There is a weird discourse happening today on threads--yeah, I know. It's always threads--and I thought I would weigh in because, well... I'm a busy body. So, let's chat.

There has been a long-standing standard that authors should excuse themselves from readers spaces. Reviews are for readers. We all know this. It is law. And anyone who violates the law is subject to public shaming. This is the way.

However, people are challenging that standard on the grounds that, well, the landscape has changed.

We can all think of a time where an author's response to a negative review led their fandom to harass and bully some poor reader who just wanted to talk about books. It has happened over and over and over again, and because of that, readers have banded together to let authors know that, quite frankly, we don't want them here.

But it's worth noting that there are many circumstances where we DO want authors around. In fact, as social media has become more and more central to successful marketing campaigns for publishers, the lines between authors and readers have become more and more blurred. Para-social relationships have become the norm. If authors want to be the next best-seller, their agents and editors are encouraging them to throw open the door to their personal lives, letting readers into their inner sanctum (a problem we SHOULD talk about). While we are telling them to stay out of our spaces with one half of our voice, we're using the other half to suck up to them and ask them to be our best friends.

So how can we expect authors to stay out of reader spaces when we are collectively forcing them to operate within them?

That is the question being posed.

I have to be honest. I don't think it's a horrible question. But I have to wonder why it is being asked and why berating reviewers seems to be the solution people are asking for all of a sudden?

As an influencer, I am not scared of authors. I have watched them harass reviewers plenty of times, and that looks horrible to endure. But considering the amount of influence I have, I am not nervous that an author can come into my comments and chase me from the internet. In fact, the likelihood is that, if they tried, they would be the ones with a very uncomfortable few days on their hands. Yeah, it would suck for me, but I know that I could (and have) endure it. You know what I mean? But here's the thing... that is not most people's experience.

The vast majority of reviews are not coming from people who have amassed a loyal following of hundreds of thousands of people. The majority of them are not coming from people who know how to navigate that kind of drama, or from people who have the skills and community necessary to defend themselves if dozens or hundreds of people start bad-mouthing them on the internet. So, while I am not nervous that authors have the ability to ruin my life, or my love of reading, MOST reviewers are in a very different boat. And they are the ones who will be most affected if we loosen up our expectations here.

Right now, despite the amount of influence we have, the majority of reviews are coming from every-day readers who get nothing from their reviews except the opportunity to share their love of reading. That is just not quite true for influencers. No matter what our motives are, there is an exchange happening when someone builds a platform off of reviewing other people's art. There is a social currency at play. In exchange for our thoughts, we are receiving influence, trust, often even money if our account is monetized or if we are using affiliate links to sell books to our audience. We are getting something out of it. And while there is nothing morally wrong with that, I don't see a future where only influencers are safe to critique literature as a good thing. We need all review spaces to be protected.

For me, protecting "reader spaces" has never been about protecting influencers (and define that word how you want to. I am not here to debate what account size or aesthetic you need before you're an influencer. Argue with someone else about that). It has never been about that for me. It has always been about protecting the integrity of the arts. I am much less concerned about authors being messy in the comments of a TikTok or threads post as I am about what happens to all review spaces if authors are publicly belittling and arguing with the people who have the most power to critique them. Because behind the public display of authors and readers is a community of people who hold no actual power in this space. Those are the people I most want to protect.

And before y'all get mad, I am not saying that I think TikTok comments are fair game. I DON'T think authors should be arguing with influencer reviews in most circumstances either. This blog is not about excusing that, it is about pointing out that there is more at stake than just how influencers will be treated. We should care about this because while an author's power is subjective in online spaces--depending on the author, their fandom, and the influence of the particular creator they are arguing with--that standard WILL have an impact on the integrity of review spaces outside of the big influencer spaces. And what happens to review spaces if only those with enough power to defend themselves can afford to be honest?

Now, for how authors should navigate the growing demand for them to take up space online while being asked to avoid reviews? I don't have an answer. It is something every author has to figure out how to navigate for themselves. But I am convinced that "since I'm here, I should get to yell at you" is NOT the answer.

Just my two cents. (And I will note there is plenty of nuance in this conversation. I have thoughts about trade reviews vs influencers vs goodreads. I have thoughts about power disparities between trad authors and indie authors, white authors and Black/brown authors, male authors vs female/non-male authors, straight authors vs queer authors. And I certainly have thoughts about the difference between arguing with a bad review and pointing out bigotry. But those are conversations for another day. Right now, we are talking about the general concept of authors just not appreciating a review and feeling comfortable arguing about it. On that, I am a no thank you.)

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