Welcome to the What to Read Next podcast. I hope you're doing well. It's been a week. I don't know about you. Happy every season. I'm actually recording this intro on Thursday, March 20th. It's been, I don't know, it's been the stars, the energy. It's just been a week. It's been a week. It's been a week. I don't know how to say it even more. So in this episode is a book of gossip 'cause we love the tea. We would love to know what the drama, what the latest and what's happening from the KU book bands to, more gossip that you can imagine. We got an hour long to tune up. Listen out to hear all the latest book of tea. Um, I actually am not part of the conversation and discussion because I actually had to work. I do have a day job or a career job. It's actually a career job, um, that I really enjoy. I actually appreciate, and it has flexibility to do all this content, all the podcasting, all the blogging. But some days I actually have to show up and do a lot of more work. So this was the week where I've been. Working like a busy bee. Um, and so I wasn't able to join, I was able to join an emergency tea session, which I'll do a preview because it's better to watch it on YouTube and I'll share the preview on tomorrow. Tomorrow you'll get the preview. We're, we're working on things, so you'll get the preview this weekend. Um, so today you're gonna get, um, today, Thursday night you're gonna get the actual bookish tea, but the emergency preview, the emergency bookish session that was re recorded during our coworking time, that's gonna happen, um, Saturday. So, but if you wanna, if you don't wanna wait till, just get the preview. Come to the YouTube channel, the preview, the actual video is there, but I just wanna warn you that that emergency one, it does feel, does deal with some triggering topics such as CSA, uh, rn, and many other topics that don't, that are really triggering. So, take care of your mental health. You do not need to engage with that behavior. Take care of yourself. If you feel like this is triggering, just ignore it. Don't worry about it. Just know that you should avoid Torry Woods' book. That's one thing you should avoid. Torry Woods' book or Lauren Ashley or L Ashley, those are the books. That's the author that we talked about it in that episode. I'll include the link in the show notes. I'll make a note that it's a trigger warning galore, so you cannot not engage. I just wanna put it out there so if people are looking for that, for that author, they understand some of the issues with that author. Um, we do a deep dive, but here, um, Victorian Francesca are chatty. They talk for almost an hour. So listen up. Just get down to business and yeah, and enjoy this episode. Bye.

Hi everyone. Welcome to our bookish gossip session live. We calm every other Monday, so we gather every other Monday at 12 noon Eastern. For a fun gossip book, news, community tea, just all the things we talk about it here, live. Now, normally the trio is together, but we all have to band together to write a letter to Laura's employment to let them know, Hey, 12 o'clock for one hour, we need this time to talk gossip. So it's just Francesca today. Frances, what's going? Hey. Hey. Not much. I. Surprisingly, I had the most relaxing weekend, which I don't usually do. So I am, I am nice and relaxed today, enjoying all the things. Yes, we love nice and relaxed. I had a chill weekend. I won't say it was overly relaxed, just doing the usual smuggle. Yeah, no work. So that was good. But we have lots of gossip and tea to get into. I am the trust index card everyone. So let's get into it. So the first thing we wanna really talk about is the fact that the Missouri Secretary of State has withdrawn state funding for the digital library catalog now in a statement. And this is from, um, the local Missouri paper, the Independent. Um, the Secretary of State is pausing all funding to the digital library online catalog. Right. Specifically overdrive. I know lots of us are familiar with Libby. You know, overdrive has some other apps and all the things. Essentially they are pausing funding because they are concerned about children being able to access digital material that has adult themed content in there. Now, Francesca, I mean this sounds wild in itself because I'm like, this is a digital catalog, so I'm like, if you have access to the internet, in my opinion, it means you can have access to a wide variety of things. What are your thoughts on the Missouri State? Essentially saying we are not funding any online library material. Couple of thoughts. First off, is in today's society like that is how the majority of people access books is digitally. So yes, they could say that there's still gonna be the books, like the physical copies at the library. But that is not how the majority of people consume books nowadays, especially with how easy it is to access eBooks. Um, I'm not a hundred percent familiar with overdrive. I do use Libby and Hoopla, so I do know those. I know with Libby, you easily send that ebook to your Kindle or whatever device and you can just start reading right away. So I think that. Libraries really rely on digital catalogs. Digital catalogs are also great for libraries that offer non-resident cards. I am not sure where Missouri stands on that, but I. Have a card for the New Orleans library system and I access their books and they get money from me yearly membership, and they, you know, I, I only access books via digital. So I think the digital aspect is something that should be funded no matter what, and I think that's gonna have detrimental effects. And also libraries already underfunded. To begin with, like they're already struggling. So removing any funding, it is tragic regardless of anything. Plus, I mean, if, if, if kids have access to the internet. They'll have access to these things, and I think it should always fall on parents to kind of monitor what their kids are doing. So I, I think it's, it's almost impossible to monitor these things outside, like have an outside entity, whether it's a librarian, a teacher. Whatever you should be doing that as a parent, because that's the only way it's, it's gonna get caught. So a hundred percent, that's essentially what I was gonna say. I think libraries are underfunded as is, and I know the big conversation has been about banning books in schools. However, this will affect everyone. Mm-hmm. I use the library, but I use the digital catalog more than anything else. Yes, I have a whole bunch of physical books behind me, but believe it or not, I actually utilize, um, Libby specifically. I will use overdrive depending on what state library card I'm using, because yes, I too have access to different state library cards because they're funded differently and we all don't have the same things. So the fact that Missouri is pulling funding from Libby, that means if you watching live in Missouri, or if you have friends or family living there who use the Libby app or overdrive app to listen to your audiobooks, to download your eBooks, to access subscriptions like. Magazines, ancestry and all the things you are going to be affected. Mm-hmm. Um, I don't know what it is they expect from overdrive to provide, to say. We won't let your children access this. But again, it is affecting the general population. And I stand on a hill of parents need to parent again. Can we parent, can we get back to the days? Yes. When you would search your, your children's bag, you asking them questions? Yeah. You chaperone them to places. I mean, I can't tell you how many times I was embarrassed because my dad was like further down the lane and I'm at a party here, but I'm like, sir, if you're coming, just stay down there. Do not come up here. And embarra, I'm. Point where we're no longer cool parents, we actually