILL cater to the audience
@@KittyxKult Sure. What is the audience for "Gender Queer" again?
Publishers trying to keep up with TikTok trends is not only unsustainable, but also can also taint the integrity of the art. And by the time the author finishes writing a book the trend they're chasing can be over. Chasing fast trends is why so many dystopian and vampire books haven't been traditionally published.
If there's one thing I hate about online book culture is that one person will say something is problematic and half of book twitter will be falling over themselves to go harass an author without even having read the book themselves. Everyone chiming in to show how amazing and on the right side of things they are, performative bs. Maybe there are issues with these books, I dunno, I haven't read them which is why I shut up about giving opinions on the content of the books. Just wish more people would take this route of s-ing tfu if you don't know what you're talking about, (general) you don't have to have opinions about everything. This happens over and over and over again.
Honestly do they really believe they are hurting Amazon?! They will never lose money it is always the author who will end up hurting from people returning the ebook! 😒😒
I definitely think there’s a huge difference between returning a book because you didn’t like the product, versus “I’m reading for freeeeee” by returning each book after you read it. That’s what KU and the library are for.
Life Hack: read physical books and if you hate them, sell them
Or use the library
They rarely sell and make back more than 5-9$ so for expensive books it's just better to hand them to a friend or a thrift shop.
"Jim Bozo the Clown" and "no, Goodreads, please don't do that" are tied for my favorite quotes from this video. In all seriousness, though, your coverage of these issues is nuanced yet pulls no punches-just really excellent!
That e-book returning hack reminds me of someone who goes to a restaurant, eats the entire plate of food, then decide they don’t like it and wants a refund.
Your refusal to correctly say the name of Amazon's CEO is honestly inspiring ✨
Returning a book after reading the entire thing, just to “get back” at a corporation?! That’s straight stealing 😭 reminds me of the people on Tumblr who thought it was edgy and fun to steal from retail store fronts just because they could. Omfg
Also, it doesn't affect Amazon at all. Just the authors! Oh, people...
@@BoobiesNoobies As I said in another comment, would an option be for authors to switch off returns on books? Genuine question here, because I feel like that would solve a lot of the hassle.
@@thatpinkcosygirl I have no idea. 🤷♀️ I'd love to see some possible solutions and the benefits/costs of each! Right now, it just seems like an ongoing issue with no solution (yet).
@@BoobiesNoobies For sure, and I feel like there’s always going to be downsides to whatever solution is proposed. But, I do hope a solution is found soon.
The influence of TikTok and content creation can be downright terrifying. It feels like a spiral of an artist being forced to create art specifically to cater toward content creators, which is a minority of consumers. Most people are not content creators, but the industry is forcing a shift in focus to prioritize people who can ultimately manipulate the market and increase sales.
I get annoyed with Booktok because everyone reads the same books.
LIBRARIES LITERALLY HAVE EBOOKS AND YOU CAN REQUEST BOOKS there really is no excuse to exploit author's labor that way. Libraries spend soooo much money on digital lending licenses to allow you to borrow eBooks and we're happy to do it!
I live my life without TikTok and Twitter so I miss all the drama , but thank you so much for these CommuniTEA episodes, and it's more fun when you summarise them 😂❤❤
I’m gonna need people from my home state of Virginia to stop being embarrassing 🙄
I’m from South Carolina soo, I feel you on being embaressed
I worked as a book seller for 5 years and TikTok really changed how people buy books. The trending on TikTok table out sells everything. The company best sellers were books trending on TikTok (other than stuff like James Patterson). Also a lot of books that end up trending tend to have a lot of sex in them. Not everyone wants that. Not everyone wants to write that. To want to be authors it’s sending the message that you need 1) a big online following to start or 2) write erotica. It’s not a very hopeful outlook
Also nothing wrong with reading erotica I just know that many people don’t want to read it (myself included) and it can be hard to find books that aren’t if that’s what a best seller bay is full of/ what’s being promoted.
Yeah, "tik tok made me buy it" is usually erotica / dark romance / edgy YA romance. It's the books with the most toxic romance tropes, dub-con or non-con sex, most cliche characters a la 50 shades of Grey knock-off. If you want a romance where characters have 2 brain cells together instead of 300 pages of horny, avoid tik-tok recommendations like a plague. I used to hate romance because I thought all of it is such trash, but nope, there's actually some intelligent romance out there where the woman has a goal in life besides getting the guy and the guy has a personality beyond "tall, rich, mysterious".
I like sex scenes in books but not as direct written as it is in current published books. But now it is almost impossible to find sensual but not explit sex scenes. I love also romances without smut at all. And this is just impossioble to find
My personal rule of thumb is that it's totally fine to choose not to read a book based on outside opinion/criticism but I draw the line on passing judgment on the content of a book unless I've at least read it. I totally agree it's a personal choice and can see how others would feel ok taking the word of others in these cases.
