The Book Community Isn’t for Authors

I’m a big advocate for my own peace and mental health, so I have a bit of a hot take to share today.

The book community isn’t for authors.

There. The bandage is ripped off. I said it. Bookish spaces are not for us. I’m not saying we can’t be a guest in those spaces or that we should feel unwelcome, but they aren’t for us.

When I sat down to write this little blog post initially, it was really going to be more of a ramble. Don’t get my wrong, as with all my posts, it kind of still is.

(Hey, if you want coherent, pulled together story lines with good editing and actual proofreading, read my books not my blog. 😝)

What I realized, though, is that I had more reasons than I thought for why bookish spaces aren’t for authors, more experiences of my own to share, and even a few tips on how I balance things and why. Because while it’s easy to say the book community isn’t for authors, authors are often readers, so this is more of a grey area.

And I have thoughts about that.

Because of fucking course I do.

Perks of Using a Pen Name

Advising authors never engage in the book community is not the best advice, nor is it always accurate, but I think the key to being a part of those spaces is going into it knowing that it isn’t for us, that there are different rules for authors in those spaces.

This definitely gets complicated when you’re both a reader and an author, but I would argue that is one of the biggest reasons to use a pen name. It gives you that anonymity so you can continue to exist in your regular life without being tied to what you write.

And it can allow you access to reader spaces where you can be just a reader. You don’t have to feel excluded from a space you rightfully belong in—I’ve never met a writer who wasn’t also a reader. You can be a part of the book community.

But it means you have to engage in those online spaces under your personal profile, not your pen name.

When Your Real Life and Your Author Life Merge

While the idea of maintaining a separate existence for your personal online life and your author life may be the ideal in that respect, it’s not always realistic. If you’re like me, most of your online interactions in the book community aren’t separated into personal and author buckets.

I simply don’t have the time or brain space to manage so many different social profiles. I’m barely present on the ones I do maintain, and that’s largely to post updates (thanks to my wonderful PA who does all my scheduling and social media management) and engage.

For me, that means I have to engage accordingly.

And it’s what I recommend other authors do, as well.

Authors Don’t Have Certain Privileges in Bookish Spaces

In bookish spaces where readers are centered—as they should be, I would argue—authors simply don’t have certain privileges that I find necessary for our health, sanity, and enjoyment.

Authors are not able to openly criticize other published works. We’re not just reviewing books that someone else wrote. These are our peers, our coworkers so to speak, and there is a certain etiquette that professional relationship demands.

Authors can’t engage in the same level of discourse about reviews of their own work either. Not only are we not above seeing our precious books without bias, but any engagement we have with critical feedback is seen as inflammatory.

Let’s be honest, it often is outright antagonistic. Not every author is able to engage with critical reviews with professionalism.

Toxic Environment and Unconstructive Feedback

Which brings me to my next point: readers often believe that there feedback in a review is helpful to authors. Don’t get me wrong, it absolutely can be!

I’m so grateful for the readers who have left kind, constructive feedback in reviews, especially those who did so in a way that acknowledged they could be wrong or it could be more of a personal preference.

However, there is often this “customer is always right” approach to reviews by some readers, as if they’re mission is to help you improve your writing by leaving highly critical reviews and tearing apart your work. What this misses, however, is that they are only seeing the snapshot of the whole picture.

It’s like they see the reference picture for a puzzle when it’s all complete, but they don’t have a good concept of how all the pieces looked when unassembled or the process it took to put it all together.

That’s where the work of critique partners, alpha readers, beta readers, and editors is more valuable. Reader feedback is more helpful in terms of reception and market trends and appeal. Not that it isn’t often helpful in other ways, like I said, but that’s not its primary purpose.

Bookish Spaces are Isolating for Authors

It is incredibly isolating as an author to feel under the microscope during every post or interaction in reader spaces. You can’t always say what you want to say or engage how you would if your career as an author is also at stake.

That kind of isolation is pretty rough, and it can make engaging on social media and reader communities inauthentic, which on top of isolating, means marketing becomes more of a drag than many authors already find it.

I’m a part of many readers groups on Reddit or Facebook, but I find myself often lurking or only lightly engaging unless I’m actively working on a big project. In those times, I’m rarely in those groups at all.

I do a lot of work to protect my peace and keep my brain from being overloaded. It’s easy to get overwhelmed with so much information about what readers want that you lose your own voice as a writer or see your story getting lost in the whims and wishes of 12,000 other people. Worse, it’s easy to be consumed with thoughts of comparison or second guessing yourself as an author.

What Being Online as an Author Looks Like in Practice

Being online as an author is tricky, and it’s really all about balance, your needs as a reader, and your marketing strategy and priorities as an author. As I mentioned before, I simply can’t maintain a separate profile on every social platform and reading app for both my personal and author personas. I do have some, but I’m often blending them in some way.

For me, this means that I often give the platform itself a primary purpose.

My Instagram is for posting and engaging with readers and influencers.

Threads is largely for engaging with other authors and industry professionals.

My YouTube is more for creating content and engaging with authors or readers who like to see the behind the scenes happenings, the technical side of being a career author.

I do have separate TikTok accounts, so I’m more blended on there, but TikTok in general is where I spend more time socially.

Goodreads is where I will engage as an author, and while I will read and review books, I am doing so very carefully, as it is important for me to be honest but also understand that when I read and review as an author, I am interacting with my peers.

At the end of the day, I aim to find peace and balance, doing what I need to do to stay focused on my personal goals for my author career, and that doesn’t include being super present in online communities for readers that simply aren’t for authors.

I’ve often joked that I don’t want to be a huge celebrity in the writing world doing press tours and seeing my books turned into movies (though I wouldn’t say no to one of my books getting options for a movie, don’t get me wrong) or needing to be a writer of literary masterpieces. I write good books. I work hard to improve my craft and write better ones.

But when it’s all said and done, I want to be like so many of my favorite romance authors, like Nora Roberts quietly writing my books and blogging about my latest gardening day.