embarrass our children. Yeah. So anyway, if you're just joining us, welcome. We're covering some of the bookish news and gossip we just chatted about the Missouri State, um, not funding Overdrive and Libby. Continuing into the government interfering in all lives, because I'm gonna tell you this, when I moved to America, I felt like this country was freedom. Freedom, freedom. You know, I live my life how I wanna live my life. I, you know, you have your family, how you wanna have your family. Well, guess what? The government is interfering some more. The White House this past week has, um, passed an executive order. Defunding. Essentially the Institute of Museum and Library Services. Now, the source material for this is the America Library Association. So if you're looking at the screen, I did a screen grab from the a LA and they put a statement out. So this statement came in response to the Friday night executive order calling for the elimination of the Institute of Museum and Library Services, the nation's only federal agency for America's libraries. So following that statement, of course, the air A came out and said, look, you know, obviously by eliminating this, you're reducing funding again. So remember, states fund libraries, but also you rely on federal, um, funding as well. Listen, we pay federal taxes. All of us. All right? So we want some of that money back in our state and our community. So of course they talk about the summer reading program for kids, right? You might know in your local communities. I know for mine we get local funding as well, but you also rely on federal funding and when the money comes short, you are asking local businesses to help fund this stuff. So again. They mentioned these are some of the things that are gonna be affected. Um, HighSpeed Internet access for people who don't have access to HighSpeed internet. I mean, not everyone can afford it. Library subsidizes, um, employment assistance. That is another thing that the libraries are funding. But again, the summer reading programs really broke my heart. The homework assistant programs and just all the things, especially if you live in a rural area that, um, you know, they, these are the services that are gonna be affected more than 1.2 billion in-person patrons visit American libraries annually. Let me say that again. 1.2 billion in-person interactions. And I will be honest and say I'm the person who probably visits the library just a handful of times a year because I live on the phy, uh, on the digital services that we talked about earlier. So, Fran, I mean, how are you feeling now that we have this executive order essentially? Blocking all funding for all libraries and just closing down the Institute of Museum and Library Services. Yeah, I mean, back to what I was saying, I mean, they're already underfunded and I think what people a lot of times don't realize is, like you said, they do way more than just provide books. They have so many services. They have so many programs, and I think that helps. Parents, it helps the community in general, and that stuff doesn't happen without money. So that money has to be there for them to be able to give these services and fill in those gaps where people need some help. Whether it's having a program that helps kids actually stay busy or whatever, so that they don't get in trouble. It's a, it's a healthy environment for kids to go on good paths. So I definitely think that those kind of things should be funded. And I think also something to highlight is. I think there's a sense of a librarian's job. It's like they're just standing there and doing nothing. There is so much work that goes into being a librarian. There is so much education that goes into it. There is so much like actual, there's cataloging. There's all of this information that they have to know in order to put a book on the shelf and then be able to give you information about it. So like they already have a stressful enough job as it is. I don't think they need extra stress. By not being funded. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. We are already in a state where teachers have drives. You know, I'm always paying attention online, on social media. I wanna buy out the supplies that teachers need. I mean, we're gonna get to the point where we won't even have librarians physically showing up. Yeah. You know, because, I mean, supplies is one thing, but then cutting manpower is just really sad. Yeah. If you're watching us live, I mean, we'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments. Let us know your thoughts and feelings on the Institute of Museum and Library Services being completely shut down if you're not familiar with what this does, essentially. It is the branch in the federal government that disperses money to the state governments and state libraries so that you can get your services, all the extra stuff, all the good stuff that your state isn't able to fund by itself. So let us know your thoughts in the comments, but if you're also watching the replay, replay crew, we'd love to hear from you as well on your thoughts. So share them in the comments. Okay, according to my trustee index card. Next up we need to talk about something very interesting. We're shifting from libraries 'cause we were just talking about everything that is happening with the libraries from the state, not funding Overdrive and Libby anymore, to now, um, the federal government. Just completely eliminating that department for libraries. Yeah. Now we have to talk about the big bad wolf, which is Amazon. So there's been chatter online on the social media streets. Actually, let me share this one first. We've pulled screen grabs from threads where folks are essentially saying, do not cancel Kindle Unlimited. It's only going to harm indie authors. If you wanna make Amazon Pay or suffer, read more books on Kindle Unlimited, that will make them pay more. For indie authors and the books that are on the platform, there's also authors sharing. As an author, my income is heavily reliant on Kinder Unlimited, and unfortunately, like many others in the same boat, the boycott has caused a huge big hit to my page reads. Um, and then we also had author Sarah McLean coming out and saying, and I found this to be an interesting take. Cancel prime, keep KU right, and contain multitudes. So I found that a very interesting take. Again, people are just very, very, very passionate about, um, canceling. Amazon, but also by extension kind are unlimited. They're folks online asking to explain the KU boycotts because they're seeing some people saying it's gonna hurt Bezos and it's gonna hurt Amazon, but then struggling to see how it will affect them and not the authors. I mean, Fran, I know you read a lot on Kindle Unlimited. I read from. Kinder Unlimited, but not as much. Again, I wish Laura was here because I know she reads on the platform too, but what are your initial thoughts and gut reactions on folks wanting to. X out Amazon essentially, but then recognizing the authors we know and love and new authors we're discovering through Kindle Unlimited. Yeah. I think the biggest thing about Kindle Unlimited is it gives people the ability to discover authors and try, feel free to try out an author without investing specific money. And at the same time it's. Still a fair transaction in the sense that the author will get paid for the pages you read. So even if you didn't like the book and you're like, okay, well I'm gonna stop here, they're still gonna get paid for what you read, and it does give you that freedom. So I think that it has created this environment where people are able to discover new authors, which I absolutely love. And the other thing about it is the fact. Money-wise, we have to be realistic. This Amazon is where most authors get