Something about the "The Ones We Burn" situation feels a bit off to me. I swear it was one single person said mentioned the whole "reverse racism" storyline but only in a single tweet and didn't post any actual quotes from the book and then everybody immediately dogpiled as people on the internet do. Now if it is the case that yes, this book does have that shit, then fuck that book. But I swear I've seen multiple times where one person will say something with absolutely no evidence to back it up and the internet goes "oh? Okay! Sure!" So I'm going to wait and see once the book actually comes out what people who have, you know, actually read the book say. But I really get annoyed when people who don't read the book at all just go off and dogpile something just for clout. Again, if it really is the case that this does have a reverse racism plot, gross, disgusting, the dogpiling is well deserved. But I've yet to see actual evidence aside from one flippant tweet.
Have you read the book? Honestly curious because I’m currently reading it and either I live in a bubble (and because I’m white I don’t understand why it was labelled as reverse racism) or it really was just a BS tweet people bandwagoned because they’re brainless and can’t think for themselves.
i read the book. it's because there is no evidence they can pull.
I don't understand the logic that if you didn't like a book that you finished reading you deserve to get your money back. Do people not know anymore what it means to buy something? You give money, you get the thing, you keep the thing. You don't pay for a guarantee that you'll love the content of the book, you pay for the book itself, for a copy of the content, whatever that content may turn out to be. Honestly 🤦🏾♀️
This world gets more absurd by the day, I swear.
The idea that it's "anti-capitalist" to not support the authors who provided a service that you wanted 🙄 if this hurt Amazon? Sure, yeah, power to you. But the only folks it hurts are other regular people who are also harmed by capitalist systems
Jeff Bozo Bagel the Clown 💀 took my breath away
Sick of that man 😤😂
I would like to sue for the Bible being sold. Some of those stories are so obscene.
I’m here for the fact that as this series goes on, Jess slowly creates herself a news anchor desk
So I just finished reading We All Fall Down and here's the thing - are there discussions to be had about how race and sexuality come into play in the story? yes. But the review that you quoted here also includes a lot of very damning pieces of "evidence" against the story that are factually incorrect and willfully misrepresent the book. (Spoilers ahead)
Here are a few:
- Jack doesn't throw David under the bus to protect her sister. Her sister has framed Turing (the 8-legged monster character, who is a black trans woman and David's twin) for the murders of the cops, and Turing is Jack's close friend. Jack lies to the cops, blaming David - a guy she doesn't know but has seen perform magic - for the murders to protect *Turing*...who is, again, a black trans woman being framed for murder.
- The murders of the cops aren't racially motivated? They're part of Jack's sister's plan to get the (magical, oppressed) Old City to bring magic back and rise up against the (nonmagical, learning hospital) New City that's literally stealing Old City folk and performing experiments on them. It's not race related. That's just simply not related to her motivations for killing them. (And Belle frames Turing because Turing is a reclusive octopus person who lives in the river.)
- The reviewer claims that David is framed as the villain and Jack is framed as the "capital H hero". This is completely false. It literally isn't true? David is the Hero of the story; that's literally his role. He is the Hero, Jesse is the Maiden. At no point in the story is he framed as the villain - he's a sympathetic character the entire book that is, again, literally, called the Hero.
- Jack's actions (throwing a black man to the cops when she knew he didn't do it) are addressed on page by another character who says "So Belle Marley has killed those men. And her sister had covered it up by throwing David under the bus. Disgusting." Two things here: 1. the fact that this is acknowledged on page as something disgusting to do, but 2. the character is *assuming* Jack is protecting her sister - but WE know she's not; she's protecting Turing. This character doesn't know that Turing and Jack know each other. Later, when this character confronts Jack, she says "Don't you ever [...] ever, ever ask me for anything again." So like, again, the book isn't justifying what Jack did; it's pointing out how fucked it was and how ignorant she was in thinking he would be safe from her accusation just because he's New City.
- I just feel that it's also worth noting that this book has trans rep, nonbinary rep, gender nonconforming rep, is anti-cop, and is sex-work positive. Framing this as a book *about* a white woman inflicting violence on a gay man is like saying 1001 Dalmatians is *about* a cis het couple antagonizing an elderly woman. Like....it's just a dishonest take imo.
Anyway, all that to say, the book isn't perfect and it could have used a few more rounds with sensitivity readers for sure, but the Hero of the story is a gay Black man. The central love story is between him and a genderfluid Maiden; the other is between a butch lesbian and a trans woman. I just feel like the fact that the third highest negative review is from someone who is an ex-student of the author says a lot. Like we can call bullshit out, but we can be honest about it? Instead of framing things as what they're not? The book is like a very queer Seanan McGuire type weird urban fantasy and it's worth checking out.
@Just Barker oh I don't disagree! There are definitely a lot of things that could have been more clear, both in the writing and the intent. I've just seen from many of the reviews/ratings that a lot of people aren't reading the book before giving it a 1 star review and for reasons that aren't necessarily even in the book or presented the way they think.
I mean she didn’t actually read the book herself at the time of the video, and so she presented an uninformed opinion based on the negative interpretation of another. That happens a lot in platforms like Goodreads.
@@Buddanutslol oh I know- just figured I'd offer my thoughts as someone who read the book for anyone who might be curious. It's understandable that she hasn't read all the books she shares news on!
