Having a book out when the bookshops are shut and publicity tours aren't an option (except via zoom) is tough. Lockdowns favour big names over smaller or newer authors. But here are some amazing things you can do to help authors ride this out...

1) Review their books on amazon: it's most people's book search engine, and even more when there are no bookshops to browse or booksellers to ask... for example ahem... https://t.co/Q4WgFc2JMl
2) TELL THEM you enjoyed their book. They may be feeling glum. You will 100% make their day.
3) If their book isn't out yet, preorder it! For eg this from @ldlapinski is coming in April. Most booksellers will be ordering smaller quantities than usual, this gives them a reason to order more! Also you might get a lovely package from @rshipbshop https://t.co/7Gao5zDsJi
Oops forgot a bridgerton gif for the last one. Enjoy this one.
4) Tell your friends about their books! Booksellers are usually out there hand selling and recommending books, authors are normally out there doing school events and festivals, but now word of mouth is all online. Finding new books is hard, but you can help. Thank you!
5) If the author with a book out writes series and you haven't read the previous titles...well, isn't now just the perfect time to catch up on some reading? You know, for example...https://t.co/8CjpmmWkRA
6) Bonus: if you recommend a book, drop a link to your favourite indie bookshop to make it even reasier for the recommend-ee to buy!
If you do any of these things or all these things...
If you're an author with a book out under lockdown, drop a link here so we can all boost! Or if you've read a book published under lockdown, same, link! Share the love!
This WHALE-y good book is making a SPLASH in spite of lockdown. Please buy it to stop my terrible puns. @NizRite @NosyCrowBooks https://t.co/zov6gDqgl1
If anyone else has suggestions for how to support authors in lockdown, drop them here too!
Oh, but one thing...do not for the love of The Plot tag authors in bad reviews. While locked up in their houses they WILL obsessively mull over it and ignore all good reviews.
When you're recommending books, remember that some books already have shed loads of marketing, so definitely think about recommending books someone might not have heard of. Boost books by under represented authors especially as those SO OFTEN get less marketing (different rant)
If you've reviewed their book on Amazon, why not copy that review across to other platforms? https://t.co/ak5Zi2bXrD

More from Society

This is a piece I've been thinking about for a long time. One of the most dominant policy ideas in Washington is that policy should, always and everywhere, move parents into paid labor. But what if that's wrong?

My reporting here convinced me that there's no large effect in either direction on labor force participation from child allowances. Canada has a bigger one than either Romney or Biden are considering, and more labor force participation among women.

But what if that wasn't true?

Forcing parents into low-wage, often exploitative, jobs by threatening them and their children with poverty may be counted as a success by some policymakers, but it’s a sign of a society that doesn’t value the most essential forms of labor.

The problem is in the very language we use. If I left my job as a New York Times columnist to care for my 2-year-old son, I’d be described as leaving the labor force. But as much as I adore him, there is no doubt I’d be working harder. I wouldn't have stopped working!

I tried to render conservative objections here fairly. I appreciate that @swinshi talked with me, and I'm sorry I couldn't include everything he said. I'll say I believe I used his strongest arguments, not more speculative ones, in the piece.

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"I lied about my basic beliefs in order to keep a prestigious job. Now that it will be zero-cost to me, I have a few things to say."


We know that elite institutions like the one Flier was in (partial) charge of rely on irrelevant status markers like private school education, whiteness, legacy, and ability to charm an old white guy at an interview.

Harvard's discriminatory policies are becoming increasingly well known, across the political spectrum (see, e.g., the recent lawsuit on discrimination against East Asian applications.)

It's refreshing to hear a senior administrator admits to personally opposing policies that attempt to remedy these basic flaws. These are flaws that harm his institution's ability to do cutting-edge research and to serve the public.

Harvard is being eclipsed by institutions that have different ideas about how to run a 21st Century institution. Stanford, for one; the UC system; the "public Ivys".