their money, whether it's Kindle Unlimited or not, but Amazon is where most authors get their money. Period. End of story. I have never heard an author say that there is even a close second in terms of where they get their money. So that is a reality. So if you're going to cancel out something, it will impact. Tons of people, thousands and thousands and thousands of people, it will hurt their income. And I think that, um, the, the point that I think it was, uh, an and Patel that made just, if you want to hurt Bezos, what you actually need to do is read more on Kindle Unlimited because again, you are paying a flat fee. And what they rely on is the fact that most of us will read other things. And for example, I think it works out. In terms of what you would normally pay for a book, I don't know what they get paid for page reads, but in terms of what you would pay for a book, it works out to like. You having to read three or four books on Kindle Unlimited for the month, and it kind of pays for what you're paying for the membership. So if you take it that way, just simply make sure that you're reading most of your books on Kindle Unlimited and you're actually sticking it to Amazon in that case because they will have to pay out those page reads. And that means that if they pay out more than what you're paying for your membership. It's a loss. So, yeah, I mean, I'm, I'm of two minds about this because yes, I understand. We wanna, we wanna get rid of Amazon, we wanna get rid of Jeff Bezos. We don't, you know, we don't like these people. We don't wanna support. Gotta be realistic though. But here's the thing. As a content creator who has been creating book content on the internet for eight plus years, I'm gonna tell you this. When I, I started a book blog and I canceled it, and then I started another one and I canceled it. And then I started Blio Lifestyle and we are here today. And when I started, I exclusively, and I know I told you this, I exclusively posted bookshop.org links, for example. Mm-hmm. Before bookshop.org because I started a couple months before they launched bookshop.org, biblio Lifestyle. Libra Femme actually had like a book, um, store link generator system that they were kind of using 'cause we had no alternatives. And then bookshop.org dropped like. Four months later if my memory serves me right. Yeah. For three years. I kid you not people. If you are OG newsletter subscribers, if you are following me back then, you know, I exclusively posted bookshop.org links and no one clicked them. I did playlist for Libro fm, nobody clicked them. Mm-hmm. Then I decided after not being able to pay for anything, 'cause I wasn't making any money. I decided, you know what, I'm gonna try this Amazon thing after all. And I wrote a lengthy email, which I can screen grab and share with y'all one day saying, I need to switch to Amazon, y'all. I need to start sharing Amazon links. I'll do both links. And we go from there. And guess what? Everyone click the Amazon links. No one click the bookshop links. So me making a hundred dollars a month from Amazon, I was like, okay, yes. This for my hosting. This can for one platform or something. No one clicked the bookshop links. No one. Yeah. And now I stopped posting bookshop links and then I'm getting messages. Why are you not posting bookshop links? 'cause you are not clicking them. Yeah. So I love how we love to virtue signal. Okay. I love it. We love to virtue signal. But the reality of the situation is you are not buying books on Amazon and it's okay. It's okay. Right. But just acknowledge that's the reality. Yeah. So I know that people online saying, look, we're gonna cancel Amazon and ku, but they're secretly reading that stuff at home. Who's gonna check you? Who? Mm-hmm. Who's gonna check you? Yeah. Okay. So, um, the reality is there is no other alternative. I know people say, go to Cobo. They will say, go to this platform. Go to that platform. Authors have been on these platforms. Yes. And the longer you are in the content creation space, the more authors you interview, the more authors you meet, the more you get involved in the business of books. You realize if all the people who online were saying they were buying books from bookshop.org, if all the people online who were saying they buy books from Libra Femme. Authors would be fine. Yeah. Amazon wouldn't even be a question, but the reality is it's not the reality. So unfortunately, when you do stop reading on Kindle Unlimited, you are hurting the authors facts. If you don't wanna shop on Amazon for other stuff and you wanna cancel your prime, by all means. But we are book people, we are here to support authors. You're not supporting authors when you. Stop reading on ku. I'm gonna just let you know what's gonna happen is authors are gonna go back to their regular, regular day jobs and they're gonna stop writing, and then you're gonna be like, where's this author at? They don't have the time. They don't have the time. They just, they don't have the time to be writing. They don't have the time or money or money. So it is what it is. Um, if you wanna, if you wanna support the KU boycott, I support you. I support you a hundred percent. I'm here for you. I just, I'm not doing it and I'm not gonna sit here and lie and tell you. I'm, I'm canceling ku. I I'm not gonna do it. Sorry. Yeah, sorry. Yeah, I actually cosign everything you just said because I, I mean, I've been blogging since 2011 and yes, I posted Amazon Links. I also posted bookshop.org, links, Libra FM links, um, when there was still book depository, book depository links, like I have Apple Books link, like I've posted all the links and a lot of times throughout that time I would actually track. Like literally track the, um, the interactions and check it every so often because it's a lot of work to gather 10 links per book. So I would actually look at that, like, are people actually clicking on it? And statistically never failed. Nobody clicks. Nobody clicks did cobalt. Nobody's clicking those COBOL links and understand, we're not talking about buying, we're just talking about clicking, clicking. I just felt like I needed to make this clear. We are not talking about buying, just clicking, just giving us that interaction. So I'm saying now the links are getting clicked. They may not be buying either, but they're getting clicked. But that means that is where the attention is going. Which which is mm-hmm. Is facts. And so I don't want to hurt authors. So we're here to support authors and make sure they have a career. And at the end of the day, they're not writing for like the. They do right for the pleasure, but they're, they gotta make money. They gotta pay their bills, otherwise they can't continue doing the work, so we gotta support them. You can always rest assured, I'm gonna tell you the truth. I am not canceling it. I'm not singling into anybody, and this is a girl who used to work with indie bookstores all the time. I also recognize economics. It's easy to pay one flat subscription and read as much books as you can read. Yeah. Buying books and subscribing to stuff is a privilege. And now with all libraries being defunded, Ooh, it's gonna be mad. It's gonna be mad. Yeah. But anyways, don't be afraid of us. Let us know your thoughts in the comments. Okay. By the way, I'm still gonna maintain my Kindle Limited Romance book club, where we pick a Kindle Limited book every month. So there you go. There you go. Join her book club. Join her book club. Alright, if you are just joining us, welcome. We're doing our bookish gossip session live. We are missing. Or third Laura, who again, we're gonna petition to write letters to her work to say we need our girl every other Monday to talk gossip at 12 noon eastern for an hour. But anyways, um, we're gonna continue