The whole Virginia Beach foolishness has me so confused because why those two specific books? They didn’t even go after the most sexually explicit ACOTAR book! My only thought is that one of these crusty politicians’ kids were reading those two books and they freaked out and decided to have a crazy vendetta.
For real, I don’t see why these seem to have such a hard on for ACOMAF specifically. It’s not even that bad. And what’s with the age restrictions? Do they have age restrictions on adult books already? Because I’m pretty sure I bought plenty of romance novels when I was underage and no one said a thing.
I really want to know how they chose these 2 books 🤔🤔
Can you imagine just these two random books in a secret room? This is ridiculous!!! I hate it
Returning ebooks you've completely read is just a crap move. It's not "manipulative" to ask you to pay for something you've consumed the whole of. It IS manipulative, however, to take advantage of return policies in order to read everything on the author's dime. Authors aren't owed your money, your time, or your review, BUT, once you HAVE purchased the book AND finished it, they sure as hell are owed your money. For Pete's sake people, tone down the freaking entitlement!!!
I only just clicked onto the video, but I love your earring-hoodie combo! They're so cute!! Anyway, back to watching
Me too, it's really cute.
Thank you 🥰🥰
Self published authors are speaking out about this refunding “trend” and I hope traditionally published authors are too. I haven’t experienced this yet and I REALLY don’t want to. If you want a free book, go to the library.
Due to this trend, some authors owe Amazon via delivery fees. Delivery fees are about the file size and sometimes can be in the double digits depending on the book, and that’s absolutely ridiculous.
I'm not going to be able to keep writing and publishing thanks to readers refusing to pay for my time and hard work. I've seen people post on Twitter that books and art "should be free" and that anyone trying to make money from it is evil. I don't expect to make a ton (sure, would be nice, but unrealistic) but I do expect to get *something* for my efforts. Like, if you want to tell me my work is worthless, WHY are you so intent on getting your hands on it [for free]? I have a book coming out in November, and I think it's going to be my last one. (Unless there's a moment TikTokkers can grab and promote? Ugh.)
If they want free books they should go to the freaking library.
Hey, Jess! I'd love to hear your thoughts on The Ones We Burn in light of Rebecca's update. I fully agree with your premise that there are no rules saying people have to read anything, obviously, and we are allowed to put books on our "will not read" list for any reason we want.
However, I will say that when the controversy began over The Ones We Burn, I spent a while looking into it, reading through a variety of early reviews with synopses, and I came out of that perusal feeling pretty confident that this was a situation of someone not fully understanding the book or seeing an issue where there wasn't one (though I get why!), and then everyone else dog-piling. I am at least confident enough in that opinion to read the book so I can ultimately decide for myself, whereas if I felt convinced in the other direction, I would also take it off my TBR. And while, again, I of course don't think that you need to read the book if you don't want to, I admit I was hoping you would have a different perspective on the controversy itself. So I'm simply wondering if Rebecca's update changed anything for you, or if you looked into it more and found anything different.
If not, I completely respect that! I'm simply curious :)
I agree with you. I was quite surprised when I saw the controversy unfold, I followed Rebecca on social media for a while and was looking forward to her book. But there was a lot, I mean A LOT of outrage, calling her a racist, people saying they would never ever read a book written by her etc., but I couldn't find any examples from her writing of her being racist or anti-semitic, no one was being specific. A lot of it was just "source: dude trust me." Then finally I found a review someone posted that included 2 lines from TOWB where Ranka (white character) is bitter that Aramis (black character) is a priveleged princess and she had to grow up/live with no such privileges, and saying it was reverse racism and depicting a PoC character as an oppressor and honestly, I was confused by that assessment. I was like, "is that it? is this why everyone is so upset?" Maybe in the wider context of the passage that that line appears in racism is more clear, I don't know because the book isn't out yet of course, but based on that line alone I was really surprised by the ferocity of the outrage. And the blood libel accusation confused me even more because the argument seemed to be vaguely described blood magic = blood libel, an anti-semitic trope. I do think it was a case of dog piling, to some extent. I have a degree in English literature and I think if I wrote those arguments in an critical essay, I wouldn't get a very good grade.
@@heatherfeather8927 Yep, I agree. Other than that line, all it seemed to be was a general sense that having Black royalty (who sometimes behave like people in power generally do) and a white poor person was inherently a "reverse racism" storyline. Which I don't agree with. Even the book's description makes it clear that the Black royal siblings are protagonists. One of them is even the love interest, so... I honestly don't understand how so many people got convinced, at least based on the information available, that the book is racist.
And the accusations of anti-Semitism are equally unfounded. It seems to be solely because there is a magic called "blood magic" but 1. the name is clearly not the same as blood libel, 2. the practice of blood magic in the book is apparently nothing like "blood libel," and 3. it doesn't sound like the white protagonist is Jewish-coded. So there is no reason whatsoever to connect the book's "blood magic" to "blood libel" and therefore being anti-Semitic. Blood magic as a general concept isn't remotely new to fantasy fiction, and in this case, seems to have nothing to do with anti-Semitic stereotypes.
