The Associated Press will be ending weekly book reviews beginning Sept. 1, according to an announcement to freelancer contributors from Anthony McCartney, the AP’s global entertainment and lifestyle editor. In the memo, first published by independent media observer Dan Kennedy at his Media Nation newsletter, McCartney stated that because the audience for book reviews is “relatively low,” the time it takes to “plan, coordinate, write and edit” reviews can no longer be sustained.
As someone who writes about books, often in the form of reviews, this does not feel like great news. It makes one wonder how much longer there will be demand for what I’ve been doing in this space for more than 13 years. Now, I’m not overly worried for myself, but something is definitely afoot when a major news provider decides to get out of the book review business entirely.
While I think lots of us — at least those of us of a certain age — have a general awareness of the AP, the nature of its work tends to obscure its importance as a source of content provided to the newspapers, radio and television stations that subscribe to its services. If you aren’t paying close attention to a story’s byline, which will say something like “via AP,” you wouldn’t know that you’re reading their coverage.
That there is waning audience interest in book reviews is not exactly news, as it has been in decline for years. The talk among the freelance book reviewers I interact with has been of a steadily drying pool of opportunities and decreasing pay, with them being told exactly what McCartney expressed, readers aren’t reading them.
It has become something of a general wisdom among publishers, too, that reviews no longer have a significant impact on sales. If books are going to catch the attention of readers, it’s coming through other forms.
This only makes sense. Pre-internet, there were a limited number of sources for information about books and those limits put greater weight on the voices with reach, like reviews in newspapers. The early internet made for an explosion of book reviewing outlets as barriers to entry declined and more voices could find purchase. But relative to other types of book content, such as lists and interviews, a review is time-consuming to produce because it requires you to first read the book.
After you’ve read the book, you have to muster something like an argument for your opinion about the book, another time-consuming exercise as compared with the lighter demands of influencer culture, where the only requirement is you tell people what you think is good (or not good).
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It seems to me that it is this influencer culture that has subsumed the book review, and when I say influencer, I don’t only mean the TikTokers and Instagrammers, but also entities like Reese’s Book Club, Read with Jenna, and the queen of them all, Oprah.
Oprah’s Book Club used to be a book club, a group reading and discussing a book. Now, it’s an announcement and a seven-minute segment on the CBS Morning News.
That’s a lament, not criticism of Oprah. People are voting with their choices. If they want book reviews, we’d be able to find a way to have them.
I don’t want to be among the last of my breed, but I’m willing to keep taking my swings until the very end.
John Warner is the author of books including “More Than Words: How to Think About Writing in the Age of AI.” You can find him at biblioracle.com.
Book recommendations from the Biblioracle
John Warner tells you what to read based on the last five books you’ve read.
1. “Wayward Girls” by Susan Wiggs
2. “The River is Waiting” by Wally Lamb
3. “Nesting” by Roisin O’Donnell
4. “Penitence” by Kristin Koval
5. “Broken Country” by Clare Leslie Hall
— Dorothy L., Libertyville
I hope that Dorothy will take to Claire Keegan’s “Small Things Like These.” Folks should read it in a sitting if they can.
1. “Three Things You Need to Know About Rockets” by Jessica A. Fox
2. “Let’s Call Her Barbie” by Renee Rosen
3. “I’m Not Really a Waitress: How One Woman Took Over the Beauty Industry One Color at a Time” by Suzi Weiss-Fischmann
4. “Marching Home“ by Jeff Kluever
5. “Booze, Babe and The Little Black Dress” by Jason Voiovich
— Penny S., Fairhope, Alabama
I don’t usually recommend books that are as big of sellers as this because I think readers can find those on their own, but in this case, I think it’s just a good fit for Penny, “H is for Hawk” by Helen Macdonald.
1. “James” by Percival Everett
2. “Normal People” by Sally Rooney
3. “Educated” by Tara Westover
4. “Revenge of the Tipping Point” by Malcolm Gladwell
5. “The Trees” by Percival Everett
— Robert P., Chicago
It’s a bit of an odd book, but so are Percival Everett’s, so perhaps Robert will enjoy Jonathan Dee’s “Sugar Street.”
Get a reading from the Biblioracle
Send a list of the last five books you’ve read and your hometown to [email protected].