on. We've covered the state of Missouri not paying for overdrive and Libby. So if you or your friends live there, I am sorry, but you probably won't be able to be accessing stuff on there soon. They're not funding it. Um, we also talked about the White House eliminating the institute. Of museum and library services, AKA, the federal government will no longer be funding stuff like, um, summer programs. Um. Employment assistance programs, high speed internet, you know, just, just all the other parts outside of the books that, um, the taxpayer money can help fund. Yeah. They're saying we're not about that life anymore. And we were just talking about ku um, KU boycott. Now on Lighter Note or a more, I guess you would say Happier note. I'm happy to report that the book industry is still alive and doing very well, and that is what is being reported from the London Book Fair. Now I got this reporting from Publishers Weekly. London Book Fair was just last week, I think it was the 12th to the 14th, thereabouts, and there were lots of books that were being snagged, lots of rights. The American contingency showed up and showed out in London. It's one of like the top three spots for rights acquisition. So I just wanna share with you some of the North American rights and the English language rights that were acquired. At the London Book Fair, I'll include a link to Publishers Weekly in the video after the live, just so you can read the whole rundown. But for example, north American Rights to Adapt. Rebecca Yuri's Imperion series that was acquired at the London Book Fair North American Rights to Per Green Hill by Nina Mont, north American Rights to Jessica Curry's upper middle grade Fantasy Duology Monster and Apprentice. Um, we also have North American Rights to Miss Archer, the genre bending debut. By Pulitzer Prize finalist and screenwriter, Jordan Harrison. This went down in a 13 way auction. Okay? So I already know expectations is gonna be high on that one, but then I'm also excited for all my Agatha Christie fans Come, come, come, come. Harper Collins acquired world English rights to a new not yet titled Miss Mapple novel. Okay, this will be written by Lucy Foley, and this is coming through the Agathy Christie Limited. Now, in case you're not familiar, the Agathy Christie Limited, uh uh, which is based in London, manages all the aga, the STI world rights. They are working with Sophie Hannah, who has been doing the Poirot novels, which I absolutely loved. It was also a blast chatting to Sophie about all things Agatha Christie. I chatted with her for the pod and also just her getting the permission from the estate rewrite the books and how she writes the books. So now I'm excited to hear now that we are gonna have Lucy Foley writing the Miss Marple novels. So it's really exciting. Um, there's lots to look forward to. And there is a quote from the publisher that I will read to say, um, the novel the publisher said, and I quote, will feature the legendary detective Miss Marple, whom Agatha Kristopher introduced to the world in a series of short. Stories and the novel, the Murder at the Vicarage published in 1930. So this Agatha Christie, um, book is set for fall 2026. Uh, rights were snagged up last week, um, at the festival. So really exciting things. We also have one well taken rights to Cali Fado and Stein's next novel. Mountain South in a two book deal. I'm a huge fan of this author. Okay? She's bomb, she's doing a thing. We also have Avon, um, acquiring rights to Lexi Ryan's Knight Tide Trilogy in a three book deal. This was also very big. And then the last right, I'm gonna mention because I'm gonna get into some other drama. Is St. Martin's right? Uh, St. Martin's Publishing secured US rights to four novels by Jay Christophe. Like I said, we're gonna get into the Jay Christophe drama in a whole other segment. But needless to say, the London Book Fair was busy, busy, busy last week. Some of these deals were kind of pre the actual book fair, but you know, the book fair is kind of like the final, um, deal making ground. But there were lots of deals that were made last week. Again, I'll include a link after the live two, the Publishers Weekly article where they kind of rounded up all of the big deals that were made at the fair. I mean, it sounds like publishing is in good shape, right? I think so. I think so. And some of those I'm excited for. So I can't, obviously that Miss Marble. I'm like, ah, yes, love. I mean, look, I love Poot. I love all the other Christie's. But listen, miss Marble is my, my G Yes. We love Miss Marble. We love Miss Marble. So I'll definitely be reading and covering that. Okay. It was such a blast chatting to Sophie Hannah. I'm telling you, just all things, um, Poirot from. Her first Christie that she read to all school Christie Marketing. It was just, it was very interesting talking about the evolution, but let us know your thoughts. I mean, did I mention any books, any rights, anything coming out that you're excited about? Again, I. You know, these deals are aimed to this year, so odds are, we're not seeing books till probably next year or the year after and so on. But again, exciting news for books. Okay, let's get into the drama because I started with the London Book Fair and I mentioned that the London at the book Fair, St. Martin's, uh, publishing secured US rights to four novels by Jay Christophe. So let's just get into the Jay Christophe. First of all, I do wanna mention that there is a content creator on YouTube. Her name is Jess Owens. I will be including a link in the video's description after the live to Jess Owens's page, and specifically her video where she really breaks down just Jay Christophe and just everything that is problematic with this author. From cultural procreation, appropriation to, um, cultural appropriation, antisemitism, things with, um. They're co-authors and just all the things. I mean, Francesca, I know you know some of this history. Yeah, let's get into the Jay Kris stuff. I mean, oh my God, he's had history for years and years and years and years and I feel like it never, it never hurts his career, you know, because every time there's a new issue, all of the old stuff comes up and he still gets a four book deal. So like. He's living his best life and everything is fine. Um, I actually had started to, I had gotten an arc of one of those controversial books with a lot of the antisemite, um, tropes in them. It was never night. I had gotten an arc of that book, and I hated the writing so much that I didn't even get to the problematic stuff. So that wasn't even in my review. I was just like. Killing all of the things that I didn't like about how pretentious the writing was and like all of these things. Um, and then you start to hear about some of these other things that were included in it, which were terribly problematic. And I feel like he just always skate by. And then there's a new drama that comes up and then again, he gets, he gets the sales, he gets the contracts, and people still buy the books. I don't know if people still buy the books because they don't. Know about the drama, but I actually feel that they do know about the drama because again, this drama is always recycled and even as the drama gets recycled, he hits the bestseller list. So yeah, I mean, if you are watching a, you're not familiar, again, I will include a link to the video by Jess Owens. But the booking question, 'cause I watched her video, um, the book with all the antisemitism in there is Wicked Saints. I'm not gonna, you know, like refresh what she had said. But basically again, if you watch her video, she breaks it down by line. She also got messages from, um, readers who watch her videos and follow her and saying, Hey, yeah, I read this. This is why it's problematic. Um, especially in the case of the dm, she got, that person was Jewish, so they were sharing like, this is a problem. These are the tropes. This is not okay. But here's my thing on problematic authors, and I'm just gonna say this because we, we, we've been covering some of these problematic authors ourselves during all gossip sessions, live. Reason for you to come watch every other Monday. But it goes back to what I was saying about virtue signaling on the Amazon of it all. People are gonna say what they're gonna say, but again, who's gonna check them at home? They're buying the books. They're reading the books. I remember. What was her name again? Janine Cummings. When her book came out, listen, I will be the first to say, I read the book, I read an early copy and I was writing a review about it. I was saying, man, this was good, this was good, this was good. And then people explained to me why it wasn't good. Because at that point, honestly I really didn't understand all the tension like, um, with the southern border and stuff like that. 