Getting a book with the intention of reading the whole thing and then returning it is stealing.
Nobody is forcing them to buy the book.. such entitlement and lack of personal accountability.
That audiobook “life hack” thing makes me wonder if they know what libraries are…
If the court case for obscenity goes forward I hope someone complains about the bible in return because that book has legitimately TERRIBLE things occur.
So excited for a long episode of Book Communitea!! I know they're exhausting, and I definitely don't want you to over-extend yourself with these, but Book Communitea is how I discovered your channel and they're some of my faves of your videos. :)
💜💜💜
25:01
Reverse racism does not exist.
Racism by definition is: prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism by an individual, community, or institution against a person or people on the basis of their membership of a particular racial or ethnic group, typically one that is a minority or marginalized.
The racism that Jess is talking about i.e. black people can not be racist against white people due to the system (built by white people) has always been against them is Institutional Racism.
For which the actual definition is: discrimination or unequal treatment on the basis of membership of a particular ethnic group (typically one that is a minority or marginalized), arising from systems, structures, or expectations that have become established within an institution or organization.
These are two different types of racism.
Anyone can be racist, regardless of their own race and ethno-cultural background. But on an institutional level, in America specifically, black people cannot be racist as they do not have the same power as white people do.
Not excusing anything, just want to point out the difference!
Also, that plot sounds a lot like Malorie Blackman's book Noughts and Crosses...
Can black people be racist towards other minorities like native Americans, Asians, or Hispanic/ Latino people?
Yes, she needs to clarify that, because Black people are people and therefore perfectly capable of being racist. It's dangerous to suggest otherwise because I'm frequently seeing people saying this and then being racist. It causes further division.
@@pinkskies21 anyone can be racist to anyone. So yes black people can be racist towards other racial and ethno-cultural minorities.
@@pinkskies21
Duh. Of course.
@@pinkskies21 yes however they cannot be racist towards white people.
I don’t think there’s anything wrong with returning books if you don’t vibe with the first like 100 pages but reading the whole thing and then returning it because you don’t like it is not okay
It's like eating the whole meal at the restaurant and then demanding a refund cause it wasn't good. 🤨
It's a library with extra steps
It gets even worse when they return books they DO like.
Even then though, authors are losing money... In some cases, authors are having to pay back Amazon. Maybe if Amazon changed its return policy to account for this?
As someone who has worked at Indie bookstores for the past 8 years I kindly disagree. You can't go to the movie theater and watch the first 40 minutes' walk out and get a refund. You chose to buy the book and read it. We aren't responsible for your enjoyment. We've also had many people come in who have read parts of the book and wanted to return it, but we can see the wear and tear in the book. A brand-new book vs a book that has been handled and read look different, we can't sell that as a new book to another customer.
The whole verba thing was a hot ass mess and what's strange to me is that these random "thirst trap creators" who are not a part of the book community coming out of nowhere talking about "we're going to save you" being cocky as hell had the audacity to just expect people to pay more for this than they do for any current audiobook platform with zero input from actual readers and that we would just be stupid enough to go along with it and not ask questions???? Like booktok would be so easily swayed just by a few deep voices and some dude with an axe? One of the guys involved I checked out his channel and he doesn't even say anything. Just words on the screen while he rubs his beard. Why would I pay for that???
The axe guy thought his looks alone would make money
I was so confused when they mentioned the wood cutting dude, like how does he connect to the book community ???
This channel is literally the only way I'm able to muddle through cryptic comments I find on the internet about book drama. You're doing the Lord's work.
Editing has been the kicker for me when it comes to what people are churning out. I have NEVER seen so many books where I find errors in fact and grammar. I used to never come across that, but now it's a regular experience.
Thank you as always for keeping this series going! TikTok isn't going anywhere but like... the idea that these people in publishing think they can use it to their advantage when, as you said, the stuff that goes viral is RANDOM, is wild. We already have ways to make "kingmakers" in publishing - Book Clubs, BOTM, those things still have sway.
I can't imagine returning an ebook or audiobook like... just absorb the loss and move on! Do you ask for a refund at the movie theatre if you don't like the movie? Make it make sense!
the tiktok thing if a possibility is very very concerning esp from a divesity standpoint bc so many books that go viral on that clock app are by yt ppl
Re: We All Fall Down. So I have (admittedly, VERY limited) experience in publishing and I want to offer some food for thought. Rose has an agent, this agent read their story and thought it was good enough to be published and pursued it via "exclusive submission" which, iirc, means that it was explicitly sent to the editor. This is most likely because this editor worked on Rose's previous novel, What Big Teeth. Additionally, with something like this, it isn't about catching the problem and changing it in revisions. This is a huge plot point. Like massive. It's the whole premise of the book, everything hinges on it. It's not that they didn't catch it, it's that they *liked* it, *enjoyed* it. They didn't see a problem with it and thought that it was a fun and/or exciting plot point.
