What Does "Literary Citizenship" Mean?
I’m so much an introvert that years ago, I hung a sign by my desk that says RELATIONSHIPS just so that I don’t forget that they can be joyful. The book made these possible, or at least hastened some friendships that would have taken longer to form otherwise. Altogether, this joy is a portrait of a concept I’ve been thinking about a lot lately: literary citizenship. How it’s okay to be both a giver in some situations and a recipient in others. But what does that mean?
Do you want to live in a culture that has a thriving literary community? I do. I want to live in a world where books get discussed the way sports and Netflix series do: passionately, without snobbery, as a normal way to start a friendship. Here are seven vital ways to participate right now.
1. Talk about Books You Love
Did you love a book? Did you almost love it but Have Thoughts? Gossip can be a good thing, especially when it means that the novel you just read doesn’t get binged upon and forgotten between the couch cushions like a sad potato chip.
Social media: A word about etiquette—not all authors want to be tagged, even if you have glowing things to say. Check their feed and see if they share others’ reviews, as that can be a clue.
Reviews (informal): Five-star ratings help sell books. Not just on Amazon. If you give a star rating on Goodreads, it also shows up on Amazon—and books with fewer than five stars get penalized in the sales rankings and recs. Folks often see five-star reviews and assume they’re less trustworthy than three- and four-star ones, but what matters more to you, personally? The integrity of an algorithm or helping a real human author? If you Have Thoughts, give the book five stars and qualify your thoughts in a short, few-sentence review.
Reviews (formal): Want to really champion a book? Pitch it to the arts or books editor at your local newspaper, or try a literary magazine that publishes reviews. Read the section to get a taste of the style first. You’ll also want to pick a book you can get an advance copy of via Netgalley, Edelweiss, the publisher, or the author so that you have time to read and review it before its on-sale date.
Interview the author: This can be a formal pitch to a literary magazine or other publication that runs interviews. Maybe you have a podcast. Or you just have a Substack and a lot of subscribers. You’ll want to read the book beforehand, and it’s not weird to send questions ahead of time for live or recorded interviews.
Or just champion a book when you’re talking to your aunts or your friends or your colleagues. If you also want to buy 40,000 copies of the book and distribute them for the holidays, that’s cool too. You’ll singlehandedly make it a bestseller.
2. Buy Books from Indies, or Use the Library
No, I haven’t kicked my Amazon habit yet, either. That’s the crappy thing about exploitative convenience in a culture that monetizes time and underpays almost everyone. But when you can, make the effort to order your physical books from Bookshop.org, which offers a discount and makes sure your nearby indie gets the sale.
Or just request the book (or e-book) from your library if it’s not already in stock, and be sure to check it out when it does arrive. Usually, there’s a request page on the library website for this kind of thing. Libraries track loans, and like booksellers, librarians have a vocational love of connecting readers to books they might like.
3. Go to Readings & Events
Doesn’t it feel great when you host a party and a bunch of people show up? That’s essentially the bottom line for authors who participate in public events. Ninety-nine percent of the events I’m doing for The Skin and Its Girl, as a debut author, are uncompensated. The in-conversation partners who agreed to read my book, sit up there and ask me questions, and pretend to be an extrovert for an evening are doing it all for free, too. The bookstores might sell a dozen books, but they also do the work of publicizing and staffing the event. This is part of what literary citizenship means: taking part in an economy of generosity that has almost nothing to do with money. We all want to live in a world where people care about books, and a roomful (or a Zoomful) of book lovers is part of that vision.
And it doesn’t go without saying, “events” can also be a school board meeting. Do you live in a district or state where hateful pinheads are petitioning to ban kids’ books they haven’t even read? Or just close all the libraries? Literary citizenship, like democracy, is not a passive existence.