'cause I remember it was like early in me moving here. It really was. I was probably living here for like two years at that point and some folks reached out to me and they were telling me about, you know, why it's problematic. I was like, oh, damn. So then I updated my thing and I just remember. Seeing week after week, it being on a bestseller list. Bestseller list, bestseller list. I had people in my real life telling me they're reading the books. I'm like, y'all didn't hear about this? And they're like, no. So people in my real life had no clues, but they were just reading a book anyway. So I'm just saying I think he is problematic, but he will forever, and not just him or other problematic authors will forever just get these book deals anyway. Yeah. We wanna hear from you. Let us know in the chat. I mean, do you read this office books? Do you think it's problematic? Maybe you think it's cancel culture. I don't know. But that's also another thing. I don't think cancel culture is real. No, not just me personally. No. Also, I think a point to what you were saying about your friends is that for us, there are, in the bookish online space, we feel like, oh, this. Drama and this thing is all over and everybody knows about it, but the book online community is actually so small in terms of like the, the actual reading community, like who's buying books. So I feel like we may think that something is really a big deal, but at the end of the day, not a lot of people know about it because, yeah. People are just going to a bookstore or ordering something on Amazon because they just browse what's on the bestseller list or however they pick their books, but they're not part of any online community, and that's the majority of readers. So they will never know about any of these things, and they're just gonna continue reading whatever. Either A is popular and it's hitting list or whatever they find interesting. I mean, personally, I don't think J Crystal's writing is good in general, so that would be. A reason not to pick it up, but, you know, he's still, he's still out there doing his thing. Um, so yeah. Yeah. Nobody ever gets canceled. I don't think so. But let us know in the comments. What do you think? Do you think authors get canceled for real? For real? I mean, again, I just, I don't think so. I think things happen, but then it goes quiet and then it will pop back up. Mm-hmm. So, yes, maybe for a minute. For a brief minute. Yeah. It has people reworking things and redoing things, but I promise it it, it will come back around. It will come back around. But anyways, if you're just joining us, welcome. We're doing all bookish gossip. Session live. We're just talking about all the book news, the bookish gossip, the tea, just everything that is anything. Book community. We're discussing it with you live again, we do this every other Monday, 12 noon Eastern time. It's like a lunchtime live. So mark your calendars and join us next time. Tell a friend to tell a friend, but also if you're watching the replay of this replay crew, we'd love to hear your thoughts as well. Let us know in the comments. What you and how you're feeling. Again, we all don't have to agree. Alright, next up this gossip and. But I do want us to talk about it, and it is the Oath Bound Book, three release, and just everything around the latest book in the series. Now on book threads, I did some screen grabs from some folks online. One person in particular said, ban and Noble in Deford, New Jersey has no table dedicated to the New York Times bestselling series Earthbound, but they have insane displays for Onyx Storm. Are you kidding me? Then we had another person saying, at my Barnes and Noble Onyx Storm signs are still up. Not just signs, but a window and an end cap, but no kind of fanfare for oath bound and it was already on sale. This is so annoying. I also wanna say there were other people saying they show up to the bookstores and no one knows Earth Band. What are you talking about? Yeah. Then there are books in boxes, in corners somewhere. You know, it didn't get a front table prominent display for a big book coming out. You, you know, you know how they do for the big books. So people were very, very upset. I. That Earthbound did not receive the fanfare. Again, it's comparing it to OnX Storm, which has been out for a hot minute. So, Francesca, I know you have some thoughts on this happening, but I think the big thing, and I know you're really gonna get into it, is the fact that, hey, why a books don't get the same treatment as, um, adult fiction, contemporary fiction, and those big titles. I'm sorry. YA is still the redheaded stepchild, I'm guessing. You agree? Yeah. I completely agree. And I think that that also comes with the stigma because yes, it is technically by the name, it is intended to for a young adult audience, but let's be real. It's go, it's going to be adult, especially adult women buying a lot of those books. So that is the market. Yes, there's also the young adults, but a lot of the, a lot of those people buying the, the books and making young adult. Especially young adult fantasy big now. And, and that also doesn't get the recognition in the stores and whatever. That's, that's been like that forever. Now another thing is they keep comparing this to OnX Storm, and, and I, I don't wanna say that I don't think it deserve more exposure, because it totally did. But this is something that they do all the time. So I think that they probably could have done better. However, I don't see them from a business. Mentality capitalist system. They're not gonna put away their OnX storm because I don't know what the numbers are 'cause I don't look at that stuff. But as you can put the most popular YA release that is not like a Ser J Mass, which I guess people don't consider her ya anymore. But that aside, you cannot put the biggest YA title next to how much Annex Storm or Fourth Wing is selling. There is just no, even any other adult fantasy, nothing is gonna compare to that. So they're not gonna take away their nice display for the cash cow. That is that series right now. That series is keeping the doors open for a lot of these businesses. They're gonna display it now. I think that they should have had better. Organization, especially when there is like one big release that it's a well-known series. So yes, probably that should have been something that Barnes and Noble did better, but historically, Barnes and Noble is not good at any of these things. So I am not surprised. But yeah, I think I'm, in general, I would not be surprised because yea is just never their focus, you know? It just, it's never been. No it's not. Now for my point, I'm also gonna go back to again the original argument because the thing is, and I hate to break it, if you are watching this and you know you are just an avid reader, but you wanna stay in the know, so you tune in to us to kind of hear what's going on. Can we tell you the business of books? Is messy. Messy. It is not what you think it is. Right? It's kind of like, I remember being, you know what I say, bright-eyed and bushy tailed. Mm-hmm. And, and just very optimistic and feeling like, oh, um, all books get treated the same. It's wrong. All books get the same marketing budget wrong. All books within the same category, you know, they, they, everyone has their moment to shine in the sun. No, there are so many books that come out each week I know we're excited for or favorites, and I love that for us. Okay. 