People that see the book's content before it gets published are (to my knowledge, I could be missing some): Agent (if there is one, and in this case there is), intern/editorial assistant (not always and probably not in this situation), editor, copyeditor, proofreader, maybe people from marketing if they read an arc (not all books are read by the marketing team - at least that's what I've been told), authors and reviewers that get sent arcs, and technically the design team, but they aren't necessarily reading the content. Once a book is in the arc stage, major rewrites aren't common, and this would be a major rewrite. But it is noteworthy that seemingly none of the people with early access to it had any alarm bells or red flags going off.
I think the biggest problem in this whole thing is that seemingly *from the start*, no one had an issue with it. The editor of this book, Trisha de Guzman, is from the Philippines, so this isn't about some white people not catching this. This is a person of color not seeing any problem with a Black man being framed for a murder, make of that what you will. I looked up Jennifer Azantian, the agent, and I cannot confirm what her race is. Does she look white? Yeah, but even people who look white can not be so. I am sure that there were definitely white people who read this book and therefore also saw no problem with it. I think this largely indicates the lack of Black representation in publishing, and how it is actively harmful to not have that representation in ALL areas of publishing.
Sorry this is so long, I just had a lot of thoughts and feelings about this lol.
I appreciate it bc I don’t know all the ins and outs of publishing. But wow, so many people okay with this/not realizing how harmful it is 😵💫😵💫
Okay, so l heard it previously when Holly Black's new book came out that people were discussing the return of the book to a bookstore. Never in my 30 years of life have l ever thought that returning a book was an option. Even when l've received the same two books from different loved ones at Christmas. Naive, l know, but that's besides the point. Now it's escalated to eBooks and Audiobooks?! That people have taken the time to fully read?! The audacity of some people! I'm sick and tired of the copious amounts of "the world owes me", entitled shits that are seeming to grow in numbers each and every day.
The company that owns Yt that starts with a “G” allows you to read several chapters of a book for free. I always go there first before I commit to purchasing a book.
Oh, I didn’t know that.
I feel like the last time I previewed a book, it was reference books and scientific journals. Which really didn’t give you enough info.
Libby gives me a decent preview from “Read Sample”.
As far the tiktok book acquisition, someone on tiktok in the industry said that’s not happening and the person who tweeted this is in marketing and has no influence or control over acquisitions. And that this whole thing isn’t really the big deal that this has made it seem like it is. Which I think is probably true. Other than new acquisitions that wouldn’t have happened if not for the popularity (Olivie Blake, Travis baldtree). But I think that is a bonus, not a this-or-that kind of situation.
with verba, I saw someone else brought up that audible had tried a subscription like this for the romance genre and it didn’t last very long. So one of the questions was how would this work if a company as large as audible/Amazon couldn’t make it work? Like what are you doing differently?
I’m an accountant and I have lots of questions just from what I’ve heard lmao. Cash flow is king, especially with salaried employees. More so even than projected revenues. And what kind of selection would you have to start? $20/mo is a lot when some people could go through your entire catalog in a couple of weeks. If they don’t have incentive to keep subscribing your cash flows are screwed. 👀
i signed up for bookish box and after two months I never recieved it AND they charged me again. i messaged them and they were like "oh yea thats our shipping policy you pay for two months before you get your first box" and REFUSED to refund me. They only offered to cancel future subscription fees but I had to wait for the box even though it hadnt even been shipped🤣 GHETTO
Oh hell no
Am I the only person who keeps thinking of an old school video rental store with the porn room whenever Virginia Beach suing Barnes & Noble comes up?
The ebook read and return thing is such garbage to me. I feel bad for the indie authors it's affecting. I've seen people recommending that Amazon needs to enforce a policy where after you reach a certain percentage of the book read that you can't return it. The person who says the author isn't owed anything is the exact entitled type of attitude that has people asking artists to create things for free.
That's exactly what I thought of 😅 But do they not know about ebooks? Or AO3/Wattpad/Tumblr? If teens wanna read erotica or anything else they can get their hands on it without stepping foot in a B&N 😂
@@sdrawkcabemdaer5 Very true! Plus I feel like a lot of them are internet savvy enough to get around whatever preventative measures their parents have taken with the internet to read it online if they really wanted to. Besides, kids used to sneak into that curtained off portion of the video stores too. Just made it more irresistible to some. It feels like this whole thing is really naive.
I'm not on TikTok so a lot of book discourse tends to pass me by unless I see it on YT or Twitter, so wow did I not know a lot of this lol. Suddenly very, very glad I didn't shell out for that Bookish Box Diviners set I saw months ago...
I have a theory that if an author is published, they are required to blurb and say positive things about books published by the same company. Now I have to check if those authors are published by the same publisher as The Ones We Burn. And I also wonder if they even actually READ the book or if they just did what my little brother used to do with my Book It reading log… copy what I logged and listen to me talk about it just enough to say how much he loved the book so it would look like he read it.
Idk if "required" but they will be "highly encouraged" if they share an agent, an editor, a publishing imprint or are from the same "debut group" (debuted same year in the same genre). They also write fake positive reviews on Goodreads and retweet adverts about those books. Check Chloe Gong's Goodreads profile, everything 5-star rated. Coincidence? No LOL. No wonder she got caught for blurbing one of the "problematic" books, she mass produces those 5-star reviews and blurbs.
