We live in the era of “cancel culture”.
Some people try to say it’s new, but it has existed in various forms since before the time of the Pharaohs (for example, Thutmose III tried to literally erase Hatshepsut from history).
I historically knew this concept as boycotting—individuals choosing not to buy products from organisations if they disagreed with the organisation’s business practices. This can be a good thing: if consumers decide not to support organisations that use child labour or slave labour, those organisations might be persuaded to change their practices.
It can also be a practical thing. Vegetarians can choose meat-free alternatives to a steak dinner. People who are lactose-intolerant can choose dairy-free alternatives to cheese and ice cream. That’s consumer choice, not cancel culture. Consumer choice is a feature of a capitalist economy.
As such, it is my consumer choice which businesses I choose to support financially.
And that includes the books I read. There are some authors I don’t read because they write in genres I don’t read. That’s consumer choice, not cancel cultures. There are some authors I don’t read because I just don’t relate to their topics or style of writing. Again, that’s consumer choice. But I will admit that there is a small handful of authors I’ve stopped reading because of something they wrote online—generally about book reviews.
If an author says they want honest book reviews from readers (and most do), then they have to understand that “honest” does not mean “glowing”. Authors, please don’t have an online hissy fit when a reviewer posts a less-than-glowing review. Don’t write a retaliatory blog post explaining why you were right and the reviewer was wrong. Please don’t mock specific reviewers because they didn’t like your book.
Act like an adult. Be professional.
Not everyone will like your books, just like not everyone likes kale or kombucha. Understand that if I (or any other reader) chooses not to buy your books, that’s our free choice as consumers.
Just make sure that the reason I choose not to read your books is because you’re writing in a genre I tend not to read, not because your writing isn’t up to standard … or because you’re known for being a badly behaved author.