'cause that's part of books and reading. You know, we want it to be fun, we wanna have things to look forward to, but the reality is things aren't treated the same. YA isn't treated the same as adult. Non-fiction isn't treated the same as fiction. Cookbooks get a whole separate thing. Deciding who has events and everything is just very different. Am I sad about it? Yeah, I'm sad because it was a big title, it was a big release, and you want it to have that fanfare. You want it to have its moment in the sun, but that is coming from a fan perspective, not a business perspective. And the truth is. They can't keep OnX Storm on shelves and tables. They are flying off. Yeah. And as a person who grew up in a family of business owners who also had my own business at one time, you also know that there's certain products that keep your lights on, that pay your rent. And I'm telling you right now, OnX Storm is paying a whole's rent. Yes. So I am sad that yes, um, earthbound did not get its moment in the sun. But guess what? We have some good news people. It is number one on the New York Times bestselling list. Okay. Yes. It beat out mocking J. Yes. The wild robot people are still talking about it. It beat that, it beat the wimpy, uh, kid. Um, diary series thing. It beat Harry Potter. I. All right. And yes, Harry Potter's still there. Don't, don't, don't at me. Don't. Yes, it's still there. Talk to people who are still buying the books. You see what I'm talking about? Talk to people who are still buying the books even though they want us to believe. Um, JK is canceled. I mean, yeah, still buying the books. Still buying the books, but the good news is Earth Bound did get number one on a New York Times bestseller list. To consider the fact that it was just street treated as a redheaded sub child. Look, I love it for it. Yeah. I love it for it. So, um, yeah, it's just the sad reality of books and book selling and publishing, the business of it is very different and separate from us readers and just how excited we are for it. We hope they'll learn from this though. And historically, no, but lemme lemme be hopeful. I'm the pessimist here because I have seen it too many times. We have screwed up so many times that you're like, this is the time, this is the time. That next time they'll think no. I'm trying to be optimistic for the people. I'm trying to be optimistic. I'm trying to be optimistic, but yeah. But anyways, let us know your thoughts in the comments on just the release and the whole rule out for, uh, oath Bound. We love to hear your thoughts. If you're watching live, let us know as well because yes. I think it should have received a better rollout, but guess what? It's number one. Yeah. So at the end of the day, that's what matters. Okay. We have two more things to kind of cover, but I just wanna interject real quick and say we are going live on Substack after this for the after show. Mm-hmm. All right. So if you haven't already, there's a link to Substack in the videos description. If you find one of us, you'll find both of us. You'll also find Laura. Who again, we are missing because her job doesn't want her to be great and they're giving her extra work at the last minute, so she can't come live with us, right? So find Laura to, um, sign up to Laura's page as well. But we're going live after this one after show. We're gonna talk about what we're actively reading, what we're watching on television, and just more little ttt so come on over there. But the next thing we wanna cover is something that happened this weekend. We wanna talk about the Barnes and Noble Festival. Alright, now, Laura was big on talking about this, so it was a two day thing. Um, they had it on the fifth, the 14th. So this is the first one actually. So they had it on the 14th. And they had it on the 15th. This happened at Barnes and Noble, union Square that's in New York City, and it was a fun two day thing. Apparently, people were very excited about it and they're like, oh, they should do this more often, or This should be worldwide, meaning nationwide. Here's a reality of the situation. These bookish events, this was just this one store. It's large. It has enough space to do all the things. It's also New York City. How did you feel about this event? I mean, people are saying that it, it's, Laura was saying essentially BookCon was the version of this, like BookCon was the big thing. Mm-hmm. When they would promote certain things. As a person who was in the city and you know, about all these New York events. I mean, what are your thoughts on Barn and Noble doing this? Uh, specifically the Union Square store and readers call for more events like this. I think something that people should realize is that events like this, even though this is at a Barnes and Noble, Barnes and Noble doesn't have like stock of all these things. So they have to put together an event and in something like this they have to work with the publishers and there is cost in bringing lugging all these books to any kind of event. So anytime you do something in New York City. Is easier. The most publishers are in New York City. Their warehouses are in New York City. If they have to log a bunch of books to a bookstore and they just gotta log those back because they have some leftover, it's no big deal. So New York City is always going to be the easier. Point of least resistance for any book event to happen. Some people may not like that, but that is just the reality. And the reason why a store like the Barnes and Noble at Union Square would work is the fact that it is very large. So it does have the space to accommodate because those things get really packed. You have to be able to accommodate people. There's fire codes, there's all this stuff, so that you know, has to be taken into account. You can't do those at a little small indie bookstore, but also. New York City is very expensive, so it's not like the publishers are just gonna put together something and pay for space. So it, it kind of like all works out, but it's not easily replicated in my opinion. Um, and also I. Book events are very expensive to put on in general, so they're not a lucrative business where people are really getting a ton for all the work that goes into that. So many over the years have come and gone like, like Laura was saying, BookCon, the big one obviously for publishers was BEA, where they actually interacted with, um, influencers and uh, book tubers and all this stuff, and actually also with librarians and booksellers, et cetera. So those events have decreased over the years. There's a reason for that. The reason for that is they're expensive to put on. They're expensive for the organizers, they're expensive for the publishers. It's all around expensive. So when you're thinking about how you're gonna use your marketing budget, which is also every year smaller and smaller, we were just talking about defunding the libraries, but hey, publishers, marketing departments are also getting defunded by the corporate decisions. You know, so they don't have the budgets. Like we enjoy certain