Alright, so this is why I'm glad to have Kindle Unlimited from the overlord because yes, sometimes you're wanting to "test the waters" with an author before outright buying a title. This mostly applies to Adult books (particularly Romance, and even more particularly (sorry Jess) Monster Romance XD), but seriously, I've bought some ebooks and then regretted it due to feeling 'meh' about the book. Still, it wasn't a huge financial detriment, the ebook didn't need to be returned since the overlord ISN'T A LIBRARY (except for KU). Reading the whole book and returning it is just horrifying.
I will say on the topic of the Ones We Burn, from what I know, the racism stems from the fact one of the characters is a witch, so I'm curious as to where the "reverse racism" came from. But I have yet to read the book, so who can say for certain.
(Publishing)sound like the last SJM book. 1 big moment at the end of the book.
That’s just purely ridiculous. Authors shouldn’t have to be pressured to make “vial content”. Write a good book. And content creators….. will help make it go viral.
Same. As someone who makes content on Tiktok for my debut novel,it can be really stressful being pressurr to make content all the time about it on top of the fact that I have to write it
Why do they hate erotica? Just bc they're not getting any in their personal lives.
Omfg😂
I didn't realize people were reading in full and returning. I get that sometimes the preview isn't long enough to judge. I've returned a few after I realized it wasn't for me. But that was at 10%!! I didn't read the entire thing. If I finish a book and hated it, I just leave a review about it.
Jeezus that book. We All Fall Down. It's TJR and Evelyn Hugo all over again.
The Ones We Burn is Noughts and Crosses. It's been done before. So Rebecca couldn't think of anything else to write?
The majority of books I've seen and read because of BookTok I have disliked. The videos promoting books make them sound amazing when they have been trash. The Love Hypothesis was promoted so much on there and it's not good. There are so many books I love that have never been on TikTok. Also how are you supposed to promote literary fiction or non fiction on Tiktok. It's a terrible idea to acquire books from what will do well on TikTok. Also Willow Winters who was on the Verba project is not a good person so I'm happy this project won't be going ahead. Regarding subscription boxes, when you're paying money for a product it should be perfect.
Had to pause the video to FULLY AGREE with your assessment on the tiktok thing. It's definitely companies just trying to cut spending on marketing by having influencers do it for free (or for ARCs) on tiktok
I’m curious if you’ve already spoken about the “Where the Crawdads Sing” controversy. It’s wild to me that it’s been on wax for years about the author’s link to a murder as well as her and husband’s paternalistic attitudes towards Africans and that tptb really thought that it could go undiscovered during a whole movie press run.
She has in the past, but I can't remember which video.
th-cam.com/video/K-KopQw47i4/w-d-xo.html
I bought an ebook that I actually ended up DNF but I would never dream of returning it. I just deleted and moved on. So many "hacks" are hurtful to someone.
Can I just say....the twinkle of mischief in your eyes when you're recommending we all go watch your dramatic reading of ACOMAF..... absolutely warranted! that video was hilarious!
Loved this, thanks Jess. You're awesome!💙
The SPF levels on your Patreon are too cute
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The new artwork is so cute!
It’s become a popular trend to hate on the bookish box. It’s true they’re behind. Currently, June boxes are beginning to go out-so they’re not months behind. A lot of their sets are preorder that were months ahead of when they were going to be produced and sent out. They do printing and edging from China which contributes to a lot of the delays.
Kevin Norman has had personal issues with the owner of BB after he made a comment on one of BB’s employees picture where she was in her room-apparently the comment could have been taken another way👀👀👀. The owner came out in defense of her employee and Kevin and the owner had some public and private exchanges. He’s gunning for BB. It’s not that this company is perfect, but I dislike the current trend of just trashing to trash. Their products can be hit or miss. And they are sending out a replacement book for the four horsemen set.
They have addressed their quality control issues and have made some in house changes, so maybe we will see some improvements.
I’ve been subscribed for over a year and no, I haven’t always loved all the products or books, but I’m also a subscriber to illumicrate, fairyloot, broken binding, and arcane society. Their products can be hit or miss, they can be late, they can have flaws and shipping damage as well.
The best thing about this is Kevin Norman attacking over representation and book choices, whitewashing, etc, but it’s been crickets in regards to Illumicrates book choice. Be critical, but it should apply to them all. I say this because he’s always promoting fairyloot and illumicrate in his comments.
I’ve been subscribed to them for a long time and more often than not the books are months late. I think the hate is unwarranted but im not going to pretend they’re good at time management
Jess I’m only 8 minutes in and am already cheering. 🎉😂
You girl , are the sassy ray of sunshine the world needs. Keep up the good work Jess 👍
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Steam over here like "hey you can't return a game if you played if for more than two hours" (and sometimea specific situations when a game just keeps lagging or something you can submit a return claim, that they have to approve the return to)
People really will do anything to just not pay for content huh...