things as readers and we would love for all these wonderful things to be available to us, but at the end of the day, money is a factor. Convenience is a factor. So things like this are able to be put on in New York City and I. A lot of other people are not gonna have access to them. And that's just a reality, especially for me. I've never lived in New York City. I live in Florida the furthest point possible. I'm like, help me out here. Oh my gosh. But yes, I definitely co-sign organizing any event is it's a lot of man hour, woman hour time hours. It's just, it's a lot. It really is a lot. Um, you really don't get a big return on your investment. Even as someone, me who organized virtual events, listen, it, it really doesn't do it all. I'm gonna say to anyone watching, if you have a bookstore, whether it's Indie, Barnes and Noble, anyone, and you live near somewhere that puts on events. Or, you know, someone putting on a virtual event show up. Because when, when you don't show up and people, you know, don't support in whatever way, shape, or form, they go away and then you see things happening somewhere else and you're like, uh, what about me? Yeah. Um, yeah, they just can't afford to do it. And yeah. You know, it's a sad state of things, but that was, that would actually, a tip that I would actually give to people if they want to support more things like this happening is when you are going into. A bookstore, like you were saying, that is having any kind of signing. So obviously maybe you're not gonna have a big event like this one, but chances are somewhere within driving distance, there's gonna be a small bookstore that's gonna host some author event or something where you can get to it when you're there. A lot of times they'll. Not always, but a lot of times they will have a requirement that you buy the book from that author that is participating fine. But that is not enough for that event to be successful financially. So when you go there, buy something else, buy something, look around, you know, interact with that store and then come back to the store and actually. Be a patron and help them out as well. Yeah. So if you keep those businesses running, then they are able to do more things as well, so, exactly. And if you don't want any books right now, buy a mug. Buy a tote. Yes. Buy a t-shirt. Buy something, a pen something, a bookmark. Right now they're selling sticker, like they're selling all kinds of stuff right now at these bookstores. So just. Something, pick something and support them. So yeah, that's, yes. So let us know your thoughts in the comments on how the Barnes and Noble event, but also if there are any events that you wanna see happening, we'd love to hear from you. Like Fran said, all the big events, unfortunately, you know, book expo, book con book, all the things, they've all had to go away unfortunately because um, financially it's not feasible. Mm-hmm. I'm telling you, as a book, business is a tough business. Yeah. Okay, the last big thing we wanna talk about is actually about a book con, but it's drama around the book con, right? So this one is specific to a polycon. If you're not familiar with a poly polycon, you know, you know everything you need to know already. Anyways. So there's been lots of things online about a polycon and children attending the event now, like a good classic game of telephone, like not all witches who posted on threads said, um, you know, things kind of get mixed up in the sauce now, apparently, and I'm using this person's, um, thread comment because I'm like, you know what? This presents it in a different way. So, and I quote from the person's thread, re a Polycon Child Free drama because social media is a bad game of telephone. Here's what people complaining aren't telling you. One of the founders of the con posted in the Facebook group to clarify, kids are welcome at the event. They average 15 ish kids per year and the majority are infants. She also stated vendors and authors are not allowed to have banners with explicit content. Lastly, there will be children there regardless. A kid's cheerleading competition is also being held at the venue, so if you're not familiar with the drama, essentially the drama is that people are complaining about children being there. It's mostly romance books that are there. Yes. This event is for adults, a k, a, there might be explicit content. I will say I haven't personally been to a romance book signing. I know Francesca has, so she really has some great insight. But essentially the drama is, should children be allowed? Some people are saying children should not be there. Um, you know, it, the content is not appropriate for children, but then the organizer is saying, Hey, we welcome children. There's no explicit content there, yada, yada, yada, yada. I will say my one thing, as an outsider who's never been to a romance book signing like this, I've never had to interact with any of this before. The first thing that comes to my mind is, oh, no. Oh, no. We're already fighting explicit content and romance and books being banned and this and that, and now people are talking about bringing their children to the book signing. I'm not against bringing children to a book signing, but again, it goes back to parents needing to pair rent and then other parents not policing parents are making their decision. You know what I'm saying? So it's like if you wanna take your child to a certain kind of restaurant and someone else is not okay with it, then you don't take your child to a restaurant. But don't go tell a parent not to take their child to a restaurant. So that's the first thing I think about. Um, but I can't help but think about the larger picture. Of the optics of, okay, let's bring our children to this romance event. I'm not anti children going to any event. If a parent wants to bring a parent, uh, if a parent wants to bring their child, by all means, but this dialogue online, again, I think there's a lot being lost in the sauce. But Fran, you've been to these events. In person, like what is your experience when you go to like a romance book signing? How do you feel about the whole children factor of it and but also from an event organizer, because I know we tend to think a lot about the business of it all, and then now, you know, having kids. Yeah. So. Several points. First of all, I have attended a polycon. The last time that I did go to a POLYCON was in 2019, but I have gone multiple years. Um, I didn't really see kids there, but if the event organizer is saying they get about 15 a year, it's not a lot because I think this is account that gets maybe a thousand people. So all things consider it's very small number. Uh, do I personally think it's a place for children? No, because as much as you are telling the authors that they can have explicit material, some people's covers are kind of explicit already. So what are you gonna tell them not to put their covers, like their books on the table? Then you of course have the authors that have certain kind of swag, which might have inappropriate things on the swag. So if there's a child walking around, they may get to that. So, but again. Parents can, you know, do what they want with their children. So that is just my opinion, but any parent can do what they want. Do I think from, besides the sexual part, do I think that any kind of these cons is a place for children? Let me tell you, it's a stressful and anxiety andd juicing place for adults. So. Do I think that that's not gonna create like a massive anxiety to the child? Yes. They're gonna be bored out of their mind because there's a lot of standing around in lines and they're gonna drive you crazy. Mm-hmm. So my suggestion, so that you have a better experience, is try to get a babysitter. Not because kids shouldn't be