I think that if someone has read an entire book and fully understands the context of the problematic aspects then comes out to warn people what the book contains and then people decide not to read it based on that, it's totally fine and really the way it should be. What has bothered me in the past is people taking like one paragraph completely out of context and trying to stir something up on social media doing so
For me I will not and will never comment on a book that I haven't read. In an age where clout, cancelling, and controversy can be monetized it eventually leads to bad faith interpretations of people's hours of effort and dedication put into something they really care about. I always aim to get the full context of a story before I say anything about it. I also never trust people who say this book has problematic characters because like... Fictional characters can do bad things and it doesn't mean the author condones those actions??? The Poppy War literally features a protagonist who commits genocide, should we cancel that book next? While we're there why not throw Lolita into the fire as well? Ironically enough RF Kuang actually gave a speech at Oxford about how she hates this kind of taking quotes out of context behavior too and how she feels that this kind of moral policing is inhibiting good art from being made (you can watch the speech on TH-cam). I also hate the fact that people are taking joy in Rebecca Mix going offline, like wow good job guys you harassed a woman so much that she had to take a break for her mental health. It's an extremely stressful situation to be in especially for a debut writer and I hope she recovers well from it
I agree. I also don’t think the authors would feel comfortable putting this out there if they were intentionally being racist. Like people cancel over everything.
Theft is theft no matter what you call. You are paying someone for a service … writing the book for you to read…. If the shoe was on the other foot I am sure they would feel outraged that people were doing it to them.
Like stealing from a big corporation cause they can handle it. Yes they handle it by increasing prices, cutting work force or benefits to cover the losses. In the end stealing no matter what it is hurts everyone.
You nailed it! Also, adding to the Verba aftermath... SEVERAL booktokers have had their accounts permanently banned in the last few days - all of whom have been very vocal about the Verba situation, specifically as it relates to Willow W. and Dana I. Coincidence? 😒 I will give some cred to Thoren Bradley. He is the only one from the Verba team who has attempted to engage, answer questions, apologize, and LEARN. I've been told by several Booktokers that Chance's wife has been on the attack. Meanwhile, WW issued a "statement" with seemingly false receipts (screenshots of a DM she tried to pass off as her own, when really it was between two other people). The whole thing is a mess but what really irks me is creators losing their accounts because an author's fans didn't like what they had to say... Whew! At this point, I'd just like to see us move past Verba, especially since as far as I know, it's over and done with. 🤷♀️
Just to address a related issue to the Bookish Box: I've never bought one of their subscription boxes, but I *DID* buy a shirt from their shop (the Bookish Shop) and it took FOREVER to get here. Like multiple months. I was trying to give them the benefit of the doubt that it was pandemic shipping and everyone was having issues, but it was ridiculous. It also got lost and they had to ship a second one because it returned to the warehouse and they like...didn't think to inform me until I had noticed and emailed. I'm not surprised to hear they had issues. It's unfortunate because that shirt is super comfy and I wear it a lot, but they're a mess.
anything to do with booktok seems to just include mess upon mess good grief
re: racist books, i honestly think the publishers know exactly what they're doing but they publish and promote them bc outrage marketing. any publicity is good publicity
I agree it should not become a habit to return ebooks and audio books you don’t like. I hardly every do it. You choose someone, don’t like it, your stuck with it. But I am also thankful for return policies too. I read the latest Sara Janet Mass book. I hated it. Everything. I had to get the audiobook because it was too long and by the end I was skimming with my eyes. I returned the audiobook because it was trash. But that’s the only one I’ve returned in like 3 years. Makes sense to me have the option available but not abuse the system.
I was going to say that too! Maybe a monthly video of these. I miss the drama 😂
I’m gonna try to do at least one per month 🤞🏾
I've never seen a social media being as powerful as TT. Never entered a bookstore with tables full of Bookstagram recs/TH-camrs recs.
Everything changed after Booktok, undeniably.
And I concur, this is not necessarily the best thing.
Or better, it is, for the business, it is not for authors and book lovers.
Thanks for bringing this to our attention, it gave me even more to think about
Demanding refunds on e-books when *normally* they are two to three dollars? That's more time than money.
The pace of traditional publishing is so glacial that hopping on viral trends would be a waste of time. Indie authors are killing it on tiktok because they can move fast, but trad has no hope of replicating that kind of success outside of books people are already obsessed with. And if it were that easy to consistently create tiktok-able moments, marketing would be a piece of cake, and we all know it's not.
Even the hottest of garbage has those kind of moments. Most books do, because authors want to write unforgettable lines and thought provoking scenes. What I'm saying is that those moments already exist. And they have nothing to do with tiktok. There is no rhyme or reason to what goes viral on tiktok. None whatsoever. And it's disappointing when the publishing folks try to diminish that creative drive by slicing a whole vision into tiktok-worthy snippets. Not just because it means they're really not paying attention to what's already there, but because readers will diminish it next. They'll be calling authors out for chasing trends and popular tropes when their business likely depends on them doing so, both in terms of what is marketable according to the publishing industry as a whole, and what other readers are responding to. Because the kind of readers who complain about such things operate on a level where nuance doesn't exist. Kind of like when fans cry because their favourite obscure band went too commercial, and it's more important to them that they felt special within their tiny fandom than that the band be financially successful.