there, but just because you, it's just not gonna be a peaceful. Loving experience for you. That child is gonna be grouchy. Adults are grouchy. I was grouchy. I mean, it's just it, you know. So that is, that is a couple of things. I think that you're not gonna be able to police the authors and the material they have on their tables and neither should you because they are selling a certain experience because they are writing. Um. Romance books and some of them write clean, no sex books and some of them write erotica and they're all there. So I feel like they should be free to a certain degree to do that. Uh, I have been at conventions where like she said, there's gonna be some kind of a cheerleading convention. I have been at conventions where the hotel does that multiple types. Multiple times. And guess what? Those banners, because maybe those events were kind of like child free and there were some very explicit things, and then you have the people dressing up for the parties. People are dressing up for the parties and there might be some sexually, you know, costumes and whatever and the children will see that. So did I also have to like see that kind of like it it got bad because Sure. You have some kind of a convention. I think there was one time there was some kind of a religious convention. There was, and I think it was a Laura Lee convention and Laura Lee writes. Like very, very erotic. Paranormal. And all of the authors that would go to her conventions were writing really erotic books. And obviously the banners and the stuff were in the hallways. They were in the elevators. 'cause that's what you do at conventions. You decorate the whole thing 'cause you're giving the experience so. The hotel doesn't care. Well, no, they're making money. It's commerce. Okay. And, and you, uh, and you as the person that's running that event, also have no right to tell the hotel what other event they can have at the sa at the same time as you. So it's a very complicated. Scenario and there's a lot of things that you cannot control. So to put it on the organizer, I think it's wrong. They are already doing what they can. And again, just parent your children. Do do what you think is best for you. I think infants is prob, you know, they're not gonna be exposed to anything that's gonna scare scar them, but they're gonna be really cranky. Yeah. Be extremely cranky in that scenario. So. I think that that would've been my 'cause. That was the other thing that the person mentioned in their thread is that they're mostly infants. Mm-hmm. So with infants, I mean, it's on you. Yeah. You're gonna deal with a grouchy child who is fighting sleep and you have to pause and feed, and not everyone is gracious. To people with children, like, you know, like giving them grace and like let them go because you know, you don't want them waiting in line too long and stuff like that at, at book events. Nobody's gonna do that. Nobody's gracious. Good. Like if you're going with that expectation that people are gonna be nice because you have, they will not, people are gonna be assholes. So just if you're going prepared for that, I'm just saying I admire people who bring their children, like their young children. Yeah. Even infants. Um, you know. Anyone really to like, even football games, concerts, stuff like that. So look, God bless, I Am team always your finer babysit. Oh, you don't go. Yeah. But you know, um, again, I'm team parent, your kids, how you wanna parent, it goes back to the same books. Okay, let me read what I wanna read. Let me allow my kid to read what they wanna read. And you parent your kid how you want them. To, to be, you know? Yeah. So I'm always gonna be team that. But yeah, I found it very interesting, um, this whole narrative online about a polycon. I think also it's not fair to put it on the organizer. Yeah. You know, the first thing that came to my mind when I saw this liability, I'm sorry. Mm-hmm. I'm my husband's wife. He's always talking about insurance, insurance liability. No, you can't do this. You can't do that. Oh, yeah. You get sued for the. True American. Okay. It's like watching the news and seeing the person who got burnt by Starbucks awarded $50 million. Listen, being sued. So he, I swear he, he's got it in my head. He's like, listen, this is not where you are from, ma'am. Okay? This is a whole different country. So I'm always thinking about the liability. And like if you are saying yes, it's child friendly, bring your children. The first thing I think about is childcare because like the place I go and I, and I do my exercise class, that they have childcare and I always think about, man, I wonder how much extra they pay for insurance. And you know, just like all their liability for that. Maybe that's why our membership is so expensive. Um, but it's because of that. So it's like even if they were to say, let's provide this area for moms, you know, and or provide this area for childcare or stuff, I immediately think liability. It's too much. We can't expect organizers, and I know this sounds awful, but we can't expect organizers to do every single thing possible. Because again, they're working with limited means, limited budgets. The best thing we can hope for is that they have a welcome, inviting and inclusive environment that is compliant with disabilities and people who are differently abled. I'm just saying that's the best we can hope for. Yeah. Childcare is asking too much. I'm gonna tell you. Or or being mindful of children because also it's gonna affect the authors, especially the ones who write those kinds of books for adults. I mean, can adults live. Or maybe we're moving towards a space where they don't want that kind of literature at all. You know how they have prohibition and you can't drink alcohol at all? Yeah. I think that's where they're going with the books. Like romance shouldn't exist at all because it's like, cos, cos cos. But anyway, I hope the event organizers have a wonderful event and I hope people make plans for their children. Alright, anyway, let's know your thoughts and comments. We'd love to hear from you, but we're gonna head on over to Substack to continue the conversation. If you are just joining us and you missed out, listen, we did a whole rundown of things. We're talking about the government not doing things, the state not doing things. Defunding libraries. It is real. Okay. KU boycotts, the London Book Fair Acquisitions. That was really fun and exciting to hear about all the exciting books that are coming out. We talked about the Jay Christoph controversy, the Oath Bound release. I mean, people were sharing pictures from their local bookstores and they were not happy about how it played out, and I get it, but guess what? Good news I. Spoiler. The book hit number one on the New York Times bestseller. We talked about the Barnes and Noble event at Union Square, and we just wrapped up about whether children should be at book conventions. Again, thank you for joining us. We hope to see you over on Substack, where we're gonna continue the chat. We're gonna be there, but a good time, not a long time, so don't delay delay. Don't delay at all. Oh, I just got a comment, bk. No, I missed it. Listen, replay. Join the replay crew. Just, just, just move the slider back. I'm gonna end in like two, two seconds. So just hit the replay and you will catch all the tea. Okay? And then join us, not next Monday, the following Monday, 12 noon Eastern time for tea. But I do wanna invite you to join us this Thursday. We're gonna be more serious. We're sharing book recommendations about women in history. So we hope you will join us, but again, join, uh, bk Holly r and and, and the rest of the folks. Join the replay crew. Watch the replay and let us know your thoughts in the comments. All right, everyone.