Following what's marketable just makes good business sense, and artists are allowed to eat. But no matter how well it works for some people, trying to market through tiktok really is just throwing spaghetti at a wall and hoping some of it sticks. Encouraging authors to write with tiktok moments in mind is the fastest way for an author to lose their voice and their integrity.
I had no idea I had so many thoughts on this subject.
Also, Amazon is not a library. When you buy an ebook, you're buying the experience. Enjoyment is not guaranteed; that's just part of the gamble. But the sample is there to help you decide if the gamble is worth it. Read the sample. And if your intention is to read the entire book, return it for a refund, then go through the whole series doing the same thing, like a pig high on truffles, your entitlement has reached unforetold limits and you belong in jail. You are the poop on Thanos' giant shoe. And there endeth the longest piece of writing I've done all day. Not like I have a deadline or anything.
I've been waiting for this
Uhh I have missed these!! Thank you.
Awesome video as always, but I’m gonna take issue with the phrase “good year of our lord 2022” at this point in the calendar. Starting a petition to change it to “Mediocre year of our lord 2022!” 😂
As a booktok content creator it really grinds my gears when they focus on that one part of a book. I have several bookish series going on on my page and I try to focus on the book as a whole. Especially when it’s a really good indie book.
Aww yes, my favorite booknewstuber 🙌🏽
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Hahaha, when I got my copy of the last book in Ken Liu's series, I was so mad they made the spine different! It's especially odd considering it only came out about 6 months after the 3rd, what happened???
Also disgusted over the ebook returns thing. You do owe creators for the labor they put into making their stuff if you choose to consume it, no matter how you end up feeling about the work. I understand there are issues with accessibility for a lot of folks, but I'd bet the folks making the especially bad-faith arguments are not necessarily the ones dealing with those issues... 👀 At the end of the day, though, it'd actually be less harmful to pirate stuff than to abuse the return system and end up *costing* the author money.
I'm so sad about we all fall down. I try and avoid reviews with books before I read them and was literally going to buy it today but i figured I'd watch this first. That is truly tragic
"What the hell is this?!" INDEED!!!🤬I was on the fence about which edition I wanted for the longest time, but UK paperbacks, here I come!🛒📚
I can definitely attest to the issues with bookish box. Their FBAA set shipped months later. The diviners shipped months late and was missing one of the books because they claim the carrier damaged one of the big shipping containers. Still haven’t gotten an update on when we can expect that missing book. Just a mess overall.
I will say, it came out after the video went up, but Rebecca Mix did finally come out on Twitter with a statement re: her book, just in case anyone wants to read her statement.
The return thing is also happening in the idie game scene. Steam, a game publishing site, had a return policy that let you return a game within two hours and get a refund. Well some idie games were under two hours long. One such idie game fell under that two hour long and had been featured on several let's players. Well people were playing it and returning it. Causing the idie dev to lose not only money but the overall score of the game was badly affected. When the idie dav spoke about it and asked people not to return it once finished a whole bunch of people started attacking this dev. Review bombing the game and said the same thing about 'not owning the dev anything for something they ultimately didn't like'. This caused both dev to quit the industry for a while and for Steam to change the return policy. It's still happening even now, despite the changes.
OMG The Bookish Box is a hot mess!!! I used to get boxes from them and they just steadily went downhill as they got more popular. I got the FBAA box from them and it took FOREVER and I really thought when I ordered that we would also be sent book 4 when it came out but I guess not (I could be misremembering). I've ordered a couple special boxes from them and there have been shipping delays EVERYTIME. Plus they'll sell you on one thing like sprayed edges or special foiling and then MONTHS LATER they email and say "Oh sorry we can't do that bc [insert BS excuse that should have been vetted before you sold these shits] now you'll get this thing that's totally not what we said we'd ship you when you gave us your money" I'm actually happy to see people talking out about them. For a while I thought I was the only person who was frustrated by them.
The only time I return an ebook is if I already own it bc I purchased it when it first came out and been re-released.
As someone who writes books the would not translate well to tik tok, I too am worried about marketing my work.
The fact that the cover for the racist book is so gorgeous is pissing me off. It doesn't deserve that art.
Walmart in Canada does not allow return on books just because you can read it and not break the spine making it appear unread. This return of ebooks is just ridiculous
returning a book after you've read it argument is so stupid! you don't go to the cinema watch a whole movie and then ask for a refound cause you didn't like it, you don't go to a restaurant, eat the whole plate and then ask for the money back cause it wasn't good 🤨 amazon needs to make some kind of meassure where once the person has read idk 30% of the book they can't return it or smt
I know it's been a minute, but the Virginia obscenity cased was tossed out and the judge declared the obscenity laws unconstitutional. I first thought it might be a lawsuit intended to get that result, it's a pretty obvious violation of the First Amendment.
I love these videos!!
0:34 Welcome back Jess, I was thinking your camera was off until you said. How are you?
Your earrings are so cute!! 🥰🍩